'Dog Whisperer' sued by pet owner   
   SOLVEJ SCHOU   
   Associated Press   
      
   LOS ANGELES - A television producer sued dog trainer Cesar Millan, star   
   of TV's "Dog Whisperer," claiming his Labrador retriever was injured at   
   Millan's training facility after being choked with a collar and forced   
   to run on a treadmill.   
      
   In the lawsuit filed Thursday in Superior Court, "8 Simple Rules"   
   producer Flody Suarez said he took 5-year-old Gator to the Dog   
   Psychology Center on Feb. 27 to deal with fears of other dogs and   
   strangers.   
      
   Hours after dropping off the dog, Suarez said, a worker called to tell   
   him the animal had been rushed to a veterinarian. Suarez later found the   
   dog "bleeding from his mouth and nose, in an oxygen tent gasping for   
   breath and with severe bruising to his back inner thighs," according to   
   the lawsuit.   
      
   Workers at the facility were accused in the suit of placing a choke   
   collar on the dog, pulling him onto a treadmill and forcing him to   
   overwork.   
      
   Suarez said he has spent at least $25,000 on medical bills, and the dog   
   must undergo more surgeries for damage to his esophagus.   
      
   The lawsuit claimed breach of contract, fraud, animal cruelty and   
   intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other allegations.   
   It seeks more than $25,000 in damages.   
      
   A call to Millan at the Dog Psychology Center was not immediately   
   returned. The facility is also named as a defendant.   
   The lawsuit was the second filed against Millan in a week.   
      
   On April 28, his former publicist Makeda Smith and her partner Foster   
   Corder sued Millan and other defendants, including the National   
   Geographic Channel, which airs Millan's show.   
      
   That suit claimed breach of contract, copyright infringement and breach   
   of confidential relationship, alleging that Smith originally conceived   
   the name "Dog Whisperer" for Millan.   
      
   But while she and Corder attempted to sell a pilot episode written by   
   Corder, Millan "went on his own" and pitched the show to the National   
   Geographic Channel and two production companies without the plaintiffs'   
   knowledge, the lawsuit claimed.   
   Together, Smith and Corder are seeking more than $5 million in damages.   
      
   A spokesman for the National Geographic Channel declined comment.   
      
   "As of this time, the National Geographic Channel has not been served   
   with either lawsuit, and we do not comment on pending litigation," said   
   Russell Howard, the channel's vice president of communications.   
      
   http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/14511690.htm   
      
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