Kennel

With any luck, we'll be on the road tomorrow, joining thousands of Californians heading off to spend the long Thanksgiving weekend away from home with loved ones . . . if, that is, we can find suitable accommodations for Puff and Domino. It doesn't have to be a four-star resort. They don't need room service or a swimming pool, in-room movies or ocean views.

Is Newt Gingrich Seamus -- er, shameless? As the former House speaker fights for his campaign life in South Carolina, he's pulled out all the stops to try and slow Mitt Romney down. He's ripped Romney's private-sector record as a venture capitalist. He's hammered Romney's work as Massachusetts governor. And now, he's let the dog out. Gingrich's campaign has a new Web video out that highlights Romney's missteps as a candidate. And much of the video is familiar stuff: the line earlier this week about liking “being able to fire people,” and that time in Iowa when he said “corporations are people.” But the capper is an excerpt from an interview in which Romney discusses the now-infamous episode back in the 1980s when he strapped the family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, to the roof his car during an extended family trip to Canada.

Is Newt Gingrich Seamus -- er, shameless? As the former House speaker fights for his campaign life in South Carolina, he's pulled out all the stops to try and slow Mitt Romney down. He's ripped Romney's private-sector record as a venture capitalist. He's hammered Romney's work as Massachusetts governor. And now, he's let the dog out. Gingrich's campaign has a new Web video out that highlights Romney's missteps as a candidate. And much of the video is familiar stuff: the line earlier this week about liking “being able to fire people,” and that time in Iowa when he said “corporations are people.” But the capper is an excerpt from an interview in which Romney discusses the now-infamous episode back in the 1980s when he strapped the family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, to the roof his car during an extended family trip to Canada.

The contenders included Corona, an English bulldog known for her extreme snoring, and Chulis, a prissy poodle from Guadalajara who loves to watch King Kong movies. There was also Tripod, a brown-eyed mutt rescued from the streets of Compton, where he scavenged on three legs. One by one, the canines lined up at Resurrection Parish in Boyle Heights on Saturday for the community's first-ever dog show: pit bulls from Pico Rivera, Chihuahuas from Downey and boxers from Covina, all ready to compete for a trophy and neighborhood bragging rights.

My daughter and I recently rode through the Inyo National Forest, with 10 dogs pulling us across the snow. Off-season kennel tours available. Mammoth Dog Teams, P.O. Box 7791, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546; (760) 934-6270, www.mammothdogteams.com. Cheryl Kohr CALIFORNIA Ruff riders Redondo Beach

Re: "Unlucky Fate: Animals City Rescued Will Face Death Penalty if Not Adopted Soon," Jan. 11. Let's see if I have this straight: City officials "rescued" 140 sick, old and unruly animals that no one except Mary Lou Rossignol would care for from her "dirty" kennel and, now, all of these animals will be put to death unless adopted. In the process, these officials forced Rossignol to shut down her kennel, where she cared for the unwanted animals she rescued from city "shelters" in order to prevent them from being put to death.

A Massachusetts town has made it illegal to own more than three cats without getting a $50 residential kennel license. Voters at a town meeting in Dudley adopted the provision Monday in response to a neighborhood feud over Mary Ellen Richards' 15 cats. The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester reported that one man accused the cats of ruining his yard. Richards is trying to sell her home and says she plans to move to a "more cat-friendly community."

The BBC will not televise Britain's biggest dog show for the first time in more than 40 years after a controversy about canine inbreeding. The broadcaster said Friday it had suspended coverage of the 2009 Crufts show "pending further investigations into the health and well-being of pedigree dogs in the U.K." The Kennel Club, the show's organizer, and the BBC have been at odds since September, when the broadcaster aired a documentary claiming that decades of inbreeding had led to serious health problems in some pedigree dogs.

As a person highly allergic to cats, I know that a cat properly contained does not affect my allergies ("Flying With Pets," Letters to the Editor, Feb. 18). If an owner is responsible enough to have a kennel and pay the fare, that person is also responsible enough to keep the cat in its kennel under the seat. They pose no danger. ROBERTA PERLIS Los Angeles Cats and dogs sharing the airplane cabin with humans is not hazardous to humans, whereas the old-fashioned idea of putting animals in the cargo area of the plane has often proved to be fatal.

A controversial plan to convert an Irvine dog kennel into a shelter for homeless people appeared to be doomed Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development canceled a $496,000 grant to finance the project. In a letter received late Monday by Irvine city officials, Assistant HUD Secretary Thomas Demery said the grant was being rescinded because the proposed site for the shelter was "environmentally unacceptable."

