LOS ANGELES  — Until she introduced “magic cheese” to her sick and aging bulldog, Laura Bugni-Daniel watched him suffer for two years. He’d spend his days lying down or throwing up.

Today, at age 12, he plays like a puppy through the day, his fur is soft and he sleeps at night, soothed not by magic, but by the dose of marijuana in

that cheese.

Bugni-Daniel is part of a growing movement to give medical marijuana to pets in pain. Many urge caution until there’s better science behind it. But stories abound about changes in sick and dying pets after they’ve been given cannabis — even though it isn’t a proven pain killer for man or mutt, and it’s an illicit drug under federal law despite being legal for people in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Leading the charge is Los Angeles veterinarian Doug Kramer, 36, known as the “Vet Guru,” who felt it was his duty to speak out while he has no family that would feel a verbal or financial backlash.

“I grew tired of euthanizing pets when I wasn’t doing everything I could to make their lives better,” he said. “I felt like I was letting them down.”

Pot eased his Siberian husky’s pain during her final weeks, after she had surgery to remove tumors. Not only did Nikita stop whimpering while using cannabis, but she started eating, gaining weight and meeting him at the door again.

It gave him six extra weeks with his dog before he had to euthanize her, he says. It wasn’t a cure, but he thinks it freed her of pain and improved her last days.

Some other vets contacted said they share Kramer’s view on pot, but they wouldn’t talk on the record for fear of arrest or retaliation.

Kramer hasn’t lost any clients over his view, but he was asked not to return to some of the clinics where he volunteered or relieved other vets because of concerns over the negative image his advocacy creates, he said.

Dr. Duncan Lascelles, a professor of surgery and pain management at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, thought about studying marijuana a decade ago. He didn’t, not for lack of interest, but because the timing was wrong.

“I have been considering looking at that field again because I think it does have a lot of potential,” he said.

He also figures those all-important grants needed for research will be available now.

Testing could take 10 years or more to be sure a pain killer will be effective and free of side effects, Lascelles said.

Kramer said it’s unconscionable to let a decade pass, when millions of pets will die of illness and old age.

Vets who want traditional testing point to a study by two Colorado animal hospitals that compared the number of dogs treated for what appeared to be accidental marijuana overdoses between 2005 and 2010 with increases in the number of marijuana licenses issued. As registrations increased 146-fold, the number of sickened pets went up four-fold.

“Sometimes public sentiment and activity gets ahead of the scientific background and that can be dangerous,” said Barry Kellogg, senior veterinary adviser to the Humane Society of the United States.

While two dogs with pot in their system died in the Colorado survey, hallucinogenic reactions may make dogs wobbly on their legs, raise their pulse and cause dribbly urine, said Dr. Karl Jandrey, an emergency and critical care vet at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis.

But pot clinic managers say that a proper dose of the drug will prevent a bad reaction.

Jessica LeRoux of Twirling Hippy Confections in Denver made custom treats that helped extend the life of her last service dog, a black Lab-border collie mix named Thor.

“I got the 15th year out of that relationship because of the product I made for him,” she said.

Old or ailing pets who take cannabis usually experience an immediate boost in appetite and relief from pain. That lets them get around, relieve themselves without help, sleep better and enjoy their families until age or disease catches up, LeRoux said in explaining how the cannabis helps pets.

At La Brea Compassionate Caregivers in Los Angeles, manager Megan Hanley recommends a drop of liquid marijuana extract marketed as Companion Cannabis for every 10 pounds of dog. It can be spread on cheese or bread.

“It’s a revolutionary product and response to it has been tremendous in the last year,” she said.

Bugni-Daniel, in Divide, Mont., is allowed to have four marijuana plants under state law for her medical needs. She turns that into extract for her and Rabito.

Marijuana has been like the fountain of youth for the American bulldog.

“It’s really nice to see your sick pet, for his last moments or weeks or months, be happy and not real sick and dealing with needles and surgery,” Bugni-Daniel said.

___

AP writer Kristen Wyatt in Denver contributed to this report.

___

Online:

— Kramer: www.vetguru.com

— Companion Cannabis: www.companioncannabis.com

LOS ANGELES  — Clothing is optional for pooches at dog-friendly beaches and pools around the country.

And more and more designers are cashing in on those options.

Tommy Bahama Pets will be in PetSmart Inc. stores through August. There’s a designer shirt and a dress with a ruffled skirt made with Bahama’s traditional hibiscus fabric. There are other shirts with palm trees and fish and chips, an Aloha Tee, hats and toys in the shape of thongs.

