Animal House

Lisa Bryant sent this email to Vivi search coordinator Bonnie Folz to tell her about the unfortunate ending to the story of Tarik, an Afghan hound who escaped from his new adopters in Pennsylvania. It is posted here with the permission of both.

"I wanted to write you to let you know that the search for Tarik ended last Saturday," Lisa writes. "A family found his body in their yard and were kind enough to call me. I did pick him up and took him to my vet to be cremated. I couldn't bear to let him be thrown in the trash. I hate how this ended, but I am grateful to at least know what happened."

Vivi is sort of like the mob. Just when you think you're out ... she pulls you back in.

A man called the hotline to say that this morning he was driving through Forest Park on Park Lane South -- and came to a screeching halt when he found a very skinny, miniature-greyhound-looking dog with a big black patch on her side blocking the street.

He yelled at her from the car window, and then, recognizing her from the newspaper coverage of recent weeks, he got out of the vehicle and shouted, "Fifi!" (Close, but no cigar.)

The man said the dog turned, looked at him, and then ran back into the park, toward the general area where a local woman feeds a colony of feral cats.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this buoyant email:

<<We’ve got a positive ID!! The guy picked Vivi out without any hesitation. Rosa said it was nothing like the other lineup shown to the woman with the sighting on Penn. Ave & Linden Blvd. That woman really had to look at the lineup for a while.

The guy also spoke to Rick on the phone. He told Rick he’s sorry to say she’s very skinny, ribs showing. Rosa found a house where a woman has a feeding station set up for the cat colony she takes care of. We’re going to ask if we can set up a camera or two to see if Vivi’s feeding there.

Just when ya try to get out of this search, a call comes in like this and ya get sucked right back in again!

Here’s back to pounding the pavement!

Keeping the faith!

Bonnie Folz>>

UPDATE: Beth has been found and is back with her foster mom.  Thanks to all who may have spread the word about her being missing!

An alert that arrived via email:

<<Lost on Rolling Ridge in Jay, ME (on the Wilton town line) on Friday (11/24/06) morning during a hike. Beth is a 75#, black and rust, docked Rottweiler between 3-5 years old. She is a foster dog and doesn't know the area she was lost in. Beth is wearing a bright pink martingale collar with NERR&R tags on it. Beth is not fearful or shy, she is very gregarious and will be looking for people to be with.

Please call Beth's foster mom Tracy Arcari 207 577 8102 or the NERR&R hotline at 866 392 0102 if you have seen Beth.

We believe someone has this dog. She is very people friendly and would look for people. We are expanding the search to Kennebec County.

feel free to crosspost>>

At the suggestion of pet detective Karin Goin, Vivi searchers have created a visual "lineup" to show to callers who say they have spotted the missing whippet.  Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this followup regarding a Thanksgiving-evening call from Brooklyn:

<<[Searcher] Rosa [Chile] showed it to the woman who claimed to see Vivi on Pennsylvania Avenue and Linden Boulevard  and asked her to pick out the dog she saw.  The woman said that none of the dogs shown looked like what she saw and asked if there was a picture of Vivi on the sheet (which there was).  Rosa then showed the woman a picture of Vivi that is used for the fliers and the woman said no, none of them were of the dog she saw.  Great idea of Karin's.  Wish we had it sooner.  But at least it will save us checking areas, wondering if it was Vivi or not the caller saw.>>

Want a puppy? Now's not the time

Denise Flaim
Animal House

November 27, 2006

As the holiday season gets into gear - and visions of wriggly puppies under Christmas trees dance, sugarplum-like, in some conspicuous consumers' heads - here is a little reality check.

First of all, there could not be a worse time to introduce a living creature into your household than the holidays. The influx of people, the confusion and, yes, the stress of celebration are not the calm, level atmosphere needed to help your puppy adjust to an unfamiliar environment.

If that's an inconvenient thing to hear right now, as your Platinum Amex burns a hole in your palm, consider this:

While there are many ways to add a dog to your home, only two are optimal: Either obtain your new best friend from a shelter or rescue group, helping to chip away at the animal overpopulation problem. Or, if you must get a purebred puppy, buy one from a reputable breeder.

For overwhelmed puppy buyers, the definition of the term "reputable breeder" is sort of like that famous Supreme Court definition of pornography: You'll know one when you see one. But, in fact, there are four distinct things that characterize reputable breeders - a group that, in the interest of full disclosure, I like to think I am a member of myself. They are:

Reputable breeders do all the health screenings required by their breed club - and often more. (To find a particular breed club, go to Google .com and type in the name of the breed and the words "breed club." Usually there is just one authoritative entity, though some schism-happy breeds, like Cavalier King Charles spaniels and Australian shepherds, have more than one. Visit both.)

Reputable breeders require all pet-quality dogs to be spayed and neutered.

Reputable breeders have contracts that require you to return the dog to them, regardless of age or circumstance, if you no longer want him.

Reputable breeders give back to their breed community through participation in clubs, shows or performance events.

Find a breeder who fulfills those four requirements, and you can hardly go wrong. But find a breeder who does, and he or she will likely not have puppies available in December - at least not intentionally.

In truth, reputable breeders are annoying to the speed-dialing consumer. They think you should meet many representatives of a breed before you conclude it is the right fit for you. They require you to visit them in their homes. They might conclude (quietly to themselves, of course) that your inability to control your screaming children as they topple potted plants and crayon the walls will somehow correlate to a poor aptitude for controlling the four-legged version. They ask annoyingly pointed questions about where the dog will live, who will care for it and what happened to previous animals you owned. And they often have waiting lists that require you to wait months, if not as long as a year.

This is why God invented the pet store, although perhaps positing divine intervention in such an establishment borders on blasphemy. Pet stores exist in order to accommodate people who do not want to go through the trouble or time to find a reputable breeder.

Because there is such a high demand for puppies produced by reputable breeders, they have no need to broker them. No self-respecting breeder will hand a puppy off to a retail establishment to sell. Otherwise, how could they follow the progress of their puppies for the rest of their lives?

