This Might Have Been a Good Case for the K-9 Unit

The Mystery of the Day, spotted in the Claremont Courier by Anne Stokes, concerned a couple who returned from vacation to find many items missing, including three purses, several pairs of shoes, a pair of boots and a carton of cigarettes.

Resident Donald Colony “suspected the burglar entered through a doggie door because of mud surrounding the entrance,” the Courier reported.

“Police could not locate any [other] credible point of entry” and pointed out that “transients had recently burglarized other houses in the area.” The only other possible clue was some “suspicious matted bushes in the backyard.”

Two days after filing the report, Colony “discovered all the items buried in his backyard. Police now believe the culprit was the dog.”

From mud-splattering to politics: This being election day, I thought it appropriate to recall some offbeat vote-seekers of past years (see accompanying), including:

* The state’s first “legalize ferrets” candidate (he and the varmint were defeated).

* A candidate whose campaign went into the toilet.

* A proposition of a blurry nature (photo by Don Durkee).

* A candidate pushing the cause of misshapen little creatures (spotted by Harold Durlan).

* A loser in the gubernatorial recall election (photo by John Wilner). By the way, this was not Gray Davis’ sign.

Devilish problem: If the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim don’t start winning consistently, the city of Anaheim may amend its lawsuit. Instead of demanding that “Los Angeles” be dropped from the name, Anaheim may demand that “Anaheim” be dropped.

I’m reminded of the era in the 1960s when the club was called the California Angels and fielded one losing team after another. A San Francisco columnist pleaded for the state to be divided in half so that his region would no longer be linked with the Angels. The columnist said that his new state would even be willing to take Fresno.

Spacey suggestions: Goodyear is holding a name-the-blimp contest for its new airship, and the Daily Breeze says the submissions included “Blimp-pan-zee,” “Motion Slickness” and “Blimp My Ride.” One person even entered “Oh, the Huge Manatee,” a pun in bad taste about the broadcaster who exclaimed, “Oh, the humanity!” when the Hindenburg crashed.

miscelLAny: While lunching in the ground-level cafeteria of The Times, I looked out the window and saw a huge man walking down Spring Street. He wore a T-shirt that bore the message “I’m with Shorty,” next to an arrow. The arrow was pointing to the small woman walking beside him. You can’t make this stuff up.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083; by fax at (213) 237-4712; by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012; and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.