Wacko gundog breeder harrasses couple with rat poison, anonymous leaflets UK
'A gundog breeder was sentenced Tuesday to 5 1/2 years in prison for harrassing and intimidating a couple who bought a country property he wanted for himself.'  He poured oil in their pond, sent rat poison in the mail to their young son, and tried to slander them with anonymous leaflets that portrayed them as pedophiles. When police searched his home, they found a home made bomb...  Dog breeder jailed for intimidating couple [AP) (what a neighbor...  )

History of the 'Dog Fence', the longest fence in the world AU 'Brian Lock, a retired inspector of the famous dog fence, explains the history of the longest fence in the world. Stretching from South Australia to Queensland this 5400km fence is two and a half times longer than the Great Wall of China. The Dog Fence not only protects the livestock inside the fence, but also allows dingoes [Australia's wild dog species] to be preserved...' Dog Fence  [ABC news]

Trained fighting dog kills its owner Russia 'A fighting dog killed its owner in Moscow.  According to police, a pit bull terrier killed its 61-year-old owner. The policemen called for rescuers, who put the cannibal dog away. The investigation of the woman's death is being carried out...' Fighting dog kills its owner in Moscow [RIA Novosti]

US military promises recon surveillance for sniper hunt DC President Bush has added yet another tool in the arsenal to get the stealthy sniper who is taking down people at will, despite the biggest manhunt in DC history.... he has offered 150 ATF agents plus the military's use of recon surveillance to the police so they can better track the sniper. As a precaution, military will not be allowed to preside over the hunt; they will provide the equipment and technical expertise which permits recon surveillance... (Linda Franklin, the woman who was shot in Fairfax, Virginia, on Sunday evening, was an intelligence researcher for the FBI. ) [CNN.com] Related: Google News

(What I find offensive in the news: ...  on FOXnews.com ...catchy music playing while a blood red banner with a sniper's crosshairs displays and the words 'SNIPER SHOOTING SPREE' splash across the screen...  that makes it sound like an exciting 'shopping spree' ... gross ... )

 'Worried about all those surveillance cameras creating a "Big Brother" society where people are spied on at every moment? The NY Times is discussing how police could be using traffic cameras to help find the sniper currently terrorizing the Washington DC area.  However, I'm sure it won't be long before a criminal is caught based on traffic cameras.' [Techdirt] Using Traffic Cameras To Track Down The Sniper.  Al 'Macintyre' has some good ideas too... and he's been writing them up...

Personally, I think we're going to end up with much less freedom and much more surveillance. The irony is that we'll probably lose it because of some crazy so-called 'freedom loving' crackpot who's out to get the Federal government. In Egypt, you can walk around Cairo's open areas freely, but on every corner there's an armed militia with an automatic rifle ... to make sure that you can.... (well, that was the case four years ago.... don't know what it's like now)

Avoiding a sniper is NOT a phobia DC metro area I heard a news media consultant on TV call the DC area's residents' current avoidance of outdoor activities a 'mass phobia.' oh brother... we're not the ones that are sicko; it's in response to a sicko who's killing people indiscriminately with his hi-tech easy-to-kill-with-one-shot rifle. If the police don't catch this guy, there will be even MORE avoidance of outdoor activities. Who will be his next victim? ... someone outside, in an open area, innocently going about his/her business. That sounds like the rest of the entire Metro DC population. That's us... and we're doing the best we can... I think taking precautions is healthy; it means you're not in denial; in this case, fear is normal; we're all still attending to life's lessons and we go outside in open communal areas with caution. Related: Google News

Dog talk in Radioland:  

• Kathryn Dionne's Shar Pei, Raisin, just celebrated a sixth birthday: 'Yesterday was Raisin's birthday. Raisin is our adorable 6 year old shar pei. If you've never seen one of these incredibly cute puppies you must check out this site. They are absolutely irresistible...you're guarenteed to fall head over heels in love. (as soon as I learn how to post pictures, you'll see just how cute she really is.)' Raisen just recovered from 'mast cell' cancer and is currently in remission.
• Gordon Meyer, the author of Wet Behind the ears, has a dog named scooter. Another self-reflection? Gale is awesome. She didn't mind me stopping to shop for books on Ruby and CSS in the middle of our vacation. She even walked our dog Scooter in the hot parking lot while I browsed the stacks. Isn't that great? (And then Bruce, the friendly guy at the store, welcomed both her and Scooter inside with a cold drink. Neato.) [wet behind the ears]
•  Andy J. Williams Affleck's neighbor has a dog who is apparently a sound sleeper. Andy lives in metro Washington DC area. His thoughts on the DC sniper: 'The bottom line is that it's scary. I have friends who are quite blasé about the whole thing and view this as 'so random the odds of it being me are too small to consider' which is an attitude I would have held a few years ago. I've tried to understand why this has changed for me and I keep cominng back to Jack.' He refers readers to a recent Washington Post article: News We Should Lose (washingtonpost.com) [Webcrumbs]
• Edwin Goodwin has a dog channel: 'A log of dog training, obedience, and care links..." His motto: 'move along, nothing to see here...'
• Charles Nadeau's Radio Weblog (A weblog about technology, tools and knowledge management) reads Dog News, to round out his geeky interests, which include rss, pc hardware and Micro$oft. Check out his weather pixie.