KC DOG BLOG

HSUS to change their policy on dogs from fighting busts?

  Earlier this week, Best Friends announce that HSUS announced that it will adopt an interim policy recommending that dogs be evaluated as individuals and has called for a meeting of leading animal welfare organizations to form a more formal policy.

Bad Rap has also mentioned that they will be a part of the meeting to discuss the policy.

According to Best Friends' press release:

The new interim policy announced by the HSUS, pending the outcome of the meeting, recommends that local law enforcement and animal control evaluate such dogs as individuals rather than as a category before any decision is made regarding their future.

“We expect government, corporations, and individuals to constantly re-evaluate how they deal with animal issues,” Pacelle said. “Likewise, we regularly review our own policies and procedures here at HSUS, and we think it is important to talk with professional colleagues in the movement to examine issues related to the disposition of fighting dogs.

The response from HSUS comes only a week after they applauded the decision by a Wilkes County (NC) judge to euthanize all 150 dogs without a temperament evaluation,followed by a wealth of backlash from around the US.

I still don't know what I make of this announcement.

On one hand, I hope that HSUS changes their policy. These dogs have had tough enough lives without having HSUS "save" them from their fighting situation to only kill them without evaluations later. HSUS changing its policy would be a huge improvement for the dogs -- which is what this is all about, right? It would be great if HSUS heard the animal welfare community loud and clear after last week's slaughter:

THESE DOGS ARE WORTH SAVING.

HSUS has learned similar lessons before -- back in the early 90s when they used to opposed TNR programs.

But I'd sure feel better if the news of the new interim policy was coming from HSUS itself -- and not from other organizations.

While the news of the policy change and the meeting is prominent over at Bad Rap's blog, and on Best Friends' website, I've yet to hear anything public about it from HSUS.

No email newsletter.

Not on Wayne's blog.

Not in their press releases.

Nope -- those have been dedicated to lobbying for Leona Helmsley's money.

Money is not what is keeping HSUS from saving the lives of animals. Policies are.

 I hope I'm wrong. I hope that the public outcry after HSUS's approval of the slaughter of 150 dogs without proper behavioral evaluations is enough to get HSUS to rethink its policies.  But call me skeptical. HSUS's silence on the matter on their own front speaks pretty loudly.

I'm not the only person who is skeptical. As Winograd notes:

"Instead, in response to criticism, HSUS—through dog killer apologist John Goodwin—chastised groups for making an unnecessary “fuss.” And when that callous retort sparked additional furor, they further inflamed public criticism by issuing a defense of the massacre. Everyone’s heard some variation of the joke that goes, “how many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?” In this case, the more apt question is: “How many humane groups does it take to figure out that an animal welfare organization should champion the saving, not the taking, of animal life?” The answer, of course, should be “one.” It is self-evident. You don’t need a meeting to figure it out. But the reality is that the answer is “two” if one of those groups is HSUS: HSUS to get the answer wrong. The other group to tell them what the right one is."

Mabye it's because I live in Missouri, but HSUS is going to have to Show Me before I believe they are serious about change. Actions speak louder than words (or in this case, non-words). Until they show me -- through their actions -- that they are truly changing their policies regarding dogs that are "saved" from fighting rings, I will remain skeptical.

But let's make no mistake -- our voices are being heard. There are too many of us to ignore. Eventually, HSUS will either have to change their policies to conform to the demand of the animal welfare communities it claims to serve, or will eventually disappear due to their irrelevence.

I'll wait to see which direction they've really chosen.

Paving the Road to Our Future

On Tuesday, March 3, Animal Haven here in Kansas City is going to be holding its third annual open meeting "Paving the Road to our Future."

The purpose of the meeting is to learn about Animal Haven's vision of a no-kill community in Kansas City.  Animal Haven is Kansas City's largest no-kill shelter -- and they (adoptions), along with No More Homeless Pets Kansas City (low cost spay/neuter) and Kansas City Dog Advocates (legislation) are three of the more prominent groups in Kansas City that are working toward making the Kansas City metropolitan area No-Kill.