The clothes and toys range in price from $4.99 to $19.99, with 5 percent of the purchase price of each limited edition item going to PetSmart Charities.

PetSmart also has life jackets by Martha Stewart Inc. for dogs that feel like surfing or boating.

Designer John Bartlett in New York is offering a hoodie (with his signature three-legged dog icon) and a beach tank for dogs, plus leashes and collars. He sets aside 10 percent of all the money he raises to his rescue fund for shelter dogs and cats.

Bartlett’s clothing is sold at johnbartlettny.com.

Shelly Coby, owner of www.puprwear.com , based in Albuquerque, N.M., said 2013 beach fashions are expected around June 1, but she has plenty of stock on hand.

Last year’s favorites were bikinis, swimming trunks, Hawaiian shirts, hats, bandannas and wet suits, she said. Coby doesn’t have all sizes left, but she has some.

Coby, who has a pug named Ralph who loves to sunbathe, said it’s hard to find clothes for dogs over 75 pounds. “They can wear human shirts,” she explained.

Another site, www.poochieheaven.com sells a lot of the same designers as www.puprwear.com . Best selling items include bikinis in flower and leopard skin print for girls and neon-colored board shorts and Cancun dog swim trunks for male dogs. Bright caps are also best-sellers, a spokeswoman said.

Besides optional clothing, dog owners recommend taking sunscreen to protect your pet from getting burned; footwear if the sand is going to be really hot; fresh water; treats; food; a towel; a beach umbrella so you can both get out of the sun; a hat, visor, sunglasses or Doggles (think: goggles for dogs); a ball or toy, especially a floating toy if the dog will be allowed in the water.

Dogs, even at the beach, should always wear their collars with their identification.

LOS ANGELES — Thirty years ago, Dr. Gene Giggleman was a veterinarian who thought chiropractors were quacks. Since then, he says he’s straightened

out thousands of dogs and cats, not to mention the occasional snake, hamster, gerbil and guinea pig.

“And I know people who have adjusted pigs, goats and rodeo bulls,” said Giggleman, a professor at Parker University in Dallas, which specializes in chiropractic care.

In Southern California, Dr. Rod Block has tended to an elephant, a paralyzed iguana, a turkey, pigs, llamas and countless dogs and horses.

“You have to be very much in tune with the being of the animal you are working with,” said Block, who limits his work these days to house calls throughout Southern California, where he works with several veterinarians.

The vets say any human or animal with a spine-related problem can benefit from a chiropractic adjustment, like the 38-year-old horse that is one of Block’s patients. “He’s not rideable, but he’s mobile. He’s off steroids and free to roam around and enjoy the remainder of his life relatively pain-free,” Block said.

The horse doesn’t get top billing in his new book though. “Like Chiropractic for Elephants” describes how he treated a gimpy elephant at a private sanctuary, how her herd accepted him and how she used body language to help him find her pain.

Through the book, Block said he hopes “to demystify chiropractic.”

“I really want to illuminate the differences between what allopathic (mainstream) veterinary medical care does and what chiropractic does and how the two integrate well even though they are at opposite ends of the pole,” he said.

Unlike Giggleman, who started as a veterinarian, Block spent 30 years as a human chiropractor before he switched gears 20 years ago and became certified by the Bluejacket, Okla.-based American Veterinary Chiropractic Association, or AVCA.

Classes take about a year of extra study, Block said.

The AVCA has certified more than 1,000 veterinarians or chiropractors since 1989, said Leslie Means, the association’s executive director. The group has 560 active members, and they must regain certification every three years.

However, the certificates are not licenses to practice medicine. In states like Nevada and Oklahoma, getting a certificate is the only way you can set up shop. But states like California and Texas require those with certificates to work under the supervision of a veterinarian.

As a result, in many states, veterinarians and animal chiropractors work out of the same offices. They can make referrals to one another and even merge their telephone and online listings.

The story of Giggleman’s first chiropractic success is included in “Chicken Soup for the Chiropractic Soul.”

Sparky, a cocker spaniel, appeared to be having seizures, was on three drugs from three different vets and was going to be euthanized if Giggleman couldn’t help him.

“I examined the dog. Although I was a fledgling, I could tell the dog’s neck was out of whack or subluxated,” he said. “When I reached down and petted the dog, it hurt him so bad, he flipped over and started shaking.”

Giggleman adjusted Sparky and the dog lived another six years without seizures, he said.

On the spot, that made a convert out of Giggleman. He went on to cofound the Parker University animal chiropractic program.

