A Queens mother is still outraged over an incident that took place at P.S. 123 over a year ago. "The visions in my head drive me crazy," says Marissa Chunisingh, whose daughter Kristen was tied to a chair with a sweater when she was a 5-year-old student at the school. Kristen has speech problems, and wasn't able to tell her mother what was going on at the school—Chunisingh only found out about the incident after getting a strange phone call from a school official asking her for a leash. more ›

Yesterday the Improv Everywhere gang took 2,000 dogs for a walk in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn. Invisible dogs, that is. You remember those old invisible dog toys, right? Turns out the circa-1970s toy was manufactured in a Brooklyn factory, which now contains the Invisible Dog art space! The space loaned the pranksters the vintage dog leashes for their afternoon of good clean fun; and if you want one yourself they still seem to be for sale online. More photos from Katie Sokoler, here. more ›

A New Yorker Talk of the Town piece investigates a fear that's been plaguing Upper West Side dogowners: Dognappers who prey upon beloved pooches (especially petite ones) in hopes of a payday. One dog owner explains, according to lore, "There's a two-man team, with one in a gray hoodie on a bicycle who comes by and slices the leash with a razor, then goes away with the dog. The other guy calls you up later on and says, 'Hey, I found your dog! What's it worth to you?'" While others have heard about this team and their dastardly M.O., even heeding advice like, "Don't leave your dog outside Starbucks. And don't use leashes that people can slice through," and keeping a careful eye out for bicyclists, the police at the 12th Precinct say there have been no dognapping reports in the past few weeks. A Brooklyn College poli-sci professor tries to explain the paranoia through the lens of the financial crisis, "A small dog creates a tremendous amount of emotional attachment, but at the same time it is a luxury item--and that's being taken away." more ›

We have wondered why people put their cats on leashes and it seems the only answer is "Why not?" Today, the NY Times' City Section confirms that answer, with a charming article about Corcoran broker Court Hassinger whose Abyssinian Radar enjoys constitutionals around the Upper West Side. more ›