Justice for the man who faked career as vet, doctor and dentist NY "Mr. Holland has been practicing on both human and animal patients, using the same waiting rooms and examination rooms with no sanitary practices," said Viola Abbitt, who is prosecuting the case for the attorney general's office. "He wasn't even washing his hands in between patients." Holland's unsavory practices led to some near death experiences for his unlucky patients and to 71 convictions. Oddly enough, some patients stand by him still... Charges claim suspect posed as a doctor [Times Union]

Dogged defender of animal rights seeks paridigm shift MA Harvard law school lawyer, Steven M. Wise, seeks to knock down the legal wall that separates humans from non-humans. His transformation from high flying attorney to the Dr. Doolittle of dog attorneys began when he read Peter Singer's book "Animal Liberation."In the process, he spent the last twenty plus years teaching animal rights law, defending all kinds of animals, and  writing two well received books on legal rights for animals...

'I win most often in cases where dogs have been sentenced to death because they are said to have a vicious disposition. I treat it as I would a capital case. I'll hire experts to do a psychological evaluation of the dog and the family. Often I'll ask, "Tell me from the dog's point of view what was going on...' A Courtroom Champion for 4-Legged Creatures [New York Times]

Sniffer dogs track for clues in serial shootings MD "A 13-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded outside his middle school this morning in Prince George's County near Bowie, Maryland. Officials don't know if the shooting is related to last week's string of sniper-style shootings in the region. ATF special agent Mike Bouchard said dogs trained to detect gunpowder residue will be used at the school to try to find out where the shooter may have been positioned..." [News 8 Austin]

As residents of Montgomery County, we feel worried about the continuing random shootings. We adopted our dog from Prince George's County SPCA and his foster family lives in Bowie, Maryland. We hope the detector dogs can give the police the edge in finding clues about the killer. Over the weekend, we attended several community picnics which were well-attended, despite the worry that an unseen shooter was at large and presumably lives in Montgomery County, Maryland.