Bomb-sniffing dog missing in Afghanistan is found after 14 months

A bomb-sniffing dog that disappeared during a fierce battle in Afghanistan between Australian troops and militant fighters has been found and returned to its unit after more than a year.

And Sabi the black Labrador is getting a celebrity welcome home.

Sabi was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol ambushed in restive Uruzgan province in September 2008, triggering a gunfight that wounded nine troops and earned one Australian soldier the country's highest bravery medal.

But there was no sign of Sabi after the battle, and months of searching failed to find any sign of the retriever -- until now.

Military officials said Thursday that a U.S. soldier recovered Sabi at an isolated patrol base elsewhere in Uruzgan. Details about the base were not given.

The dog was returned to the Australians' base in the province just in time for a visit by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was photographed Wednesday along with the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, petting Sabi.

Jeepers creepers: Bedbug-sniffing dogs save the day

Trained dogs sniff out drugs in schools, detect bombs in airports, and even chase geese away from golf courses, but now trainers are focusing their efforts on another type of smart canine: bedbug-detection dogs. 

Today, L.A. Times reporter Bob Drogin wrote about the hard-working animals who sniff out infestations of real-life bedbugs -- those tiny, blood-sucking pests that leave itchy, painful welts -- in apartment buildings, hotels and office buildings so people really can sleep tight. This pest problem has become more than just a childhood scare tactic: Bedbugs are very real.

Many pest-control companies are now purchasing the dogs from two main trainers in Florida, who sell the dogs for up to $9,500 each. The dogs receive treat rewards whenever they alert for bedbugs, so experts caution against some exterminators whose dogs report false alarms, allowing the company to tack on extra charges.

We hope that this means the old adage will soon become a meaningless good-night saying once again.

Read the full article here, or look through the photo gallery of bedbug dogs on the prowl.

-- Kelsey Ramos

Photo: Sara, a lab trained to hunt bedbugs, poses after checking an apartment in Jersey City, N.J. Credit: Michael Nagle / For The Times

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 51: Waiting on Wisteria Lane, Part 2

Last week, you read about our first day on the set of “Desperate Housewives,” cast as background actors, “Neighbor with Dog.”  As happens frequently in the TV biz, some of the extras called that day didn’t get used – but were asked to come back the next day. We learned that, for a background actor, everything is always is subject to change.

This time, instead of getting lost on the way to Wisteria Lane, a van picked us up at the parking lot at Gate 3. I had learned from our van experience the day before that, when nervous, Heidi turns into a very large lap dog -- so this time I was careful to get into the vehicle before the dog to make sure she didn’t once again surprise some other actor with a free lap dance.

We were whisked straight to the costume and makeup-and-hair trailers.  There, we met one of our new friends from the day before –  Lauren Hicks, who had won out over the competition for the “Busty Waitress“ role and had brought along the requested assortment of fancy bras to complement her low-cut white top.

My more conservative outfit – and Heidi’s bandanna – met with approval, but I had to leave Heidi in the care of another actor while I went into the trailer for a hair makeover. I sat one chair away from series star Marcia Cross as hairdressers fluffed her long red locks, and super-glued mine into a chignon that could withstand El Niño.

Then it was back into the van – today not headed to Wisteria Lane, but to a different set, an upscale outdoor cafe.  Apparently, “Neighbor with Dog” was about to become “Restaurant Guest with Dog.”

Prisoners, horses learn together

When they arrive at the Wyoming Honor Farm minimum-security prison, they're afraid. They lack trust, and they usually either want to fight or escape -- or both.

The same could be said about some of the inmates.

"You can almost look at them as inmates," said John Dowell, 37, who is serving his sentence at the north Riverton institution.

For almost three years, Dowell has trained wild horses brought to the honor farm as part of the federal Bureau of Land Management's adoption program.

"Some come into the system and want to change their lives," he said of inmates within the Wyoming Department of Corrections.

Others, however, have no intention of altering their ways.

"There's so many similarities," he said of horses brought from the wild and inmates off the streets.

For Dowell and other inmates who participate under horse adoption program supervisor Jeff Martin, they learn not only to calm wild animals captured around the state, but they also gain insight about themselves.

"The biggest difference between the horses and the inmates is the horses didn't ask to be here," Dowell said. "We made some bad decisions, and we're here for a reason."

Al Franken's first order of Senate business: more service dogs for veterans

While many thought that Al Franken's bid for Senate was something of a joke, the former Saturday Night Live comedian is starting his freshman term with a very sobering bill: a program designed to give service dogs to wounded veterans.

"As someone who's spent time with our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan on USO tours and met wounded warriors at Walter Reed and Bethesda, I feel a deep obligation to the men and women who have risked life and limb on our behalf," Franken explained in an op-ed piece in Sunday's Star-Tribune.

But after meeting Iraq war veteran Luis Carlos Montalvan, Franken was impressed with Tuesday, Montalvan's golden retriever. According to Montalvan, a 36-year-old ex-intelligence officer who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, attending the event and meeting Franken would have been impossible for him without the help of Tuesday, who assists not only with his physical needs but with his emotional comfort as well. "Tuesday is just extraordinarily empathetic," Montalvan told the Wall Street Journal. "In bad moments, he'll lay his head on my leg, and it'll be like he's saying, 'You're OK. You're not alone.' "

According to Franken, most veterans cannot afford service dogs; the cost to train each one and place it with the proper soldier is about $25,000. "Luis got Tuesday from one of the nonprofit agencies around the country that trains service dogs," Franken wrote. "I visited one of them, Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota, and saw dogs opening doors and answering phones. I saw a German shepherd named Pepsi pick a nickel off a tile floor and give it to a young woman in a wheelchair."

