KC DOG BLOG

Woman finds dog under the rubble of tornado during live interview

Like many of you, I have watched a lot of footage of the disasterous tornado that struck Moore, OK yesterday. It's tragic, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the many who lost their homes, their lives and their loved ones during the storm. 

Yesterday, CBS News was interviewing an elderly woman about the tornado that destroyed her home while she was in it. The interview itself is interesting, how she notes she was just sitting their with her dog and then, next thing she knew, she was laying among the rubble of her home. She specifically notes that she lost sight of her dog and hadn't seen him.

During the interview, the reporter actually notices the dog climbing out of the rubble of the woman's home. The footage is raw. It's emotional. And it just shows how important pets can be to our lives -- maybe especially during a time of major loss.  This woman has lost her home...but she has her own life and her dog -- and said that both her prayers were answered. 

 

Kia, dog found in KCMO Tow Lot, makes national TV debut

So today, throughout the country (check local listings), a little dog that came into our shelter at the KC Pet Project is getting national attention. 

If you don't know the story, Kia was found on the dashboard of a car at the Kansas City, MO impound lot. Apparently, the car that she was in had been towed and she was trapped inside. Employees at the tow lot did not notice her inside the vehicle when it came in on April 6. 

Then, on May 6, she was found on the dashboard, alive. Skinny & dehydrated, but alive. Fortunately for Kia, her previous owner was a bit of a slob, and there was enough McDonalds leftovers, cigars, and trash in the car to keep her alive for 30 days. Pretty amazing.

The story first came out 10 days ago, and made a lot of news -- getting picked up by news media in virtually every state, and several national media outlets including the Today Show, Fox News and the Huffington Post. Earlier this week, people from the Rachel Ray Show came to the shelter, shot footage at the shelter, and Kia, and one of our staff people, were able to go out and be on the Rachel Ray Show. The show is airing TODAY -- so check local listings (the video of the clip is already online, however an embed option is not available). 

Kia's story is amazing, but I think the publicity of the case caught all of us off guard. As an open admission shelter in a large city, we see stories like this very regularly -- whether it's a dog that is found injured in the attic of an abandoned home, with a gunshot wound, or dogs found abandoned on a deck at a home. 

Since KC Pet Project took over the operations of the shelter 16 months ago, our staff has been working hard to provide the best possible options for dogs like Kia. Whereas as recently as 4 years ago, only 35% of the animals that came into the shelter were lucky enough to find new homes, over the past 16 months, nearly 90% of them have found new homes (most of the rest would be too sick, injured, or aggressive to be suitable candidates for adoption). 

It's been a fun, world-wind tour, and hats off to the great staff at KCPP who is making miracles happen every day. And thanks to Rachael Ray, who is a great advocate for shelter animals, for sharing Kia's story.

As for Kia, she is rehabbing well in her foster home where she'll stay for a few more weeks until she's ready for adoption. She's a pretty neat little girl, who has been through a lot. I'm so glad we were here to help her.

 

A New Study discussing the reliability of visual breed identification

In a new study that was just released, researcher Victoria Voith once again exposes the challenges of identifying dominant breeds of mixed breed dogs, even by "experts" in the field.  I think the research is important for a lot of reasons (some different from what others have surmised), and worth reviewing as the world of DNA genetics testing continues to challenge what we think we know about canine genetics, and rapidly adding knowledge to the field.

The Study

In the study, more than 900 people who had professions in the field of animal welfare were asked to watch a 1 minute video of 20 dogs that showed the full view of the front and side of the dog, along with the weights, age, and sex of the dogs. All participants noted that they're breed identification was sometimes used for record keeping purposes and were largely made up of kennel staff, Veterinary Assistants, Animal control Field officers, dog trainers, or other animal control or veterinary/behavior triaining staff.

The survey participants then had to answer the following questions:

Do you think the dog is purebred?  yes/no

If yes, what breed to you think it is?

If No, what do you think is the most predominant breed?

What do you think is the second most predominant breed? If you are unsure, write "mix".

The answers were then compared to the DNA results for the dogs.

The Dogs

Before I get into the results for this, I want to discuss the dogs used, and DNA as a whole. It's very important to note that at this point no one is saying that DNA tests are 100% reliable. Even the researchers who are creating the tests note this. Currently, the Mars Wisdom Panel test (which was used for this analysis) says it has a 90% accuracy rate across all first generation crosses. As dogs get further removed from pure heritage, the results get less and less accurate.

