Treats on the Internets

Baltimore Co police documents portray dog groomer as a "nurse" to dogs used in alleged dogfighting ring

18 year old in NC charged with dogfighting, aspired to be the "next Michael Vick"

21 dogs seized in VA from man with previous cruelty convictions in and out of state

Owner of a dog who died at ASPCA veterinary hospital files suit after allegations the Vet kicked the dog

AVMA threatens Veterinary Information Network News Service with legal action over investigation

VA businesswoman produces raw food products for pets with ingredients from local farms

Lovely piece in the NY Times about two dogs who lived in an apartment building on the Upper West Side

Animal Photographer Harry Whittier Frees

Harry Whittier Frees (1879 - 1953) photographed live animals in costumes and elaborate settings without special effects. He is best known for his picture postcards which were a new and popular medium at the time. Frees' original photos are black and white, some were colorized after his death. I have read that he "rented" his subjects from breeders and pet shops in addition to using his own pets and those of friends.

Stray Dogs in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a little smaller than the state of Connecticut. Like some of the southern states, rescues in Puerto Rico send some of its stray dogs (known as "satos" locally) to the Northeast for adoption. Since shelters in the Northeast are short on dogs and Puerto Rico has an estimated 150,000 stray dogs, it makes sense to network on rescue efforts:

After nearly 15 years of Sato importation, New England is surely home to the highest concentration of these former strays of anywhere off the island. And they have a devoted following. Satos tend to be on the small side (under 30 pounds) and they come in many unusual combinations, just like Valiente [a Chihuahua/Border Collie mix]. Chihuahua genes are pretty common, as are enormous ear spans, stubby legs, and a penchant for sun bathing. Their gratitude at being given a second chance is often palpable.

Approximately 2000 stray dogs are rehomed in this manner every year in Puerto Rico. Which leaves us 148,000 more in need of help. The state is roughly 3500 square miles in size. If the estimate on stray dog numbers is accurate, that works out to approximately 43 strays per square mile. Think of a square mile in your neighborhood. Now put 43 stray dogs in there. Repeat the exercise times 3500 square miles and you can imagine the challenges and difficulties facing rescuers in Puerto Rico. I wonder if there is any access to low cost neuter in the state or if they even have any actual shelters. I wonder what more they need by way of assistance. Anyone?

Death of Innocents

I can't point to a specific reason why this story bothers me so much but it probably has to do with the Mother pushing the kid off that dark, point-of-no-return cliff called compassion:

As punishment for bad grades, a Georgia mother forced her 12-year-old son to kill his pet hamster with a hammer, police said.

The Mother has been arrested and charged with animal and child cruelty, along with battery. But the thing is, justice can never be served. What justice could there be? Obviously nothing can bring back the hamster but for the kid - well, this can't be undone. He's been violently and cruelly robbed of something intangible which no child should have to live without, and by his protector in this world - his Mother.

Treats on the Internets

TN taxpayers still paying the salaries of suspended Memphis Animal Shelter staff

KC Dog Blog: The False Solace of Vilification

SC Lt. Gov. Bauer finds himself in a hole, keeps digging

LAFD defends rescue of German Shepherd from L.A. River

Pet Connection: Do Animals Need Laws Protecting Them from Shelters?

Chicago requiring criminal background checks & fingerprinting for shelter volunteers

Anyone seen this movie? Netflix doesn't seem to have it and I'd like to see it.

No Help for Trapped Cat in Houston

If the power company called and asked if it was ok if they turn off your power briefly while someone rescues a cat stuck on a power pole, would you be ok with that? I would. Normally when my power goes out, it just happens - I don't get any advance notice. And I, like everyone else, deal with the situation until it comes back on. But in the case of a cat in need of help in Houston, no one even asked:

Lauren Kutac’s 8-month-old kitten spent 47 hours on the pole located in the backyard of her home in southwest Houston before she was electrocuted in the middle of the night.
[...]