The open meeting begins at 6:00 -- and will take place at the Lenexa Community Center -- 13420 Oak Street, Lenexa KS (near Sante Fe and Pflumm).

You do need to RSVP so they can prepare for you, but attendance is free. Contact information can be found here.

See you on Tuesday.

Westland, MI Repeals BSL

Last week,members of the Westland, MI city council approved a new ordinance that eliminated breed specific language that mandated that all "pit bulls" were considered vicious or dangerous.

The law will now only apply to dogs that have bitten or attacked another person.

"While some communities are becoming more restrictive regarding pit bulls and some other dog breeds, we're going the opposite way," said Police Chief James Ridener.

What is great here is that Ridener noted that most dog owners, and owners of pit bulls, were responsible owners.

"Our problems come from irresponsible owners. When we have a number of attacks and bites reported, that indicates there is a problem with some owners and that these dogs can create problems."

Yes, the problem is with the irresponsible owners. Even with a breed ban, they existed in Westland. The cities that have successfully dealt with the dog bite issue are cities that have recognized that most dog owners of all breeds really are responsible. But that animal control/police resources are best spent dealing with the small minority of people who aren't.

Pressure mounting in Toledo

Last week, theLucas County dog wardens killed a 10 lbs dog that was sitting on its front porch. The dog had been running loose, and the dog wardens chased the dog back to its home and it ran up on its front porch. The dog wardens then proceeded to shoot the dog with a tranquilizer that was in too high of a dosage for such a small dog , a Pomeranian/Beagle mix, and the dog ended up dying.

Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop is calling for an investigation of the incident.

"One of the questions I have is if it is proper to shoot a tranquilizer dart at a 10 pound dog," said Konop.

Konop decided to push for the investigation after receiving two dozen complaints following the incident.

"My dog was literally cornered on my own porch," said dog owner Chad Snyder. "I think they viciously executed a non-vicious dog."

Which is something Lucas County head dog Warden Tom Skeldon has been doing to non-vicious pit bulls for years.

The Lucas County Commission had already decided to form an advisory committee for animal control following a citizens petition that was done last year with over 3,000 signatures on it that complained about the work being done by Lucas County's dog wardens. Last year, Toledo had a 23% increase in dog bites and has seen almost no decrease in shelter killing over the past 20 years.

The advisory committe, which has yet to be formed, will also review this case.

Tom Skeldon declined opportunity to comment to the media about the investigation.

Puppy Weekend

So, this weekend we took in a 10 week old puppy for 2 days. Gigi is a part of MABBR's rescue program, and a friend of ours was fostering her. We thought the exposure to the puppy would be good for Boomer -- who likes other dogs -- so we thought keeping Gigi for a couple of days would be worth the effort. Turns out, it was worth the time and effort, for my own personal enjoyment -- as well as for Boomer.

  This first pic is of Boomer hanging out on the back deck. It was pretty cold, and Boomer wasn't the biggest fan of the cold.

As it turns out, Gigi was a huge fan of Stella -- and vice versa. Here's Gigi making a run at Stella.

The stare-down.

  It doesn't take long before we realize that Gigi is Stella's mini-me.

Stella is an awesome big sis.

 

Gigi chased Grommit too. Grommit had zero idea what to do about this little dog.

Gigi settles in with Boomer for a little post-play nap.

Gigi sheds her eyes from the light for a better nap.

SweetP later joined Boomer for a nap.

  Grommit and Stella took over the other couch - equally tired.

A close up of Stella sleeping. She's my petit delicate flower.

It was a fun weekend, but I'm with Stella.  I'm tired.

HSUS -- time to lead or get out of the way

Last week, there was a lot of very founded outrage at HSUS's encouragement of the Wilke's County judge to put down 150 or so 'pit bulls' that were seized from Ed Faron's dog fighting operation. The dogs were not given individual evaluations. They were just killed.  While it was pretty inevitable given the laws for the area, it was appalling to most that HSUS stood by and encouraged this to happen.

I wrote about this last week here, and here.  The first link has a lot of other links to other people's opinions on the matter.  None of them look good for HSUS.

A lot more has been published on the topic since last week.