This is precisely the reason why pet stores will always exist. There is no way reputable breeders can fulfill the demand for the puppies they breed, nor would they want there to be. If a breeder thinks you are unsuited to their breed - for a variety of lifestyle reasons having nothing to do with your intrinsic worth - they will not sell you a puppy. The persistent find a way, and that way is the pet store.

Puppies from reputable breeders and pet stores cost about the same - that is to say, a lot. In the case of the former, you are paying for the knowledge that went into producing your puppy, the care and socialization with which it was reared, and - most important - the role of your breeder as a support system for the life of your dog.

In the case of the pet store, you are paying for the privilege of getting what you want, when you want, with no questions asked.

If you choose to opt for convenience and purchase a pet-store puppy, you need to understand that the overwhelming odds are that your puppy came from a puppy mill, likely in a rural state such as Missouri or Pennsylvania. Such puppies often are raised in a wire cage or pen, with little or no socialization. You will not see the sire or dam, not know his or her temperament or health history. You will be on your own, as tracking down the breeder will be all but impossible.

But you will get your sugarplum when you want it. The choice is yours.

Write to Denise Flaim, c/o Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville, NY 11747-4250; or e-mail denise.flaim@ newsday.com. Visit her blog at www.newsday.com/ animalhouse.

Today's Associated Press story labeling Vivi an "urban legend" may be catchy, but is it true?

In this experienced Vivi watcher's estimation, mistaken sightings of the dog have less to do with an urge to romanticize the whippet's exploits, and more to do with the general public's woefully inadequate ability to identify different dog breeds.

(As my fellow dog-show fanatics would say, with an exasperated sigh, "Pet people!")

The smattering of Rego Park reports this fall, for example, can be attributed to one very unwhippety-looking Chihuahua.

Vivi sightings continue to trickle in, albeit not with the consistency that earmarked all the earlier, verified sightings that came to a standstill at summer's end.

Last night, for example, a woman on a bus returning from Thanksgiving dinner reported seeing a small white dog at the intersection of Linden Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue -- an intriguing location that is just south of the Interboro Parkway's terminus and the clot of ancient cemeteries where searchers thought Vivi might have taken refuge.

The East New York area has never been postered -- for reasons of more interest to sociologists than pet detectives.

Last Sunday, a man reported seeing a dog of Vivi's description between Cooper Avenue and 71st Street in Glendale.

Finally, there is the scenario mentioned in the AP story. To say that longtime searcher Rosa Chile regrets having made that information public would be a gross understatement.

As a general rule, this reporter has always maintained a policy of respecting the requests of Vivi searchers to not publish information -- either electronically or in print -- that could potentially jeopardize the  search.

Vivi searchers continue to follow up on all leads, and will communicate information via this blog once it has been verified, as happened with the "I've got her" call that turned out to have come from some prankster in Michigan.

Is Vivi gone? Maybe. But the first six months of frequent sightings, from Jamaica to Flushing to Glendale, were not the stuff of legend -- they were real, and a half-dozen excursions by tracking dogs said as much.

So I'm not quite ready to put Vivi in the category of terrorists masquerading as UPS men, or killer Swiffers, or whatever. Are you?

Missing Show Dog Becomes Urban Legend

By RICHARD PYLE
Associated Press Writer

November 24, 2006, 10:02 AM EST

NEW YORK -- In the nine months since escaping her travel cage at Kennedy Airport, Vivi the wayward whippet has joined the Central Park coyote, high-rise tiger, Harlem Meer caiman and Molly the fugitive feline in New York's ever-growing pantheon of urban animal legends. She was reported dozens of times, roaming cemeteries with other dogs, or hanging around stores in the borough of Queens, in some cases miles from the tarmac where she disappeared while awaiting a flight home to California on Feb. 15. A day earlier, she had won an Award of Merit at the annual Westminster Kennel Club show.

Owners Jil Walton and Paul Lepiane offered a reward for Vivi's return but have kept a low profile. This week, their lawyer, Joyce Randazzo, said they still hope to recover the sleek, 4-year-old brindle and white whippet, formally known as Champion Bohem C'est la Vie, and the reward, an unspecified amount, still stands.

According to a map published Nov. 18 by The New York Times, Vivi was reported at more than 45 different locations before Aug. 7, when the sightings suddenly stopped, raising fears that she might be dead or left the area.

Richard Gentles, director of administration for Animal Care & Control of New York City, said his organization dispatched rescue teams after "five or six calls" on Vivi in the past several months, but all proved negative.

"For a dog like that to be able to survive this long would be very difficult unless somebody picked it up," Gentles said. "I hope it's true that somebody has the dog and doesn't recognize it. It does happen."

On Wednesday, a volunteer group that devotes itself to finding Vivi reported a new lead: an anonymous caller who had seen her neighbor with a dog that resembled the elusive canine.

"She said he takes it to work every day. We asked if it was a greyhound and she said `No, it's a whippet,'" said Rosa Chile, who answers calls at a toll-free number. "She sounded very legitimate, but she was afraid."

Chile said the area of the purported sighting was being watched, but would not give other details, even where it is -- other than "a few minutes from Kennedy airport."

Bonnie Folz, a professional dog trainer who lives near the airport and has led the search effort for Vivi, said she did not think the dog is still roaming free, and unless she met with misfortune, is in someone's custody.

"I really think somebody has her and that person can't keep the dog under wraps forever," she said.

Folz is conducting an overall review of the Vivi search with Karen Goin, a pet detective who uses her three trained dogs to track missing pets. They recently used a coat once worn by Vivi to check out a report in the Rego Park section of Queens, but the dogs did not find her scent, Folz said.

Recovered or not, Vivi already has joined the colorful list of animals occupying niches as urban legends in Gotham, says Steve Zeitlin, the director of City Lore, a center for the study of such things.

Just two months after Vivi vanished into a wildlife area adjoining JFK, a cat named Molly became trapped inside a wall of a delicatessen in Manhattan's Greenwich Village where she earned her keep as a mouser. It took two weeks to extricate the feline without damaging the landmark building.

