L.A. County's new dogfighting tip line is unveiled

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the Humane Society of the United States announced plans for a novel new approach to combating animal cruelty in L.A. County: A 24-hour tip line, manned by both English and Spanish speakers, for citizens to report incidents of dogfighting.  

The tip line was officially unveiled at a press conference Tuesday at the office of L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley.  Those with information about a dogfighting ring, an upcoming dogfight or an individual who is involved in dogfighting are urged to call 1-877-NO2FITE; those reporting information that leads to an arrest or conviction will be rewarded with up to $5,000.  (Cooley noted that anyone reporting a dogfight in progress should call 911 rather than the tip line.)

"Our goal is to encourage citizens to help law enforcement root out a brutal crime that often goes unreported and occurs in the shadows," Cooley said during Tuesday's press conference.  Also present Tuesday was the Humane Society's senior state director for California, Jennifer Fearing, who called Cooley "a true champion for animals." 

Three new AKC-recognized dog breeds: bluetick coonhound, Boykin spaniel and redbone coonhound

The American Kennel Club has announced that three new dog breeds -- the bluetick coonhound, the Boykin spaniel and the redbone coonhound -- will be eligible for AKC conformation competition beginning Dec. 30.

The new breeds will bring the total number of breeds recognized by the AKC to 164. 

The bluetick coonhound (left) is believed to be descended from the French staghound and English foxhound, and blueticks were originally classified as members of the English foxhound breed. 

Blueticks and English foxhounds went their separate ways in 1945 because, according to the AKC, bluetick breeders "didn't want to follow the trend toward producing a hot-nosed, faster hunter. Proud of their larger, cold-nosed and resolute, if slower hounds, they named their breed and maintained their own hunting style." 

As a result of these breeding practices, blueticks are known for their endurance in addition to their signature coloring, for which they're named.  A bluetick named Smokey is the mascot for the University of Tennessee.

Dogs aren't welcome in Redondo Beach's city parks (but dog owners want to change that)

We know Huntington Beach has a reputation for being the most dog-friendly city in Southern California.  But what city is the least dog-friendly? Vying for that dubious title, at least if you ask some residents, is Redondo Beach. All of Redondo's 20-plus parks (with the exception of its excellent off-leash dog park) have a strict no-dogs-allowed policy, but a group of dog-loving residents is working to change that. Our colleague Jeff Gottlieb has the story; here's an excerpt:

"We've been described as the most dog unfriendly city in the South Bay," Councilman Bill Brand said.

Although there are other cities that have dog bans, such as Gardena, Hawthorne and Culver City, where they are permitted in only one park, the policy is uncommon enough that Linda Barth, assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services, said she had never heard of a city with regulations as strict as Redondo Beach's.

"There's not enough park patrol or animal control officers to proactively monitor parks, and taking your animal to the park under the appropriate conditions ... many people would argue, is almost a protected right," she said.

There are many people in Redondo Beach who would agree, many of them owners of the 3,600 dogs licensed in the city.

Three petitions with several hundred signatures each have been submitted to the City Council in the last several months asking the city to loosen its leash on the dog policy.

This week, the council asked the Recreation and Parks Commission to study whether the 1979 law should be modified to allow leashed dogs in Czuleger Park, a 2.1-acre space near King Harbor.

THERE'S MORE; READ THE REST.

Photo: Redondo Beach resident Kathy Burke carries Kai, her 8-month-old puppy, on her way out of the Redondo Beach dog park. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Reader photo of the day: A broken back didn't slow down Anna Marie, a rescued dog from Romania

Submitter Nancy Janes shares this wonderful shot of Anna Marie, a rescued dog with an amazing story we couldn't keep to ourselves. 

Janes found and rescued Anna Marie in Galati, Romania, when she was just a puppy; Anna Marie had suffered a broken back as a result of being hit by a car. "Now, she is the 'wild child' of our family," Janes says of Anna Marie, who lives alongside six other rescued dogs from Romania.

Janes, a California resident, founded the group Romania Animal Rescue after visiting Romania on a hiking tour in 2001. In the capital city of Bucharest, she took time out to feed some stray dogs -- an abundance of strays is one legacy of Nicolae Ceauşescu's rule -- and encountered a young Romanian woman who was also feeding the animals. 

"I told her I would go back to America and help Romania's dogs," Janes explained of the encounter. "She said, 'Everyone says they will help the Romanian dogs. Then they go home and forget.' Well, having heard this, I had to keep my word!"

Uga VII, University of Georgia's bulldog mascot, dies

Uga VII, the white English bulldog mascot for the University of Georgia's football team for almost two seasons, died Thursday of heart-related causes, the dog's owner said.

