Dog answers call to prayer India Socksy, a black mixed breed dog,  'responds to Muslim calls for prayers five times a day...' and has not missed a single prayer session in nine years.  The dog bays in precise timing with the azaan. "If there is a slight mistake in the azaan, Socksy stops baying and resumes seconds later.  It is almost like she understands what is said."  [Ananova.com] (... maybe the dog is protesting the Muslim ban on dogs as unclean) Related: Dogs no longer banned in Iran 'Once upon a time, semi-official religious authorities called basijis shot dogs dead on the street. Many "disappeared" like political dissidents. '

Torn to shreds: when pet dogs turn into attack dogs  NY 'Nature, nurture and an irresponsible dog owner all likely combined to unleash the fatal pit bull mauling of a suspected drug dealer in Dryden last month, animal behavior experts say...' The man, a suspected drug dealer, was apparently murdered over drug money; two drug dealers used their pet pit bull to tear his face to pieces. The lethal outcome forced police to use fingerprints to identify his body... [The Post Standard]

Statistics draw a picture of the kind of dog most likely to bite: untrained, unneutered and dogs chained outside or left outside without human supervision. Combine that with a breed designed for dog fighting and bull baiting (the pit bull) and you have a lethal weapon. Last week, a family's two pit bulls tore an 80-year-old grandmother to shreds. No one knows why it happened or what triggered the fatal mauling. The two dogs had never shown any aggression before and the family is distraught.... Grandmother mauled to death by family's pit bulls [Newsday] Related: Woman Torn to shreds by dogs, Dogs maul baby girl to death