KC DOG BLOG

Horrific Abuse in Memphis Animal Shelter

The idea behind animal shelters is simple. Sometimes people are jerks, or careless, or victims of bad luck -- and the dog they committed to "for life" ends up homeless. The animal shelter the last resort for animals that have nowhere else to go.

I could use this column to go on about how shelter kill more healthy dogs and cats than any other cause of death. They call it euthanasia, but the end result is still death for the animal.

But today I won't. Today I want to ask, what happens when the dogs end up in a shelter where the people who run the shelter who don't really care about animals?  Where the abuse they suffer is worse than it would be if the dog was just left out on the street?

Sadly, it happens.  And it apparently did in amazing fashion recently in Memphis. On August 18, the dog pictured to the left entered the Memphis Animal Shelter as a seemingly healthy, vibrant puppy.

On September 4th -- only 3 weeks later -- the dog was found starved to death in the shelter. And this puppy wasn't the only case -- but was actually one of three dogs in the shelter that was found starved to death.  Veterinarian reports note that the dog had not eaten anything in at least 72 hours prior to his death.

What -- the- hell?

The city animal control department is responsible for actually enforcing the city's animal cruelty laws -- not violating them on their own.  And apparently, problems have been going on for awhile --- as the death rates in the city shelter have risen sharply over the past few years -- from 75 animals dying in the shelter in 2006, to 119 in 2007 to 193 in 2008.

The Memphis Mayor, AC Wharton, seems legitimately concerned about the issue -- and has halted all shelter euthanasia (which is at 250 animals per week -- 13,000 animals a year) until the criminal investigation is complete.

We can, and must, demand better from our animal control departments. These departments are tasked with not only providing public safety from animals -- but providing safety for animals from the public, both in terms of cruelty and abuse, and in terms of minimizing and eliminating shelter euthanasia.  Memphis is major need of a dramatic overhaul of the entire department -- and I hope someone sees jailtime over this one.

Hat tip to YesBiscuit! on this, who has been following the story from the start:

Here's her original coverage on the raid.

A follow up.

And her understandably emotional response to the story about the puppy above (including the "after" image)

And For the Love of Dogs has some very thorough coverage of the events there as well.

We need to demand better from our police officers

It's time to put an end to police officers needlessly shooting and killing people's pets.

I know there are times when it's neceesary - -when an officer needs to use violent force in order to protect himself or citizens.  But enough with the senseless killing already.  We need to demand better. 

This week has been an apparent free-for-all.

In Hobart, OK, citizens are really upset with an officer who spent 10-20 minutes tasering a yellow labrador that was running off leash. While the police chief defends his officer, witnesses on the scene say the officer went way too far.

In Danville, NC, an officer was plugged a bullet into a minature Dachshund.  The dog's owners are distraut at the death of their family member.

In Cincinnati, an officer fired three bullets into a Chihuahua mix while it was on his family's front porch.  An officer had cornerd the dog on the porch and bent down to pick up the 5 lbs dog and was bitten by the scared dog -- so the officer shot the dog 3x.

Meanwhile, here in Kansas City, police were responding to a call for a dog that was reportedly chasing someone.  No one was bitten, but officers did shoot multiple bullets at the fleeing dog -- missing it on all occassions, and then ended up catching it after burrowed under a shed. The officers sprayed it with pepper spray to flush it out from under the shed. (Honestly, I have no idea why this story made the news. It's essentially a story about a dog running at large, and if you live in Kansas City, you get to see that sort of thing multiple times a day -- I saw two at-large dogs myself yesterday).

Why is this allowed to happen? Why are police allowed to shoot and kill a miniature Dachsund, a Chihuahua, taser the heck out of a Lab, and chase a dog -- and shooting at the fleeing dog?

There has to be a better way.  We really need to insist that police officers get some proper training when it comes to dogs so they will understand dog behavior (don't pick up a scared Chihuahua if you don't want to get bitten), and insisting that they use the minimum amount of force necessary to solve the situation (battons anyone?).  These weren't 150 lbs rabid dogs here -- two of them were under 20 lbs. Violent force was not necessary.

Unneccessary violent force and the killing of dogs by authorities is one thing  (of many) that has gotten the citizens in Toledo up in arms about their dog warden.  We should all demand better. There is no reason for this.  I realize, there are times when it may be necessary -- but the killing of these small and just at-large dogs is just senseless. There is no need to shoot first and ask questions later. It needs to stop. 

Yes Biscuit! has a great post on this from earlier this week as well -- particularly relating to the killed dog in Cincinnati.