The cat lover said she called several agencies including the Houston Fire Department, the SPCA, the Houston Police Department, and CenterPoint while she was sitting on the pole. They all declined her request for help.

“Not one person could help me,” she said.
[...]
CenterPoint Energy makes the decisions regarding the power pole. A company spokesperson said they could not turn off the power because it would affect several customers throughout the neighborhood.

I repeat: No one even asked.

The Houston SPCA spokesman, Meera Nandal, brings her usual fail:

“It’s a big misconception that [cats] should be free roaming and it’s OK for them to be outdoors, but actually, they need to live indoors,” said Nandlal.

kthx. So I guess it's the stupid owner's own fault the cat got stuck in the first place so the cat should just have to die. *cough*prevention-of-cruelty*cough*

The opportunity to help a pet owner in need, get some positive publicity for your shelter and educate the public while you're at it just got sucked into your vortex of pigheadedness. Thanks for playing.

I wonder where the owner will look when she's ready to get another cat? I'm guessing NOT the HSPCA, maybe not any shelter, after this experience.

You Learn Something New Every Day, Screwworm Edition

I'm not familiar with screwworms but apparently they are as nasty as they sound (pdf):

Screwworms are fly larvae (maggots) that feed on living flesh. These parasites infest all mammals and, rarely, birds.
[...]
Female flies lay their eggs at the edges of wounds or on mucous membranes. When they hatch, the larvae enter the body, grow and feed, progressively enlarging the wound. Eventually, they drop to the ground to pupate and develop into adults. Screwworms can enter wounds as small as a tick bite. Left untreated, infestations can be fatal. Screwworms have been eradicated from some parts of the world, including the southern United States, but infested animals are occasionally imported into screwworm-free countries. These infestations must be recognized and treated promptly; if the larvae are allowed to leave the wound, they can introduce these parasites into the area.

Haiti is one of the countries where screwworms have not been eradicated. There is some concern that refugees coming to the U.S. from Haiti might bring pets infested with screwworms. The state of WA addressed this concern (veterinary inspections required for dogs coming from Haiti) but I could not find anything for South Carolina. I did come across a mention of the subject regarding FL but no specific policies or protocols are provided.

Bonus: Humans can host the larvae too! The pdf linked above has lots more gory details, if you are so inclined.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Clarksdale, MS: We have space at our shelter for 60 pets but do you think we could make room for just one more?

(Repeat times 400 or so):

The ASPCA removed more than 400 cats and dogs from the Clarksdale, Mississippi shelter on Sunday, January 24, 2010.

Tim Rickey, the ASPCA's Senior Director of Field Investigations and Response, says many of the animals appear to be healthy, but some have medical conditions, including mange, as well as injuries and bite wounds from living in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions.

"What we've found," says Rickey, "are more than 400 animals living in a space designed for about 60. Our goal is to export as many of the animals as possible to other agencies where they can be placed up for adoption."

What's Stopping Us?

All aspects of the No Kill Equation are intertwined and it would be foolish to think we can single out one or two tenets and solve the problem of killing pets in shelters. Having said that, I sometimes think about doing something along those very lines. That is, I consider what single thing could happen today to bring us dramatically closer to being a no kill nation. The two most obvious to me are:

1. All those killing homeless pets in this country simply stop. They adopt the no kill philosophy and begin to implement the changes needed in their communities. And in the meantime, they stop killing pets.
2. We increase shelter adoptions a little bit. Nathan Winograd breaks down the math for us here.

Now of those two ideas, I think it's unrealistic to expect the first would happen today. Changing philosophies takes time. Especially when many shelters are still very far away from the no kill philosophy and consider killing to be a "kindness" they perform because they love pets or a "necessity" due to so-called pet overpopulation. As for the second, I think yes, that could happen today.

How?