Franken's plan is to start a pilot program that will "help train a statistically significant number of dogs to measure the benefits to veterans with physical and emotional wounds. The program would be monitored and refined over a three-year period to optimize its effectiveness."

-- Tony Pierce

Photo: Franken during a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Credit: Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images

Lawsuit alleges discrimination against homeless people with service dogs

The Southern California Housing Rights Center and the Disability Rights Legal Centerhave filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority over what they say are discriminatory practices toward homeless people who rely on service dogs. 

The lawsuit, filed last week, alleges that emergency homeless shelters in L.A. routinely turn away homeless people such as Shawnine "Viper" Mackay (above, with her dog, Molly).  Mackay relies on her service dog to deal with seizures; she and Lydia Zerne, another homeless woman with medical issues and a service dog, are co-plaintiffs with the Housing Rights Center in the suit.

According to the lawsuit, about 20% of L.A.'s homeless residents have a physical disability. More still have emotional or substance abuse issues, and while only two individuals are plaintiffs in the case, the suit alleges that many more use service animals either for physical assistance or emotional support.  Discriminating against those who depend on service animals, it continues, violates both the Americans With Disabilities Act and fair housing laws. 

"They are all supposed to take service animals," Shawna L. Parks, director of litigation for the Disability Rights Legal Center, told our colleague Jessica Garrison. "We are not talking about pets."  

Your morning adorable: Reading dogs help some kids learn

Submitter EricnEnzo shares this great photo of a dog who seems just as enthralled with a book as his young owner does. (Plus, he makes a good pillow.)  And, according to some teachers, reading in the presence of a dog actually helps children to improve their reading skills and comprehension. 

As a result, "reading dog" programs are sprouting up all over the U.S. and internationally as well. The Telegraph recently profiled one such program, which has been instituted at St. Michael's Primary School in Dorset, England.  At St. Michael's, 7- and 8-year-old students take turns reading to dogs for a 45-minute period. 

"The scheme works because the dogs are non-judgmental; they won't laugh at stammers or get impatient ... The children who benefit most are those with low self-esteem and often it is not their reading skills that are poor, but their confidence," Julie Lankshear of Caring Canines, a charity that provides the willing dog listeners for the program, told the Telegraph. "Reading to the dogs gives them confidence and enables them to communicate." 

For more great photos of the bond between kids and dogs (or to submit your own), check out the Best Babysitters album at The Times' photo-sharing site, Your Scene.

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: EricnEnzo / Your Scene

Molly, the pony with a prosthetic leg, inspires wherever she goes

For those whose family, friends and coworkers aren't into sending forwarded e-mails, it may be necessary to introduce Molly the pony, whose story made the rounds a while back. 

Kaye Harris, who owns a pony farm north of New Orleans, rescued Molly and other animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina.  At the time, Molly was an average, four-legged pony -- but in tough times and close quarters, a dog also rescued by Harris mauled her.  Molly sustained numerous injuries to her head, neck, abdomen and legs.

"One of her legs was so bad she could hardly stand," Harris told CBS News.  She worried that Molly, a 15-year-old Pony of the Americas, might not survive; fortunately, she turned to Louisiana State University's veterinary school for help.

"Amputation is not commonly done on a horse or pony," said Dr. Rustin Moore, director of LSU's Equine Health Studies program. "The main reason is that adult horses are not very good at living on three legs because the opposite leg of the one missing usually fails."  But since veterinarians had little hope for Molly's recovery without the procedure, her right front leg was eventually amputated below the knee. 

Soon she was fitted with a prosthetic replacement and now gets along like a champ.  "It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse," said Dr. Allison Denny-Barca, a veterinarian who worked with Molly after her injuries and continues to see her for check-ups. 

San Diego dog honored as hero for alerting owner to fire

A 2-year-old Portuguese water dog named Cabrillo was honored today by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department for alerting his owner to a fire at 3:15 a.m. on April 2.

Cabrillo, sensing danger, started barking incessantly. When his owner got out of bed he saw that his neighbor's house was on fire. The owner immediately called 911 and firefighters were able to put out the fire quickly.

For his heroism, Cabrillo was named an honorary Fire Dog and given a box of treats. 

The award was made by Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Earle and the crew that responded to the call.

--Tony Perry, San Diego

Photo: San Diego Fire-Rescue Department

Miniature horse becomes guide for blind Muslim woman

Mona Ramouni, a Michigan woman who became blind shortly after birth, wanted to have more independence. But for Ramouni, who is a practicing Sunni Muslim, a leader dog was not an option.  Many Muslims view dogs as unclean, and Ramouni, who lives with her family in the suburbs of Detroit, respected her parents' wishes that she not bring one into the home.

However, according to Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter, many Muslims see horses as "regal animals."

Enter Cali (short for Mexicali Rose), a miniature horse who stands 2 1/2 feet tall and weighs about 125 pounds.  Cali is one of a small number of miniature horses that's been trained as a guide animal in the U.S.  "I want a horse that will be a partner for the next 30 or so years. ... What I really want is to be able to take her places and go places with her that neither of us ever would have been able to do without each other," Ramouni told the Associated Press. 

Miniature horses often live into their 30s, making them superior to leader dogs in at least one way: longevity. 

"It's made [Ramouni] so much more empowered," said Kelli Finger, a coworker at Ramouni's workplace, where she proofreads textbooks in Braille.  Cali has also gotten along well with other, more conventional, guide animals at the office, Finger added.