Kansas City Area has rash of cruelty cases

It's been a pretty awful week for animals around the KC metro. 

In one story, a woman found a dead, decomposing 'pit bull' in the back yard of a home at 29th and Garfield in Kansas City.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the folks at this address have had animal cruelty charges against them. In fact, over the past 6 years, 18 animals have been removed from the home because of cruelty -- including one accusation of dog fighting and one where a K-9 was "90% covered in motor oil" -- however, the case as closed in Jackson County Court.

The woman who found the dog recently had removed a different dog last year that was abused and neglected, but the dog was unable to survive treatment.

Can we PLEASE have these people locked up for this?

In a separate story, a 17 year old Kansas City, KS teen was arrested for setting a cat on fire.

Meanwhile, a family in the Northland of Kansas City is trying to track down someone who is suspected of shooting their 5 year old 'pit bull' while the dog was in their fenced in back yard.The dog will survive, but the dog had to have one of its hind legs amputated.

This story is remarkably similar to a situation in the same part of the city that was going on last October in which 3 dogs were shot in a Northland neighborhood.

Let's hope the KCMO police and animal control find the dog shooter, and find a way to prosecute the people who are cruely allowing animals to die in their yard.

It seems like you only hear about 'pit bulls' in this news too

I'm going to appologize in advance on this one. This post may be a little hard for some to read -- but I feel like it's a topic that needs to be covered. If you don't deal with stories about animal cruelty well, you may not want to read this post. 

  Yesterday, a story came out in the Dallas Morning News about two 'pit bull' type dogs that were literally set ablaze by two teenage boys and ended up running out in traffic while on fire.  The dogs (one is pictured left) were burned so badly they had to be euthanized.

It's  a horrific story. But one that is sadly, not all that uncommon.

Stories about animal cruelty are quite common.

This morning,WBIR (Knoxville) had a story about a 'pit bull' that is recovering after being drug behind a truck. The dog was tied to the bumper of the truck, the owner forgot about him, and drug him for over a mile down the road.

I usually add a story or two about abuse cases in my weekly roundup.  The storeis are often horrible. Deanna over at the "For the Love of the Dog" blog covers countless of these stories.

"Pit bull" tied to a tree and set on fire.

Four dog owners arrested for starving pit bulls (killing one).

Three dead 'pit bulls' found abandoned and chained to trees.

You get the idea. For as much press as dogs attacking people get in the headlines, people continue to be significantly more dangerous to dogs than vice versa.

The crazy thing is that 'pit bulls are SO overly represented in these cases -- or at least, so it seems.

So I went over to Pet-Abuse.com, to see what I could find out. The site, has a database of nearly 15,000 animal cruelty cases that they have found over the past several years. In their database, they have 7,274 cases that involve "non-pit bull type" dogs, and 1,717 cases involving 'pit bulls'. So of the 8,991 dog abuse cases in their database, 20% of the cases involve 'pit bulls'.

Yikes.

But no one should be terribly surprised by this. It appears that there are certain segments of the population that don't share the compassion for animals that the majority in society share. There are unfortunately a lot of people, often in poor neighborhoods, that are lucky to be able to fend for themselves, let alone for a dog. They also don't seem to have the same respect for "life", that I, and many of the readers here, share.

It doesn't necessarily make them bad people (although some are) -- that's just what they know.

It then should be a surprise, that two dogs that were found on fire two days ago, were found that way in a poorer area of Dallas, in a zip code where the average household income is 28% less than the average household income in the state of Texas -- in spite of the the average household having 30% more people living in them. 26% of the people live below the poverty level -- 10% of them live more than 50% below the poverty level.

These lower-income, lower-educated neighborhoods, tend to be the places where a lot of the major abuse cases happen. They also tend to be the places where a large number of the major dog bites happen.

It probably isn't a coincidence.

For years, those who know canine behavior have been preaching that we have to make the focus of canine laws on how dogs are raised, and not on breeds. I mean, really, if someone's teenage children think so little of an animal that they would set it on fire, do we really think they would treat the animal in a way that it wouldn't act aggressively if pushed?  Do we think it matters what breed of dog it is?

Until we start focusing on educating people on how dogs are cared for and socialized, we are going to continue to have a, albeit relatively small, problem with dog bites and attacks. Because a certain type of dog tends to be popular in certain neighborhoods (if for no other reason than because they are plentiful and inexpensive to get), does not change what the root causes of attacks are.

The root causes remain the same: poorly cared for and unsocialized dogs, dogs used as guard dogs, and dogs that are left alone with young children.

Breed is not.

