Puptastic thanks Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine for hiring a chartered flight to rescue a couple hundred animals from Louisiana, even if as it turned out,

Louisiana state officials blocked most of the animals rescued from the hurricane from being taken out of state, citing the need to quarantine the animals for 30 days, in case they are ill . . . The quarantine order was canceled later that day.

Jeers, once again, to the government of Louisiana; but cheers to T. Boone and Madeleine for spending, on top of the $5 million dollars T. Boone and his employees donated to the Red Cross, $50 thousand on this animal rescue effort, which helped to evacuate fifty stressed pooches.

For those who've been trying to find a way to help but haven't found the right charity yet: Noah's Wish is an organization whose mission is to rescue animals in the wake of natural disasters, and they're in Louisiana right now, helping out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Too often in terrible situations like this, it's easy to think only of the human cost involved. Thanks to kelli for alerting us to this wonderful group!

For some shocking, heartwarming, frightening pictures of pets weathering the storm, you can look at MSNBC's "picture story" on pets.

On a search for traditional wedding dishes, I stumbled across this horrific Filipino one: Stewed Dog, Wedding Style. The author notes:

During my wedding reception, my brother-in-law suggested we add to the feast by having dog stew. Wanting to be part of the family, and having been subjected to all sorts of socials tests already, I agreed. The result was... well... a lot better than I expected. In fact, it was great!

It was only later I found out that dog should *not* be served at weddings, as it may make the bride and groom fight like dogs during the honeymoon.

For the faint of heart, you can always substitute lamb in place of next door's Rover, but the meat will not be as sweet or as rich in flavor.

Note: like most Filipinos, we at Puptastic absolutely do NOT, NOT, NOT endorse the eating of dogs. But some of us might secretly be of the opinion that it would be adorably macabre to dress up our pups in little wedding outfits and serve them a bowl of stewed lamb, dog wedding style.

(Dog wedding costume available from: The Puppy Shop)]]> 2005-12-09T01:59:33Z 2005-08-08T07:54:55Z tag:puptastic.com,2005://1.80 2005-08-08T07:54:55Z

Via Obscure Store, I found this awesome blog called PostSecret, where people send the author postcards with their secrets on them, and the author posts them anonymously. Brilliant, hilarious, moving mail art. The site's one flaw is its relative paucity of dog-related content. Any dog-owning artists out there, please take up the slack here!

Since that link is insufficiently gross, let me quote, in its entirety, a post from the latest Best of Craiglist:

Dog Toe Nail and Seed Collage

I have created a beautiful collage from my dogs toe nails and some seeds from my garden. God has blessed us with many wonderful objects to create beautiful art with.

Good thing it was the toenails she used, and not any of the other doggy bits I can think of. . . .

Slate had a fascinating article on trends in dog breed popularity, and how Labs came to replace poodles as the #1 most popular dog in America. It's really worth reading the whole thing, but here is a sample:

. . . the Labrador's increasing popularity may be tied to the advent of exurbs and McMansions. . . . . In Manhattan, meanwhile, where space is at a premium, tiny dachshunds are the most popular breed.

The poodle, meanwhile, which used to be seen as an intelligent, energetic companion, now comes off as a high-maintenance priss.

In a side note: Yukino sends a link to a study finding that Cats can alter your personality. Phooey on cats!

The Centers for Disease Control published a report on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities [PDF], broken down by breed. Unsurprisingly, there are no Maltese bite-related fatalities on the relatively short list, which is entirely comprised of:

• "Pit Bull"
• Rottweiler
• German shepherd
• "Husky"
• Alaskan malamute
• Doberman Pinscher
• Chow Chow
• Great Dane
• St. Bernard
• Akita

(I believe this link was via something on MeFi.) Anyway, if you are an owner of one of these breeds, what can you do? I suggest investing in:

"Invisible Breed" brand Disguise Kits! Including step-by-step photos of a Doberman being swathed in artificial fur until he looks like a poodle. Humiliating for him; hilarious for us. That is, until the faux-poodle takes a bite out of us and we float up to the great CDC statistics table in the sky.

The L.A. Times ran an alarming article yesterday: When it's pot versus pet, there's a bad trip in store. It led with this description of a dog who'd eaten "marijuana cookies":

He sat trembling, his front legs stuck out at an awkward angle, his dilated eyes fixed on a distant point. A check of the heart revealed a coma-like 32 beats per minute, far below normal.

And the Pet Professor corroborates: marijuana is poisonous to dogs. However, the folks on Ask MeFi tell a very different story:

I have seen a small dog eat a good ounce and a half of weed and butter mixture. It was unconscious for a ten hours or so and then recovered to normal. It was a old dog too. . . .

He came out fine. The cool part was he was not a insanely nervous, yappy dog for the first time in his life.

And of course, with a grain of salt:

I feed my chihuahua cigarette butts, bourbon, and angel-dust and he's fine.

So, I have no idea. Is scaremongering keeping us from the long-lost remedy for neurotic pup behavior? Or are the people of Ask MeFi guilty of reckless pup endangerment?

Either way, how could you say "just say no" to this cutie? (thanks Jim Flanagan).

Supermodel

Originally uploaded by Angela Martini.

Puptastic apologizes in advance for what you are about to see next.

Six-legged dog [backstory here] has been dubbed "Ong Fatt" (Lucky One). Yeah, that should keep him from getting teased on the playground . . . Sorry. I struggled for over a week about whether to post this one or not. But I ultimately could not stop myself. I will try to make it up to you with extra cuteness in the surrounding posts.

Aww. Puptastic brings you this adorable photo as an apology for the previous entry.

The reaction from Americans seems to be mostly privacy-oriented (apparently the subway cars in internet-savvy Korea are overflowing with mobloggers), but seriously. You know what's much more appalling than trying to pick up dog diarrhea? Making an old person have to stoop on a moving subway car to clean up a mess that isn't even their fault. And you know what's more important than snapping a photo of someone who refused to pick up their dog's diarrhea? Helping clean it up so the old person doesn't have to.

It makes me a little sad to think of pup-plastic surgery in Brazil. If you love your pet, why expose them to the dangers that come with putting them under the knife? To wit:

[Brazilian vet Edgado Brito] can make protruding ears droop and uses Metacril to straighten bent ears. He uses Botox to fix inverted eyelashes. He has even tightened the mammillae of a couple of female dogs, whose owners wanted to show them after they had given birth.

But maybe I am biased because Tiberius is the most adorable little guy ever. Even if he has a face only a non-plastic-surgeon would love.

. . . I had dreamed of a dog the previous night, and (I know this sounds strange) my son and I went looking for him. The Rescue Group had done a good job on his coat, and he was fed and reasonably warm...but still, when I met him, his eyes and spirit were dull like someone who doesn't dare to hope. He rose on his back legs and put his paws on my waist, and looked, and looked. And I was smitten. In my heart he became my dog that day . . .

I know the shelter adoption process can be grueling and sometimes impossible to navigate. But to anyone who has successfully adopted a shelter dog: Puptastic thanks you.