Discount cards seek to increase dog licenses

Discount cards like this will be handed out along with 2012 dog licenses for Lucas County.

…it is estimated that nearly half of the dogs in Lucas County are unlicensed.

Officials say that compares favorably with the state's other metropolitan counties, but still means some 52,000 dogs are less likely to be returned home if lost -- and more likely to be killed if impounded. Dog advocates hope two initiatives being rolled out this fall by the Lucas County Auditor's Office could change that…

"There are a lot of benefits that people don't necessarily think about, they just think of it as a tax," Ms. Lyle said…

…license fees are the primary funding source for her office. So, potentially there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in license fees not being collected across the county -- money that could be used to take care of dogs under Ms. Lyle's control, help facilitate adoptions, or pay for improvements at the pound…more

Cockfight in Toledo leads to arrests of 12 area men

Photo courtesy PETA Files

…Cockfighting is a centuries-old [blood] sport in which two or more specially bred birds, or gamecocks, are placed in an enclosed pit to fight, according to information on the Humane Society of the United States site…

…Ohio is one of only a handful of states where cockfighting is considered a misdemeanor, Mr. [John] Dinon [executive director of the Toledo-Area Humane Society] said. He added that there is a bill up for consideration in the Ohio legislature that would make the crime a felony.

House Bill 260 would charge a first-time offender with a fifth-degree felony…more