Last Wednesday, Governor Jerry Brown of California signed a bill banning the use of dogs to hunt bears and bobcats. The bill will take effect on January 1st, 2013. This is just one of many animal welfare bills Governor Brown has signed this year. Many of the bills have received bipartisan support. This most recent bill had opposition from the hunting community and many Republicans.

On Thursday night, the Yarbrough family, found their four-month-old dog Buddy on the front porch of their California home. Something was clearly wrong with Buddy. Buddy usually stays in the backyard and it was obvious to them that he was in pain. A visit to the vet revealed he had a broken leg and would need surgery costing $3700.

Bosko, a yellow lab, found a young calf dying of hypothermia on his family’s ranch. Bosko came across the calf in the ranch’s feed lot and went to get help from his family. The family brought the calf into shelter, where they wrapped him in blankets and heating pads and gave him some antibiotics.

On Tuesday morning Diane Albracht let her 4-year-old Treeing Walker Coonhound Veronica out in the yard of her California home. Diane went about her morning, busy getting the house ready for a family reunion this weekend. At 9:30 am her granddaughter arrived for a playdate. It was then when Albrecht discovered that her gate was open and Veronica was missing.

Bailey, a Canada Border Services Agency worker, spent her last day on the job Friday in Vancouver. Bailey is a seven-year-old chocolate lab. Both Bailey and her canine coworker Brodie were laid off due to most recent federal budget. They are among a suggested 19 dog teams to be impacted across Canada by the cuts.

Police officers in Williston, Florida were disposing of evidence per a court order on Thursday when they heard a whimpering noise coming from underground. Officers located the origin of the whimpering and dug out a one-week-old puppy that was head-first in an eight-inch hole.

Hope, a pug mix that was found badly abused in Texas in July, is recovering well with her new family the Moncriefs. Not only is Hope living a happy life now, she and the Moncriefs are helping other dogs in need.

When Starship came to the Greenville County Animal Care Shelter in South Carolina on June 30th she was starving. The shelter is guessing the Australian Cattle dog-Shepard puppy is about 4 months old, but her growth is stunted so the vet hasn’t been able to age her exactly. Starship growth has been stunted due to a digestive condition which makes it impossible for her to eat or drink unless she is upright. So the shelter has built her a high chair to eat from.

In 2009 Pennsylvania passed a law creating higher standards for breeding kennels to help combat the puppy mill epidemic in that state. However, a new report by the state’s Dog Law Advisory Board shows that the Department of Agriculture and its Dog Law Enforcement Office has done nothing to enforce that law.