It's very important to note in this study that only ONE of the 20 dogs used came back with 50% or more of any one breed -- so only ONE fell within the 90% accuracy range. So, essentially,we cannot have a lot of certainly of the actual DNA results of almost any of the dogs in the study.  However, with the other 19, we can be 90% certain that the really are very mixed breed dogs and not predominently any one breed.  I think this is very important in how the results are analyzed.

The Results

While this study is far from conclusive because of the very small sample set of dogs, I do believe the initial results are very interesting.

Based on the study results, for 7 of the 20 dogs, more than 10% of the responents thought that the dog was "probably" a purebred dog. For three of the 20, 19% or more of the respondents thought the dog was probably a purebred dog (one of these three was the only dog in the study with a mix of 50% of any one breed - Miniature Pincher - and the majority of respondents incorrectly ID'd the dog as predominently Carin Terrier). 

Also of note, there was agreement among 50% or more of the respondents in the predominent breed in only 7 of the dogs -- and in 3 of them, the visual ID did not match ANY of the DNA identification. In the other 13 dogs (65%) there was no majority guess among the panel.

In 14 of the 20 dogs used, less than half of the guesses included a breed that was even detected by the DNA results. And for one of the dogs, exactly zero of the 859 respondents correctly identified a breed of dog in the mix (and this was the dog with highest breed concentration). 

Discussion

It's important to note why this data is important. In the United States, more than 40% of the canine population is mixed breed. 

For decades, the only possible way to identify mixed breed dogs was through visual identification, and many city juristictions have used such identification to influence their animal control policies.

However, we are now getting a lot of science-based data on the efficacy of such ideals, and the results don't support visual breed ID as a basis for policy:

- Visual ID of dogs is highly inaccurate when compared to DNA results

- The Visual ID of mixed breed dogs is highly subjective, as most 'experts' don't agree on the breeds based on looks

- Even those well-educated in the field are susceptible to judgment biases

Thus, statistical data that has often used to promote breed-specific policies is, and has been, based on visual breed identification that is proving itself to be highly subjective and inaccurate. And if public policy-makers want to rely on scientific and accurate information for their decisions, then the best solution will be to focus solely on behavior-based ordinances that target how dogs (and owenrs) BEHAVE, not how they look. 

Here's a link to the entire Voith Study (very detailed)

Here's a link to the National Canine Research Council's overview of the study.

Here's a link to a very nice visual chart that shows the dogs and the study results for the dogs.

Interesting poll on who does, and does not, support breed-specific laws

This was an interesting news report from a couple of weeks ago out of Calgary.

In a citywide poll, seniors in Calgary were more likely to be in favor of outlawing 'pit bulls and other large canines' more so than younger Calgarians, who overwhelmingly rejected such a law.

According to the poll, 64% of those over the age of 70 supported breed bans, while only 19% of those aged 18-29 were in favor.  Overall, 48% opposed breed bans, while 40% supported them.

It's worth noting that the poll was done as a non-random internet poll, so the data is far from scientific, but it does reflect similar research done over the years that indicates that while older people tend to favor breed specific laws (likely rooted in decades old hysteria that no longer has merit), younger people overwhelmingly oppose BSL. This also helps us understand why more and more communities are continuing to move away from the idea of breed-specific legislation and instead, moving more toward breed-neutral policies that focus on the behavior of the dogs.

It's also worth noting that Calgary, with its breed-neutral, behavior-based policies, has long been upheld as one of the models of animal control in North America (even though a very recent trend line, in part due to how bites are reported, has caused an increase in bite reports in the past cocuple of years).

Connecticut Bill prohibiting breed-specific laws moves forward

On Tuesday, the Connecticut House of Representatives vote UNANIMOUSLY, 142-0, in favor of a law that would forbid communities from adopting breed-specific dog ordinances.

Currently no Connecticut municipalities have breed-specific ordinances, but because they exist elsewhere, the state House decided to prevent it from ever happening.

The bill now awaits action by the Senate.

