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This is Roxy and she is all dressed up for tonight. She may do tricks, but I am going to guess she prefers treats. This photo was sent in by reader Cecily Amonett.

I am off to attend a family wedding in Colorado. Keep the comments coming, but I may be a little slow in approving depending on my Internet connections.

Enjoy your Halloween and your weekend, folks!

Things will get a little spooky tomorrow night. Here's this week's Happy Wag column on keeping your critters safe and happy:

Halloween approaches with scary creatures, crazy costumes and little beggars pounding on your door. While people may enjoy the rituals of All Hallow's Eve, the event has to be confusing if not downright frightening to pets.

Based on tips from the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and input from Taylor Gillispie, the animal behaviorist at the Roanoke Valley SPCA, here are some suggestions to keep your pets safe and happy when the spooking starts:

Costumes on pets: Some pets love getting dressed up, some absolutely hate it. It took our puppy, Stormy, only minutes to wiggle out of a holiday bandana I tied around his neck. Many critters, including all of mine, prefer to be au natural.

"Costumes are not ideal for every pet," Gillispie said. If you happen to have a kitty or dog that tolerates, or even enjoys, playing dress up, make sure the costume isn't restrictive, allows for unobstructed peripheral vision and won't cause the animal to trip or fall.

Gillispie said dressed-up pets should always be supervised and suggests to owners, for the pet's comfort and peace of mind: "Put the costume on, snap the picture and then take it off."

Costumes on people: Generally speaking, my pets are wary of creatures they don't recognize. Sometimes they even attack: My 13-pound cat chased my 75-pound dog through the house once because I put felt reindeer antlers on the dog's head. The pursuit ended when I snatched the tiny disguise off the whining dog, returning him to a visage the cat recognized as non-threatening.

The point is that having their home invaded by masked strangers could freak out Fluffy and Fido.

"Animals with abuse in their past can be especially afraid," Gillispie said, adding that cats can be particularly fearful. So, if you are hosting a party or dressing up to work the door, you should keep your pets in a separate room.

Open door policy: Remember that your pets are not likely to appreciate the parade of trick-or-treaters on your porch, and the little pirates, princesses, Hulks and Hannah Montanas will probably not enjoy your dog barking at them when they come to collect their candy. Keep your pets away from the front door to keep everyone's stress level under control and to prevent your pets from darting outside.

Keep the treats out of reach: My dogs are professional beggars. They have the "I'm so cute you know you want to give me a treat" look down pat. But candy meant for people can be dangerous, even deadly, for dogs and cats. Chocolate contains theobromine, a naturally occurring chemical in cocoa beans that can be toxic to canines. Make sure to keep all the goodies, especially the chocolate, out of snout's reach.

"Watch your kids, too, to make sure they aren't giving your pets candy," Gillispie said.

And it's not just the sweets that pose a threat. Candy wrappers can get stuck in a pet's digestive tract, causing the animal to suffer and you to incur a pricey vet bill. Keep the Emergency Veterinary Service phone number handy -- 563-8575 -- in case your pet does nibble something he's not supposed to.

Just say no to candles: With all the commotion of Halloween, an open flame is just a bad idea. A wagging tail, a startled kitty or even a costumed kid can easily knock over a carved pumpkin. For everyone's sake, use a battery-operated light instead of a candle in your Jack-O-Lantern.

Black cats on the prowl: Until last year, the RVSPCA, like many shelters, banned the adoption of black cats in October.

"But it's not fair to hold the cats from getting homes," Gillispie said, so while black kitties can be adopted this month from the Roanoke shelter, she said all potential adopters are carefully screened.

Urban legend says people hunt for animals, especially black cats, on Halloween, sacrificing and torturing them in barbaric rituals. While verifiable statistics are not available on whether the phenomenon of Halloween-related, black cat brutality is real or a myth, Gillispie said why take the chance?

Keep your kitties of every color, and your dogs, too, safely in the house and away from dangerous, two-legged predators.

Better safe than sorry.

Okay, I think we need to lighten the mood here at the Wag. It's been getting a little heated, and I think we all need to remember that pets are supposed to make us happy. My litter of critters almost always make me smile.

Well, I don't usually smile when my cat tap dances on me in my sleep when his food bowl is empty, but that's my fault for forcing him to remind me of my lack of service.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos that are making the rounds on the Internet. They brought a grin to my face; may they do the same for you.

