KC DOG BLOG

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

Weekly roundup -- Week ending 4-14-13

It's actually been a pretty brutal week on the news front. Maryland completely screwed up their opportunity to overturn the Solesky court case, and there were two fatal dog bite incidents. I'll cover all three of these stories under separate covers in the next day or so.

Meanwhile, a lot of other interesting stuff out there and here's a look at some of the top stories from the week that was.

Cities/States and Laws

Chippewa Falls, WI has decided against breed-specific legislation and instead want to focus on owner accountability in how they handle aggressive dogs. We agree.

Wooster, OH is looking at eliminating its breed specific law noting that the current breed-specific law actually makes it challenging to deal with aggressive dogs that are not of the restricted breed.

Bluefield, WV is proposing an ordinance that would ban new pit bulls from entering the community of about $10,000 people.

Parkersburg, WV appears to also be discussing breed-specific regulations. Several council members are concerned about the ability to enforce such a law, others are concerned about the legality of it, but the success (or failure) of the law in Bluefield may have a role in determining what Parkersburg does.

Bloomington, IL  is staying away from breed-specific legislation. One city council member noted that discussing breed specific laws would "move us away from the issue at hand" -- which is oh, so true.

Miscellaneous

Law Enforcement Today has an interesting article warning police officers of potential legal suits that could come from shooting dogs owned by the public. Hat Tip to the Greenville Dog Examiner.

 In maybe the most bizarre story this week, the Idaho Humane Society received 63 'pit bulls' that were found at the site of a triple homicide.  Three people were found dead at the scene, including a mother who was still clutching her still-alive infant. There were 63 dogs at the scene and the dogs were saved from the situation. There was also about $100,000 worth of marijuana found at the scene.

Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware suffered a horrific combound fracture in his leg in the NCAA Basketball tournament. To help him deal with the tragic injury, he adopted a new pit bull puppy he named "Scar." Dogs bring so much to our lives, including comfort when we're down.

Blogs

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers good advice - for parents to never leave dogs and their young children alone together.

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 4/7/13

A lot of stuff going on out there, so sit back, have a cup of coffee and catch up on some of the stories you may have missed from the week that was. As always, if you have other stories you'd like to share, feel free to post them in the comments.

Cities/States and Laws

Unfortunately, a lot of tiny little communities moving in the wrong direction this week:

The tiny community of West Branch, MI (Population 2100) decided to uphold it's 14 year old ban on "pit bulls" by a vote of 3-2. Most the people in this community probably know every dog there by name and would know which ones were aggressive or caused incidents without such a ban, but ignorance remains in some areas.

New Llano, LA voted to ban 'pit bulls' (and anything that looks like one) in their community. It's another small community of 2500 people and they can probably fit all the affected owners in a small room and it seems either hysteria, or a way to target an individual, than a real public safety issue.

Chippewa Falls, WI is kicking around the idea of a breed ban. Hopefully they'll listen local experts and decide to stay with a behavior-based ordinance instead of the breed-specific one.

Hornbeak, TN (population 450) has pased a ban on 10 different breeds of dogs. Again, anyone who thinks breed bans are a 'pit bull issue' is wrong...

Fortunately, many smart communities get it:

In Royal Oak, MI, they are toughening up their dangerous dog law and Mayor Jim Ellison said it would target breeds "over his dead body". They are looking at responible pet ownership, dog behavior and education as their keys. Bravo.

Dog bites/attacks

When we discuss dog bites on this blog, I often refer to a couple of realities that a) most dogs are not aggressive and as companions fit very safely into our homes and b) that when dog bites/attacks occur, that it is almost always a set of circumstances, human behavior (often including unsupervised children), warning signals and social issues that lead up to a severe attack and that these are the circumstances that should be targeted, not breeds. Here are a few examples:

In Bennsville, MD, three dogs, including dogs reported as a Presa Canario and an English Bulldog (although there appears to be a lot of confusion on the types of dogs involved) attacked a 5 year old girl who wandered outside at night unattended and unsupervised as the child's boyfriend was supposed to be watching her but wasn't. The girl wandered into an area that contained the dogs and was viciously attacked. Apparently animal control had been to the home before and were asked to remove more than a dozen Cane Corsos and poverty appears to be a pretty major issue in this community.

 In the UK, a 9 year old boy had to have stitches and a huge amount of swelling on his face after being bitten by a Yorkshire Terrier -- a tiny toy breed.

A Sandusky, OH woman suffered significant injuries when a 17 week old German Shepherd attacked her. Apparentlyt he woman was leading the dog outside and it became VERY agitated when a cat zipped by and redirected the frustration onto the woman, causing significant bite injuries to her arm and wrist.

No Kill News

The Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association  is working with a local rescue group to help reduce shelter euthanasia - and in fact, saw a 77% decrease in dogs killed at the shelter and an 89% decrease in puppies killed via their partnership and programs to increase adoptions.

Media Reporting

Police arrest a man for possession of crack cocaine and illegal handguns -- however, somehow it's his dog that makes the headline.

An Iowa Man was apparently bitten in the face by a dog during the middle of the afternoon. The victim described the dog as either "black or brown" and either a "pit bull or a rottweiler". These two dog breeds look little alike, but apparently any dog that bites is either a pit bull or a rottweiler when a victim reports it...which is why too often witness accounts of breeds are not reliable.

Dos and don't when it comes to dogs -- real efforts to edcuate people about canine behavior from the Irish Examiner. Bravo.