I continue to be amazed at how overwhelmingly state legislatures support ordinances that prevent breed-specific policies and force municipalities to deal with aggressive dogs through BEHAVIOR based ordinances, not by targeting 'breeds". Nothing it seems passes unanimously any more, and yet, this bill has so far, and in Maryland, although the two houses couldn't agree on the verbage of their law so it didn't pass, there were ZERO legislators that favored a breed-specific approach.

We'll continue to keep you up to date on this bill as it progresses. Congrats (so far) to the people in Connecticut that are working on this bill.

Catching up....two (fairly) recent dog bite fatalities

Due to a dozen other things going on right now, I'm a little behind, but do need to get caught up on a couple of fatal dog bite incidents that have happened over the past couple of weeks that I've not had a chance to report.

As I always note, I'm not the biggest fan of writing up these stories. Dogs are wonderful animals that bring so much value to our lives. However, unfortunately, sometimes a series of the wrong set of circumstances can lead one to attack. And sometimes, although very rarely compared to the 75 million owned dogs in this country, these attacks can be fatal.  When they do happen, it is essential to look at the entirety of the circumstances in determining why these events took place.

Here are two such incidents over the past couple of weeks:

Beau Rutledge

Beau Rutledge was a two year old boy that lived in southern Fulton County just outside of Atlanta. The boy and his family lived in a townhome together with their pet dog.

However, two weeks ago, the boy's mother went to the bathroom and left the boy and the dog alone together. At some point while the mother was in the bathroom, the dog; described by the media as a "pit bull", mauled the young boy, killing him. The causes of the attack are very unclear....and there were a LOT of missing pieces to the puzzle based on the media reports.

When the mother came out of the bathroom and saw the child and apparently 'knew instantly" that the boy was dead. No more details were given. Meanwhile, it is surprising that the mother was apparently in the other room and didn't hear any type of commotion that would have alerted her to the attack.

Because there were no witnesses to the attack and the mother was in the other room, there is no way to quite know what happened to lead up to the attack. Toddlers can be very unpredictable in their behavior and can, intentionally, or unintentionally injure dogs -- whether by pulling tails, ears, jumping up and down on them, or falling on them and causing a reactionary bite that, depending on the location and size of the child, can be fatal. 

Young children simply do not understand canine behavior and warning signs, and thus, are going to be unable to determine when a dog is uncomfortable or hurt by a situation. Because of this, toddlers should always, ALWAYS be supervised when around a dog. Last year, at least 14 of the 17 fatal dog bites involving children under the age of 6 happened while the toddler or infant was unsupervised (2 of the 3 others where it is unclear if the child was attended or not at the time).

This story made a lot of headlines in the Georgia area. Nice job of CBS Atlanta to call on an area expert to talk about dog behavior and what can lead to horrific tragedies like this one.

My heart goes out to the Rutledge family.

Rachael Honabarger

In Coschocton, OH, thirty five year old Rachael Honabarger was attacked last week outside of her home by her own dog. A neighbor who was driving by right after the initial attack saw that Honabarger was in trouble and rushed to help pull the woman's 3 year old German Shepherd off of her. The victim was flown to Grant Medical Center in Columbus with what were described as "severe" neck injuries.

The victim died from her wounds two days later.

Not much is known about what may have started the attack -- and likely there will never be a clear explanation. A neighbor who lives nearby notes that the dog has "always been very aggressive" and "guarded the yard and the house."

Socialization is an important element for dogs -- and if dogs are not well socialized, they can often become aggressive. When your dog shows signs of aggression, it is essential that you seek the help of an area trainer to help you with the dog. Major attacks like this are seldom a dog's first sign of aggression.

My heart goes out to the friends and family of this young woman.

This story was in a lot of media outlets as well. Cochocton has a poverty rate of 16.2% -- so a bit above the national average, although it's unclear if this played a role at all in the tragedy.

Support two great causes at once

This is a public service announcement for those who are very forgetful:  Sunday is Mother's Day. Don't forget your mother on Mother's Day and be sure to send her a nice card.

Don't have access to a Hallmark store?  We're making it easy.

KC Pet Project has some pretty amazing Mother's Day Cards available. Buy one now (with your donation of $10 (or more) and give us your mother's mailing address and we'll send a card out in the mail to your mother for you.

Doesn't get easier than that.

The donation goes to a good cause, and I must say, these Mother's Day Post Cards are ADORABLE. So buy one, and support two great causes: your Mother (or a mother you know) and KC Pet Project. 