Halloween is just around the corner...boo!

Mars Petcare US announced Monday that it is voluntarilyy recalling a limited number of bags of SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend dry cat food sold at Wal-Mart locations in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia.

The pet food is being voluntarily recalled following a positive test result indicating a potential contamination with salmonella.

This product should not be sold or fed to pets. Pet owners should dispose of product in a safe manner (example, a securely covered trash receptacle) and return the empty bag to the store where purchased for a full refund.

Recalled Pet Food

Product: SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend Dry Cat Food
Best If Used By Date: AUG 11 09
Best By Date Location: Back of bag
Production Lot Code: 50 XXXX X (Found on back of bag just after "Best If Used By" date. Consumers should look for "50" as the first two digits of the second line.)

UPC Code: UPC code numbers can be found directly underneath the bar code on the package. Please find recalled pet food UPC information below.

Pet owners who have questions about the recall should call 1-877-568-4463 or visit www.petcare.mars.com.

Last week we got this wonderful picture in the Your Community e-mail. This was the message attached to the photo:

My name is Toni Levine and I live in New Castle, Virginia.  This picture was taken and entered into a Halloween Contest for Chris Rescue Angels.  So far, she is ahead of the next closest by 35 votes.  We titled the picture "Hairy Scarey".

I replied back to Toni and asked a few more questions about this unconventionally beautiful pooch. This is the story she sent me today:

She has a history...her name is Sassy and she came from a horrible puppy mill in Texas.  She came out with a younger male (they are yorkies) and she was sick.  I was to foster both of them but all he would do was lay with her day and night.  She is an old soul and we felt like it would hurt his chances of being adopted so he was moved to another foster home.  (He has since been adopted to a wonderful forever home).  I vowed to try to help her move forward...she stayed curled up in a ball 90% of the time and didn't interact with any other dogs in my home.  Slowly, day by day, over the last year, I have watched her take baby steps and then some MAJOR steps.  She started by coming into the computer room where I spend several hours a day and where all of the puppy beds are.  She picked one and laid in it as long as I was there.  Next thing I knew, she was laying with one of my other tinies....slowly, she explored the toy basket and started taking treats.  I have had her a year now and my rescue group has decided she is not adoptable and shouldn't be moved.  Her newest best friend is my husband....whenever he sits down, she comes and asks him to pick her up and she curls up next to him.  It has been amazing watching her take these HUGE steps.  She will never be a "normal" dog but she is at peace and happy here and she knows she is loved.

Now, about the picture.....she had been rolling and rolling on my husbands chair where there is a nice, soft blanket and it is directly under a ceiling fan.  She got static electricity and my husband yelled for me to come with my camera.  It was perfect timing and the perfect shot!!! 

 Please go to www.chrisrescueangels.com and view our website.  If you go to the Halloween Contest and hit pictures, they will all pop up.  I have 3 in the contest....Scooter, Murray Victor and Hairy Scarey.  As you can see, Hairy Scarey is up front and everyone is pulling for her to win. 

I hope you will also take some time to read about us and what we do.  We just adopted a dog to a couple in Belgium and they fly over in 21 days to pick him up.  We also have a monthly newsletter on the site that you can read. 

Thank you SO much for wanting to feature her.....she is very special. 

Toni Levine

Board of Directors, Chris' Rescue Angels

Foster Mom to Sassy

Mom to Murray Victor, HWY, Oreo, Haley, Taz, Scooter, Vanna, KayDee

Applications Processor

I hope you were able to attend yesterday's Howl-O-Ween, the fundraiser for the Roanoke Valley SPCA, at Elmwood Park.  My hubby and I, unfortunately, have been under the weather for many days thought it was best to stay home.

From the looks of the Pup-arrazi pictures, we missed quiet a party.

Here's a picture four happy attendees: Alex Fulghun and Mason, who appears to be a pug, and Kellin White and Chynna, who looks like a pit bull or a pit bull mix. The kids are cute in their painted faces and Mason in his costume. And doesn't Chynna looks very pretty in her dress with her pink painted toenails?

To see more pictures, click here for the Roanoke Times/Inside Out Paparazzi Flickr account, and look in this Thursday's Inside Out section of the newspaper.