The first and most important point to my mind is to stop blaming the public. We don't want potential adopters to feel guilty for buying a pet from a responsible breeder by perpetuating the myth that a shelter pet must be killed for every pet purchased from a responsible breeder. There is room in no kill, and in fact a need for, responsible breeders selling pets to people. In addition, we don't want the public to feel guilty that animal shelters exist. For example, when we wag our fingers at owners who do not neuter their pets and state that they are the reason we must have shelters and in turn "must" kill pets, we demonize both potential adopters and the shelters themselves. More education, assistance and understanding - less judgment.

Secondly, let's recognize that there is a group of people in society who would like to add a pet to the family but are not sure how best to obtain one. This is our target market. If we can influence some of the people in this group to adopt from a shelter, we can make that giant leap toward no kill I dream about. The good news is that the potential adopters are out there and the pets are out there. The bad news is that there is a gap between the two preventing them from connecting. It is this gap we must bridge and everyone must pitch in if we are to be successful.

Shelters must make themselves as inviting as possible to the public by keeping pets and facilities clean, keeping their doors open when people are most likely to visit, getting pets out to high traffic locations such as pet supply stores, and maintaining reasonable guidelines for approving adopters. To meet these goals, high quality, committed leadership is essential and more volunteers will be needed:

Some pets will need more than a bath in order to look presentable. If you have basic grooming skills, your help is needed.

Other pets will benefit from some time in foster care to learn basic manners. For example, a large dog who has been taught not to jump up on people and not to pull on the leash is going to be far more adoptable than one who hasn't. If you have basic obedience training skills, your help is needed.

Orphaned kittens who need to be bottle fed around the clock in order to survive their first weeks of life arrive at shelters every Spring. If you have the ability to offer a temporary home to a litter of kittens in need of care, your help is needed.

Shelter cats who have been handled lovingly by humans are going to be more adoptable than those who haven't. If you have cat petting skills, your help is needed.

Dogs who have been walked are going to have less anxiety when visitors stroll through the shelter than those who haven't and as such, will be more appealing to adopters. If you have dog walking skills, your help is needed.

Sick or injured pets will require more veterinary care than healthy pets to make them adoptable. If you have veterinary skills, your help is needed.

Caring for pets costs money and shelters want to keep adoption fees as low as possible in order to encourage adoptions. If you can donate money to your local shelter, your help is needed.

Educating the public about the availability of shelter pets and how to responsibly care for pets over their lifetimes is essential. If you have a digital camera and know how to create a website to advertise shelter pets, your help is needed. And if you have good written and/or verbal communication skills and know how to make people feel good about themselves while learning something, your help is needed. (Lecturing finger-waggers need not apply.)

You get the idea: Your help is needed. If we all pitch in and work to bridge the gap between adopters and shelter pets, we could bump up shelter adoptions enough to make enormous strides toward becoming a no kill nation. It could happen today.

Humanity Fail, Courtesy of SC Lt. Governor

In case you were wondering why SC Governor Mark Sanford wasn't tossed out on his Appalachian Trail hiking ass, it's because our Lt. Governor, who would have been his replacement, is a freak. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination and as such, spoke at a town hall meeting last night on the subject of providing government assistance to those in need:

"My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't think too much further than that. And so what you've got to do is you've got to curtail that type of behavior. They don't know any better," Bauer said.

Setting aside the equivalency Bauer draws between stray pets and poor people - yeah I know, that's a HUGE one to try and set aside - I can't help going back to the words "ample food supply". The idea that we would deny any living creature - mind you, Bauer was discussing kids who get free lunches at school - an "ample food supply" when it is within our power to give them access, well that's not the America I grew up in nor is it the South Carolina I have grown to love.

We feed stray pets for many of the same reasons we provide free school lunches to low income kids:

1. We are a humane society.
2. We have enough resources to share so that no living thing needs to go hungry in this country.
3. We feel a sense of responsibility to those in need because they are members of our communities.
4. We're not freaks.