Other incidents in recent years involved a full-grown tiger living in a Manhattan apartment, an alligator-like caiman that was recovered from the Harlem Meer pond in Central Park and a truly wily coyote that led police and animal experts on a chase through the park before it was captured.

Zeitlin noted that the frequent reports of Vivi in cemeteries enhances a "ghostly" image, made to order for urban lore.

"I believe the dog has already made it," Zeitlin said. "The sense of an urban legend is something that comes out of daily life or ordinary circumstances and has the stuff of fiction in it, something that is always about to be proved true.

"With this dog, it is always a sighting that can't quite be confirmed."

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this report from pet detective Karin Goin regarding her search for Vivi last week. Bonnie asks that if you have any questions, please email them to her at pawsativebf@aol.com; she will compile and forward them to Karin for answers.

Client: ViVi Rescue Organization

Date Nov. 15th & 16th 2006

Subject: VIVi missing whippet

Scent Article: Horse blanket coat worn by ViVi per pet owner

Confirm: 98% hair & dander in coat lining

Point of escape: JFK airport - Delta terminal

Displaced YES

Missing: app. 275 days

The following is an abbreviated summary of our observations and findings:

This PI was contacted several times by email and phone and requested to assist with a summary and refocus of the ViVi search in New York. Due to costs it was determined that the investigator would come when other searches were scheduled in the nearby area. In mid November we were able to accommodate this request.

Upon arrival in New York on November 14, 2006, Bonnie Folz came to my hotel room with maps and other documentation, showing and explaining the multitudes of information, sightings and speculative theory that had come in over the past nine months. The core group of volunteers had decided the goal was to ascertain if any of the sightings after August were valid and if they were how to proceed. If the sightings were not valid, what were the best steps to take in a speculative arena to determine if ViVi was in fact still at large in the Flushing, Queens area as well as the probability based on the profile of her chances of being rescued and held in someone's home or if she possibly could had met with an accident that may have caused her death. After reviewing the documents, we confirmed our goals.

November 15th, 2006.

It was decided to start where the confirmed sighting was of ViVi in July. Sighting in Mt Hebron cemetery along the Van Wyck/Western Expressway. Both Cade and Dodger scanned the area individually and both dogs confirmed that yes this was ViVi's scent and both dogs headed off to the South with Dodger trying to go under the fence toward the expressway where the sighting had been.

Throughout this day our goal was to check sightings:

The sighting at Strack Pond in Forest Park was confirmed to be ViVi. Cade was started at the furthermost corner of Strack pond and ran to the exact location at Woodhaven and Forest Park where the two sightings had been. The Bandshell was also checked but there was no scent in the area.
The Mount Neboh cemetery was scanned as the witness that had seen and fed ViVi back in June was available to show us where ViVi had been staying. We asked him to stop app 50 yards from the sight so we could start Cade and see if he would confirm ViVi's presence from several months ago. He did in fact pick up ViVi's scent but it was very old which was evident in the way he had to work the scent so close to the ground which is not his typical way of going. He also went to the area where the witness said he had left food and water for ViVi for several days until she disappeared in the second or third week of June. I do not believe he knew about ViVi's plight until much later in the summer. We scanned other parts of the cemetery but found ViVi's scent to be mostly in one area and none of the scent appeared to be recent.

A plausible theory had been generated that ViVi may have used the cemeteries and greenbelts to travel by and that possibly she had disappeared into the cemeteries over that past few months. Cemeteries were strategically scanned based on their proximity, topography and the direction of the wind. Cypress Hills Cemetery, Mount Carmel, Salem Field, Cemetery of the Evergreen, Mount Judah and the Lutheran Cemetery were all scanned at various locations for ViVi's scent. The park and roadway near the reservoir was also checked as was Highland Park area. Cade led this process as he typically can detect scent over a longer period of time. Dodger was used in this task to confirm or deny the findings. Dodger and Cade agreed upon all findings and ViVi's scent was not found in any of these locations with the exception of the former already mentioned. Finding: It is unlikely that ViVi spent any time in these cemeteries over the past 3 months which was our target date.

Possible recent sightings were scanned for confirmation of ViVi's scent
Two blocks of Yellow stone Blvd were checked in each of the four directions for the subjects scent. A sighting near a dry cleaners was reported so all areas around both dry cleaners visible were checked. Finding: Dodger found that ViVi's scent was not in the area and it is most plausible that she has not been in that area for at least 3 months if at all.
I felt it necessary to confer with Laura Totis in regards to her findings when she and Sam Conley had been up three weeks earlier. I thought there was some discrepancy in our findings but when we talked and compared notes, it was obvious that the information had been transferred incorrectly and Laura and I had found the same scent and lack of scent accordingly. We confided in possibilities and agreed on the most likely outcomes to this point. Laura was extremely helpful and generous in her assistance.

November 16th

Reported ViVi sightings occurred in Rego Park at the end of September. Three blocks were checked with the dogs being asked to check in each of the four directions at each location for a total of 8 scans. The dogs agreed that ViVi's scent was not in this area. The wind was blowing lightly adding to the possibility that scent could travel and loft if ViVi had in fact been in the area. It was determined she had not.

Speculative theory was generated towards the possibility that ViVi may have been hiding in Willow Lake and if she had in fact whelped and had puppies that the cover provided here would make her invisible to the public explaining her disappearance from the public view for the past three months. We hiked in along a muddy road to a point between the two lakes with a raised platform. Cade was selected to do this scan far into the reeds and he found no scent for ViVi. Finding: It is unlikely that ViVi has been in this area in the past three months.

Speculative theories included the possibility that ViVi had left the Flushing area and had traveled down into Brooklyn where the public awareness and focus had been limited to the media reports. No Postering or flyers had been done. Led by volunteers and joined by the media, periodic scans of the Brooklyn main streets were made. These were arbitrary locations that bordered the cemeteries southwest from those bordering Highland Blvd, Jackie Robinson Parkway and Cypress Ave. Finding: Although no scent was found for ViVi, it is difficult to say conclusively that ViVi did not go towards Brooklyn or any other city for that matter. Concentration was around the cemeteries as the most likely access and scent were not found in these areas.