And if you attended, post a comment and let me know what I missed.

Ah, as my husband, a  lifetime Cubs fan, always says: Wait 'til next year.

A reader left this comment yesterday on Friday’s blog entry about wine bottles that will bear the pictures of some of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick’s dog fighting operation:

“Sorry, don't trust that trash breed of dog. They just seem to go nuts too often, injuring children, old people and even their own owners. And why some people seem to love walking them in crowded places? A ticking time bomb.”

Okay, I am going to try to keep my gut reaction to that statement under control and just stick to the facts.

That "trash" breed is one of the most common dogs in America. There are millions of pit bulls and pit bull mixes in this country and around the world. One of them lives in my house and yes, I walk him in crowded places. He loves people, other dogs, and attention.

What you hear and read about are the ones who are abused by irresponsible people, like these dogs that were saved from Michael Vick's evil enterprise. At least one of the less abused dogs rescued from Vick's dog fighting operation is now working as a therapy dog.

Helen Keller had a pit bull. So did the Little Rascals. Rachel Ray's dog Isaboo, whose face is all over the labels of her pet food products, is a pit bull. The dogs in the Buster Brown and RCA logos? Both pit bulls. Spuds MacKenzie, the “spokesdog” for Bud Light beer in the late ‘80s was a bull terrier, one of many types in the family of bully breeds.

The most decorated dog in U.S. military history was Stubby, an American Staffordshire terrier, also known as a pit bull.

According to the American Temperament Test Society, a non-profit group that promotes uniform temperament evaluation of purebred and spayed/neutered mixed-breed dogs, pit bulls rated around the same temperament level as German shepherd dogs and golden retrievers. They scored better than border collies, weimeramers, lhaso apsos and many other common breeds.

Before dog fighting seemed to seep out of the underground, pit bulls were referred to as "nanny dogs" because they are good with kids.

By the way, the dog most likely to bite adults and children is a dachshund.

Best Friends Animal Society and Dog Lovers Wine Club are promoting the Vicktory Dog wine collection,  a celebration of the resilient spirit of the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick's dog-fighting operation.

The faces of pooches that survived Vick's house of horrors and have since found a safe haven at the Utah animal sanctuary will grace the labels of wine bottles sold by the club. Ten percent of the sales will benefit community programs to end dog fighting and lobby against breed specific legislation.

I may have found the perfect gift for the wine lovers on my holiday shopping list.

If you are a fan of "Dogtown" on the National Geographic channel, you have already met Cherry, Georgia, Denzel, Meryl and 17 other pit bulls taken from Bad Newz Kennels, the dog fighting operation Vick was funding in here in Virginia. Many of the 50 dogs were re-homed through pit bull rescues across the country; the most damaged of the dogs were sent to Best Friends, the nation's largest no-kill shelter.

After rehabilitation, most of the Vick dogs could be eligible for adoption. One of the most traumatized and aggresive dogs, Meryl, has been ordered by a Virginia judge to spend the rest of her life at Dogtown.

Vick is currently serving a 23-month sentence in federal prison for his part in the operation. Earlier this week he pleaded guilty to state charges related to the case.

The portraits for the labels were painted by artist Cyrus Mejia as part of his project Pits and Perceptions, a collection of paintings of the breed.

"The idea behind this project is to have people confront their fears and perceptions on these dogs," Mejia is quoted in the news release from Best Friends. "...This is my way of artistically trying to change the way people have come to think about pit bulls."

Dog Lovers Wine Club contacted Best Friends about doing the tribute to the pooches, known collectively as the Vicktory Dogs. DLWC is a California-based wine club where members receive monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly shipments of wine with dog illustrations on the labels.

The club donates 10 percent of the profits to Bark Partners, animal welfare organizations like the Humane Society of the United States, the SPCA, or Best Friends. Members can choose which of the BarkPartners get their share of the cash generated from their wine purchases.

Click hereto see the DLWC Vicktory Dogs collection.

By Mason Adams

Here's a link to today's editorial supporting the dog park. Needless to say, we are pro-dog park  here at the Wag, and we hope everyone who is passionate about this issue will turn out for tonight's meeting.

Now is the time to bark about this, folks. If we want a safe, fenced-in, public dog park for Roanoke's pooches, we have to speak up.