Can we start having real conversations about this yet?  Let's start addressing the canine ownership issues that exist in our society. It will be infinitely better for the dogs....and it will make things safer for people too.

Nameless - Contest!

 Our new foster dog is currently nameless.  He probably always has been. He was one of over 100 dogs that was found living behind a barn just outside of Newkirk, OK.  They were left starved, and abandoned.

He, and all the others were found on big chains -- with a barrell for water and a barrell for shelter. It was a tough life.

When you're one of 100 dogs living on a chain in a field, you don't likely get a name. In fact, you don't get much human attention at all.

He is one of the lucky ones that was spared.

He's fearful. He has probably received more human interaction in the past week than he has in his entire lifetime up to this point. He wants to be loved -- and give love back -- but just isn't really sure how to show or receive love. Love isn't an emotion he's knows much about.

We've had to teach him everything about being a 'pet'. He'd never been inside before. Or eaten or drank out of a food bowl. He's never used stairs before. A chain, a field, and a barrell are all he's ever known.

When we first got him, he hid a lot.  He certainly thrived on not being noticed. He found a couple of "comfort zones" and stayed pretty close to those areas.  We're working with him to find new comfort zones -- including even our couch -- so that eventually he'll feel comfortable everywhere.  New things are a little scary for him still -- and everything is just so new.

The backyard is also new. He has a "route" that he runs around the back yard -- over and over. You can pick him up and put him anywhere in the yard and he will go to the nearest point of his 'route' and begin running it. It's good exercise, but I certainly hope he begins utilizing the other parts of our yard soon.

He does perk up around our dogs -- which is a great sign. I think it will be through them that he learns how to be a dog. It's time -- he deserves it.  For now, he's mostly just snuggling in a warm bed, putting a few pounds on his thin body, and working on getting healthy.  The strides he's made in the first few days here have been pretty amazing.  But it will take him a little bit of time.  I'm thrilled for the opportunity - -and for the opportunity to see the little guy's growth.

He's about 10 months old (or so). He's going to be small -- probably only about 45 lbs or so.

So we need some help.  A dog this cute should not remain nameless. We have a working name for him -- but we're still open for suggestions. So, if you have suggestions for a name, please post them in the comments section. We'll choose one of the names as our favorite - -and the winner will receive a copy of the book, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Loving our Dogs.   I will not guarantee that we'll use the name, but I will guarantee a winner.  So let me have your ideas.

And I'll continue to post updates and occassional videos on the little guy. 

For more about the rescue of these dogs, check out posts over at Bad Rap, MABBR Blabber and my previous post. 

Plus, MABBR has a photo gallery of the dogs in Oklahoma that is certainly worth checking out.  MABBR ened up with 11 of the dogs from the Newkirk site.

A special thanks to Bad Rap, MABBR, the Oklahoma Alliance for Animals, the Kay County Sheriff's office and the many local rescuers who raised money for food for these animals during the early stages of the finding of these dogs that made saving his life possible.

Why saving the Vick Dogs was worth it

 This has been bugging me - so in spite of already covering the Sports Illustrated article, I feel like I need to address it again.

Late in the Sports Illustrated article, the question got asked, "was it worth it?" Was it worth it to invest the time and resources to save these 47 dogs when millions of animals languished in shelters?

At least one commenter here expressed the same sentiment, and I've seen in mentioned elsewhere.

At first glance, it would appear that the time and money put into rehabilitating the dogs probably wasn't the best use of resources -- if your focus is only on the 47 dogs.  But this is about way more than 47 dogs.

There tends to be a lot of publicity about these major abuse cases -  and the horrors that come from these major hoarding and fighting situations. 

187 dogs in a fighting ring in Houston.  

Over 100 dogs in Newkirk, OK.

And of course, Bad Newz Kennels.

But the reality is, in spite of all of these horrible situations, it pales in comparison to the thousands of pit bulls that are killed in city shelters quietly every year. Sometimes they are killed because they are not able to find homes for the dogs because of the stereotypes that surround the dogs.

Often times, even the shelters, like in Ripon, CA, that are supposed to be protecting the dogs have policies in place that don't allow pit bulls to be adopted out.  Just the mere entrance into the shelter is a death sentence because they're "too much work", "could fall into the wrong hands" or whatever. Many shelters don't think the 'pit bulls' can, or should, be rehabilitated or are worth the adoption space. In North Carolina, dogs pulled from fighting rings are mandated by law to be euthanized.

And then, there are the thousands of dogs that are killed in cities each year that are killed just for being 'pit bulls' because that city outlaws their very existence.

No. Saving the 47 Vick dogs was not just about the 47 dogs.  It was a statement that these dogs matter. 

