A Little More Tattoo Attitude

Turtle in Tucson, Arizona, modeled her tattoo (upper left) on a doodle drawn by a coworker during a staff meeting. It doesn’t matter that the simple drawing of a Snoopy-style puppy with a flower and a butterfly doesn’t look a lot like its subject. (See the photo of Ellen, Turtle's Ridgeback/Boxer mix.) “She had many claims to fame, most notably riding across the country with my partner and I on our tandem bicycle,” Turtle wrote about Ellen in an email to us.

Yvette Stayduhar’s tattoo (upper right) was inspired by her two passions: dogs and her bakery. She and her husband own Ann Arbor Biscuit Co., an organic and all-natural pet treat bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her tattoo features a rescued Pit Bull puppy named Millie and a spatula and whisk. One of Stayduhar’s three dogs, Millie works at the shop everyday and is in training for her Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog certificates. (They also have two cats.)

“I wanted to send this photo along to show everyone the brighter side of Pit Bull tattoos,” Stayduhar wrote. “A happy, responsibly-raised and completely spoiled rotten Pit Bull emblazoned on my ankle.”

A realistic portrait of a four-year-old pug named Trinity with a custom bone is how Phil Caseria of New Britain, Connecticut, captured his furry friend (lower left).

Lisa Wogan

Talk to the Paw

I've received a whole new batch of dog-inspired tattoos from BARk readers, which I’ll post today and tomorrow. Paw prints continue to be a central motif. Here are two very different approaches. The first a bold, reversed print, is from Trang Nguyen in Springfield, Virginia. Holly Carrell of Elizabeth, Colorado, pays tribute to three dogs in a laurelled paw. Shown in the photo, from left to right, the butterfly is for Georgia, the flower for Scarlett, and the lady bug for Emma. (Remember to click on the image for a better view.)

Lisa Wogan

Portland Ink

While we've discovered animal-inspired tattoos are definitely the rage, folks at DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland have figured out how to harness the trend for good. During the month of May in the City of Roses, more than 50 area tattoo artists are donating 10 percent of the proceeds from animal-inspired tattoos to the DoveLewis Stray Animal & Wildlife Fund, which helps pay for treating injured critters with no guardians.

I asked Reed Coleman, a spokesperson for DoveLewis, if perhaps BARk’s March story on dog-themed tattoos was the inspiration for Tats for Cats … and Dogs. Nope. Apparently the counterculture fundraiser was the brainstorm of a DoveLewis receptionist back in late 2007. “But, your article did play a part,” Coleman says. “When we saw it we absolutely knew we were on the right track.”

Among DoveLewis’s suggestions for tattoo art is an EKG display of your dog’s heartbeat. I haven’t seen that yet. If you’re ready to wear your heart under your sleeve in the Portland area, may as well do some good at the same time. Check out the list of participating artists.

Lisa Wogan

Illegal Lap Dogs

There was a time when I thought nothing of allowing my dog to be free in the car and stick his head out the window. Then I woke up and realized that if we were in an accident, the rest of his body would go through that window. I would have no one to blame but myself for his injuries, suffering and possibly death. We now use wire crates and seatbelt harnesses to ensure all five of our dogs travel safely.

So you'd think I'd be all rah-rah about the proposed legislation making it illegal for people to drive with dogs on their laps. Frankly, I think attempting to legislate common sense is ridiculous. No one likes to be told they HAVE to do something, like they're five years old. Plus, it's a waste of time and money as the bill meanders through the maze that is our government. Isn't there a better way to educate the public about safe dog travel? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Julia Kamysz Lane

Michael Vick Update

The Atlanta Falcons have drafted a new--hopefully squeaky clean--quarterback, helping to put an end to speculation that Michael Vick would be welcomed back into the lineup after serving a 23-month sentence for his role in a dog-fighting ring.

Lisa Wogan

Cujo the Chihuahua

Cujo the Chihuahua made the front-page news of my local newspaper when a Chicago police detective helped reunite him with his family after being dognapped two months ago. The happy ending made me smile, as well as the name of their other dog and Cujo's best friend, Michelle the Pit Bull.

Julia Kamysz Lane

Happy Pup-Friendly Earth Day

Stain-repellant chemicals from the lining of a dog food bag, phtalates in toys, arsenic-treated deckwood, mercury in cat food--the environment our companion animals inhale, lick and slurp is often loaded with toxins and pollutants. One dog is mad as hell and not going to take it any more. (Although, he's too sweet to put it that way.) On this Earth Day, read Eddie's story and learn more about taking action for animals (and people) to better the environment in your home and beyond.

Lisa Wogan

Dogs, ink

A few more dog-inspired tattoos have made their way into my inbox from readers who enjoyed our story "Indelible Dogs" (BARk, March/April 2008) for very personal reasons. The Rhodesian Ridgeback (upper left) belongs to Deborah Rocco. “My husband and I are owned by five of these wonderful creatures,” Rocco writes. Competitors in the show ring and on the lure course, “I just can’t imagine my life without them.”

Molly Lauroesch’s red merle Australian shepherds, Sydney and Charlie, are memorialized in her tattoo.

Lya Ashley of Woodville, Texas, ran a rescue for years in Florida. To commemorate her work, she had pawprints tattooed on her wrist with the Japanese characters for dog on her outer wrist (upper right) and for friend on her inner wrist. About the turquoise tattoos (lower left), she writes, "I had a dream of a dog walking through a puddle, the paw prints lifted the water and made water paw prints."

Jamie Muston-Townsend recently got a tattoo of her Irish Setter, Finney. The six paw prints on the bandana represent all the cats (past and present) she and her husband have had.

Robot Dog

Have you seen the Robotic BigDog video? I found it strangely hypnotic and more than a little unnerving in its critterness not to mention its potential lethal applications.

Liver treats to The Daily Dish, where I first bumped into this seriously wrong science project.

Lisa Wogan

Cop Shot, Killed Dog Recovering From Back Surgery

A few months ago, I blogged about a suburban Chicago cop who shot and killed a pit bull named Sugar when he entered her home without the owner or roommate present. He claimed he did it in self-defense, because she "lunged" at him. According to all who knew her, Sugar was a sweetheart and friendly with everyone. My guess is that she zoomed over to greet him, much like my own pit bull mix would do, and because of her breed, the cop assumed she was on the attack. So had that trigger-happy cop broken into my home, all five of my dogs would likely be dead, too. The thought is absolutely unbearable, as was the photo in the paper showing the grief-stricken look on Sugar's owner's face when he learned the news.

Tragically, it has happened again, this time in Lakeview, my former neighborhood in New Orleans. On Monday, April 14, police officers responded to a burglar alarm at Dr. Patrick Coleman's house when one of them shot and killed Jax, a 4-year-old Doberman who was recuperating from back surgery. Jax was shot eight times at close range. Jax's sister, a Doberman named Scarlet, was cowering in a corner of the yard when Coleman arrived at the scene. According to Coleman, Jax was in no condition to pose a threat to anyone and his dogs had never been perceived as a threat in the past when officers responded to alarms at the house. The cop's excuse? The dogs had "lunged" at him. The controversy has attracted attention nationwide ... and for good reason.

If you google the words "cop," "shot" and "dog," you'll find similar stories around the country in which a dog was killed by a police officer. Clearly, police departments need to train their officers to respond to dogs in ways that are more humane, such as pepper spray. Jeff Dorson, of the Humane Society of Louisiana, says there are free training programs available upon request. Even though the New Orleans Police Department says the officer did nothing wrong, it would be an excellent good-will gesture toward the public to train officers how to handle companion animals with compassion, not bullets.

Julia Kamysz Lane