Positive Press

A pit bull therepy dog not only helps students with their reading, but helps dispell stereotypes in the process.

Abuse cases 

Nine 'pit bulls' were found severely abused in the backyard ofa home in Bardstown, KY. Humans continue to be more of a threat to pit bulls than vice versa and it's another reason why looking at containment/ownership issues is important.

In the Kansas City area, more than 70 dogs were seized from a 3-state dog-fighting bust. A local expert (and friend of mine) discusses how the dogs will need to be evaluated as individuals to determine their eventual fate. It's worth noting that one of the locations of the bust was actually in a comminty with a 25 year ban on pit bulls -- showing once again that breed bans don't stop illegal activiites.

Blogs

More dogs = more attacks - Sam the Dog Trainer looks at how the more dogs that are in the home the more likely you are to struggle with group dynamics.

Dog memory - a clever take on dog memory (and how people have it too) from The Poodle and Dog Blog

Long-time advocate Kim Wolfe has started a new blog entitled "Beyond Breed" that is worth checking out. Here's why she chose the name, and a couple of highlights from the past couple of weeks.

When raising awareness raises fear - more from Beyond Breed about how sometimes efforts to "educated" people on issues like dogfighting creates more fear than helping solve a problem.

10 tips for speaking with Legislators about BSL -- good advice from Beyond Breed

Don't think, adopt! - ASPCA Pro discusses impulse adoptions -- and that they're not as bad as many people mistakenly think.

There's no Us vs Them: We all want the safe communities -- Animal Farm Foundation has a nice post about how everyone wants to live in a safe community, so meeting people on that common ground is important before discussing the difference in opinion on breed-specific policies.

Picture of a Pit Bull with Bird on its Head surrounded by Bunnies -- the headline says it all, but the picture is worth a thousand words

You keep using that word - Euthanasia - I do not think it means what you think it means -- from Rescue One Dog -- the words "euthanasia" and "kill" should not be used interchangably

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 3/24/13

Changing up the format of the weekly roundup a bit - with fewer links, but hopefully more important links.  Let's see how this goes:

Cities/States and Laws

The Florida Bill that would force shelters to be transparent unanimously passed out of the Senat committee last week. Supporters of the bill hope that promoting accountability will aid in the number of lives saved in these communities.

The city of Overland Park, KS, which already has a host of ridiculously bad pet laws including very restrictive pet limit laws of 2 and a breed ban, now wants to charge pet foster homes $100 per foster pet.

A city councilman in Westwego, LA is pushing for a breed-specific law after a woman was severely injured by her own dogs in her own home. 

West Memphis, AR is looking at a breed-specific law to target pit bulls. West Memphis is a community of 26,000 people where a whopping 42% of the population (3X the national average) live below the poverty line. They had 28 dog bites last year, with 3 coming from pit bulls to people outside of the dog's home. They seem to be looking to solve a problem that doesn't exist in a community that no doubt has more than its fair share of problems.

A New York Law that would prohibit insurance companies from descriminating based on breed was approved by the Assembly Insurance Committee.

Dog bites/attacks and dangerous dog laws

In Boston, a 14 year old boy apparently entered a fenced in area where two Rottweilers were being used as a guard dog. The dogs attacked the teenager (as it was specifically trained to do) and the boy was saved by a police officer who arrived quickly to the scene and shot one of the dogs. The boy was apparently familiar with the dogs and had pictures of himself playing with the dogs, so it is a bit of an odd situation. However, I think it's interesting that this incident occurred in Boston, where they have been focusing all of their efforts on trying to keep their law targeting breeds of dogs instead of focusing on situations that lead to dogs (regardless of breed) to be aggressive -- in this case, actually training dogs to be aggressive as watch dogs.

A pack of mixed breed dogs reportedly attacked an elderly woman in Portsmouth, OH. The owner of the dogs has been repeatedly cited for letting the dogs, several with a history of aggression, repeatedly roam at large. Officials continue to just write citations and not crack down further. Many cities do need stronger laws that crack down on dogs that show a history of irresponsible pet ownership and repeatedly put the public at risk through their actions.

Officials in Verona, MO suffered from "confusion" in trying to determine whether a dog owned by a family in the community was a French Mastiff, or a pit bull. Pit bulls are banned under community law. No actual discussion seems to have taken place over whether or not the dog was aggressive in any way (by all accounts, the dog never bothers anyone). But the city is trying to enforce it's law an now seems unable to tell the difference between a 150 lbs breed and a 60 lbs breed and instead of asking the right question, of "is this dog safe?" -- they're trying to determine breed. What a collossal waste.

Miscellaneous

An interesting story about a family that lost their home owners insurance because the company declared their dog to be a pit bull and dropped their insurance. The dog is a member of the family and is not aggressive, but now the family is looking for new insurance. The ridiculousness of insurance bans against certain breeds is being addressed in several state legislatures right now and I'm glad that governments are looking at this.

A new study shows that people have evolved to be able to read dogs' facial expressions.

Pit Bull Therapy helps veterans in Tennessee.

No Kill News

Monmouth County, NJ has reported a 94% live release rate for 2012 -- with an intake of about 4500 animals and a budget of about $4.2 million.

Animal shelters in Cleveland, OH continue to have success in minimizing shelter euthanasia. As recently as 2000, the two large shelters in the community took in more than 26,000 animals -- and killed nearly 17,000.  In 2012, the shelters took in less than 13,000, and killed just over 3,000. The shelter euthanasia rates are now 14% for dogs and 27% for cats. Congrats on the progress in Cleveland, and here's to more improvement and success.

