In a case that made national headlines, Sheba, a rottweiler who lived in Oakland Park, Florida had nine mixed breed puppies who were taken by her owner and buried alive in front of her eyes. Sheba broke her chain and dug them out. The paper sack they were buried in held a bubble of air and the cold temperatures slowed their metabolism, so that six of the pups were still alive when she reached them. Neighbors heard the first-time mother's howls of anguish, and called the authorities, who rescued Sheba from her home of horror.

Robert Homrighous, 42, pleaded no contest to burying the puppies who have been adopted out, as was Sheba, by the Broward County Animal Shelter. Homrighous drew four months in jail and five years on probation. Homrighous will not be allowed to keep pets during his probationary period. [editor's note: Seems like rather a light sentence to Brea. She'd like to bury him and see how he likes it.]