oddly enough

oddly enough

A pup named Potato? 15 were registered in NYC last year

NEW YORK

Bella and Max are top dogs in New York City.

The city Health Department announced Wednesday that it registered 1,127 dogs named Bella and 1,073 named Max in 2015.

Bella has been the city’s most-popular dog name since 2008. That’s when the last of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire-themed “Twilight” novels featuring heroine Bella Swan was published.

But some dog owners took their inspiration from the pantry and the garden.

The Health Department says it licensed 27 dogs named Bean, 17 dogs named Raisin and 15 dogs named Potato last year.

A total of 605 licensed dogs answered to Daisy, the most-popular flower name. There were also 10 Tulips, four Primroses and two Daffodils.

Clowns city at council meeting: Please don’t ban animal shows

PITTSBURGH

A public hearing on a proposed wild-animal entertainment ban that would keep circuses and similar shows out of the city ended up being a circus of sorts, complete with clowns who begged the city council not to enact the measure.

Syria Shrine clowns held signs outside the City-County Building that said, “We love our animals,” and “Councilman Kraus makes clowns cry!”

That referred to Democratic Councilman Bruce Kraus, whose bill was supported by animal-rights activists at a public hearing. Animal Defender International, based in Los Angeles, said more than 30 U.S. municipalities have similar laws.

Supporters of the bill contend that animals don’t jump through fiery hoops because they enjoy it.

“They perform out of fear of what will happen to them if they don’t,” said Brian Bonsteel, founder of Humane Action Pittsburgh, an animal-rights group that helped draft the legislation.

City Council President Darlene Harris said she’ll vote against the bill and believes circus animals are motivated to perform by the good relationships they have with their trainers.

“I have never seen any animal do a trick for a person who abuses and beats them. Never,” Harris said. “If I hit my dog, do you think she would sit up and roll over and dance for me?”

The National Aviary, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and other educational and humane groups would be exempt from the ban, though the zoo’s leader criticized the measure.

“None of the speakers in favor of this ordinance have any experience or expertise in actually working with wild exotic animals,” said Dr. Barbara Baker, the zoo’s president and CEO.

Officials with the Shrine Circus and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus spoke out against the measure, though the latter’s shows recently stopped using trained elephants in response to the number of cities and counties that passed ordinances prohibiting the use of bull hooks or nixing wild animal acts altogether.

Associated Press