The Huffington Post covers No Kill Success in Austin.

Positive changes in Racine, WI  -- including nearly doubling the number of animals adopted in the first two months of the year-- from Wisconsin Watchdog.

Blogs

Can a photo-bombing dog sell a house or rent an apartment?  - This is hilarious and awesome from The Poodle and Dog Blog

Animal cruelty, do you know it when you see it?  Department of Ag Disagrees? -- Some interesting thoughts on Animal Cruelty from Dancing Dog Blog

Reducing Shelter Admissions with Animal Help Desk -- from Nevada Humane Society's Bonney Brown via Maddies Fund

Yes - I think I want one -- Would you like to have a pet fox? -- From Poodle and Dog Blog

3 ways to boost return-to-owner rates -- from the ASPCA Pro

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 3-10-13

It's been a busy week and I'm a little behind on a host of topics. I should be able to get to many of them this week. Meanwhile, here are some of the top stories you may have missed from the week that was.

Cities/States and Laws

Hornbeak, TN passed the first reading of a bill that would ban several breeds of dogs, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, Akitas, Chow Chows, Doberman Pinschers and German Shepherds. If you are in the area, please contact your city officials to tell them that breed-neutral, behavior-based legislation is the best for public safety.

After 10 months of discussion, Schuyler, NE passed a dangerous dog law that targets 11 different breeds of dog -- including the "Pit bull Terrier", Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Presa Canario, Cane Corso, American Bulldog, Chow Chow, Doberman Pinscher, Rottweiler, and American Bandogg. Anyone who thinks that breed specific legislation is just a pit bull issue make note.

Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in Rhode Island that would create state-wide breed-specific legislation. However, after more education from experts in the community, the bill was pulled. Now, a new bill has been introduced that would prohibit breed-specifc legislation from municipalities. This shows how quickly ideas can change once experts in their local communities are consulted and people understand that breed-specific laws are not the solution to increasing public safety.

Bronwood, GA briefly considered a breed-specific dangerous dog law, but then after careful consideration opted not to go that route.

SB160 in Maryland, a bill that would over-ride a court ruling that declared 'pit bulls' as dangerous advanced out of the Senate Judicial proceedings by a unanimous vote. The bill now advances to the entire Senate floor. The companion bill advanced by a Unanimous vote in the House of Representatives as well. While the Baltimore Sun seems to imply there is some "unraveling" that is going on, at this point there is no evidence of that from the votes that have been cast.

Lansing MI is discussing the possibility of enacting breed-specific legislation -- so far the majority of the people commenting on the bill, per usual, are opposed to breed-specific provisions.

In Colorado, legislators are looking into a bill that would require police to take dog encounter training as a way of preventing so many dogs from being shot.

Dog bites/attacks

A year old infant in New Jersey suffered "serious" injureis when she was bitten in her face by a Husky in her home.

An 8 year old Saskatchewan boy suffered major injuries, after he entered a fenced kennel where a mixed breed dog was kept and the dog attacked the boy.

No Kill

The Bark magazine has a great article about the innovative sheltering idea of creating mall "boutique" adoption centers. These centers provide high-traffic exposure of adoptable pets and with the recent recession, space in these malls is often available and can be gotten for discounted rates for 501c3 rescue groups. Late last year, our organization, KC Pet Project, opened a retail adoption center that has created about a 40% increase in total adoptions since its opening - which has bee critical for lifesaving in our community. Great article from the Bark, and great idea for shelters across the country.

KC Pet Project was invited to speak at the Kansas City Mayor's stat meeting -- discussing the decrease in euthanasia at the city shelter over the past 14 months. Midtown KC Post has details, and a chart from the meeting that I'm really proud of.

The Fairfield County animal shelter (Lancaster, OH) has decreased its euthanasia rate from 34% to 17% over the past year. They're continuing to look at options to reduce this rate even further.

Austin schools other cities on No Kill - media coverage about Austin's Pet Alive Conference as others went to Austin to learn how to make their communities No Kill.

Miscellaneous

Many people in No Kill circles know Aimee Saddler's name. Aimee is a great dog trainer, who is helping shelters (including ours) institute playgroups for shelter dogs. The playgroups are designed to give the dogs good socialization, enrichment, and burn off energy -- all of which are invaluable to making them more adoptable in a shelter setting. Here's a great video she posted this week about why they don't micromanage interactions in a playgroup setting.

A feature on Canine Investigator Jim Crosby. Jim does a great job of investigating canine attack scenes and deterimining the circumstances behind these attacks.

Three pit bulls were stolen from the Lake Jackson SPCA (TX) last week -- showing once again that the idea that pit bulls are good guard dogs is a myth, and often can't even keep themselves from being stolen.

A pit bull helped his master this week -- as the master was being attacked by another man with a golf club, the pit bull intervened and attacked the attacker.

Trooper, a pit bull puppy that was dragged nearly to death, has finally healed under the care of the Humane Society of Missouri and is now available for adoption.

Blogs

A volunteer love story - Barb and Dru - A day with Homeless Dogs discusses a volunteer at our shelter in Kansas City and how the volunteer has connected with a long-timer at the shelter.

Babble has a great article and pictoral about the Pin-ups for Pit Bulls group that is increasing awareness of the softer side of pit bulls.

Counter Conditioning and Desensitization for Dogs - Part 1 -- Eric is finally back at Dog Spelled Forward with insights in to Classical Conditioning for dog, and how to change this conditioning.

