Dog Finds Boy
A four-year-old who wandered away from home in Los Gatos and was gone for two hours was found by Klaus, a nine-year-old German Shepherd trained for search-and-rescue work. Klaus and his handler Kristine Black, an S&R volunteer, were recruited by police to help find him. Their first stop was the family’s apartment, where the dog sniffed one of the boy’s shirts.
As they scoured the neighborhood, Klaus became very animated inside a Laundromat, however a search of the dryers was fruitless. When Klaus headed to a play center across the alley, Black followed. After sniffing around a bit, the dog led Black to a ball pit where some kids were playing. The missing boy was one of them.
Sounds like something straight out of the movies, right down to the fact that after finding the child, Klaus sniffed out his shoes. The play center requires kids to remove their shoes upon entry.
Feature Film Fights Puppy Mills
Speaking of movies, The Back-Up Plan, a new feature film starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’Loughlin, shines a spotlight on the joys of pet adoption (caveat: the responsible breeding message isn’t carried over to the human characters).
Lopez plays Zoe, the socially-conscious owner of a trendy pet boutique in Greenwich Village. Health issues suffered by her Boston Terrier, Nuts, prompted her to fight puppy mills by promoting the adoption of homeless dogs instead. Nuts is played by a trio of Bostons – Nip, Tuck, and Nubbins – who also acted in 2009’s Hotel for Dogs.
The focus of the story is not on animals, but pro-animal messages abound. The Humane Society of the United States is listed as an official “partner” on the film’s website (www.theback-upplan.com) and the organization’s pro-adoption messages are on display as part of the film’s pet store set. The movie premiered on April 23, and the American Humane Society collaborated with CBS Films to create adoption events in debut cities nationwide.
New El Cerrito Dog Park
Bruce King Memorial Dog Park in El Cerrito was officially dedicated on April 17. It is located in the 1600 block of Lexington Avenue between Potrero Avenue and Blake Street (along the Ohlone Greenway). The park gets its name from a dedicated city employee and dog lover who was killed during a robbery of his home in El Sobrante.
In a reversal of the typical story, park construction came in under budget. Community donations took care of more than $15,000 of the estimated $40,000 required. The Safeway Corp., soon to occupy the abandoned Target property on San Pablo Ave. in El Cerrito, took care of the $19,000 tab for fencing the park. Just shows what a community can accomplish for the benefit of its dogs.
The El Cerrito City Council allocated $25,000 to the project, but the final cost to the city will be less than $2,000, according to Puplic Works Director Jerry Bradshaw. For more information, visit the park website at www.el-cerrito.org/public_works/bruceking.html.
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