Today's weird news...   is beyond belief...

• In Thailand, a meat shortage has neighbors stealing pet dogs ... to cook in their evening stews. 'Quite a few people here like dog meat and many more are prepared to eat it during the food shortage...' [The Nation]
• Someone's using anti-freeze to poison pet dogs  in the town of Soldotna, Alaska.... [Kenai Peninsula Online]
• Home littered with dead dogs had supposedly been inspected  CO 'A social worker reported nothing wrong four years ago when she visited the home where inspectors last month found 10 dead animals, dog and cat cages stacked up everywhere and junk piled to the ceiling. A 13-year-old adopted daughter was removed and placed in foster care...' [KMGH]
• Strychnine gets restricted after intentional dog poisonings NV [KVBC]
• Exotic animal breeder fined for animal cruelty FL  'She has more animals than one or two people can say grace over...' No kidding...  she was even picking up road kill (two dogs) to use as dinner for her cougers... She says she's breeding animals out of her love for them and she gives them away... [Gainsville Sun]
• Somebody's abducting, torturing and killing dogs in Maury County... TN  Police have few clues and are asking for help in finding the killer... [Columbia Daily Herald]

Madeleine Albreit champions dog parks in DC ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is championing a cause for her sister - more dog parks throughout Washington DC, where dogs can play unleashed. Albright's sister, Kathy Silva, an organizer of the D.C. Dog Owners Group, is lobbying the city council for a dog park in each of the city's seven wards. 'I don't understand why non-dog owners wouldn't want to have a designated area for dogs where it will be cleaned up...'  [Modesto Bee]

'Two-legged dogs' the real problem in attacks, says Mayor New Zealand As in most dog mauling incidents, the latest victim was a child: a seven year old girl playing happily on a swing. 'The girl had been using a playground swing in the park at the time of the weekend attack. Her family thought the 'big brown dog' was licking her face until they heard her crying...' Although she is 'lucky' to be alive (due to her parent's intervention), the victim will have to undergo many years of reconstructive surgery... to repair the loss of half of her face to a marauding dog... [Straits Times Asia] (The owner of the dog gave the parents a false identity and whisked the dog away... ] (Dogs should never be allowed near children without adult supervision.]  More:

• NZ police hunt for dog that mauled girl's face 
• Dog sought in attack likely to have done it before: police
• Father of dog-mauled girl wants tougher penalties
• Jail time sought for owner of dog
• Surgeon lashes out at weak dog-attack laws
• Fearful parents on the alert for dogs
• Surgeon angry at lack of compassion for little dog bite victim
• Hunt for child-mauling dog continues
• Dog rips away half of child's face
• Dog savages girl's face in playground

From the Daily Bone: About.com for dogs names Dog News 'the pick of the web:' 'A dog news blog that has lots of news stories and links to other organisations...' [The Daily Bone: daily bites of fun for the dog lover]  Other Daily bone goodies include: Book of the day: What do dogs know by Stanley Coren; and fun fact of the day: 'There are 701 types of pure breed dogs.'

Dogs.about.com is a comprehensive portal for the dog lover, and covers rescue organizations, dog breeds, recommended products, A - Z dog information, A - Z breed information, photo gallery and more... Because it's written by experts in dog training, education, veterinary practice, this portal goes in our valued Dog Resources category... right now...

The dog'ter is in ... er... the dog is in Specially trained therapy dogs speed rehabilitation for patients 'Khyber's a dog, not a doctor.
But Jeff Johnson gives the yellow Labrador retriever credit for helping him on the road toward recovering from an inflammatory disorder that attacked the peripheral nerves controlling his movements....' [Journal Sentinel] (a must read... courageous patients work with therapy dogs...)