“Chiropractic care is a drugless, non-surgical approach to treating animals,” Giggleman said. And, he added, much cheaper than traditional medicine with its surgeries and drugs.

Giggleman spends most of his time teaching but still sees patients one day a week. Ninety percent of his patients need chiropractic care and 10 percent need traditional care, he said.

“I’m not an extremist either way. I am for whatever fixes your dog,” he said.

Leslie Means, the AVCA director, had a show dog, an 85-pound Siberian husky who was trained in hand signals. “She misread a signal and jumped off the front porch. There was a 10-foot drop,” she said. X-rays were negative for broken bones but the dog cried constantly.

After seeing six vets and finding no relief for the dog, Means found the nearest animal chiropractor and made an appointment.

Means drove eight hours to get there, and after the appointment, the dog walked out of the office and jumped into the back seat of the car without so much as a whimper.

When Giggleman started teaching a course on how to adjust animals over a decade ago, the bulk of his students were chiropractors. “Now, for the first time, we are seeing more veterinarians than chiropractors,” he said.

“There is no cure-all discipline,” he said. “Chiropractic is complimentary care. There are times when pets need surgery.”

Animals often get more out of chiropractic care than humans, he said.

“Animals don’t lie. They are either better or not. They are very demonstrative with their adjustments. They don’t have all the mental trash we deal with on a daily basis. They hold their adjustments better because they don’t have all the stress we have.”

Pet owners will know when their animals need an adjustment if they pay attention, said Giggleman, who now teaches full time, is semiretired and sees patients one afternoon a week after 31 years of practice.

About once a month, a pet  owner will come in and say, “If you can’t do anything, I will have to put my pet  to sleep.”

He said he’s able to save 80 percent of those animals. For the others, “we get the animals out of some of the pain they are in and help the owners work through the whole issue as they prepare to part with their beloved pets.”

There is a double blessing for those he saves, Giggleman said, “because not only are you making the pet  better, but saving a life.”

___

Online:

— www.parker.edu

— www.animalchiropractic.org

But sometimes, fear grips dogs so tightly they shake, cower, bite, growl or pee. It can be constant, painful and hard to overcome. Such dread can consume a dog when it’s freed from a cage at a puppy mill or hoarder’s home

because that’s the only life the dog has ever known.

Until now, it was up to animal shelters to ease the fears, knowing if they didn’t, euthanasia was the likely alternative. But this week, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals opens its Behavioral Rehabilitation Center at St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, N.J.

It’s a two-year research project being financed by the ASPCA.

For now, dogs seized from puppy mills and hoarders will be the primary patients, said Kristen Collins, ASPCA’s director of anti-cruelty behavior rehabilitation and director of the center. It will also include some dogs that have been confined for long stretches as evidence in court cases.

Dogs will come from shelters across the country as well as from seizures involving the ASPCA.

It’s groundbreaking and exciting, Collins said. “It’s the first ever facility that’s dedicated strictly to providing rehabilitation for dogs that are victims of animal cruelty.”

The research will also provide some numbers, Collins said. No one knows how many shy dogs are being placed in homes now. And little is known about how they fare after placement, so center staff will spend a lot of time following up on animals.

There are 27 kennels, an office, real life rooms, treatment rooms and common areas at the center.

The average stay for most dogs will be six to eight weeks, “but we don’t have a hard and fast rule. All dogs are individuals. We will be flexible,” Collins said.

A team of 10 people, including two behavior experts from St. Hubert’s, will staff the center. Volunteers and daily caretakers will feed the dogs and clean kennels.

Graduating dogs will return to a shelter for placement and ASPCA shelter partners will continue working with the dogs if needed, Collins said.

St. Hubert’s is a longtime disaster partner of the ASPCA and jumped at the chance to be involved, said President and CEO Heather Cammisa.

Fear and anxiety are major factors that can hinder a dog’s quality of life, she said.

“If they are hiding in the back of the cage and they are fearful, No. 1, they don’t have a good quality of life and, No. 2, they are not going to be selected for adoption and when they go home, they are not really prepared to be the family pet that adopters seek, so this is just a win-all-around,” she said.

The ASPCA spent over half a million dollars on the building, Cammisa said, and will pay all other expenses, including vaccinations, spaying or neutering, treatments and other care.

Weather permitting, the first few dogs will arrive in the next day or two from the Pacific Northwest, Collins said.

They will be the last of 213 Alaskan malamutes seized from a Montana breeder who was convicted in December 2012 of 91 counts of animal cruelty. After being starved and living in filth at the breeding facility, the dogs then had to be kept in kennels as evidence for 16 months while the trial played out.