In the world of dog mushing, there aren't many jobs with a steady paycheck. Professional mushers live off the bounty of their race earnings, dog-breeding skills and marketing savvy. Within a federal government that employs 19.7 million people, there is one -- exactly one -- dog-mushing job. And it's open. The National Park Service is looking for a new kennels manager at Denali National Park and Preserve, a job that in addition to running Denali's 31-animal dog kennel includes mushing into one of America's great swaths of wilderness.

A Massachusetts town has made it illegal to own more than three cats without getting a $50 residential kennel license. Voters at a town meeting in Dudley adopted the provision Monday in response to a neighborhood feud over Mary Ellen Richards' 15 cats. The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester reported that one man accused the cats of ruining his yard. Richards is trying to sell her home and says she plans to move to a "more cat-friendly community."

Rambo sounds the warning as soon as the kennel door at Bolling Air Force Base creaks open -- a ferocious, thunderous bark as loud and persistent as a jackhammer. In nearby stalls, Rocky goes berserk, spinning in tight circles like a top, and Jess, ears perked, bounces excitedly up and down. Then there's Timi. He stays silent, his head bowed, ears bent. He stands motionless, averting his gaze. Timi has always been the oddball of the kennel, "the quirky one," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Evans, his trainer.

My daughter and I recently rode through the Inyo National Forest, with 10 dogs pulling us across the snow. Off-season kennel tours available. Mammoth Dog Teams, P.O. Box 7791, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546; (760) 934-6270, www.mammothdogteams.com. Cheryl Kohr CALIFORNIA Ruff riders Redondo Beach

A Riverside County man was arrested on charges of felony animal cruelty after police say he bludgeoned his horse with a sledgehammer, decapitated it with a chain saw and fed it to his dogs. Jack Ziniuk, 64, of rural Anza called authorities Sunday morning to say his horse had been injured by dogs, was having seizures and needed to be put down, Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Bill Roach said. But when officers arrived they found a headless horse. A bloody sledgehammer was submerged in a bucket of water and a chain saw sat nearby.

Heck, yes, we'll be talking about: the 133rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. If you've never watched, let this be your introduction: It's literally like "Best in Show." And this year brings a new breed to the competition, the Dogue de Bordeaux. He's known for "balanced temperament" and "imposing presence." Also, the dog's head may be the largest in the canine world. (Monday) -- Can we talk for a minute about: Joaquin Phoenix? So he's quitting acting to be a rap star now.

Not without reason are dogs known as man's best friend. They see for the blind, hear for the deaf, serve as arms and legs for the handicapped, rescue the injured after natural disasters, search for the lost, detect drugs, guard and herd livestock, fight crime in the streets and the enemy in war--always at the side of (and often giving their lives for) mankind. One national organization has listed 50 ways in which dogs earn our respect and admiration. Life without such intelligent creatures would be unthinkable.

Rambo sounds the warning as soon as the kennel door at Bolling Air Force Base creaks open -- a ferocious, thunderous bark as loud and persistent as a jackhammer. In nearby stalls, Rocky goes berserk, spinning in tight circles like a top, and Jess, ears perked, bounces excitedly up and down. Then there's Timi. He stays silent, his head bowed, ears bent. He stands motionless, averting his gaze. Timi has always been the oddball of the kennel, "the quirky one," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Evans, his trainer.

The BBC will not televise Britain's biggest dog show for the first time in more than 40 years after a controversy about canine inbreeding. The broadcaster said Friday it had suspended coverage of the 2009 Crufts show "pending further investigations into the health and well-being of pedigree dogs in the U.K." The Kennel Club, the show's organizer, and the BBC have been at odds since September, when the broadcaster aired a documentary claiming that decades of inbreeding had led to serious health problems in some pedigree dogs.

It has been a summer of awe-inspiring, thought-provoking spectacle on television. First the Summer Olympics, then the Democratic and Republican national conventions and now the return of "DogTown." If that sounds sarcastic or snarky, it isn't meant to. The two-hour season premiere of the popular National Geographic Channel show is titled "Saving the Michael Vick Dogs," and if there were such a thing as an Olympics for animal rescue and rehabilitation, this would be it. Last December, the Atlanta Falcons' star quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for operating an illegal dog fighting venture on his Virginia property.