THE MEDIA: From the beginning a decision was made to encourage media involvement to get ViVi's picture and plight in front of the public one more time. The media had been reluctant to print or report on any of the ViVi info so a story angle was devised and several volunteers got on the phones. It was a great success and ViVi again went out across the city and the country. The New York Times, the Daily News, and Newsday all carried stories and photos of the beloved hound. Channel 11 and CNN followed suit and the story went out over the AP. Coverage was effective and widespread. That said, handling the media, the interviews, and the photo shoots and location meetings was time consuming and took up at least 2 hours of this 6 hour day. Findings: ViVi was again put out into public awareness. Three possibilities came in and all were checked out. The group had hoped for a sighting of the dog still roaming but as of this writing none have been reported.

Phone Call of September 6th: I was asked to ascertain if the phone calls and claims from the young woman made in September were possible. After getting a subpoena, the restricted phone numbers were obtained and I was given both numbers to research from a private investigator stand point. Another PI had made inquiries and gathered auxiliary info but I was asked to confirm and decide if the claims could have been valid or was the call a prank. After returning to my office in Oklahoma, I made the exploratory calls to the homeowner of the property where the calls had originated. The 75 year old woman that answered was unaware of any dog or phone calls but admitted that People magazine was in their home weekly. The woman explained that she had relatives in September and it is possible that one of them made the call but she was aghast at what would prompt such harmful actions. She apologized and hoped the dog's owners had not been emotionally upset explaining that she knew that the missing dog was probably a family member like her own two dachshunds. I felt compelled to ask about others in the house and I could hear the conversation going on in the background. The individuals were truly surprised by my call and felt bad that possibly someone had used their phone for such an awful purpose. I felt they were complicit and honest in their statements and feel further investigation is probably not warranted. I then called the other number which was a cell phone and received loud rap and hip hop music as the answer. I have called thrice more with the same results leading me to believe the owner of the number maybe a young person. Both numbers originated out of Michigan and my conclusion is that they were most likely pranks brought on by the People magazine article that had run just days prior to the call.

SUMMARY:

I have reviewed the ViVi case from its beginning and the profiles, map locations and sightings make sense for her situation. In the beginning of her trek, she was very visible which can somewhat be explained by the extensive media coverage but also shows the inexperience and learning curve she undergoes as she becomes more adept at maneuvering on the streets. In the case of the roaming dog at large, especially one displaced thousands of miles, there is a definite process of education that goes on as the dog learns to survive and exist on the streets. Once ViVi left the airport, which most likely happened with in the first two weeks, she began moving among the neighborhoods, (based on the sightings and phone calls from the public), sometimes being seen on the street and sometimes being seen in greenbelt area. Some saw her during the day and some at night. But as time went on, her sightings in the daylight became less and her direction of travel moved south east down into the larger greenbelt areas, cemeteries and park. It has been suggested that she travels the roadside greenbelts and others speculate she uses the railroad tracks and others feel she only moves at night. In fact all of these are most likely right. Based on my experience with this scenario, it is most likely that she used all these modes at times but did not stick to any one thing or a pattern would have developed and the chances of her being seen would have increased. In fact, most dogs in this situation generally create a new home territory and a pattern of sources for food and water. The sight hounds however, as well as the beagle and some terriers, tend to be more wanderlust and less prone to pattern than other breeds so it is more than likely that ViVi never did develop a pattern that would have been discernible and calculated. It is the most likely that ViVi learned to survive while on the go.

The last confirmed sightings of ViVi are from early August. At that time she was in the area of Strack Pond in Forest Park. From this point it is unknown where she went or what happened to her as confirmed sightings of her have stopped. This PI is not surprised that ViVi could survive from a food and water aspect. Her history in California made her a great candidate for survival. But the biggest threat that ViVi would have had to encounter was not food and water but humans and the countless possibilities of accident and disease. The following are the most likely outcomes:

In my estimation, it is highly possible that during her trek, ViVi may have become injured and in fact two sightings reported seeing her limping while another explained the dog they saw and believed to be ViVi, looked sick. This in fact was the biggest obstacle ViVi would have had to face. If she had been injured or became ill due to infection, disease or toxic ingestion, it is most likely that she would have retreated to a remote place so she would not be bothered. This is typical behavior when an animal is ill or feeling poorly. Many do not want to be bothered so they retreat away from people. If she needed help, it is not likely she would have allowed it unless she was terribly ill and incapacitated. Most likely she would have needed veterinary care if she was at this level of distress and a vet would have recognized the unique whippet.

The other possibilities are rescue by a citizen and the dog moving out of the publicized search area. Although both are possibilities, it seems highly unlikely that someone would not have seen her after this amount of time. Her picture has covered the nation and most of us know her photo on sight. In three months someone would have called I believe.

Rescue by citizen is also possible but becomes less plausible over time. Generally the longer one of these dogs remains out at large; the less likely they are to respond to human intervention and modes of capture. From the beginning, one of the difficulties in attracting and capturing a dog of ViVi's breed is their ability to survive on small amounts of food. ViVi has never been food driven during this journey and appeared to find food easy enough without having to use the food stations and traps that were placed in many parts of the city. Dogs at large frequently survive on trash, discarded restaurant and market food stuffs, (as I found she was doing when I was tracking her in March), as well as cat food left out for feral cat colonies or outdoor cats by their owners. It is likely that she used all of these menus in her survival and found that they were adequate without the need to approach a trap regardless the delicacy. This behavior is common for her breed. So could she have been rescued and someone has her in their house? Yes, it is possible but not as likely. One must ask what would be the motivation for someone to keep her? The country knows about the search for ViVi and surely unless the individual was living under a rock and never left it, someone would have recognized her in their care. But why would they keep her when the risk is so high… and so is the reward. In my experience someone keeping a dog against all odds rarely happens and does not seem as likely based on my experience with this dog's well publicized case and the rewards and notoriety that would go along with being her rescuer.