YesBiscuit! has a great post trapping HSUS in the rounds of flip-flopping on this topic, from the Mike Vick dogs being "the most aggressively trained dogs in the country" to now being the work of  a "pro football player that just fought dogs as a hobby."  Basically saying whatever they need to say to make killing dogs "ok".

Fred over at One Bark at a Time has the entire response by John Goodwin on HSUS's decision to support the slaughter. He doesn't think HSUS should be let off the hook for their continued push toward killing.

Meanwhile, Winograd has another follow up as well. Here's a short clip:

"But in this case, even this argument by HSUS is a red herring. The choice was not, as HSUS contends, a choice between continued suffering at the hands of dog fighters or death at the pound. This was not the option the dogs faced. Once they were taken into custody by HSUS and Wilkes County officials, more dog fighting was no longer an option. The option was whether HSUS and Wilkes County officials would kill them or whether HSUS and Wilkes County officials would not kill them. Their choice is now well known: they chose to systematically put all the dogs and puppies to death, a choice they defend still.

And so we come back to the first and primary principle of the humane movement: Animal shelters are supposed to be the safety net for animals, not an extension of the neglect and abuse they face elsewhere."

The animal welfare community is speaking...and they're speaking loudly. No longer is it "ok" to determine that death is the first option for dogs -- regardless of their background. Death should be the option that is used only when all other options have been completely and thoroughly exhausted. It's the last resort. The final straw. It isn't the first option on the list. It's the last one.

People are waking up to this reality. And HSUS is getting exposed as an organization that is set in an old-school mindset of animal sheltering.

We don't have to take it any more. There are other organizations. There are other leaders we can follow that have shown a better direction.

HSUS is still the richest animal welfare/rights group in the country. They still have the opportunity to step up, see that the animal welfare community is demanding more, and help lead that direction.

Or they can get the heck out of the way.  But direction is changing...with or without them.

BTW, here's a little pictoral put together by Fox 8 in North Carolina with pictures of many of the dogs that were killed.

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 2/22/09

  What a week. While HSUS pushing for the killing of 150+ dogs in North Carolina has dominated the headlines and blogs this week, there has been a fair amount of other stuff going on.  Just to be sure you don't miss stuf, here are the week's tops stories.

Cities and Laws

This is an interesting editorial from the Springfield News Leader that questions the contradictory message sent by the city in mandating that 'pit bulls' be leashed and muzzled, and yet the city is full of dogs of other breeds that are allowed to run off leash.

Controversy is swirling over a military policy that is banning some dogs from military bases. It just seems odd that people are no being sent to war to fight for "freedom" but then have their dogs taken away from them because of the way they look.   Has anyone really said that out loud and listened to themselves?

A county commissioner in Royal Oak, MI brought up for discussion whether or not to ban certain breeds.

BSL passed this week in Logan, IA.

Greenwood, AR has dropped all breed specific language from their new dangerous dog ordinance.

Ukiah, CA has dropped its proposal that would change the legal term on pet ownership from "owner" to "owner/guardian". 

Dog bites and attacks

A New Jersey woman is going to court this week after her two Sotuh Afrrican Boerboels have been accused of 3 attacks that resulted in four people needing hospital treatment.

An Oak Island (NC) woman was bitten by an English Bulldog on a leash free beach . The attack has ended the leash-free beach season.

A 2 year old Sydney, Australia girl was bitten in the face this week by a "cross bred German Shepherd."  The girl was "nipped in the face" by the dog while they were out in the yard.

A long haired Dachshund was declared potentially dangerous in Shakopee, MN after being involved in a dog bite incident.

A six year old boy is in the hospital in McMinnville, TN after a Rottweiler broke loose from from its chain and bit the boy several times.

An American Bulldog in Brandon, FL will likely be put down after its involvement it its second dog bite. The dog bit a young child -- who needed three stiches below his right elbow.  However, the dog had previously bitten a boy four years ago requiring 128 stitches.

A Hawaii woman suffered two bites in the back of her calf by two of the family's Rhodesian Ridgeback mixes.