Malamutes are 75-pound dogs. “Eighteen of the dogs were pregnant. One pregnant dog only weighed 48 pounds and had eight pups. Only one survived,” said Bob Sutherland of Anchorage, president of the Alaska Malamute Assistance League.

The dogs were released to a humane society in Helena, Mont., where they were spayed and neutered, and another group helped place the animals.

While some dogs are in malamute rescues waiting for the right owner, many have found forever homes. Sutherland and his wife, Nicole McCullough, adopted one.

When the dogs were in evidence custody, Sutherland would visit to help out once a month. Cinder, a 6-year-old female, became his special project.

She is missing the tip of her ear, has broken teeth and a broken toe, injuries Sutherland said were caused when what little food was given to the dogs was thrown over a fence, causing food fights. Many of the dogs are even missing their tongues, he said.

Cinder has come a long way. “We took a shy dog, and she’s all grins and giggles now. If you work with these dogs, they rise and shine. That’s why this ASPCA facility is so valuable to us. We were super excited to get these dogs in there to go through a training regimen. It saves us a lot of heartbreak about what we do with these dogs,” Sutherland said.

There will be those dogs that cannot overcome the fear, Collins said. But behaviorists will do everything possible and consider euthanasia as a last resort only if the dogs are suffering from an extremely poor quality of life or if they pose a significant threat to the public, she said.

The center will only be able to handle about 400 dogs during the project’s two scheduled years, so it won’t take an immediate burden off shelters, Collins said, but if researchers can come up with new ways to ease fear, anxiety and shyness in abused dogs, it could have a widespread impact.

And success could mean another phase in the study, to include fighting dogs, or even cats, Collins said.

___

Online:

http://www.sthuberts.org

http://www.malamuterescue.org

http://www.aspca.org

LOS ANGELES — Help wanted: One trained, easygoing, low-maintenance dog that will work for next to nothing. It was the classified ad that Matthew VanFossan wrote in his head after going blind.

His Labrador retriever, Achilles, “will guide me across busy streets for nothing more than a pat on the head or ‘Good boy,’” said the 31-year-old writer-counselor from Los Angeles. “He loves every bit of attention, but he can also go without it. He’ll let out a low groan if he’s getting too bored.”

The breed’s friendliness, intelligence and love of physical activity helped make it the most popular dog in America for the last two decades, according to American Kennel Club data released last week. Labrador retrievers are widely used as search and rescue, guide, therapy and service

dogs, and they’re also perfect for active, outdoors-loving families with children, said club spokeswoman Lisa Peterson.

Labrador retrievers (22 years), cocker spaniels (23) and poodles (22) have been the most popular purebred dog breeds in the United States for a total of 67 of the 128 years the AKC has been counting. The data from the AKC, the country’s only nonprofit dog registry, comes from paid registrations by breeders and owners of purebred dogs, and makes the dog eligible for AKC events such as dog shows. More than 40 million purebred dogs have been registered since 1884, Peterson said.

Some critics, like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States, argue that owners mistake club registration as a sign of responsible breeding. “Registry with the AKC simply indicates that a dog had two parents of the same breed,” said Cori Menkin, senior director of ASPCA’s Puppy Mills Campaign. The AKC acknowledged that registration does not guarantee the quality or health of a dog.

However, Peterson condemned those who increase breeding to meet public demand, saying “responsible breeders do not produce more dogs just to meet popular demand.”

Factors, including Hollywood, pop culture and the economy, help drive changes in breed popularity. For instance, the yellow Lab featured in the bestselling memoir and the subsequent movie “Marley & Me,” help the breed’s popularity skyrocket, Peterson said.

Likewise, the popularity of other breeds has soared thanks to the beagle Snoopy in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comics, “Lassie” for collies, and cocker spaniels from “Lady and the Tramp.” Snoopy has been one of the biggest influences, Peterson said, and is the only non-dog to be issued an AKC registration certificate.

But “the No. 1 thing that drives changes in dog popularity is people’s lifestyles,” Peterson said. In New York City last year, larger breeds such as the Labrador retriever and German shepherd jumped over the smaller Yorkshire terrier. Peterson attributed to the economic recovery, saying “people are going back to larger dogs.”

The short-haired dogs are easier to groom, easier to walk and to exercise than the smaller, more time-intensive dogs, she said. She believes smaller dogs became popular because of the recession because that trend started in the 1990s.

Another popular breed, the cocker spaniel, has owners coming back for its friendliness. Carol Bryant, a blogger from Forty Fort, Pa., travels frequently and uses her cocker spaniel Dexter as a networking tool. Dexter is so good that he has his own business cards, she said.