The 56-pound dog, nicknamed "Loran's Best," was known as a laid-back mascot who seemed oblivious to crowd noise during boisterous games and would sit patiently as excited fans snapped photos of him. He often roamed the sidelines in a shirt with a "G" stitched on it, sometimes resting on a bag of ice to cool off in his customized doghouse.

The school said that there would be no mascot at Saturday's game in Athens against Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky, but that a wreath would be laid on Uga VII's doghouse on the field's sidelines. Sonny Seiler, the dog's owner, said he probably wouldn't name a replacement until next year.

"We are all in a state of shock," Seiler said in a news release issued by the university. "We had no warning whatsoever."

Public outcry follows ASPCA decision to euthanize Oreo, 'miracle' dog who survived six-story fall

Over the summer, animal lovers were outraged over a shocking incident of animal cruelty: A man threw his 1-year-old female pit bull, Oreo, from the roof of the six-story Brooklyn, N.Y., building where he lived.

Fabian Henderson, 19, was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, criminal trespassing and "overdriving, torturing and injuring animals," charges that could result in a sentence of up to two years in prison, according to the Brooklyn district attorney's office; he pleaded guilty to a felony animal-cruelty charge in October and will be sentenced Dec. 1. 

Officials of the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the New York Daily News that they'd first received a complaint that an animal was being beaten on the third floor of the building, where Henderson shares an apartment with family members, and shortly thereafter heard from witnesses who reported seeing Oreo thrown from the roof. (For her part, Henderson's mother told the Daily News that she believed her son was not guilty and that he was "basically a quiet person, good with animals.")

Oreo became something of a celebrity and recovered from the physical injuries that resulted from the fall, which included "multiple fractures in her two front legs, severe ligament damage, bruised lungs, a fractured rib, liver injury and internal bleeding," according to the indictment against Henderson. 

Happy reunion between dog and returning soldier takes YouTube by storm

More than four years after it was recorded, a home video uploaded to YouTube so it could be shared with family members has become a big hit with animal lovers virtually overnight. 

The video, filmed in September 2005, shows the ecstatic reaction of family dog Gracie when owner Andrew Schmidt, then a lieutenant in the Air National Guard, returned to his Virginia home after a five-month tour of duty in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  (Schmidt, now a captain, will return to Afghanistan next year.)  Schmidt's wife, Jen, filmed the clip, which has since racked up more than 840,000 views, most of them just in the past few days.

Gracie, now 6 years old, was an only "child" at the time the video was filmed (the Schmidts now have a son named Anthony), and the couple told The Today Show that the dog, much like many human children whose parents have shipped out, began to exhibit some behavior problems after Andrew left. Dogs "really do act like kids," Andrew said in the Today interview. 

Writing on YouTube, Schmidt said he's "glad that this clip of Gracie has made so many people happy. If it makes you smile, it's a good thing." 

Your morning adorable: Dog adopts lion cub in Hungarian zoo

Zimba, a 3-month-old lion cub, is one of the most popular residents at Hungary's Gyoengyoes Zoo, according to the Sun.  Since the cub's arrival (the zoo received him as a gift from a private Italian donor), he's had an unusual companion in the form of Bogi, a 3-year-old male puli.  (We know what you're thinking: Where are Bogi's cords?  While many puli owners -- and owners of a related breed, the komondor -- choose to let their dogs' fur grow naturally into cords, others keep their coats brushed instead. While they look less like a Beck album cover that way, we bet they're easier to dry after a bath!)

Bogi has taken on the role of foster parent for Zimba, who came to the zoo without his mother. Fortunately for Zimba, he has a doting little herding dog to pick up the slack!  See another photo of these two after the jump.

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.

24-hour dogfighting tip line to be unveiled by L.A. County prosecutors

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the Humane Society of the United States are collaborating to offer a 24-hour tip line -- and a substantial financial incentive for calling it -- to help L.A. County residents report incidents of dogfighting, our colleagues at the L.A. Now blog report.

The tip line will be officially announced at a press conference Tuesday at the office of L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. 

According to L.A. Now, the tip line will be staffed by both English and Spanish speakers, and those who provide information leading to an arrest or conviction will receive a reward of up to $5,000. 

Last month, Pennsylvania authorities unveiled a similar cash-for-tips program that offers up to $5,000 in reward money for information about dogfights, as well as other illegal animal-combat activities like cockfighting. The Humane Society was also involved in the creation of the Pennsylvania program.

Because of the shadowy nature of the dogfighting world, no one knows just how many dogs are made to fight or used as so-called bait dogs, but the Humane Society estimates that more than 250,000 dogs are forced to participate in the blood sport each year in the U.S. alone.  

RELATED:
Main Line Animal Rescue takes its pro-pit bull, anti-Michael Vick message to San Diego
Michael Vick speaks out about dogfighting (sort of) at Washington church

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Pit bull puppies rescued as a result of a massive multistate raid on dogfighting operations in July.  Credit: Jeff Roberson / Associated Press