The dog that attacked a 7 year old boy, that had some confusion over what breed it was,is now being called a Shar-Pei/Chow mix.

In two separate incidences in the Dallas area, 'pit bulls' are being reported as biting three different people. These bites are of course taking place at a time when a couple of Dallas area cities are discussing trying to repeal the state's law that forbids breed specific laws.

Breed Bans are "Easy"

The SPCA in Cincinnati, OH has killed a brown-brindle colored American Bulldog (with Vet paperwork to prove it) because they thought it was a 'pit bull' which is banned in the city. So now Cincinnati has started using their police for enforcing the law because Animal Control wasn't able to, now they're killing non-pit bulls because they look like 'pit bulls'.  For the life of me I have no idea why anyone would think determining "Breed" is easier than just determining whether the dog is actually aggressive.

Shelter News

TheMontrose (CO) credits the help of volunteers in the community in bringing down the shelter's euthanasia numbers. The shelter only put down 7 adoptable cats and 12 adoptable dogs last year -- after killing 163 in 2007. They also lowered their number of "unadoptable" animals this year. The Shelter adopted out 600 animals, 416 were reclaimed by owners and 344 were transferred. Nice work Montrose.

Mediots

A "pit bull" in Jackson, MS jumped over a fence and jumped up on a boy.  The boy wasn't injured. He wasn't injured. A dog jumping on a boy isn't really news, but when your city is looking at potentially banning a breed of dogs, you take the headline anyway you can get it.  Not that the media drives a lot of the BSL talk or anything.

A postal carrier in Kansas City, MO was attacked by two dogs yesterdaythat were running off leash. The dogs were described as either being "rottweilers or rottweiler-pit bull mixes".  Of course they would throw out the 'pit bull' part of it, whether there is any truth to it or not. The neighborhood happens to be one of the tougher neighborhoods in Kansas City, and dogs are regularly off leash there -- especially on weekends when animal control doesn't work.

This week in the UK Dangerous Dogs Act

Their breed ban is still failing. The UK is now looking at ways to crack down on the use of dogs as weapons by gang members. Not suprisingly, banning american pit bull terriers (and 3 other breeds) didn't all of a sudden make the scumbags nicer people so they are still keeping dogs that are aggressive -- including an underground black market on illegal dogs.  Last year, Metropolitan Police in London seized 608 dogs -- about 90% of them were on the list of banned breeds.  The number was just 27  five years ago. This is consistent with other reports that banning several breeds of dogs has actually made them MORE popular in the UK, not less. What a mess. You can ban breeds of dogs -- but at some point you're still going to have to deal with the irresponsible owners and the gang members who are really causing the problems.

Meanwhile, a UK worker was was attacked by a German Shepherd that pounced on him and broke his arm.

An 18 month old boy was bitten in the face by a large "husky type" dog.

A four year old boy will need reconstructive surgery after being attacked by a Border Collie outside of a convenience store. The dogwas tethered to a post outside of a shop door. Apparently a man inside the store yelled "keep the kid away from the dogs" but it was too late and the boy had been bitten. There continues to be a lot of need in educating owners about dog behavior and children about how to behave around dogs and to respect dogs.

Abuse Cases

A Farmington, MO woman got 12 years in prison for neglecting her dogs. The woman and her husband wer charged with 70 counts of misdemeanor animal abuse invlolving 119 dogs on the property.

A Huntington, WV man is being charged with felony animal cruelty after charges were filed against him for shaking and slamming down his pit bull.

A Kingsport woman is being charged with animal cruelty because of the way her 'pit bulls' were being treated. One was left chained to a doghouse and one was chained to a pickup truck -- neither had any food or water.

A ''pit bull' was found shot dead in Haverhill Township, MN.

A 5 month old pit bull puppy was foundin Prunedale, CA with both of her legs severely broken -- likely due to being struck by a car.

Two "pit bulls' in Springfield, MA were found dead after beeing brutally stabbed to death by someone with a razor blade.

The Missouri Humane Society rescued 150 dogs  and a tiger from a substandard breeding operation in Seneca, MO.