Of the breeds that made most gains in popularity, the most noticeable has been the bulldog, said Peterson. It has inched up the last five years, most recently to No. 5 nationally in 2012, she said.

She attributed some of that to “great visibility. It’s the mascot for the U.S. Marines. Think of all the colleges that have bulldog mascots. The Mack truck has a bulldog on the hood. And Tillman and Beefy are real bulldogs who skateboard.”

Celebrities such as Brad Pitt, rapper Ice-T and athletes Michael Phelps and Sean White, have bulldogs, she added, which could partly explain why the breed is No. 1 in celebrity-driven Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Bulldogs “have such great temperaments, they are adorable puppies, they are sturdy and compact, and they have the wrinkles and the eyes. They don’t require a lot of grooming or exercise and they love to stay in the house and be with you or if you like the outdoors, they love that too,” Peterson said.

The small, sturdy breed also is compatible with owners of all ages, she added, making it ideal for multi-generational families. That comes in handy as the economy forces more adult children to return home.

When it comes to America’s top dog for the past 20 years, practicality beat being fashionable. The Labrador retriever’s intelligence earned high marks among owners who sought out the breed.

VanFossan, who lost sight in both eyes by age 22, has owned two Labs. He tried using a cane for six awkward months, then got a guide dog — a Lab named Gilly. Their time together became a book in January — “Through Gilly’s Eyes: Memoirs of a Guide Dog” — and his second dog is Achilles.

“Achilles is a little more sensitive but is better at remembering. It’s incredible. I can go to a new place just once or twice, and he’ll have the route memorized. Sensitivity has its advantages,” VanFossan said.

Linda Markley, a mother of three in Los Angeles, returned to the breed after her first Lab — a shelter find — died. When the rescues turned up none, she went to a breeder to buy Riley.

Markley said she loves Riley for dozens of reasons, but is most impressed with her memory for human vocabulary and street smarts. She knows words like “keys,” ”shoes,” ”park,” and “shake,” and can understand phrases such as “go to Ryan’s room,” ”go to Jack’s house,” and “let’s go for a hike,” the proud owner said.

And Markley has no doubt that Riley understands what she’s saying: “She loves sticks, so she doesn’t chase balls or swim in the pool. If you say, ‘Do you want to go in the water?’ she will run the other way.”

___

Online:

http://www.akc.org

LOS ANGELES — Dogs and cats can’t brush, spit, gargle or floss on their own. So owners who want to avoid bad pet breath will need to lend a hand.

“Brushing is the gold standard for good oral hygiene at home. It is very effective, but some dogs and more cats don’t appreciate having something in their mouth,” said Dr. Colin Harvey, a professor of surgery and dentistry in the Department of Clinical Studies for the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

The bulk of bad breath odor — the trademark rotten egg smell — comes from hydrogen sulfide, which is waste from anaerobic bacteria that thrive without oxygen in places like gaps between teeth and gums. Plaque buildup also invites the bacteria and as the accumulation grows, so does the smell.

Animal shelters and rescues know bad breath and filthy teeth can be a deal breaker. Some shelters, such as the Humane Society of Vero Beach & Indian River County in Florida, shuffle their charges through a dental health program before the animals are adopted out.

“We usually do dental cleanings and extractions when animals are spayed or neutered so the animal doesn’t have to be put under anesthesia again after adoption and the adopter has one less thing to worry about,” said Janet Winikoff, the shelter’s director of education.

If a pet is already spayed or neutered, it will still get dental care before adoption, she said. Harvey added that bad breath could also be a symptom of an underlying medical problem.

Stacy Silva, Santa Barbara County Animal Services’ community outreach coordinator, noted that wear on teeth could give the wrong impression of an animal’s age. “(The animals) may look a lot older than their teeth, and it may just be a matter of cleaning the tartar off that gets them back looking their age and that helps them to be adopted,” said Silva.

The animals that need a cleaning get chew toys or ropes, hard treats or cookies and a prescription diet if the vet orders it, she said.

Harvey, who has been director of the Veterinary Oral Health Council since it was founded in 1970, said such products are good substitutes for a teeth-brushing. Pet owners can try a combination or use other products such as water additives, chew toys, plaque and tartar cleaners, and dental diets, Harvey said.

Puppies and kittens are born toothless. They get their baby teeth before they’re a month old, lose them three to five months later and get their permanent teeth by age 1. Dogs have 42 teeth and cats have 30.

