Officers say Artest's dog underfed

Basketball Betting Lines

02/07/2007 -

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Animal services officers seized a Great Dane from the mansion of Sacramento Kings star Ron Artest, saying the dog was underfed.

Neighbors complained for weeks that the dog - named Socks - appeared to be starving inside a gated area on Artest's $1.85 million estate in rural Loomis, according to a county report.

On Jan. 30, animal services officers visited Artest's home and issued a ``pre-seizure'' notice, warning him that the female Great Dane would be taken into custody if the animal care didn't improve.

Placer County animal services officers returned to Artest's home Monday and removed Socks.

Artest has 10 days to request a hearing, county spokeswoman Anita Yoder said.

Artest's publicist, Heidi Buech, declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The episode has so upset neighbors in Artest's gated community that the homeowners' association plans to vote next week on guidelines that would require members to properly care for their animals.

Artest signed with the Kings last January for $7.15 million this season and $7.8 million in 2007-08, with an $8.45 million player option for 2008-09.

Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.