My dog is aggressive to others on leash - Dog Spelled forward looks at the common problem of leash reactivity, and how to manage. Step 1, pay attention. Step 2, change the association to the emotional aggressive response.

Book review of the book Mr. and Ms. Dog -- by Raised by Wolves.

To save animals, you have to like people -- trusting the public is the most important part of saving lives -- it is the public that is going to adopt, foster, donate and tell others to do the same.

The problem with Dandelions - Lost Dogs Wisconsin has an interesting article about "dandelions" -- which they describe as dogs that are very common and look very similar -- with good advice on how to find them when they're lost.

For Fun

An image of a well-prepared cat.

Weekly Roundup - Week ending 2/24/13

Rounding up the top stories you may have missed from the week that was.

Cities/States and Laws

Missouri is working to shed its image as the "Puppy Mill Capital" after some new rules and increased enforcement of existing rules has caused many of the state's commercial breeding operations to shut down.

In the UK, there is more discussion that the country's breed ban is not doing nearly enough to protect people from dogs, and that the law is "woefully inadequate".  Breed bans are a terrible form of public policy because instead of focusing resources on aggressive dogs (based on behavior) regardless of breed, it uses resources to round up breeds of dogs because of how they look, even if they are not aggressive. The UK has been struggling with their breed ban for decades, and continue to face pressure to provide better support for the law.

The Oakland Press (MI) is supporting a move to repeal Waterford Township's breed ban that was enacted 23 years ago to a breed-neutral bill that would focus on responsible pet ownership.

 The community of Watertown, WI is looking at a potential law that would put special restrictions on 'pit bulls' -- and residents overflowed city hall in opposition to the bill. According to their own numbers, the new restrictions would impact dogs responsible for less than 20% of their total dog bites in the community with no attention paid to dogs involved in the other 80%+ of dog bites.

Dog Bites/Attacks

Dogs are very loving to humans -- and in spite of our inadequacies at times in understanding their needs, they are outstanding to adapting to the environment we put them in. But there are times when dogs do bite or attack, and in those cases, it's important to look at the CIRCUMSTANCES that led up to the attack, not the type of dog involved. Here are a couple of stories from the past week:

A six year old boy in Mansfield, MA required 400 stitches -- mostly to his face -after being bitten by his babysitter's "Pointer/Hound mix".

In Arizona, a story about an increase in dog bites at an area hospital that notes that training is essential to minimizing dog bites, as well as being careful around strange dogs. It also notes that most bites are highly preventable. It's great to see a story that focuses on the causes around bites and not just fear-mongering.

Abuse Cases

A pit bull that was found abandoned in Limestone County, AL had a 22 lbs chain embedded in her neck. Honestly, there are times when you hear stuff like this and see how humans treat dogs that it's a wonder that more of us aren't attacked by dogs each year -- and a testiment to how loving and forgiving dogs are of humans.

No Kill News

A newly formed group, St. Catharines Pets Alive, is seeking to win the contract of their local animal shelter so they can have access to saving more lives. This group has some major hurdles to overcome (such as the need for a shelter facility), but it's a smart, compassionate group that is seeking to do right by the shelter animals in their community.

The West Valley City/Taylorsville, UT animal shelter is working toward no kill status.  Last year they had 3 months with save rates above 90%, and another 3 that were in the 84-88% range. I'm always encouraged by shelters making progress toward the goal and that the last 5-8% to get to 90% is HARD.

Petaluma, CA, a city with a population of 58,000 people (and home to the best brewery in the world) is reporting a life release rate of 94% after Petaluma Animal Services Foundation took over the open-admission shelter in August of 2012. The live release rate had been around 83% prior to them taking over.

Positive Press

The CBS Affiliate in Philadelphia highlights the positive side of pit bulls -- as working dogs, therepy dogs as family pets.

An Albany, NY man seeks to de-demonize pit bulls.

Miscellaneous

A Missouri Company helps console pet owners by freeze-drying their pets so they can keep them around forever. Would you consider doing this?  It seems pretty creepy to me, but does show how attached people are to their pets and how important a part of our lives they are....but still.

This is a fantastic video about an HSUS program "Pets for Life" that helps low income people in urban Philadelphia be better pet owners by providing them some much needed resources. I LOVE programs like this, and while HSUS gets a lot of grief (deservedly so at times), they also have some very good programs, and I believe this is one of them.

Blogs

"I didn't call the vet because...." - Christie Keith looks at reasons why people say they did not take their dog to a vet, one of which is that people really, often, don't want to follow the advice the vet willl give them.

Benefits and risks of neutering, an evidence update: Study Investigates Effects of Neutering in Golden Retrievers -- this is a great look at the study I discussed last week from SkeptVet Blog

Ripples in the Rescue World -- Paws Abililites looks at shelter dogs, and how most dogs end up in shelters not because they're damaged, but because they're unlucky. Yet, there are ripples that hurt all rescue dogs when aggressive dogs are irresponsibly adopted out into the public. It's a thought-provoking post and one that you should definitely take the time to read....

 Know the opposition: "Why are you blaming shelters? -- Christie Keith notes that many accuse the No Kill movement of blaming shelters for the problem, and Christie notes that it's because that's where the animals are dying.

The Radical notion of not killing our friends -- some good thoughts on No Kill from Francis Battista at Best Friends.

Another myth bites the dust -- a great look at appointment systems for owner surrenders from No Kill News that looks at Lynchburg, VA and how their appointment system did not increase intake at neighboring shelters as critics often say it will.