Toy dogs tend to have more dental problems because breeding for their smaller size hasn’t caught up with evolution, Harvey said. “Primitive dogs had a standard size and shape because they were evolved from wolves” but for toy breeds, their jaw size was reduced and tooth size was not, “so their teeth are too large for their mouths,” he added.

Christie Keith, a communications consultant to animal welfare and veterinarian groups, said she spends about two minutes each night brushing the teeth of her three dogs after dinner. The Davisburg, Mich., resident believes most dog owners needlessly fear brushing their dogs’ teeth.

“But cats are another story,” she added.

Harvey said that’s because cats’ mouths are smaller, their teeth sharper and they could care less about bonding with a human during designated tooth time.

Keith said she took it slow when she began brushing the teeth of her 8-year-old greyhound Val. She started with one tooth at a time and used a foamless flavored gel that dogs can swallow.

“She started to nibble (on the toothbrush) and I rubbed it on her front teeth. I didn’t make a big deal out of it. I didn’t worry about brushing the first half dozen times. It was just a little bonding thing. Eventually, I brushed one tooth. Now she stands there and lets me brush all her teeth,” she said.

The gel doesn’t require water to rinse, lessening the likelihood of a mess. A year later, “(Val’s) gums look healthy to me, and it doesn’t seem she has any more tartar,” Keith said.

Oral care products for animals are generally not regulated by any federal agency, although the Food and Drug Administration monitors all products that claim to prevent or slow disease. The agency does not test products that claim cleaner teeth, fresher breath or the reduction of plaque and tartar, Harvey said.

The VOHC is not a regulatory agency but it uses American Dental Association guidelines to test pet plaque and tartar products. Test requests are voluntary but companies pay nonrefundable submission and annual maintenance fees. Products are given a VOHC seal if they pass.

The council has approved a human, ADA-compliant, flathead toothbrush with soft bristles and rounded tips for pet use. A child’s brush can be used for small pets and an adult size for big dogs, but don’t use human toothpaste on pets, Harvey warned.

Such toothpastes contain detergents that foam and pets will swallow it instead of spitting it out, he said.

Harvey said he can’t comment on any product VOHC hasn’t tested, but as a rule, any wipe, tongue cleaner or additive should be beneficial — although nothing beats brushing.

___

Online:

http://www.vet.upenn.edu

http://www.vohc.org

http://hsvb.org

http://www.countyofsb.org/phd/animal.aspx

The friendly baby bobcat was only a few weeks old and had burned paws and infected eyes when fire crews found her in August while battling a 75,000-acre

fire in the Plumas National Forest. They named her Chips, after the wildfire.

Volunteers at the Sierra Wildlife Rescue in Placerville now are trying to toughen the kitten up, with plans to release her back into the wild next spring, The Sacramento Bee (http://bit.ly/WTOqHJ ) reports.

As part of her training regimen, Chips has had to start chasing down her own mice and rabbits for meals and stop sleeping on a soft bed like the one she’d grown accustomed to while she was receiving medical treatment.

She’s also been introduced to two male bobcats, Tuffy and Sierra, that hiss and bare their claws at humans.

“If you have a friendly bobcat in the wild, that’s not going to work,” said volunteer Jill Tripoli, who squirts the kitten with a water bottle if she tries cuddling up to humans.

The firefighters who found Chips wandering in circles on Aug. 25 noticed right away that she was affectionate. She followed them as they went about their work and nuzzled the boots of a hand crew member every time they stopped.

They tried to locate a female bobcat searching for its baby, but had no luck and ended up taking the kitten to a Lake Tahoe animal shelter. She transferred to Placerville last month.

Forest Service spokesman, John Heil, said the bobcat was lucky to have survived given how intense the flames were in the area she was found.

“How it survived with the fire passing through is miraculous,” he said.

___

Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com

LOS ANGELES — The person behind one of the country’s fastest-growing animal rescues can’t even vote yet. And neither can most of the people leading its 10 chapters

across the nation.

Lou Wegner, a 16-year-old actor and singer from Columbus, Ohio, started Kids Against Animal Cruelty when he was 14. The organization, which uses social networking to encourage adoptions at high-kill animal shelters, has helped 20,000 pets escape euthanasia in two years.

Lou said he became aware of euthanasia at shelters when he went to Los Angeles to make the short film “Be Good to Eddie Lee.” The director suggested that he volunteer at an animal shelter.

Until then, Lou thought shelters were safe havens for strays and lost pets. “It was heartbreaking. All these dogs crying in their cages. Knowing they would be put down broke my heart,” he said.

