World's Ugliest Dog Contest Chronicled
Vicki DeArmon, World's Ugliest Dogs

Dog lovers know that there's no such thing as an ugly dog. Yet for nearly 50 years, loving owners have brought their aesthetically challenged four-legged friends to Sonoma County for celebration of personality, humor, uniqueness and above all, puppy love!

Vicki DeArmon produced the World's Ugliest Dog Contest, and to honor this tradition, she put together a book called, "World's Ugliest Dogs," and tells us, "Ugly is the new beautiful!"

You will find some great photos in her book of these dogs, as well as:

* Which two-legged contestant/owner has been competing the longest
* The lurid ends to which some desperate folks will go to try to steal a win
* How the contest helps dogs in need
* Mugly and Bev Nicholson, the first international contestants
* Dave Andrew and his dog, Rascal, who appearred in several horror films

Just what makes an ugly dog? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but Vicki tells us you can find certain breeds that line up behind ugly a little more than others. These include the Pug, Chinese Crested, as well as Shar-Peis, Chihuahuas and some terriers. During one contest, there was even a poodle participating.

The "ugliness" in dogs can be found in excess skin, they way their teeth bulge from their mouths, or even lack of teeth, as well as a protruding tongue or even funny ears. When looking at these animals, do they almost make you laugh out loud?

This year the contest takes place on Friday, August 8, 2025. The winner of the Ugliest Dog Contest wins $5,000, with second place winning $3,000 and $2,000 for third place. This is small pittance compared to their leap into fame. Certainly they are going to be a hero in their hometown.

Be Fearful if Fido is Flying in Cargo
Elyce Kirchner, Investigative Reporter NBC in San Francisco

An NBC Bay Area Investigation revealed that in a six-year span more than 300 animals died, were injured, or disappeared in the care of commercials airlines

The airlines that had the most tragedies for pets was Delta Airlines, followed by American Airlines, Continental, Alaska Airlines and then United Airlines. The best airlines for animal welfare were Hawaiian Airlines, Northwest, Horizon and American Eagle. Of course this data is based on numbers, and the airlines with the best records are the ones who have the least flights.

When a pet died on an airline, the cause was usually unknown. The airline was able to write it off as "Unknown," without any follow up, as they did their own investigations. Some other causes were pre-existing medical conditions (even though guardians provided a health certificate from a veterinarian within days of flying) as well as the pet escaping from their kennel (leaving the question as to how it happened?), self-inflicted wounds as well as natural causes.

The Investigative Unit discovered under the previous Department of Transportation's policy, animals being transported without an owner were just considered cargo. This loophole meant if you were not traveling with your pet and were just shipping them by themselves, if something happened during their transit, the airline was not required to report it. At that time, it was up to the pet owner to file a complaint. The only time an airline was obligated to report a pet's death was when you were on the flight with your animal.

Fortunately, that has now changed. Now, any airline in the United States having more than 60 seats is required to report all injuries and deaths of animals both traveling with their owners and traveling as cargo.

If you travel with your pet, you need to travel at your own risk. Take a good look at the health of your animal before flying. Also, it might not be a good idea to travel with either a young or old animal. Have them checked by your veterinarian before flying and just know that there are certain risks.

How To Achieve Litter Box Success - Dr. Debbie

It's important to realize not all cases of inappropriate elimination are a "behavior" problem. In confirmed behavioral driven house soiling cases, 20-percent of the cats also had a contributing medical condition at the time. So even if it sounds like a behavioral problem, see your veterinarian to ensure your cat isn't the 1 in 5 that has discomfort, infection, or other health problems influencing her litter box use.

Drawing Kitty To The "Right" Spot
Check the condition of the box - is it urine stained on the bottom? Throw it out and get a new one. Keep the box clean by scooping twice daily and by performing a complete litter change out twice a week for non-clumping litter or every 2-3 weeks for clumping varieties.

To entice kitty back to the litter box try a litter box attractant like the herbal-based cat litter additive called "Cat Attract."

Multi-cat homes, or those with outdoor cats nearby, should use pheromone (scent hormone) products to ease social stress and facilitate litter box harmony.

Kitty Eliminates Near, But Not Quite In The Litter Box
Your kitty is telling you that she understands what you want her to do, but something isn't quite right in the litter box environment. First start with providing a larger box, even if this means buying a plastic under bed storage box for this purpose. Look for one 18 x 36 inches in size.

Remove any litter box covers. Revisit the traffic flow in the litter box area. Ensure the box is in a quiet, low traffic area. Keep the box unquestionably clean.

Is Your Cat Urinating In Tubs Or Sinks?
Chances are your cat has urinary tract inflammation or infection. The cool surfaces provide relief to the inflammation or discomfort of a medical condition. See your veterinarian for a urine evaluation and treatment since environmental changes alone will not stop the behavior.

