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A mail carrier in Irving, Texas, made a rather unusual delivery this past weekend when he placed a box with Chihuahua puppy inside on the mayor's doorstep.

According to a story in the Dallas Morning News, postal employee Philip Smith admitted he acted out of frustration with local animal control officials when he scooped up a free-roaming Chihuahua placed him in a cardboard box with a note including Smith's name and phone number, and left the box on Mayor Herbert Gears' porch.

Smith contends that he has complained about the puppy wandering loose in his neighborhood, and animal control failed to correct the problem. After the pooch "made sexual advances" toward a neighbor's dog, Smith took it upon himself to relocate the amorous canine.

He is quoted as saying returning the dog to his owners seemed pointless, since they continued to let the dog run loose. So he decided, since the mayor once told residents that if they had a problem, they could contact him for help, he would put the problem squarely on the mayor's doorstep.

The mayor said he found the box with no dog inside and called police. The next day, the dog did show up on the mayor's porch sporting an injury to his leg, possibly an animal bite. Gears took the pooch to a vet who said the dog should make a full recovery.

"There is no excuse for doing something like that," Gears is quoted in the article. "I don't care how many complaints you have. That's going over the top."

The article did not give an age for the pup or say who has current custody him.

Irving police and the U.S. Postal Service are investigating the issue.

Personally, even though I could almost sympathize with the guy's frustration, I don't think it's humane to endanger a puppy to make a point. What do you think? If animal control fails to correct a situation, do you think its right to take the matter into your own hands?

(Photo by WFAA-TV staff, Dallas)

Click here to read a wonderful story about a Dottie, and 18-year-old Australian shepherd who is as good in her role as a therapy dog as she is rounding up errant livestock. Beautiful story about a beautiful pooch.

(Photo by Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times)

This is Callie, a 10-year-old poodle whose pet parent Patty White said was a little jealous of a new great-grand baby in the family. Understandable, since poodles are pretty smart and she knew she commanded a lot of attention. But I am also sure she will share the affection with the new baby, and maybe a toy or two. Maybe.

For more information, go to the Web site.

Video by Dawn Furnas.

Apparently this Sunday is National Pet Parents Day, proving that eventually there will be at least 365 "national day of something" entries for our calendars.

This holiday is the brainchild of Veterinary Pet Insurance. According to the Web site, vetlearn.com, "...VPI is offering electronic greeting cards dedicated to National Pet Parent's Day on its Web site, petinsurance.com, through April 27. VPI's 'e-Cards' will be available for Web site visitors to share with the pet parent(s) of their choice -- friends, family or even spouses who raise dogs, cats, birds, or exotic pets. Similar to popular online greeting cards, senders will have the ability to choose a design and attach a personalized message to the electronic greeting."

So send your favorite pet parent a greeting and let them know you love that they love pets.

Meet Curley, a handsome 1-year-old greyhound looking for home.

Curley and his siblings were rescued from a farm in Florida. They were intended to be racing dogs, but now they are intended to be pets. And I can tell you from personal experience, greyhounds make great pets.

Contact Sarah Orrick of Star City Greyhound Adoptions at 387-9641if you are interested in Curley or any of the other fast hounds looking for a soft couch. Stop by PetsMart most Saturdays and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. for a greyhound meet-and-greet.

Trio Bistro-Bar-Bottle restaurant, 315 Market Street in downtown Roanoke, will host two upcoming Cocktails for a Cause events for the benefit of critters in the Valley. The first event on April 30 will help build a fence for the off-leash dog park. The second event on May 7 benefits the RVSPCA.

Twenty percent of all sales between 5 and 8 p.m. will be donated to the causes.

As I have blogged before, NewVaConnects is the force behind fencing in the dog park. Recognizing that it is completely insane to let your pooch run off-leash in the unfenced Fishburn Park, which is borderd by busy Brambleton Avenue, the group is trying to raise $30,000 to build a fence and add other amenities to the park. The group will announce the winner of the dog park logo contest at the Cocktails for a Cause event.

Here's a link to Lindsey Nair's article about the kitchen scene at last week's Puttin' on the Dog dinner, a fundraiser for St. Francis Service Dogs Foundation.

This is a link to photographer Stephanie Klein-Davis' slideshow from the event.

My two big passions in life are pets and food, so this event was perfect evening for me, and apparently for everyone else involved. If you missed out, there is always next year. Enjoy.

Sorry no blog entry yesterday. I must learn to better manage my time at work.

I was out perusing the Internet for some pet news this morning, and found a blog entry on the Los Angeles Times' Web site about a stray German shepherd dog that, after biting a teenager, eluded capture for days by swimming in a lake that was once the stomping ground for an alligator.

According to the report, last year an alligator found its way into a Los Angeles-area lake and made himself at home. After numerous sightings, authorities finally caught the reptile, dubbed Reggie at some point during his media campaign, and took him off to a zoo.

There, Reggie imitated Oops, our own infamous Mill Mountain monkey, and tried to escape, making him somewhat of a legend in the area.

So last week this delinquent dog tried to hide in Reggie's infamous lake. Good thing for the pooch Reggie didn't have any relatives still lurking in the water. The dog was eventually captured when he landed ashore near a golf course and taken to an animal shelter.

And while alligators are in the news, did you see the "Today" show interview with a woman who found an alligator strolling through her Florida home?

Sandra Frosti, 69, of Oldsmar, Fla., thinks the alligator gained entry to her home through her screened-in porch. Then the scaly beast proceeded to saunter through her house, ending up in the kitchen, where apparently the only thing keeping him from opening the 'fridge making himself a sandwich was the lack of opposable thumbs.

As the gator made its way through Frosti's home, she made a hasty retreat, leaving behind her cat, Poe. The quick-thinking feline was able to remain undetected by the menacing gator as he contemplated snack choices in the kitchen. Frosti spotted her kitty in the living room and whisked him out of the house to safety.

Authorities captured the intruder and, according to Frosti, put the gator down. Apparently an alligator cannot be expected to stay in the swamp once he's tasted the good life of condo living, and he would pose a certain threat to the next home he decided to invade.

Frosti told Meredith Viera that she's had many calls from family and friends about the incident, but most were checking on Poe's well-being.

(Photo: Los Angeles Times file)

Bella, 9- or 10-year-old yellow lab, doesn't let a few kitties keep her from catching a nice nap on a sunny day. Pet parent Ellen Tilson of Rural Retreat said Bella has always been fond of the kitties, she even gives them the occassional bath. Ellen said so far she has not been able to get a shot of that, but Ellen, if you ever do, send it our way.

Hope those felines didn't leave tan lines.