Upon leaving I encouraged the group to respond to likely sightings and scenarios and to use a line up card to ascertain the validity of the sightings when Pet Detection K9s were unavailable for confirmation. I explained that if ViVi was to resurface it would most likely be by fluke and not calculation. I am truly in awe at the dedication and passion the core group of volunteers has expressed over these long months. They are all to be commended for their perseverance and spirit.

To all of you… and to ViVi, wherever you are - You have my utmost regard and admiration.

Karin Chockley Goin…. PET DETECTIVES, inc.

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this regarding the phone call from a person claiming to have Vivi:

<<The call that came with the restricted phone number was a prank call.  We believed it was so as soon as the phone records were finally received and the initial investigation found the number belonging to a elderly woman in Detroit, MI.

Progressive owners have long known that overvaccination is a serious -- and altogether too common -- problem among our companion animals. (If your vet is still insisting on annual vaccines, print out a copy of American Animal Hospital Association's newly revised canine vaccine protocol, and get busy with your yellow highlighter.)

The only vaccine that is mandated by state law is rabies. It is only in recent years that most states have switched from requiring revaccination every year to every three years. (There are still a handful of holdouts, including Alabama.)

But many veterinary immunologists believe that the rabies vaccine has a duration of immunity that is far longer than three years. But because there is no economic incentive for vaccine companies to create a five- or seven-year vaccine, no challenge studies to prove that extended level of protection have been conducted.

Enter the The Rabies Challenge Fund, a tax-exemption organization founded by pet vaccine disclosure advocate Kris L. Christine of Maine in 2005. It hopes to raise the money necessary to conduct independent rabies-vaccine challenge studies.

The project has the support and participation of two well-known and respected vaccine researchers and veterinary immunologists: Drs. W. Jean Dodds of Hemopet (who is the fund's co-trustee) and Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.

The challenge studies will be performed at the university, which has waived its usual overhead fee.

The concurrent challenge studies will determine the duration of immunity conveyed by the canine rabies vaccine, with the goal of extending the state-mandated interval for boosters to five, then to seven years.

Researchers believe the rabies vaccine causes the most and worst adverse reactions in animals and concur that it should not be given more often than is necessary to maintain immunity.  Adverse reactions to rabies vaccination can include autoimmune diseases affecting the thyroid, joints, blood, eyes, skin, kidney, liver, bowel and central nervous system; anaphylactic shock; aggression; seizures; epilepsy; and fibrosarcomas at injection sites.

To datem the following dog clubs, along with many owners, trainers, breeders and kennel owners, have contributed to the Rabies Challenge Fund:

Akita Club of America

From today's emails:

<<HELP! - STOLEN DOG FROM PET EXPO NOVI

On November 18, 2006, our dog was stolen from her pen at the Pet Expo Novi at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Michigan.  Please help us get her back!

The dog is a female Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Saffie.  She is 5 years old, red , and has been micro-chipped and spayed.  She weighs approximately 26 pounds and stands 12 inches at the shoulder.  She has a black mask and has natural ears and tail.

She was inside her pen and was taken approximately 2:30 p.m.  She was left unattended for approximately 5 minutes when someone stole her along with her collar and leash.  If you have any information regarding the theft of our dog, please contact the Novi, Michigan Police Department at (248) 348-7100.

A reward is offered for her safe return  and/or the prosecution and
conviction of those responsible for the theft.  She is very much loved by her family, and our little girls are devastated by this heartless act.

PLEASE CONTACT

PAUL OR TAMI GREEN

517 851 4044

OR CELL 313 802 4505


REWARD IS OFFERED

Remind everyone to please POST & CROSS POST to every person you can and to every list you may have access to or knowledge of, NO MATTER THE BREED & NO MATTER THE AREA!!>>

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz sends this Team Vivi Update:

<<November 17^th

Just wanted to recap what’s happened this past week.

First, I’d like to congratulate Jil and Rick, the new Mr. and Mrs. Patterson, on their long-awaited wedding. Both seemed to be glowing with happiness at the reception. I only hoped the present they wished for could have been delivered, but this was not the case.

They have adopted a new member into their family. Her name is Lucy Brown and she’s an adorable black and brown little ball of fur. I believe she’s about 10 weeks old and I’m sure Vivi would love her new little sister.

While in California I received an email from Karin Goin that she had a few other searches to do in New York and would be coming in with her dogs to search for Vivi. I had been in contact with Karin for a few weeks trying to work it out and planning on her searching for Vivi Friday and Saturday, but it was happening now! I scrambled with the other team members when I got back, trying to figure out who could be where and when. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately, because we should be grateful we can say that), all volunteers other than our two retirees were working.

I met with Karin when she arrived on Tuesday night to review the map of sightings and go over the areas the volunteers wanted checked out. Since Laura Totis and Sam Connelly were here two weeks ago, we were able to rule out the areas already searched by their dogs. After explaining what we volunteers were hoping she could accomplish and listening to her thoughts on what she felt we should do, we put a plan in place with areas to be searched. Karin also felt the best thing to do was to get Vivi’s picture and story back out in the media and public. With no confirmed sightings in months, we needed to see if we’d get any calls of sightings while she was here.

Rosa met up with Karin first thing in the morning and off they went. (Please forgive me if I screw up any time lines of where they went and what day they did what, it as these past few days still have me spinning.)

I began work and shot off a few emails to the rest of the Vivi team that we needed to get Vivi’s picture and the word back out about Vivi still being missing, using whatever angle worked -- tracking dogs back in, Jil and Rick’s wedding, nine-month anniversary, etc. What an outstanding job we all did: As most of you know, Vivi was mentioned on almost every major news channel, radio stations and the Daily News ran an article. (More to come in the papers.)

