The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…Written by my lovely wife, Jennifer and me. It opens with the weekend dog walking forecast followed by the main blog from dog lover, Jennifer. Then it’s DOGS IN THE NEWS and our close. Enjoy!
THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors.
TODAY: Partly cloudy. High of 64. Cool for this time of year. What the heck. “A”
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny. High of 70. “A”
Now, here’s my lovely wife, Jennifer with this week’s main blog.
When I was in fourth grade, we had a special event to celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. If our pet was well-behaved we were able to bring it to school for an outdoor prayer service and then our pets would receive a special blessing.
As an aside, can you IMAGINE something like that happening today? The school would have to hire a team of attorneys to draft a release form that every parent would have to sign. It wouldn’t be the standard menagerie of dogs and an occasional cat. These days every “exotic” animal would need to be included – after all, St. Francis wouldn’t have discriminated. Parents of children without pets would be encouraged to take their kids to a school-sponsored therapy session helping them through their pet-less experience that day. And even a Catholic school-sponsored event would have to give equal time to some Wiccan equivalent of an animal holiday. But I digress.
Back to my elementary school experience. I was able to bring my Basenji mix Sugar, the pet I will measure all future pets against. She was in my opinion the perfect dog. A bit of a “prima donna” but none the less an awesome four-legged friend. I’ll never forget holding her little leash and thinking how cool it was that she was actually going to be blessed in the same way I was at mass. And who couldn’t use a little help from above! I don’t recall anything out of the ordinary occurring so I’m assuming all pets behaved and minimal clean-up was necessary. After all that was a “few” years ago. I still remember feeling that it was such a cool celebration of animals and the saint that loved them.
Even though this event was a few years ago there is still a sense of pride regarding Cardinal Timothy Dolan. I can’t help but wish he was still our Archbishop, but I’m happy that he’s moved on to “bigger and better things” in New York. In 2014, he participated in a fabulous celebration of St. Francis. An edition of Arlington’s Catholic Herald also mentions the event & Cardinal Dolan. In addition, it offers some reflection as to why this feast day is so popular.
I have to admit, I was surprised by the source of our final piece of information. Certainly they are champions of animals, but the following article is more than just a brief mention on their website. The Humane Society of the United States offers an in-depth history, and I was happy to see such detail about this special feast day.
We know that dogs are truly a blessing in our lives. It really does make sense that we return the favor with a blessing to them. Happy Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi!
—Jennifer Fischer
Thanks, Jennifer!
Time now for DOGS IN THE NEWS, canines that made headlines the past week.
Rescue Worries that All the Strays of Puerto Rico’s ‘Dead Dog Beach’ Perished During Hurricane Maria.
This dog found a handgun, and fired it.
Caught On Video: Woman Dragged Off Southwest Flight Over Allergy.
A pet expert explains the personality differences between dog and cat owners.
Barking Lot update: Dog Abandoned in Las Vegas Airport with Desperate Note, Finds New Home.
Your dog is big business, and Uber-like apps want it.
Man proposes to girlfriend then their dog with pink rhinestone collar.
And today is the last day of National Dog Week.
THAT’S IT FOR DOGS IN THE NEWS.
HERE’S OUR DOG PHOTO(s) OF THE WEEK AND WE’VE GOT A BUNCH:
A schnauzer who survived the earthquake was pulled out of the rubble of a collapsed building by rescuers in Mexico City last Sunday. Search teams were still digging in dangerous piles of rubble, hoping against the odds to find survivors at collapsed buildings, where the death toll from the Sept. 19 earthquake rose to over 300. The dog’s rescue gave hope to residents and neighbors of the building who successfully got an injunction from a judge requiring the rescue operation continue for at least five more days. Photo: Alfredo Estrella / AFP – Getty Images
We close as we always do with our closing video.
A seven-minute video within a larger art exhibit called “Art and China After 1989” is getting massive backlash before it’s even been shown to the U.S. public.
The piece, set for a three-month presentation at New York City’s Guggenheim Museum starting Oct. 6, is titled “Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other.” The video installment features four sets of dogs who resemble pit bulls, strapped to treadmills and exhaustively charging at each other. The clip, first shown in Beijing in 2003, was created by controversial husband-and-wife artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu.
New York’s PIX 11 News reports that the dog video, which is part of 150 different art pieces, is generating so much controversy that many animal activist groups, and even some artists, are either actively protesting the exhibition or currently planning to protest it.
UPDATE: Under pressure, the museum cancelled the exhibit, and issued this statement:
“Out of concern for the safety of its staff, visitors, and participating artists, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has decided against showing the art works ‘Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other’ (2003), ‘Theater of the World’ (1993), and ‘A Case Study of Transference’ (1994) in its upcoming exhibition ‘Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World.’ Although these works have been exhibited in museums in Asia, Europe, and the United States, the Guggenheim regrets that explicit and repeated threats of violence have made our decision necessary. As an arts institution committed to presenting a multiplicity of voices, we are dismayed that we must withhold works of art. Freedom of expression has always been and will remain a paramount value of the Guggenheim.”
Next…
Rob’s job: herd hundreds of sheep daily. Coming from a long pedigree of Scottish border collies, he was born to do this job, and he relies on deep instinct to make quick decisions and swiftly outmaneuver the flock.
Finally, meet Holly…
That’s it for this week.
Thanks for stopping by.
We’d really appreciate it if you forward this on to other dog lovers you know. Let them have some fun!
See ya, BARK, next Saturday!
This Just In... From Franklin, WI 
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