It's not how they're raised, It's how they're managed that matters most -- This is an older blog posting (from November), but I think it's an important look at the mantra "it's how they were raised". While there is some truth to the mantra, the reality is that dogs live "in the now" much more than humans do, and generally adapt pretty quickly to new environments. And it's how they're managed NOW that is the most influential part.

I'm posting this because it's the opposite of a good blog posting -- "The Truth behind "Free to Good Home" Ads -- it's this type of post that drives me crazy -- when someone poses something as "The truth about" and then just says oft-repeated mantra's that actually have no real factual evidence to support outside of an occassional annecdote. There is no evidence that "free" means people won't care about their pet. In fact, 2 of my 3 I got "free" off the streets. Geting a dog "free" does not mean someone will abandon their dog to the streets, or hand them over to animal control, or abuse them as this writer suggests.

Neutering and behavior -- Angry Vet looks at the science behind the behavioral effects of neutering of male dogs.

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 2/10/13

It's been a busy week with a lot going on. A couple of states considering state-wide BSL, and a couple of states that are looking at outlawing breed-specific laws. Many other things as well as some really great blogs to post.

Sit back and enjoy and off to the top stories from the week that was.

Cities/States and Laws

H5287 in Rhode Island would restrict ownership of "pit bulls' at the state level. If you live in Rhode Island PLEASE reach out to your state representative to urge a "no" vote on this bill. No hearing date has been scheduled for this bill, so there is a chance that it will die in the judiciary committee, but never take that for granted for poorly conceived laws like this.

In Annapolis, MD, representatives from major Humane organizations, animal advocates and experts lined the state house to support a bill that would undue a court ruling last April that essentially causes all "pit bulls' to be labeled as vicious. The Maryland Bill has a lot of support and I do expect it to pass both houses soon. Even the local media is behind the legislature cleaning up the mess created by the court ruling.

New Mexico HB63, which would prohibit breed-specific laws throughout the state, passed unanimously out of Health, Government and Indian Affairs commmittee last week. The bill has now gone to the House Judiciary Committee for review.

Arkansas City, KS is looking at a potential repeal of their breed ban. Authorities cite difficulties in enforcing the law as one of the reasons.

A resident in Dodge City, KS is asking city commissioners to repeal its 7 year old breed ban.

Chariton, IA is also considering repealing its breed-specific law.

Waterford, MI is also considering a potential repeal of its ban on pit bull type dogs. The law has been in place for 23 years but challenges in enforcing the law because of breed identification are proving challenging.  Anyone else noticing a trend?

Dog bites/attacks

 Major dog bites are rare, but they do happen, and when they do many have lazily tried to make attacks about the type of dog involved vs focusing on the circumstances that led up to the attacks. Here's a sampling of a couple of recent incidents.

In Grand Island, NE, a 'pit bull' bit a couple of family members. While the highlight of the news article is that it was "caught on tape" from a neighbor's surveillance video. While many speculated about what may have led to the attack, one huge red flag was ignored by both the "expert" and the media (no surprise). In the video, the owner notes that she had raised the dog since he was four weeks old. I've talked before on this blog about the importance of early socialization in dogs and how removing them from their litter too young (and 4 weeks is too young) is problematic in most cases. It just seems like a big opportunity for education if people would be more willing to focus on this, instead of the headline being about breed.

A Buckeye, AZ boy was attacked when the boy allegedly "peaked over" a fence between his house and his neighbor's in order to retrieve a football that had gone into their back yard. While the kids say the boy was "pulled over" the fence and into the back yard, it seems more likely that the boy just climbed into the back yard trying to retrieve the ball and was attacked. I'm  not a fan of dogs that are aggressive enough to attack someone who enters the yard, but kids leaving their own property and going onto a neighbor's property without permission is a fairly common way that children (who tend to not read canine body language well) get attacked.

A one year old boy and his father were both attacked bya Great Pyrenees near their home in Waco, TX. The toddler apparently chased a soccer ball too close to a pen where the dog was kept  and the dog became aggitated and attacked the boy, and the father who went to go help him.

Miscellaneous

New Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle, who along with his wife Jaime helped fight against the Miami-Dade breed ban last year, now are faced with another breed ban in Ontario. Because of the ban, Buehrle and his family will not be able to live together for the time that he is with the Blue Jays, so his family is moving to St. Louis. It's a shame to see families split up over ridiculous laws involving healthy, happy, loving dogs - but maybe this means Mark will go play for the Cardinals some day soon (and they could use a little pitching help).

Why wolves are forever wild, but dogs can be tamed -- some interesting research by evolutionary biologist Katheryn Lord that links some of the difference to the very early socialization period in the first 4 weeks of life. Lord believes that the differences in socialization may be because wolves begin socializing at 2 weeks, before their senses are fully developed, where dogs begin at 4 weeks, after senses have developed. She believes this change influences how each explores the world for the first time and thus, how they act later in life. The data is build on a very small data-set, and is not conclusive, but interesting to consider.

Positive Pit Bull Press

KTVI TV in St. Louis once again shows the positive side of pit bulls and the challenges of laws that target breeds of dogs based on looks vs targeting dangerous dog laws based on behavior by showing the challenges with breed-identification. In their poll, less than 25% of people were able to correctly identify the American Pit Bull Terrier from a photograph.

A Colorado Springs, CO couple steps up to save a starving Pit Bull named Lazarus.