The group started with Lou and his friends, carrying signs on street corners, and a Facebook page with 47 friends. Now it has more than 12,000 U.S. members and 50,000 members, supporters and partner coalitions across the globe, he said.

The group gets a boost whenever Lou hits the red carpet or the airwaves. He had a small role in Clint Eastwood’s “Trouble With the Curve,” just finished a pilot called “The Thundermans” for Nickelodeon, and co-hosts a weekly Global Voice Broadcasting radio show called “Love That Dog Hollywood! Kids & Animals.”

Brenda Barnette, the general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services who has been on the show, said Lou is “a well-spoken advocate for animals and for peer involvement.” At events where he’ll be photographed or when the paparazzi are lurking, he’s seldom without a T-shirt with a Kids Against Animal Cruelty logo, she said.

With that kind of exposure, the group’s goal has become global — getting people to adopt from shelters, to spay and neuter pets, and educating them about pet responsibility, Lou said. He advocates a no-kill policy, and hopes adults will join in because “they know so much more than we do.”

The growing popularity of the teen, who is also a member of the pop band Blonde, helped save a shelter dog that might have otherwise been euthanized. Tommy Joe, an 11-month-old black Lab in South Carolina, wasn’t too popular when his photo was posted on the group’s Facebook page. Lou said the post garnered no likes or comments.

He recalled that the dog “was skinny and he looked sad. I thought he was doomed.” So he posted online messages to the dog, drawing attention to its case and leading a group called For the Love of Dogs in Chester, S.C., to save Tommy Joe.

KAAC chapters around the country are run by teens, including a pair of sisters in New York City who worked with several groups to find lost animals and get food to people whose pets were starving in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. An Arizona chapter is run by one of Lou’s nephews, and a cousin heads the Minnesota chapter.

Lou hopes to have a chapter in every state eventually, “because the bigger the group you work with, the bigger difference you can make.”

“They euthanize just as many animals every day as we have saved. It’s like throwing a Band-Aid in a river,” he said.

He said there’s also the need to educate children who commit cruelty to animals, as in the recent cases of a 12-year-old California boy arrested after police said he got mad at his family’s dog and hung it on a door handle. In Las Vegas, police say two 11-year-olds threw rocks at a cat giving birth, killing her six kittens. Lou said he would make those children witness what happens in the euthanasia room at a shelter.

Robin Harmon, who runs a small dog transport program for Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles and met Lou at a shelter, said she “was especially impressed that at a young age, he could control his feelings and the sadness that we all feel when we are helping at high-kill shelters.”

“I have barely been able to do this and I am old enough to be Lou’s grandmother,” she said.

The sadness is hard to deal with, Lou agreed.

“Saving one keeps you going,” he said.

___

Online:

http://www.kidsagainstanimalcruelty.org

The first national monument to pay tribute to military dogs will be unveiled in California in just two months. The U.S. Working Dog Teams National Monument will honor every dog that has served in combat since World War II.

Some cities, cemeteries and military bases across the country already have such memorials. But none has been elevated to national monument level, where it will be in the company of the Statue of Liberty, Yosemite National Park and Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

In 2000, John Burnam, a 65-year-old veteran military dog handler, wrote a book called “Dog Tags of Courage.” A year later, he got an email from a reader wondering why there were no national monuments to the dogs of war.

In “Dog Tags” and a 2008 book, “A Soldier’s Best Friend,” Burnam wrote about his time with the Army’s 44th Scout Dog Platoon when he was in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968.

His first dog, Timber, was injured in an ambush a few months after they teamed up, so he spent most of his tour with a German shepherd named Clipper.

“He saved my life and saved the lives of others by alerting on ambushes, snipers and booby traps. I wanted to give something back to these animals that have done so much and asked for so little, except for food and water and the love of their handlers,” said Burnam, who received the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Back then, handlers were not able to adopt their dogs when they were retired.

“I always worried about them but I know they died over there and they died as heroes,” he said.

In 2004, Burnam and two other dog handler veterans pursued the idea in earnest, forming the John Burnam Monument Foundation Inc. But it took two more years, until he met Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., that the monument project started to take shape.

In 2007, Jones introduced legislation authorizing establishment of the monument. Passed unanimously by Congress, it was signed the next year by President George W. Bush, then amended and signed by President Barack Obama.

Burnam designed the monument, which depicts the modern military handler and four dogs — a Doberman, German shepherd, Labrador retriever and Belgian Malinois, all breeds used in wars.

The silicon bronze handler stands more than 9 feet tall and weighs 1,500 pounds. Each dog is about 5 feet tall and weighs 550 pounds. Burnam called them “hero-sized.”