To preventing further episodes, decrease access to tubs and sinks, close doors to bathrooms, or fill the bottom of sinks and tubs with a small amount of water.

Kitty Eliminates On Throw Rugs And Won't Use Litter Box
Your cat has already made a litter preference. Perhaps the texture of carpet is more appealing than the litter used. Provide a litter box smorgasbord. This is when you provide multiple litter pans at the same time, each with different litter varieties such as clay, clumping, and natural pine litter. Be sure to include one litter box with sections of throw rugs or carpet remnants lining the bottom. During this time, remove all throw rugs from the house or block kitty's access to those areas.

If kitty demonstrates a litter preference, switch her litter boxes to that style of litter.

If kitty chooses the rug-lined box, then continue providing carpet lined litter boxes to establish a good pattern of repeated box use. Gradually start sprinkling small amounts of cat litter in the box on top of carpet surface. With time, many cats can be retrained to accept the box as the carpet is phased out and just litter remains.

Prevent Returning To Scene Of Crime
Clean all house soiling accident sites with an enzyme based pet cleanser. The enzymes break down the chemical component of the odors and do more than just cover up with scents. Do not use ammonia based cleansers on accident areas - doing so is counterproductive. (Remember that urine contains ammonia products.)

Cats dislike eating in areas that they eliminate, so place food and water bowls in the site of the accidents, or try placing pieces of aluminum foil in areas to deter kitty's use.

Citrus scents are offensive to cats and can be an effective cat deterrent. Use citrus or potpourri scented air fresheners in the area. If your cat is eliminating in house plants, place lemon or orange peels in the pot to make the area less attractive. And of course, make sure you aren't using citrus scented cleaners on the litter pan!

To keep your kitty away from areas she continues to eliminate on, use double sided sticky tape or turn plastic carpet runners upside down. Another option is to invest in motion-activated devices that spritz out citronella or puffs of air when the electronic eye picks up motion in the off-limits area.

The Tough Reality
For some cats, environmental changes aren't enough and drug therapy may be a necessary tool. But remember that behavioral medications aren't a shortcut - drug therapy must be used with veterinary monitoring and in conjunction with environmental changes.

Want to hear some bad news? In households struggling with many years of feline house soiling, it may be necessary to discard urine marked furniture, change out carpet, carpet pads and treat sub-flooring to effectively remove scent triggers for future elimination issues. It may sound extreme, but it can be important step to achieve faithful feline litter box success.

375 Rabbits Confiscated From Home
At least 375 rabbits were confiscated from a home. Officers were at a house on a complaint about the smell and returned to find the rabbits still living in "deplorable" conditions. The owner said the animals were used as show rabbits, some were used as feed rabbits for reptiles and others were given to people as pets.

"Pet" Dreams
Puppy lovers have 'fessed up, they have "pet dreams" when they leave their four-legged friends behind on holidays. A survey showed that 80-percent of Australian pet owners would cancel or change their travel plans if they could not trust someone to mind their pet. One in six pet owners would chat to their pet on Skype while away on holidays and one in seven confessed to having "pet dreams" about their animal companions. An alarming 39-percent of people admitted they sometimes miss their pet even more than friends and family while they are away.

Missing Michigan Dog Found In Florida
A Doberman Pinscher owned by a family in Michigan made it back home after disappearing to Florida for a week. The dog went missing and was turned into a Florida Humane Society one week later. The dog's owner said the trip south was very much in her pet's nature. It's not clear how her dog made it nearly 1,100 miles away, but an implanted microchip was able to link her back to the family.

Cat Accused of Being Foreign Spy
A cat belonging to a member of the U.K. Parliament was accused of being a foreign spy after suddenly reappearing following a two-year absence. The cat's return was a happy surprise for his family, but some fellow Conservatives were a little suspicious. The cat had reportedly been spotted in secure areas of the Foreign Office and was even allegedly accused of trying to get into the Treasury. One source said they thought the Chinese may have gotten to the cat, noting that the feline could get anywhere and someone could find out "half the government's secrets" if they managed to bug her.

Blending Family of Four Leggers
Okay, so you finally found love of the two-legged kind and you want to blend your family of four leggers. How do you do it? A blogger, Nick Barnett had this advice:

Reward For 200-Pound Missing Bulldog
A 200-pound pink statue of a bulldog went missing. The sculpture was one of six placed on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood for the city's Gay Pride celebration. Authorities tried to locate the stolen work of art created by Belgian artist William Sweetlove, with the artist offering to give a smaller sculpture of a frog worth $1,600 to whoever lead authorities to the stolen pink bulldog. However, the sculpture was never found.

Listen to the entire Podcast of this show (#1329)