Although there was no chance I would have worked to support Bauer's campaign before, I now have extra motivation to work for his defeat. Game on, dirtbag.



It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them. - Dalai Lama

Los Angeles Fire Department Heroes

The news hasn't been very good this week but it cheers me to know that there is still room in our hearts to make the saving of one dog national news. Thank you LAFD for rescuing this poor dog who had gotten himself trapped in the L.A. River. The heart stopping end of the rescue is on video here.

This is What Animal Shelters are for

I have no idea why Karen Erby of York Co, SC allowed her puppy to deteriorate to the point where she couldn't walk or even lift her head. Maybe she really was trying to nurse her back to health as she claimed when surrendering the dog to authorities and maybe somehow, despite the dog's deathly physical appearance, she actually believed she was making progress. Or maybe she just did not care very much about how long or how terribly the dog suffered. Or maybe it's some other reason.

Whatever the case, I can understand how someone - not necessarily Ms. Erby, but a dog owner in general - might find herself with a sick dog and no financial means to care for her. If this situation befell me, I would first take the dog to my regular Vet for an evaluation and ask if she'd would be willing to work with me on financial arrangements. Depending on circumstances, I might seek a loan from a family member to help pay for care. But failing all reasonable options, I would not leave a dog in the condition Ms. Erby's pup was in chained in my yard, pour motor oil on her and hope for the best. (Rubbing motor oil on mange does not cure the condition, despite whatever old wives' tales you may have heard.)

This is what animal shelters are for. They are a safety net for pets in the community who need help and have no one able to provide for them. It's tragic that so many people have come to regard shelters, rightly in some cases, as death houses. We need to change the public's perception of shelters but in order to do that, shelters must stop killing pets. Euthanasia is a kindness - a means to end the suffering of a medically hopeless pet. Animal shelters do offer this service but the overwhelming majority of shelter pets who die in this country are not euthanized - they are killed. Again, I have no way of knowing Ms. Erby's motivations but it strikes me as plausible that she, or others faced with a sick pet, might consider that a pet is better off in agony on a backyard chain than going to a shelter. This must change.

We are a no kill nation. Join us.

TN Dog Rescue Sticks to Dognapping Story

(See previous post for background.)

I have come across a couple postings from the owner of the facility the dogs were allegedly stolen from and they appear to be current. In short, the owner maintains the dogs were stolen but the stabbing did not take place and the robbery was not witnessed. If interested, read for yourself here and here. The first link also contains a slideshow of the dogs.

Added: A few more details on the case from a local TN paper.

NC Judge Rules Pitbulls Not Weapons

A NC Pitbull owner was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after his two dogs bit a 6 year old boy multiple times. The judge in the case ruled that Pitbulls do not fall under North Carolina's legal definition of "weapon" so the charges were dismissed. He also encouraged legislators to change that definition.

TN Dognapping Story

I held up on posting about the alleged theft of a dozen rescue dogs from a dog training facility in TN because I couldn't shake the nagging question: Who would want to steal a bunch of rescues?

[T]here were nine Doberman Pinschers taken, one hound mix, one Black Lab, and one Miniature Pinscher. One dog had three legs, and another was blind. The dogs were all rescued, waiting to be adopted.

Not exactly loot you can take to the local pawn shop and turn over for some quick cash. But Twitter has been abuzz with pleas for helping to find these dogs so I've been following the story. Today I read:

Police report that Ashli Thomas, 24, of Newbern Drive, Johnson City has been arrested for filing a false police report.
[...]

According to the Johnson City Police, Thomas admitted she “made the story up because she had left the dogs unattended and had not been caring for the dogs properly.“

The owners of the business, Brad and Tamara Josselyn, along with Thomas, have been charged with eight counts of animal cruelty.

