Ruff Business

Voters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are upset at Maria Lucia Frota, Rio’s secretary of animal rights, for “hiring” a dog and putting it on the official cabinet member payroll. The dog’s $700-per-week salary, Frota says, supports the German Shepard’s trainer and veterinarian. “This is a joke!” a city worker complained. “A dog as a member of the cabinet?” Frota is not bothered by the criticism: she says she plans to hire a second dog so the first doesn’t have to work more than six hours per day. (Reuters) ...Apparently the entire department enjoys lifting their legs on taxpayers.