No Kill News

As recently as 2006, San Antonio had the highest shelter kill rate per capita of any city in the country. Now, while they've not achieve no kill (yet). Last year, they more than doubled the save rate in the community and are at a 62% save rate. One of the key programs that has helped them be successful has been the growth of their foster program.

The Martinsville-Henry County SPCA is looking to make the county no kill by 2015. Henry County is already close -- at an 82% save rate. A huge opportunity for betterment for them would be increasing their adoption rate for pit bulls -- 1/2 of all the dogs euthanized at the shelter were pit bulls.

East Ridge, TN is looking to adopt a no kill policy at their shelter.

Activists in Rancho Cucamonga are pushing back against some change in direction at the shelter in the community. The Rancho shelter has long been one of the more progressive shelters in the country, but recent changes are moving them further from being no kill instead of closer and advocates want to continue pushing forward.

Blogs

Locking jaws, lies, and the rabbit hole of hate - Swaylove.org takes a look at fake facebook profiles and how a handful of people who have set up fake Facebook profiles with the apparently sole purpose of spreading falsehoods and hate against pit bulls in comment sections of media articles everywhere.

Speaking of dressing down the small number of people out there trying to damn pit bulls, Seattle Dog Spot takes on some recent coverage that Ellen Taft got in Seattle and makes the case against Ms. Taft being any type of credible.

I used to think pit bulls were monsters -- until I got one - a writer for Dogster talks about how she wasn't a fan of pit bulls until her boyfriend (now husband) convinced her to get one -- and how she now loves the dog like any other dog. This story certainly resembles how my opinion changed many years ago....and I supsect how many others became advocates as well.

I am furious at a rescue that is helping save lives - Central California Pets Alive notes why they are upset with a rescue that is helping because they say they have to help because of the "irresponsible public".

Media and pit bulls: the good, the bad and the ugly -- Bless the Bullies looks at all sides of the pit bull debate via the media

A Day with Homeless Pets takes a look at a dog named Jersey -- the longest time resident with the KC Pet Project

How to know when to call in a professional trainer -- knowing when to get professional help with your dog is important -- and here are some good thoughts from Doggywoof.

The Long Arm of Restrictive Shelter Policies -- YesBiscuit looks at made up requirements many shelters have before accepting pets into their programs -- and how many of these rules cause animals to die elsewhere.

Love Comedy, Hate Ignorance - Comedian Rebecca Corry talks about ignorance when it comes to pit bulls and reiterates how comedians have a responsibility to not perpetuate hate and ignorance.

Which emotions do dogs actually experience -- some interesting look at canine emotions from Modern Dog

 For Fun

This video is one of the cutest I've seen in awhile as a very young pit bull puppy tries to learn how to walk on a treadmill with an adult dog to the tune of "I am the Tiger". This one is excellent, and well worth your time.

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 1/27/13

A lot of interesting articles and information over the past week or so. I'm going to hold a couple in hopes of getting to individual posts on them this week, and will cover a lot of the action on the state level in a post tomorrow, but here are a few of the stories you may have missed that you should for sure check out.

Cities and Laws

The LaGrange, GA city council is considering relaxing the rules to allow pit bulls to be adopted from the city animals shelter. Currently, all pit bulls are killed if they are not reclaimed by their owners.

Dog bites/attacks

I'm not going to cover many of the incidents that have been reported over the past couple of weeks. But there are a handful that I'll cover because I think it's important to understand how circumstances lead to major dog bites and that we need to focus on these circumstances, not the type of dog involved.

A 61 year old man and a 51 year old woman of Harlingen, TX were apparently attacked by a group of 26 dogs (from the images, they all appear to be mongrels) that were living in their home. The dogs apparently got in a fight over a tortilla and the two were injured while breaking up the rukus. The conditions of the home were described as filled with feces, urine and "unbearable" conditions. So we have a pack of dogs living in horrible conditions in a family home and two people get injured breaking up a fight by the dogs over food.

An 18 month old toddler in Montgomery County, TX suffered significant injuries after being attacked by a dog that is described as a "pit bull". The family was playing near a dog on a chain when the dog lunged and "came off the chain" and attacked the toddler. The family said the dog didn't get a lot of attention because the dog was the woman's boyfriend's cousin's dog and he is in jail. So here we have chained dog that isn't getting a lot of socialization due to other societal social factors that got frustrated and attacked.

An Austin-area woman reportedly received minor bites on her hand and ankle when she tried to break up two dogs that were fighting. However, even though the bites were minor, she ended up getting a severe blood infection that caused her to lose her legs and fingers. While the news reports call the situation "rare", it is why people should get medical treatment for bite wounds (even minor ones) to get antibiotics so they can avoid infection -- especially if signs of infection occur.

No Kill News

The Fulton County commission  just hired a new organization to run the county animal shelter. Life Line Animal Project will take over the operation of the shelter that is currently killing about 57% of the animals at the shelter in hopes of making the shelter into a no kill community. Best of luck to the folks at Life Line Animal Project.

There is talk in Columbia, SC of trying to make the shelter into a no kill shelter. The shelter has decreased shelter euthanasia by 22% over the past 3 years, but with more than 8,000 animals dying in the shelter each year, much work still needs to be done.

The Wisconsin Humane Society has begun providing animal sheltering services for the city of Racine -- which is creating a "new era" for animal control in that community.