Now understand that this woman fabricated a story which included one of the dognappers stabbing her with a knife. So I'm assuming she had some sort of knife wound to show investigators. After learning that the whole robbery story was false, I can't help but wonder:

1. What actually happened to the dogs and where are they?
2. What could be so bad that someone would stab herself in order to offer a convincing story to the police?

I'll be staying tuned for further developments.

Don't Try This at Home

This snippet, taken from an internet posting on the subject of people breaking up fighting dogs, caught my eye:

When my two dogs fight I can put my hands or face right between them without the slightest fear of being bitten.

Let's assume that we are all in agreement that freedom from fear does not equate with actual safety. That aside, I interpret the sentiment to be one of "I know and trust my own dogs so well that normal safety measures do not apply in my interactions with them". While I can understand the sentiment on a certain level - after all, many of us feel that the bond we have with our dogs is special - I would offer that the feeling is misguided. It is perhaps akin to "I'm such a safe driver, I don't need to wear a seat belt".

Reality is comprised of each of our interpretations of life colliding. We think we can predict events based on past experiences or even a sense of faith. To some extent, this is not only possible but in fact useful. But nature - which includes animal behavior - has a way of upsetting the apple cart on a regular basis by reminding us of a basic truth: Life is uncertain.

Putting one's hands/face between two fighting dogs - regardless of any bond one feels with those dogs - is just bad judgment in my opinion. Humans may be top of the food chain but we can not control everything in life and certainly not dog behavior. For myself, I don't want to take too many chances - I've only got one pair of hands, one face and one, you know - life.

Treats on the Internets

Interesting write-up on stray dogs in Moscow

IL shelter charged with cruelty forced to turn over pets to other shelters

Consumer Freedom asks if there are many animals for HSUS to "save" in Haiti

Cesar Millan announces a Shelter Animal Physical Enrichment program

Seattle Humane Society offering free neuter and vaccines to Pitbulls

HuffPo argues that schoolkids deserve better than pet food - to which I would respond that pets deserve better than pet food

Video of kid showing her pig in competition

A glimpse into the world of hunting cottontail with Beagles

This Seems Wrong

Regarding a MN puppy mill investigated by a Boston TV station and others:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in its final decision and order, stated that [Kathy] Bauck is "unfit" to be licensed because she operated her kennel in a criminally improper manner.

And by "criminally improper" they mean:

[...] emaciated dogs, sick dogs and others being dunked in a tub of diluted but toxic insecticide that is only supposed to be used on swine.
[...]
The government is revoking Bauck's license to deal dogs based on her conviction of animal cruelty and torture in March 2009. The year before, she pleaded guilty to practicing veterinary medicine without a license. Both times Bauck spent time in jail.

OK so this all sounds pretty bad. And my first reaction was "Thank goodness the government finally did something to help these dogs!" But:

Bauck will still be allowed to keep her animals because they're considered her personal property.

And she can continue selling dogs online since the USDA doesn't regulate that. But she has to wait 2 years before re-applying for a USDA license so I guess that'll learn her. As for the dogs, well we can always hope the Boston TV station, the animal activists, the U.S. justice system and the USDA are all wrong and Ms. Bauck really takes great care of her pets.

Rescued Rescue Dog in Haiti

A Border Collie rescue, now trained for SAR, finds 3 girls in the rubble in Haiti.

Sidenote: I was watching a sad story from Anderson Cooper on CNN this weekend where a Mother was pleading for days for a team to look for her daughter in a toppled daycare center. The Mother had heard the girl apparently but by the time a SAR team arrived on site, there was only light tapping. Cooper reported that despite the high tech equipment and listening devices, SAR dogs were "the gold standard" when it came to looking for definite signs of life. Apparently ambient noise can cause false positives on surveillance equipment so the dogs' noses are the definitive determining factor in whether to continue rescue efforts at a site. In this case, multiple SAR dogs failed to alert so the team left in order to head to a site where dogs had alerted. Cooper reported the Mother stayed behind, hoping for a miracle.

Where Do You Stand?

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963