It was a case study in the adaptability of dogs -- that these 47 dogs, who were in some of the worst of situations - are adaptable enough overcome horrific situations, to become normal household pets.  Dogs are a product of their enviornment -- and when you remove the awful environment and replace it with a good enviornment, they can, and do, thrive. It is  a statement that the dogs can be rehabilitated and are worth saving.  If the shelter community, HSUS, PETA, etc all think that the dogs should be killed (which has been their stance for decades), then why would a dog fighting thug think that the dog's life matters either.

It does. They all do.

Nope -- this was about sending a message.  These dogs matter too. If we are going to become no-kill communities, where no healthy dogs or cats are killed in our nation's shelters, we cannot continue thinking these dog's lives don't matter. We can't continue with shelter policies that mandate that all pit bulls get put to death. Or continue with city laws that make adoption impossible;  or laws that take good dogs out of good homes and condemn them to death.

All of the lives matter.

Already, the success of the Vick dogs is paying dividends. A couple of weeks ago, over 100 pit bulls were founding in a hoarding case in Oklahoma. The original thought was that all of these dogs would need to be euthanized. However, because of the success of the Vick Dogs, the Oklahoma Alliance for Animals, and the Kay County Sheriff's department, listened to rescue groups in their pleas that all of the dogs may not have to be killed. Because of this, 30 or so dogs are now alive that would otherwise have been killed. And when these dogs become success stories, more will follow.

The Vick dogs sent the message - -these dogs' lives matter. It is through this message that shelters, cities, rescues -- and yes, even inner city youth kids -- will see that the lives of these dogs matter.

If we don't care, why should they?

If that message gets heard loud and clear across the entire country - -and changes minds - -then it was worth every penny, every hour and every tear.

Dogs rescued from Newkirk, OK

  A couple of weeks ago, over 100 dogs -- mostly 'pit bulls' were found living behind a barn just outside of Newkirk, OK.

They were found starved, and abandoned. Anchored down with big chains, with a barrell for shelter, and a barrell for water.

The chain was attached to a metal pole, stuck in the ground.  A circle of dead grass exactly the radius of the chain surrounded the stake. Some of the circles were several inches lower than the ground that surrounded them -- indicating quite some time of living in that environment.

Donna over at Bad Rap has some pictures posted at her place. Please go look. I do think it's important.

Last week, the great folks at Bad Rap and some folks at Kansas City-based Mid America Bully Breed Rescue were in Oklahoma.  All of the dogs were originally slated to be euthanized - -and end that was, indeed, better than their current situation. But Bad Rap and MABBR convinced the people at the Oklahoma Alliance for Animals and the Kay County Sheriff's department to allow the dogs to be temperament tested -- and possibly saved.  Although exact numbers are hard to come by, the Oklahoma Animal Alliance is saying that roughly 1/3 of the animals were saved -- making their way to Kansas City, California, Kansas and Oklahoma to shelters and foster homes.  They're safe now.

While it's hard to not have a pit in your stomach over the ones that didn't make it, I'm thrilled that Bad Rap and MABBR were able to save as many as they did.  Last month,187 dogs in Houston were not so fortunate. 

I'm thrilled for the ones that made it. It's a new opportunity, and a fresh start at life. These dogs certainly deserve a chance. A special thanks to the folks at Bad Rap and MABBR for saving the lives of these dogs. And if anyone wants to reach out to help these dogs, I would urge you to donate to one of these organizations to do so. I know that MABBR is incurring a lot of expenses with these dogs right before the holidays and donations would be appreciated.

Also, a special thanks to the local rescuers and animal lovers that helped raise money for food and supplies to keep these dogs alive in the early stages of this situation -- without you, many of the dogs would have starved before having a chance to be saved.

As for the previous owner of the dogs? Jerry Lee Southern has been charged with 70 counts of animal abuse in this case -- and being held on $250,000 bond. If convicted, Southern could face up to 350 years in prison. Given the pictures I've seen and stories I've heard -- that would be just.

Here's another update from News Cow.

And here's one from the Winfield Courier.

Pit bulls attacked

   This is an odd little story from out of Prairie Village, KS.  A couple stopped off at their local grocery store to grab a couple of items, and left their three 'pit bulls' in the back of their car with the windows cracked for air. Some drunk man apparently came up to the dogs, at first was nice to them and then started hitting the dogs through the cracked window.  One of the dogs has a scar on her face -- while another one had a blood spot in its eye where it had apparently been hit in the eye.

One bystander tried to stop the man from doing it but the man told her to "mind her own business".