A drug raid in Buna, TX uncoverd some crystal meth, four chained, emaciated dogs and four more dead dogs, decomposed and skeletonized with collars still around their necks. 

Is it any wonder that occassionally dogs end up aggressive after all humans put them through?

Miscellanious

80% of people in Chatanooga, TN correctly identified owners as being responsible for 'pit bull' attacks. Only 9% blamed the dogs. 11% were unsure. However, 28% still believe that 'pit bulls' should be banned -- as if that will solve the irresponsible owner problem.  Odd.

This isn't dog related, but a 200 lbs chimpanzee is dead after a brutal attack on its owner. The 15 year old chimpanzee is a former tv star that was kept as a pet/family member.

A teenager in Jackson, MI got prison time this week for biting a chunk off his mother's face.

A hunter was found alive after being missing for two days. He was out armadillo hunting and apparently got lost in the woods with his dogs.  The dogs, one a pit bull, helped the man get spotted by authorities.

The Australian Veterinary Association is calling for better education, not breed bans - as a solve for the increasing number of dog bites in Australia.

A good article form the Herald Bulletin --Don't trust Stereotypes.

In 2008, Calgary has record low number of aggressive dog incidents

Well, the city of Calgary had the lowest number of aggressive dog incidents that they've had in over 25 years. Last year, the city with over 1 million population, recorded 340 aggressive dog incidents, 145 of which were bites.

In 1985, the city (which had a population of 600,000 at the time) had 1,938 aggressive dog complaints, including 621 bites. You can see their progression charted out here.

Bill Bruce, and the rest of the folks in Calgary, have opted to take a breed neutral approach to their animal control and instead of focusing on breeds, focused on the reasons behing aggressive dog incidents.

"We want to look at everything that led up to an aggressive dog attack," said Bruce.  "We're hoping to find four to six common things that people do that causes dogs to bite. Our goal is not to have anyone bitten by a dog."

It should also be noted that it appears that the population of 'pit bulls' in Calgary is increasing during this time when dog bites are going down. 

Why are more people not following this model?

Breed ID is easy, and causes of dog attacks -- more myth-busting

A 7 year old North Carolina boy is in critical condition following an attack by a dog on Thursday.

One news story identified the dog as a Chow mix.

While another said the 100 lbs dog was described by the Jackson County Sheriff as a St. Bernard mix while animal control officers said it looked more like a Shar Pei mix.

This news story also has the dog listed as a St. Bernard mix.

That breed ID thing is easy, eh?

Meanwhile, if you follow the news trail (and it takes a bit of reading to put the pieces together, the dog was apparently one of many that was owned by the dog owners -- and was usually left chained up.  However, neighbors had seen the dog roaming free earlier in the day. Apparently it had gotten free from it's chain.

Meanwhile, the owner of the dog, Carolyn Higdon, was found guilty of animal cruelty in 2002 and had been ordered to not own any dogs for 2 years. 

If you watch the videos in the links - -you can see the conditions all the other dogs are living in. They're all on chains, in the middle of a field, with a dog house for shelter. None of them are in what I would call good living situations.

We MUST move the conversations about dog attacks away from talking about "breeds" -- to talking about how we keep and maintain our dogs. As you can see, breed ID isn't really as easy as people want to make it out to be (ie, 3 different breeds cited in four news stories) -- and the circumstances that led to the attack are very typical:  dog that was routinely chained and appeared to be unsocialized that then got off leash, with an owner with a history of abuse, and a young child that was the victim of it all.

I hope the boy recovers -- although it sounds like he has a lot of hospital time ahead of him.

Missouri Puppy Mills on Oprah

The staff from the Humane Society of Missouri will appear on the Oprah Winfrey show today to discuss a recent puppy mill bust and the puppy mill issue in Missouri. 

I haven't caught the show -- in fact, I think it's on right now -- but will rebroadcast tonight at 9 pm on KCWE (Time Warner Channel 7). 

There is no doubt that the commercial breeding in many parts of the state is a problem.  I'll talk more about this topic after I catch the show this weekend and hopefully be able to find the segment somewhere on the internet next week.  Catch it tonight if you can.