Miscellaneous

Earlier this week, the Kansas City Star wrote a pretty good article about TNR and feral cat care in our community.  It's a pretty balanced article, as far as news reports go and I think was fair. There is also a poll on the page -- where currently more than 80% of the voters agree that TNR is the more Humane way to handle the situation....and yet, most cities in the metro don't allow for TNR legally and thus, caregivers are forced to be discrete in their actions.

Police vs Animals: Are we seeing a trend? -- CBS News in Denver wonders about the trending uptick in police shooting dogs. Good for them for highlighting this...

A six year old Missouri boy got lost and was found huddled in a ditch with his two dogs laying on top of him to keep him warmon a cold winter night.

Have you heard of the Yellow Dog Project? I like this idea.

Blogs

Nature vs Nurture - Happy Pit Bull discusses how it's not an "either/or" but that it's a combination of both that should be considered. I think this blog does a great job of explaining the difference between "Temperament", "individual temperament", "environment", "Learned behavior" and "aggressive behavior" and is well worth the read.

After decades of frustration, a new strategy against puppy mills -- Best Friends' new plan is to now go after the demand-side of the economic pendelum after finally realizing that it is a nearly impossible problem to solve by only going after the supply side.

The Needless fear of pit bull breeds -- a study done by Danielle Dunne from the University of the Pacific on pit bull type dogs -- published by No Kill Allegany County. Science and expert opinion continue to be nearly unanimous in this point of view.

The gap between rescues and adoptions - YesBiscuit! highlights the gap created when rescues impose arbitrary adoption requirements, high adoption fees, and turn away (and turn off) good people, and then yet issue daily pleas because there is no cage space or shelter space.

Who is saving lives in Australia? -- Saving Pets has the details

Surry County Shelter thinks 86% kill rate is progress -- Yikes. And the deatils are from For the Pit Bulls.  The kill rate is 77% for dogs, and 95% for cats. The "progress" has little to nothing to do with trying to rehome them and is almost entirely based on lowering intake.

And for fun, Pavlov's dog finally gets it -- from Seattle Dog Spot

Weekly Roundup -- Week Ending 1/13/13

With the holidays, I've fallen pretty far behind on weekly roundups. So today, I'm just going to hit the most pertinent/interesting stories of the past few weeks. As always, feel free to post additional links in the comments section. Let's round 'em up.

Cities/States and Laws

In 2011, Terrell County, GA passed a law that required a specific $100,000 insurance policy, pin-size requirements, microchipping and pictures registered at the city office for all 'pit bulls' in the community. Following the breed-specific legislation, the shelter is overwhelmed by the number of pit bulls that have made their way in the shelter. This is consistent with what happens when communities pass breed-specific laws everywhere.

The RSPCA in South Whales notes that "MOST" people there support repealing their breed-specific ordinance in favor of a breed-neutral dangerous dog law.

Pratt, KS continues to live about 3 decades behind the rest of the world (go figure) and recently made their decision to keep their law banning 'pit bulls'. Their logic is pretty interesting as the mayor noted that he had experieince with Wolf Hybrids so pit bulls should be banned. The other noted his experience with Australian Shepherd, and thus, breed traits matter. None of them, mind you, actually had experience with pit bulls, but are banning them anyway.

Officials in Boston, MA are going to spend a boat-load of taxpayer funds to challenge the Massachussetts state law that prohibits their breed-specific legislation.

Manly, IA upheld their ban on 'pit bulls'. The law was passed in 2008 when two children were "threatened" by a pit bull.

Dog bites/attacks

A Miami-Dade woman was airlifted to the hospital after getting the worst of it after breaking up a fight between her two dogs. The dogs were listed an American Bulldog and a Labrador Retriever. Miami-Dade has had one of the longest-lasting breed bans in the United States but it only serves as a way of misinforming people of the real causes of significant dog bites.

Positive Pit Bull Press

Some positive bully press from Fox4 News in Kansas City as the shelter looks to rehome pit bulls that have ended up there.

Ken Foster's Book, I'm a Good Dog, was named by Vanity Fair as one of the best books of the year.

Miscellaneous

An interesting infographic from The Week with data about the number of pets in America.

Cats create art for local animal shelter.

No Kill News

Cleveland, TN has achieved significant No Kill success -- in much faster time than they expected. Within a year they moved from a kill rate of 75% to one that is just 6%, and achieved their goal 4 years ahead of schedule.

Blogs

The media has a responsibility to the public, when are they going to own up to it? - Bless the Bullies asks the pertinent question following the second dog attack involving a young child in the same home.

Dear AKC: You don't love dogs and you know it - -Ryan Clinton calls out the AKC. While I don't necessarily agree with all of Ryan's sentiments, I do think money and love of purebreds has often come at the expense of animal health and shelter animals for the AKC.

The overpopulation of excuses -- excuses seem to be plentiful when it comes to taking the steps to avoid going No Kill in many shelters.

BSL is contagious. Speak up now. -- Animal Farm Foundation notes that when one city talks about BSL, it often spreads to other communities nearby.

No Kill LA saved more than 3500 more animal lives in the Los Angeles area in 2012 -- and had an 84% save rate in December. With a competent/new executive director, I expect that we'll see more progress from them in 2013. Slightly more from the LA Times.

If you can't own it, maybe you shouldn't be doing it -- A good piece from YesBiscuit! about things that a shelter shouldn't do if they don't feel they can own up to it.

Weekly Roundup -- Week Ending 12/16/12

Been a busy week, and I really haven't gotten to posting much here the past few days. So here are a roundup of most of the week's top stories -- although there are a few that I will cover off on under separate covers tomorrow.