Mount Hebron Cemetery was searched and both Karin’s dogs picked up scent the same area that Sam’s dog picked it up two weeks prior. Though it is Vivi’s scent that was picked up, it’s probably up to three months old. Other cemeteries were checked, train tracks, etc. They finished up the day at about 6 p.m.

I regrouped with Rosa and Karin at that time to figure out what the next day’s game plan would be. We only had Karin for the morning, as she had another lost pet to search for in West Virginia. Rosa again met up with Karin (thank you, Rosa) and hit the Rego Park area first to rule out the recent unconfirmed sightings, which they did. The dogs did not pick up any scent there.

At this point Karin called to say she’d been contacted by numerous news agencies about doing Vivi’s story. She told me it was decision time. as she would not be able to do interviews and hit all the remaining areas we wanted searched. I thought to myself about having Karin take her dogs to an area we think she may be in, but what does that get us? It would either be yes, Vivi was here, but we don’t know how long ago and we’d be in the same spot again, or do we take all the media coverage we can, plastering Vivi’s picture in as many living rooms and coffee tables as possible with the media in the hopes of someone seeing it and calling in a sighting?

I chose the media coverage since we don’t know if we’ll ever have it again. This is Vivi’s last hurrah. Until, of course, she’s found.

Once the media interviews were done, Karin checked Willow Lake, the cemeteries up by Highland Park and checked the Highland Park area as well, but still no scent. Of all the areas we volunteers wanted searched, I believe only two were not searched with dogs.

Karin spoke earlier in the day with Laura Totis, conferring with Laura on her findings and thoughts. After finishing her search yesterday, Karin has concluded that Vivi is not at large in Queens. There’s a strong probability Vivi has died and a small possibility someone has her. If someone does have Vivi, we can only hope that she may be seen and we will get a call. Though all this is a bit hard to digest, we know it has been a possibility from day one, when Vivi was irresponsibly handled by Delta Airlines while in their care.

We will continue to alert veterinarians and shelters in the hopes that sooner or later Vivi will turn up.

I’ll have closure with the restricted call by the end of the week and will report the info as soon as I can.

I’ve asked Karin for a summary of her latest search effort for Vivi as well as one from Laura. It will be a week or so before I get it from Karin as she still has a pet to locate and then has to make the drive back home. I’m sure there will be questions. Please do not speculate. If you have questions, please forward them to me at

and I will have them answered for you and emailed back.

This is a sad time for us all, as the "official" search for Vivi comes to a close. I know there are volunteers who will still be out doing their thing for Vivi and everyone will have to decide for themselves when to call it quits. We will always follow up on any leads when our phones ring and will continue to hope against all odds that Vivi will be reunited with Jil and Rick, Paul and Bo.

My heartfelt thanks to EVERYONE who has helped in any way with our search for Vivi.

I’ve received such encouraging feedback on the next project --changing how airlines handle animals -- and have been brainstorming with Denise about possibly putting a non-profit organization together with a web-site to gather information from airlines and people who have flown their animals. The thought is to not only focus on making those changes with the airlines but also being an organization that could guide owners with tips on how to fly their animals safely. Of course, all would be done in memory of Vivi.

Geez, the more I think, the bigger my ideas, but with everyone’s help, we could continue saving other pets because of Vivi the whippet.

I never thought I’d have so much love for a dog I’d never met.

Please be safe, Vivi, wherever you are.

Keeping the faith.

Bonnie>>

Nail-trimming without trauma

BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer

November 13, 2006

A puppy who squirms and squeals with every snip of the clipper may seem cutely forlorn, but unless he gets comfortable with the idea of having his feet handled, by the time he matures it could well take a village to clip his nails: One person to wield the clipper, one to restrain him, and one to hover and offer useless advice. Dogs that live on concrete - hardly a recommendation, by the way - might sufficiently grind their nails down on their own; most others require weekly grooming sessions, which also should include ear cleaning and coat and tooth brushing.

Ignore nails at your own peril: If left uncut, they can literally curl in on themselves, imbedding in the pads. Dewclaws - those "extra" nails located just below the pastern, or wrist - can catch and tear if they are not kept short and tidy. To say nothing of the damage extra-long talons do to floors and furniture fabric.

The bane of any nail-clipping owner's existence is the quick, that blood-filled tissue that runs down the center of the nail. If cut, the quick bleeds profusely (and messily) and isn't pleasant for the dog. In dogs with light-colored nails, the quick often is faintly visible as a pinkish mass. With black-colored nails, well, may The Force be with you.

In the face of their own squeamishness - not to mention their companion animal's heroic resistance - some owners go so far as to have their veterinarians anesthetize their dogs and do a quick clip job. Asking your vet to clip your dog's nails while the pet is under anesthesia for another procedure, such as a spay or neuter, is perfectly appropriate multitasking. But - rhetorical-question alert - is it a good idea to expose your dog to the risks of anesthesia for nail care that should be routine?

Enter the Dremel, a small hand-held rotary tool sold at home-improvement and hardware stores. Popular among dog-show folk - especially the Doberman crowd, whose obsession with stubby nails has evolved the unofficial compound adjective "Doberman short" - the Dremel's sandpaper-covered drum attachment grinds, rather than cuts, excess nail.

For more than a decade, Marsha Pugh of Hughesville, Md., has used a Dremel to do just that.

"Italian greyhounds are very feet-phobic - if you try to touch their feet, they have convulsions," she says of her seven diminutive charges - her eighth is a Bernese mountain dog. "Dremeling gives you a smoother cut. And the dogs don't run when they see me coming the way they do when I have the clippers."

With the Dremel, the biggest hurdle is getting the dog accustomed to the tool's whirring sound. Pugh is doing this with her Berner by taping wax paper to her refrigerator door, then slathering it with peanut butter. "When he licks the peanut butter, I turn on the Dremel," she explains. "It's a matter of desensitizing. Once they've accepted the sound of the Dremel, the nail-cutting experience itself isn't painful."