I don't understand the hatred that engulfs so many people.  I'm not sure if the man hit the dogs because they were pit bulls, or just because he was a drunken idiot. But it tells you about these dogs when they didn't even fight back...at all.

I have my own beefs with KCTV5's coverage of this incident (but when do I not with this station?) but it shows, once again, what the more dangerous species is -- and its not the dogs.

Donations to great causes

The folks at Banned Aid, in Ontario, are scraping together their loose change. After a long legal battle with the provence over its breed ban, the court ruled in favor of the province.  The group is looking to take the case to the Canadian Supreme Court - this is not a cheep endeavor.  So they're taking donations, big and small, to be used to pay off some debt over their first court case and to provide funding for the next one.   And we're talking a lot of money that they need.   Here's why this is important, even if you don't own a dog.  From Caveat's blog:

The latest decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal states that if even a tiny
risk exists, it is the responsibility of government to regulate it by whatever
means possible - even if this means exterminating it.

In restoring the law to its original form, the Justices told all Canadians that
despite credible research and evidence proving otherwise, the mythology
surrounding the "pit bull" is taken at face value by our courts.

In other words, uneducated opinions, gossip and hearsay from any source (such as news reports) can be used to prove anything - and worse, such flimsy evidence can influence our rights and freedoms in all aspects of our lives.

"According to the Court of Appeal, so long as the government puts forth some
evidence in support of its legislative decision, regardless of its credibility,
reliability or value, it cannot lose. And it's not just about dogs anymore.
This ruling, if left unchallenged, will become case law and as such can be
applied to anything, from dogs to donkeys."

If every person who subscribes to this blog donates $20, we would be able to add nearly $2000 to their cougher.  If every daily reader gives $20, then we coud add around $8000 to their tally.  That would help a lot. All the details on how to donate are here.

Meanwhile, closer to home,a Kansas man was recently arrested on 96 counts of animal crueltyafter the dogs were found chained, starved, and barely surviving. The city, and many local rescuers are working hard to keep these animals alive and get them better fed. But in these small towns, this large number of dogs is quite a burden for them. If you can spare any loose change for food and shelter for these dogs, any amount would be appreciated. You can get more information on how to donate by contacting Cindy at cjadogs AT yahoo DOT com.

Kansas City Kansas' struggles with BSL continue

 A couple of weeks ago, Kansas City, KS confiscated yet another dog -- this one named Brutus, from his home.

Brutus was confiscated because animal control insisted that he was a pit bull. Fortunately for Brutus' owners, they actually KNOW what type of dog Brutus is.  The owners of Brutus' parents, a Boxer and a Rottweiler, came to his trial to free him from his captivity.

After 2 weeks in the KCK dog prison, Brutus was released back to his owners. All of the family's fines were dropped and Brutus is a free dog.  You may note that this is becoming quite the recurring theme for KCK.  You may note, that earlier this Spring, KCK confiscated Nikko, who spent 9 months in jail while his parents worked to set him free. DNA testing showed him to not be predominently 'pit bull' and he was set free.  You may also note the story about Roscoe, where the dog was confiscated for 2 months while the parents worked to get him free. You may also note the story about Fleas, who was spared death after veterinarians testified that the dog was indeed, not a pit bull -- even though 19 puppies on the property were killed for being "pit bulls" (they weren't 'pit bulls' either. 

Anyone else notice a trend? And a lot of resources being used up trying to determine whether or not a whole bunch of non-aggressive dogs should be banned?

However, Brutus' story isn't finished. In just 2 weeks at the KCK dog prison, Brutus came home 10 pounds lighter. He had a staph infection, kennel cough, swollen joints, and the pads on his feet were badly swollen.  He had fluid in both of his elbows and 1 chipped tooth.

The pitcture on the top is Brutus' before picture, the pic to the left are all of Brutus' ribs 13 days later.

Seriously.

This is a dog that just LOOKED like it might be a 'pit bull'. It wasn't running loose. It wasn't aggressive. It was just a dog. And because of KCK's pit bull ban, not only was the dog taken in, it was completely neglected for two weeks while the people went through the court hearings (including providing pictures of the dog's parents).  In just two weeks, Brutus was in terrible shape.

For fun, I am posting Brutus' parents' pictures for your enjoyment.

Folks, we MUST put an end to the neglect and abuse of power that is going on in KCK. No one is safe from getting their dog confiscated. And no dog appears to be safe in their shelter. If you are interested in helping, please contact us at info@kcdogadvocates.org  We cannot allow this to continue nor should any taxpayer in that city deem this as a good use of tax dollars.  Their law continues to be a complete failure and a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.