Enjoy.

Cities/States and laws

Schuyler, NE tabled a proposed law that would have targeted specific breeds of dogs.

Aberdeen, SD has once again decided against a law targeting pit bulls -- this time with a vote of 6-3 against the ban. An earlier vote last spring ended in a 4-4 tie, so the city continues to get more council members on the side of breed-neutral legislation.

Justice for Chloe

This is a very sad and tragic story from out of Commerce City, CO. In Commerce City, a house-sitter accidentally left the garage door open and allowed a pet dog named Chloe to be loose. Authorities arrived and cornered the dog in the garage. The dog acted very scared of the officers that surrounded him, but in spite of the fearful behavior, authorities tased the dog and put it on a catch pole. After more fear (from the tasing and capture), the dog continued to try to get away and then a 'police officer' decided to put 5 bullets into the contained dog --killing their family pet.

Meanwhile, the neighbors across the street got the entire event on video through an upstairs window. The authorities in Commerce City tried to justify their actions by saying the dog was a 'pit bull' and thus, they had to kill the fearful, contained dog due to public safety (as if, the idea that it was  pit bull somehow justified their actions). Chloe's owners are filing a legal suit agains the city for their actions and have formed a facebook page: Justice for Chloe. YesBiscuit also covered the story. We must be sure that our local authorities are responsible in their actions -- which don't involve shooting a harmless dog -- especially when the act of shooting the dog can be very dangerous, evidenced by the fact that a stray bullet hit the animal control officer's car.

Pit bulls in shelters

In Midland, TX, advocates are pushing the city shelter to get rid of an "outdated" policy that has every pit bull that enters the shelter be killed instead of evaluated and put up for adoption like other dogs entering the shelter.

Meanwhile, in Buffalo, NY, the Erie County SPCA director wants to help improve the reputation of pit bulls in order to increase the number adopted from their shelter.

Kansas City Area News

The negotiations over the operations of the Jackson County Animal Shelter in Independence continues -- with the county preferring to contract out the operations to the Great Plains SPCA, while the city of Independence wants to run the shelter themselves. For the life of me I can't figure out how any of them are going to run it on the allotted budget of under $500,000, but meanwhile a brand new animal shelter sits empty not helping the animals of the Kansas City metro.

A dog in the historic Elmwood Cemetery was captured this week. The dog had become a favorite of people around the cemetery because the dog and a resident deer (who lost his mother to being hit by a car last year) had seemed to become friends at the cemetery. A local shelter captured the dog, and when they came to get the trap, found the deer hanging out with his captured companion.

In a story I first mentioned a few weeks ago, the Platte City police chief is now under fire for the illegal surveillance camera he installed on private property to catch someone from (gasp!) feeding cats.

Miscellaneous

Meet an urban musher in Kansas City.

I got the opportunity to watch "Beyond the Myth" a couple of months back (and have yet to post about it), but one thing I left the movie thinking was how disappointed I was that they didn't show many of the updates since the film was completed. Here are some updates.

Another good book review of "I'm a Good Dog" by Ken Foster. Meanwhile, here's some coverage of Foster's trip to Denver where the city has been rounding up and killing pit bulls for years.

No Kill News

The West Valley City/Taylorsville, UT shelter teamed up with Best Friends Animal Society last year in order to help create a no kill community for the area. In 2011, the shelter saved only 58% of the animals that entered it. However, through 11 months in 2012, they have saved 82% and growing.

The city of Waco, TX held a no kill summit to try to increase the number of animals saved in the community.

Moreno Valley, CA is also looking at how they can reduce their euthanasia rates -- which are currently at about 60%. Among the programs will be to increase targeted spay/neuter, improving business hours, and lowering the cost of adoptions.

Hillsboro County, FL is looking to Manatee County as a role model of how they can begin to eliminate shelter killing in their county as well.

Austin 360 does a great profile on Austin Pets Alive's Ellen Jefferson. 

Blogs you should read

What should be done about the excess dogs in shelters? -- By Sam the Dog Trainer

Focus on the present, not the past, to get pets adopted -- Maddies Fund writes that how an animal behaves right now, and how they'll be in a home, is more important to adopters than sad stories or where the pet came from.

Dogs and babies, not always cute -- by Do you believe in Dog?

I talk a lot about bias in this blog, and so I think regular readers will find this interesting, but research indicates that Independents may be more immune to bias than liberals or conservatives.

All dogs are individuals -- "Every dog is an individual with a distinct set of needs and behaviors that are determined by a wide variety of factors: genetics, breeding, socialization, training, management and environment." -- More at the link from Animal Farm Foundation

Changing the conversation - more thoughts from Animal Farm Foundation on how sometimes when we talk about pit bulls, and don't put negative conversations into context, we are often perpetuating the stereotypes about pit bulls and their owners.

The second last day -- this is a really touching article by Pound Dogs about a dog he got to know at his city shelter that was euthanized. I love Fred's photography, but I also love his writing, which I miss -- but we sometimes get a glimps of as his blog has evolved.

From skeptic to breed advocate -- Samantha's Story -- from HugABull -- I think many of us entered this the same way, first with skepticism, but then, as we learned the real story about pit bulls, we became not just friendly with the dogs, but advocates against the ignorance as well.

12 reasons to adopt -- a video from the Willamson County Humane Society to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas. It's cute, and only 37 seconds long

For Fun

The anatomy of a dog, including fear, brain function and enthusiasm