You can order yours today HERE. Here are a couple of samples of the cards, more at the link.

 Special thanks to Kaye Ness Photography and Reames Photography for the amazing photos -- and star volunteer Stephanie for the design work.

Buy yours now while there's still time.

Very Good Sentences -- from a Retrieverman

 "And to make things even more complicated, both of these breeds are so common that it is really foolish to make broad, sweeping statements about either. There are so many of these dogs that exist in so many different lines that have experienced so many different kinds of selection pressures that you simply cannot make generalizations about them." 

The post, from Retrieverman, is comparing Labrador Retrievers to Golden Retrievers. The sentiment is true of course throughout the canine world -- particularly so with breeds that exist in very large populations (possibly less so among breeds with very small, tight lines).  

The post ends with two great pieces of advice -- that seems pretty universally true:

"You're much better off meeting a dog as an individual"

"And stay the heck away from internet forums and Yahoo! groups."

 Click through and read the whole thing, which also has a fantastic title: "Making generalizations about popular breeds is what morons do."

 

Weekly Roundup -- Week Ending 5-5-13

I'm a couple weeks behind on roundup, so I have quite a bit of stuff to get through. So sit back, relax, and let's take a look at the top stories from the week(s) that was:

Cities/States and Laws

In North Carolina, a bill was filed that would have restricted ownership of six different breeds of dogs. The bill was wisely killed only 3 days later, again, showing the completely lack of support for laws restricting ownership of certain breeds.

Madison County, AL has a new breed-neutral Dangerous Dog law that has taken effect -- targeting owners who's dogs show signs of aggression, regardless of the type of dog.

Murfeesboro, AR, a town of about 1700 people,  banned all 'pit bulls' from the community -- taking 25 year step back in time in how to deal with aggressive dog issues.

 

Dog bites/attacks

In this country there are more than 75 million owned dogs. Most never bite, and dogs continue to be among the safest creatures on the planet. But sometimes they do bite, and when they do, it can occassionally lead to major injuries. When this happens, it is important to look at the CIRCUMSTANCES behind the events, not breed. By focusing on responsible pet ownership (and parenting) and focusing on dangerous behaviors of owners, we will be better equipped to deal with the few dogs that act aggressively.

An Ohio inmate lost part of his nose while playing with a dog that was part of the prison dog program there. The inmate reportedly tripped while chasing a ball during recreation and fell onto the dog and the dog spun around and bit him.

A woman in Madrid, IA lost her nose when a 50 lbs "Lab Mix" ran out of the yard and attacked her, her husband and their pet Beagle. The husband bit the dog back to stop the assault. Interestingly, the type of dog involved in the attack was not mentioned when USA Today covered the story.

A three-year old Alabama girl suffered bites to her face and wounds to her arms after she was bitten by her Grandmother's German Shepherd mix. The young toddler was left alone, unattended with the dog and unfortunately "came into contact with the dog" and the dog bite the child multiple times. The dog was put down so it could be tested for rabies. Parents, PLEASE, supervise all interactions between your toddlers and dogs.

A Long Beach woman suffered major injuries, including "significan nerve damage" in one of her arms, when she was attacked by an off-leash Akita. The story wasn't picked up by any main stream news reports, but only by a citizen journalism news source.

In Bradenton, FL, a 6 year old boy was severely bitten by a 'pit bull'. The dog actually had a bite history of two other bites, one to its owner, and another to the owner's niece. If your dog has a history of aggressive behavior, it is YOUR responsibility to get the dog the training and socialization it needs to overcome these issues. Hire a professional. Do whatever, but fix the problem.

In the Town of Kinston, NY, a five year old girl was airlifted after being bitten on the face by a German Shepherd that lived at the home.

A 3 year old Maine girl is expected to remain in the hospital for at least a month after being severely attacked by a Rottweiler. According to the report, the dog was tied by a metal cable to a barn and the young girld approached the dog with a dog biscuit.  The dog broke the choke collar and attacked the girl. Apparently someone in the household watched the event take place and didn't recognize what were likely obvious warning signals in the dog's behavior that would have led up to it breaking its collar.

A 7 year old Akron girl was severely injured when she was attacked by a Rottweiler that police say belonged to a neighbor and got out of its enclosure.

 

Positive Press

A "pit bull" in Long Island, NY saved its owner's life when it barked to wake her as fire began to engulf the house.

