Recent Doggie News

* Since 2001, Southwest Florida International has used a 9-year-old border collie named Radar to patrol the runways and chase away birds. Birds being sucked into aircraft engines is one of the most persistent safety problems at airports. Border collies scare the birds but don't harm them. * Grace Saenz-Lopez, the mayor of Alice, Texas, has been indicted after neighbors accused her of taking their dog, a 5-pound Shih Tzu, while she cared for it during their vacation. The day after her neighbors left with their kids for vacation, Saenz-Lopez called to tell them that their dog Puddles had died. But three months later, the same dog, now renamed Panchito, was spotted at a local dog groomer. When Saenz-Lopez refused to return the dog, the family filed a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit against her. * Derick Phanord who killed his dog, Maximus, by pouring gasoline on the pit bull and setting it on fire, was sentenced Tuesday to 2 years in prison for animal cruelty. "I am not a monster. I am a good guy," a weeping Phanord, 22, said before his sentencing. "I am an animal lover," he said. * The Fort Worth City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday banning dog tethering. The new ordinance, which becomes effective this week, makes it illegal to use a chain, rope, tether, leash, cable or other device to attach an unattended dog to a stationary object or trolley system. A dog still must be confined within a secure enclosure at all times.