Bree Bailey via Flickr

What are you waiting for, Minnesota?

All those dogs running around Lake Calhoun in the warmer months are deceiving: Relative to the rest of the country, not that many Minnesotans own a pet.

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Benny retires after eight years and two misguided attacks.

​Benny, an eight year veteran of the Minneapolis police K-9 unit, will enter an early retirement after mistakenly biting a police office last fall.

Benny's unfortunate tooth target was Officer Bruce Johnson, who proceeded to sue the city for injuries suffered to his arms and hands on Oct. 29. The city is going to settle with Johnson for $25,000, and put Benny out to pasture as a result of the suit.

This was actually the second time an officer had successfully sued the city after getting attacked by Benny. The same lawyer brought both suits.

Johnson was off duty but in uniform the night he was bitten. As Benny's handler was arresting a fleeing suspect, Benny tore past both of them and attacked Johnson instead.

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Look at this guy. What's not to love?

It's hard to imagine a more odd coupling: Shoot-from-the-hip, say-anything-to-Sean-Hannity congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and oh-so-errudite-in-red-shoes, author-of-Homegrown-Democrat radio host Garrison Keillor.

Here's a woman, after all, who made Minnesotans blush when she couldn't keep her paws of former President George W. Bush on the floor of the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Bush became a staple of Keillor's newspaper columns and Prairie Home Companion monologues, cast primarily in the role of a dolt.

But Bachmann tells Tim Budig of ECM that it's true, she adores the Bard of Anoka.

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The American Kennel Club announced the top dogs of 2008 according to their registration figures. AKC lists the national as well as those for major cities. The labrador retriever topped both the Minneapolis and national lists.
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The festivities of the holiday can be a stressful time for us humans, but don't forget to think about our furry friends. The Animal Humane Society has these tips for you and your pet family this holiday season.

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We know you've been tempted before, but here is your chance to become a cat lady on the cheap. How could you resist?

The Animal Humane Society has a deal through the end of November. Buy one cat, get a second adult feline for half price.

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Hurricanes don't just hurt people. They hurt dogs too.

The Animal Human Society, the largest animal rescue organization in the Twin Cities, announced today that it will fly 120 dogs orphaned from Hurricane Ike from Texas to Minnesota.

AHS hopes to make the dogs available for adoption at its five shelters in the next two weeks.

The Strib reports:

The process starts this morning, when a team from the Animal Humane Society (AHS) of Golden Valley, with the help of Northwest Airlines, brings back 59 dogs from Texas that were lost, abandoned or surrendered after the hurricane. Another 60 dogs will head north during the next week, the AHS said.

Once in Minnesota, the dogs "will rest and recover at AHS' five facilities," the society said in a statement Tuesday. "Some may require additional medical treatments and be in AHS' care because of the extraordinary circumstances they have been through."

The statement did not include details about the adoption process.

As any animal blogger knows, there is no group more fired up than the animal welfare community in it's "Kill versus No Kill" debate, and that last devious line, the one about AHS not releasing information about how the adoption process works, set off a flurry of criticism in the paper's comment section.

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We've all been angry about break ups in our lives. Maybe you've thrown a book against a wall. Maybe even a cat.

But chucking a innocent pup off a balcony to face certain doom three stories below is a new one.

Sara Goff's ex boyfriend tossed her her new English bull dog from the third-floor balcony Thursday night. The dog, named Precious, sustained injuries that required her to put the dog down.

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Hail to the power of the purr. The Humane Society Legislative Fund announced yesterday that it is supporting Sen. Barack Obama for president. This is the first time the organization has formally endorsed a presidential candidate.

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