Pit bulls in Michigan are helping build responsibility and compassion at a juvenile detention center. Through the dogs, the youth learn about dog behavior, patience and affection.

Aggressive pit bulls: Nature or Nurture?   In Lee County, FL the media gets an opportunity to meet a few of the many very good pit bull type dogs at their local shelter.

An update on another one of Mike Vick's dogs named Mel, who is doing well in a home environment 6 years after he was saved from Vick's property.

A tail-wagging pit bull helps students with their reading. This is from Des Moines (which has breed-specific legislation targeting pit bulls) -- really cute picture at the link as well.

A pit bull's aggression is nurture, not nature, says a Sacramento area veterinarian. Experts overwhelmingly agree.

 

No Kill News

In response to some ridiculous statements by PETA, the Gainsville Sun ran the editorial "Don't be absurd: No kill shelters are beneficial for animals." Yes, saving them is better than killing them, under most circumstances.

Miscellaneous

Stray Rescue in St. Louis is uniting dogs with runners in a Running Buddies enrichment program. The program helps get high-energy running dogs the exercise they need....and runners a running buddy.

FitBark, a new company that recently launched a Kickstarter campaign, seeks to monitor the amount of exercise your dog gets during the day to see if it is getting the amount of exercise it needs.

In what I can only describe as a simply amazing story, in Russia, wild dogs learned to take the subway into the city center to get food scraps from urban dwellers, and then take the train back to the suburbs each night for safer dwellings.

Bite prevention requires common sense -- a solid article from Jean McGoarty, the executive director of the Kokomo Humane Society.

Humans and dogs need training to avoid bites -- another veterinarian gives her viewpoint, which again, focuses on owner education, human education, and how to handle dogs.

National Animal Groups in the News

A positive reveiw by the ASPCA for HSUS and their Pets for Life program -- which is a great program. On the flip side, this news report notes that HSUS does not give money to local Humane societies, like many people mistakenly believe.

The Today Show takes a look at the AKC and how just because a dog has AKC papers doesn't mean it's a well-bred dog or that it came from a well-raised environment.

Blogs

Why the internet loves cats -- an infographic from social media times

Volunteer programs, what we're learning -- from the ASPCA Pro.

Fear and Loathing in Ontario - SnorkyShorkie takes a look at biased media reports and anti-pit bull propaganda in Ontario

Top 5 +1 for April, 2013

The Top 5 is my monthly look at the 5 most popular blogs for the month based on information from Google Analytics. The +1 is my opportunity to highlight a post that wasn't in the Top 5, but I think was worthy of more exposure. Here's this month's top 5:

1) (Almost) Horrifying Video highlight why human behavior is so important in judging dog behavior -- This video of a toddler jumping on a dog (repeatedly) while the dog shows obvious distress signals and the adults in the room just laugh and egg it on was by FAR the most popular post of the month. While the dog in this case (miraculously) didn't bite, it shows why human behavior is so important in determining dog behavior.

2) Four year old girl dies from dog attack in Iowa and why you can't talk about dogs without discussing owners -- in a similarly themed post (with a catastrophically different ending), a four year old girl was tragically killed in Iowa while being "babysat" by a woman who was just a year away from pleading guilty to various drug charges and child endangerment of her own child.

3) New York Court rules no legal basis for breed discrimination - Very Good Sentences - The New York Supreme Court once again ruled that there is no legal basis for discriminating against breeds of dogs.

4) Failure of breed-specific policy in the UK - The UK has banned four different breeds of dogs for more than 20 years, and yet, in spite of the ban (and likely, because of the ban) hospitalizations due to dog bites continue to grow. A recent case shows why....

5) KC Pet Project spends week with Aimee Sadler - thoughts on shelter playgroups - We spent an amazing week building up the playgroup program with the shelter dogs at KC Pet Project -- my thoughts on the process, what it means for our dogs, and some video.

+1 Maryland's missed Opportunity - Both houses of the Maryland legislature unanimously opposed a court ruling that declared 'pit bulls' potentially dangerous. While everyone agreed that that ruling was wrong, and causing unnecessary, unwarnanted hardship, the two houses were unable to agree on an alternative. I chose this post as the +1 because I think it's important for people to realize just how little support for singling out breeds there is -- in this case, exactly zero support within the Maryland legislature.