The figures will stand on a pedestal, in front of a large granite wall. One side of the wall will have photos etched in black marble veneer showing dog teams in combat from the different wars. The other side will have an inscription written by Burnam.

The sculptor, Paula Slater, said it was the largest and most complex monument she had ever done. She worked for thousands of hours, saying that finishing a project of that size “is like giving birth to a baby — five of them.”

The money for the monument came slowly. Burnam made one of many fundraising pitches on the reality TV show “Who Let the Dogs Out,” featuring Tillman, the skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding bulldog. The president of Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc., the company that Tillman represents, attended the show taping and volunteered to pitch in more than $1 million.

“Don’t do a thing. Natural Balance and Petco (Animal Supplies Inc.) will take care of it,” Joey Herrick said. To raise funds for the monument and its maintenance, Natural Balance created a jerky bark treat sold by Petco. Maddie’s Fund, a family-funded pet rescue foundation, also signed on as a corporate sponsor.

The public will get a sneak peak of the monument at the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena on Jan. 1, when a floral replica will be used as Natural Balance’s float. Burnam, dogs and handlers from every military service branch will ride on it.

When the float goes on display afterward at Victory Park, the real bronze monument will make its public debut next to it, Herrick said. Then the bronze monument will go on tour as it heads to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The location was chosen as the site for the monument because that’s where most of the nation’s military’s dogs are trained.

Meanwhile, Tillman, the dog that helped get Burnam the monument funding, is also getting personal recognition for his military service. For his work entertaining troops at bases and for going through a mini Marine boot camp, the athletic bulldog has been made an honorary private 1st class.

___

Online:

http://www.jbmf.us

LOS ANGELES  — Fifteen dogs attended Sue Subkow’s first Halloween party in 2005. Half wore costumes, half were naked and all went home in about an

hour.

The next year, turnout doubled — this time with a potluck, “Pooch Parade” and awards ceremony. Today, her San Diego Golden Retriever Meetup Group includes more than 1,000 dogs and as many as 80 show up in costumes for her Halloween party.

“Halloween is our biggest shindig of the year,” Subkow said.

As Halloween has grown in popularity across the country, pets haven’t been left out. In 2010, 9 percent of dog owners surveyed by the American Pet Products Association said they bought a Halloween costume for their dog.

PetSmart Inc., one of the largest petcostume retailers, won’t divulge how many they sold last year, but dog and cat apparel buyer Reyna Jew said they more than doubled their assortment this year. The most popular costumes are bees and pumpkins, Jew said.

In the Virginia Highland and Morningside neighborhoods of Atlanta, hundreds of neighbors, their kids and pets gather with local firefighters every year to celebrate. A fire engine from Station 19, Atlanta’s oldest, leads a 400-yard people parade, said fire Capt. Eric Banaszek.

“We know the people here by name,” he said. Much of the fun is the photos the firefighters take with the partygoers.

“People bring their dogs, cats and birds to this event,” Banaszek said. However, he’s only seen dogs in costume.

“Some people do get festive and are creative with Superman and silly stuff, bandanas and masks. Of course the dogs don’t tolerate it too well, so many will just put a blanket over their backs,” Banaszek said.

But hardcore partiers like Subkow have gotten more elaborate. One year Subkow made her four dogs costumes as three little pigs and “Jack the Wuff.”

Subkow’s parties have included bobbing for frozen hot dogs and apples. Kimberly Schlegel Whitman, who has written several books, including “Dog Parties: Entertaining Your Party Animal,” has had animals bob for tennis balls.

Other tips from Whitman, who is PetSmart’s Halloween party expert:

— When prepping a yard, because dogs can be territorial, there should be several water stations set up. For Halloween, Schlegel Whitman likes to hollow out pumpkins and use them as bowls.

— Every dog should be on a leash, and treats in different sizes, shapes and colors can be placed where only humans can reach and control them. Halloween-themed toys can be put in doggie bags or given out as party favors.

— One of the biggest hits at any dog party, no matter what the occasion, is a photo booth. It can have backgrounds and props or not, but the photographer should be on the ground, shooting dogs at eye level.

— For decor, rawhide bones make good props in a fake cemetery. Or carve the likeness of a dog in a pumpkin. People who can’t draw can get sketches or stencils of almost any dog breed online.

And what do the humans do while the dogs are running, strutting, bobbing and celebrating Halloween?

“People stand around and tell stories about their dogs and why they love their dogs so much. The real beauty of these events is you are celebrating this community you have with other dog owners who understand the bond you have with your pet,” Schlegel Whitman said.