Once a dog is used to the Dremel sound, the next step is to touch the Dremel to a nail, then treat copiously with cheese or another beloved treat. With lots of positive reinforcement, dogs soon learn to accept Dremeling. Some actually lie down and fall asleep. To avoid making the nail too hot with the friction of the Dremel, move quickly around the nail and use only the sandpaper attachment, never the grinding stone.

For a popular Dremeling tutorial, visit DoberDawn.com and click on the "How to Dremel Dog Nails" link in the lower left-hand corner. Exhaustively detailed, it features photos of the author's often- supine rescue Dobes named Lestat, Brandy and Duke.

Although Dremel and other companies market dog-specific versions of the popular tool - most of them battery-operated - go with the regular plug-in model; it will give you the necessary juice, especially for large-breed dogs. Take care with long-haired dogs, lest you inadvertently catch their coats in the Dremel like so much twirled spaghetti on a fork. Despite its small size, the Dremel is still a power tool, so wear protective eyewear. And beware the ensuing nail dust: It will give dark outfits a snow-dusted effect, and some sensitive owners have reported that inhaling it has triggered asthma and allergy attacks.

Finally, watch out for the quick, though if you do nick it, the Dremel will cause oozing rather than spurting blood, perhaps not a big distinction to some. "You can go overboard, no matter what method you choose," Pugh warns.

And don't stint on the peanut butter.

WRITE TO Denise Flaim, c/o Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville, NY 11747-4250, or e-mail denise.flaim@newsday.com.

Vivi's final disappearing act?

Missing show dog's trail, like the weather, has begun to grow cold, and some suggest it's time to close the case

BY DENISE FLAIM
Newsday Staff Writer

November 17, 2006

The search for the elusive whippet Vivi stalled yesterday in a Queens graveyard - fittingly, not far from the final resting place of that greatest of all disappearing acts, Harry Houdini.

Vivi, who escaped from Kennedy Airport in February after competing at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, ignited a massive search that marked its nine-month anniversary Wednesday. For much of the spring and summer, sightings called in to the phone number 877-JFK-VIVI helped volunteers track the show dog from Jamaica to Flushing to Glendale, where the last confirmed sightings came in three months ago.

Now, the trail has gone cold.

"It really is decision time" on whether to give up, said Oklahoma pet detective Karin Goin, standing amid a clutch of centuries-old tombstones in Mount Judah Cemetery in Ridgewood. Mount Judah's proximity to Forest Park, where there were multiple reports of Vivi sightings in late summer, led volunteers to hope Goin's tracking dogs would find a trace of the whippet there.

Instead, Dodger (left), a low-slung fellow of indiscriminate parentage, weaved methodically past urns and obelisks before jumping up on Goin to signal a definite "no." Reports about Goin finding fresh scent near Mount Hebron Cemetery in Kew Gardens Hills probably were overly optimistic. While the tracks belonged to Vivi, who has a predilection for traveling through graveyards, they could have been as much as three months old.

"Vivi isn't traveling around Queens anymore," concluded Goin, who gingerly suggested a less-than-storybook ending.

"Look around," she said, gesturing to traffic beyond the cemetery's gates. "I almost got hit by cars three times today, just stopping in the street for 15 seconds."

She fears Champion Bohem C'est La Vie, as Vivi is formally called, might have met a similar fate, though "a lot of people aren't going to want to let go."

Rosa Chile is one of them. Accompanying Goin on her Vivi rounds, the Hollis resident took time to hand out business cards with Vivi's picture. "I don't think she's dead," she said with conviction. "I think somebody's got her."

Vivi's breeder, Bo Bengtson of Ojai, Calif., said he clings to the "slender chance" that Vivi was picked up by someone who hasn't called, but sooner or later will. "I'll always hope for that."

For a chronicle of Vivi sightings since her disappearance,
visit www.newsday.com/ animalhouse.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

For those who may have missed it, here is the most recent Vivi "Still Missing" flier.

Download vivicolorflyer1019061.pdf

Search coordinator Bonnie Folz writes:

<<GOOD NEWS!!

Karin Goin is in the house!

The well-known pet detective, who has traveled to the metropolitan area to search for a couple of lost cats on Long Island, is staying over to canvass for Vivi.

Karin will be meeting up bright and early tomorrow morning with searcher Rosa Chile. The plan is for Karin and her dogs to initially search three areas of Vivi sightings: Forest Park in Glendale; Hebron Cemetery, where another tracking dog picked up what is believed to be Vivi's scent earlier this month (a "hit" from one of Karin's dogs would confirm this); and the cemeteries in the Highland Park area, which has not been postered heavily.

Stay tuned!

This email is making the Internet rounds. Keep your eyes open!

<<Stolen show dogs!!!!

I need everyone's help and prayers today. Yesterday on the way to a show in Greensboro, N.C., my handler stoped at a rest stop and took a Golden puppy out for a walk in the dog area behind the building. When he came back a window had been broken and the other seven dogs he had with him were taken. Three were mine and I am devastated for myself, one other client and my handler, as three were also his.

There were three Maltese. My 1-year-old female Nikki, my 7-month-old male (that I co own with my handler) Geno, and 8 month-old-male Peanut. Both boys were wrapped. Also in the van was my 1-year-old Pom Magic. He is 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, and is an orange sable with a lot of black, very dark.

The other three were Chihuahuas. All are smooth coats, two are fawn.

One of the fawns is the dam of a number of champions and is subject to seizures if she becomes stressed. She is bred and will require a c section. Her name is Ellie and she is very quiet and sweet.

One has unusual coloring. She is a silver color with black sabling. She has a black saddle and a silver blaze. She is microchipped; her # is Avid 095812321.

Please post and cross post this anywhere and everywhere you can think of and please pray for their safe return.

Thank you,

Darlene

You can contact me at this e mail address or on my cell phone 678-471-6912, and you can contact my handler Rob Storey at RStorey@BMNet.Com or 865-621-4424 . >>

New claims launch a catfight

November 6, 2006

By DENISE FLAIM

And now, the Savannah-cat people (right) are lining up with a yowl of their own: They say Allerca's next "lifestyle cat," the Ashera, whose trademarked name harkens to an ancient Canaanite goddess, is simply a slick repackaging of their fledgling breed - with a $6,000 price tag. (Here's an extra decimel point for you: Allerca plans to sell Ashera franchises next year at $45,000 a pop.)

What both the Savannah and Ashera have in common is the African serval (left and below), a long-necked, elaborately marked wild cat with a small head and oversized ears. Like the Asian leopard cat, which is the basis for the popular Bengal breed, the serval can be crossed with domestic cats to create an exotic, leopard-looking hybrid.

Allerca founder Simon Brodie says the Ashera is a serval crossed with a purebred cat, the identity of which he declines to name. Subsequent females are then bred to another top-secret purebred (like most hybrids, first-generation males are sterile), and poof - you have an Ashera.

"The Ashera is primarily focusing on people who are not cat people, who have never thought of owning a cat. Our market research proves they would be interested in something large and unusual," Brodie says, adding that Asheras will reach 25 pounds. "Everybody likes the idea of a cat that has the size and markings of a little leopard."

Although Brodie acknowledges approaching Savannah breeders to buy breeding pairs (an undercover overture that was unsuccessful), "we're not breeding Savannahs, so I don't know what's irritating them so much."

Brigitte Cowell of Kirembo Cattery in San Francisco, who is the secretary and rescue coordinator of the Savannah Cat Club, says her peers come by their displeasure honestly.

"Crossing a serval with anything is a Savannah - it doesn't matter what kind of cat you've crossed it with," she says. "It's quite obvious that all this guy is doing is breeding Savannahs and calling them by a different name."

Brodie counters that Allerca is revolutionizing the "cottage industry" of cat breeding. "We provide the customer with much higher level of service, and we have the resources to ensure that any animal that we produce is consistent. That's the big difference."

Brodie says Allerca uses genetic markers to scientifically predict a kitten's size and markings in adulthood, something breeders can only guess at. He adds that he is able to cut corners with breeding to servals - which must be raised with their prospective domesticated mates in order to accept them - by using artificial insemination, ensuring "they never have to physically meet."

Cowell, who has a degree in microbiology, says Brodie "seems to have remarkable luck" in first locating genes for hypoallergenic qualities in the Allerca cats, then finding markers for genes controlling patterning and size in Asheras. She also points to the fact that Allerca has published none of its findings in peer-reviewed journals, and notes recently published accounts of Brodie's business dealings, which included lawsuits for defaulting on loans and eviction this year from Allerca's downtown headquarters, where Brodie also resided. (In response to questions about his past business difficulties, Brodie - who sold Allerca to an investment group and is now operating as a consultant - compared himself to thrice-bankrupt Henry Ford.)

As for artificial insemination, Brodie's success with it "is fascinating to the rest of us because not many people have achieved kittens," Cowell says. "He's doing a lot of firsts, I guess."

Although volumized breeding might carry with it associations of "kittymilling," Brodie says Allerca and Ashera kittens are tended to by full-time staff vets, are intensely socialized, and spayed and neutered before going to their new homes (arguably as much to control "copycats" as out of any concern for animal overpopulation). Brodie says franchisees will turn down customers who "don't sound right," and will accept unwanted cats back and place them in adoptive homes.

Concerns about McKitties aside, Cowell notes that a developing breed like the high-energy Savannah doesn't need anyone muddying the waters. As hybrid cat breeds continue to evolve, and new ones debut - keep an eye out for the Safari cat, based on the wild South American Geoffroy cat - she stresses that breeders need to focus on what differentiates these "wild-blooded" cousins, not on market share.

As for Allerca, stay tuned to see if the company is as adept at actually putting kittens on the ground as it is about hyping them.

Nine months after Vivi's  disappearance into the marshland at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the search for her seems mired -- frustrating for all involved, with no credible sightings for months.

This weekend's search by trackers Laura Totis and Sam Connelly did yield a couple of "hits" in terms of scent, but Laura and Sam underscore that the only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that their dogs alerted to a scent -- not that it is unequivocally Vivi's scent.

In one case, one of the tracking dogs alerted to a scent, but the other dog, coming from the opposite direction, did not pick up on it. Was this Vivi? Hard to tell. Like people, dogs are fallible, too.

Searchers report that there is one area adjacent to Forest Park that has not been exhaustively canvassed or fliered:  the East New York community at the terminus of the Interboro Parkway. Some searchers have expressed reluctance to post fliers in this more economically depressed Brooklyn community, but the possibility of Vivi having ventured there is not insignificant.

If Vivi is no longer running loose and has been taken by someone, keeping community awareness high is crucial. National exposure is also important, as lost dogs are frequently transported out of communities by "Good Samaritans" who are passing through.

In three short month, it will be the one-year anniversary of Vivi's escape. At that juncture -- with the Westminster publicity machine in full whirl -- you can expect that Vivi will be on the nation's radar screen once again -- perhaps the very push that the search for her needs.

Bonnie Folz sends this update on the tracking efforts this weekend.

<<Team Vivi Update - November 5th

Isabella, the mange-ravaged puppy who was rescued in New Orleans around the time of Hurricane Katrina's one-year anniversary this summer, continues to mend. Here is a recent photos of this sweet young puppy (left).

Compare that to what she looked like soon after she was rescued in August:

Umbria, a market intelligence firm that analyzes blogosphere chatter, monitored online discussions for a three-month period and compiled the following data about "dog chatter": 

-- Dog care is a female-dominated discussion topic. Sixty-three percent of total mentions are from females (compared to 50 percent of female bloggers overall).

--    Gen Y and Boomer females blog most frequently about dogs and dog care.

--    Dog-care bloggers are highly engaged; with 99 percent posting about dog care two or more times a month.

--    Travel was a popular discussion – hiring a dogsitter versus bringing the dog along, dog-friendly vacations like camping, the guilt of traveling with/without their dogs, etc.