Because of the holiday week, it's been a bit slower than usual media week. I'm going to hit a few of the highlights -- with two major holdovers that will go into next week.
Cities and Laws
The government in Tasmania has decided on some new dangerous dog regulations, that include breed specific regulations.
Three people in Lubbock, TX resigned from their Animal Services Advisory Committee because they said that their recommendations were being ignored by the council and animal control operators. This seems like a common trend I've seen in a lot of other areas where committees are formed to help provide recommendations on improving shelter operations and then ignored.
Des Moines city council members have decided against a ban on pit bulls. The city has a 22 year old law that deems 'pit bulls' as vicious, but were considering an all-out ban but weren't sure they'd be successful if they went that route.
This is a crazy article from out of Erie, PA that is talking about how a series of dog bites/attacks in Millcreek Township, PA has led people to call for regulations of 'pit bulls' and the "need" for breed specific laws -- which are forbidden under Pennsylvania law. Interestingly, there was no mention of a fatal dog attack that happened in Millcreek Township last year when an Old English Sheepdog attacked and killed a 14 month old child.
Dog Bites and Attacks
This is a really interesting article from out of Colorado. A woman in Camp Hale, CO suffered severe injuries after she was attacked by two "Sheep Dogs". The dogs were doing their job of protecting sheep -- which they were raised to do as in the mountains of Colorado is important where mountain lions, coyotes and bears can kill off herds. We often talk about a dogs function as being a determining factor of major attacks, so it is really not a huge surprise that dogs that are trained to protect and attack would attack someone. But the story I think paints a pretty fair picture of the difference between "old" Colorado, where ranching is very common, and "new" Colorado, which has a ton of hikers and mountain bikers.
A Hingham, MA dog owner is asking for criminal charges against her to be dropped after her English Mastiff bit two women.
A Chow mix is responsible for attacking a letter carrier in South Texas.
In Australia, a 12 year old girl may lose her arm after her dog, a "Bull Mastiff/Great Dane" cross, attacked her.
A Phoenix woman's dog was attacked and killed by a dog believed to be a Rottweiler mix while she was taking her dog out on a walk.
A Plymouth Meeting, PA man will face trial after his German Shepherd, with a known history of biting, attacked a five year old girl there.
In New Zealand, a Shar-Pei mix was put on death row after attacking another dog.
ABoy needed 200 staples to his head after being attacked by two Alsatians (German Shepherds).
An Omaha man was bitten in the face by an unfamiliar black dog -- Omaha continues to have problems with dog bites following the passing of a breed-specific law that everyone with knowledge on the subject recommended against.
Animal Shelters
Keokuk, IA has opened a new shelter that they think will allow them to become a no-kill community.
A Blue Tai Ridgeback is being held in a shelter has been deemed "potentially dangerous" although the dog has never hurt anyone. Supporters for the dog are seeking help to try to get the restrictions lifted from the dog saying they are unfounded.
The puppy (left) is looking for a home in Kansas City, unfortunately, he comes with a disclaimer:
"Hard to say if she’s a pit bull mix or a boxer mix, so municipalities with BSL might need to approve her first."
Isn't it ridiculous that a gorgeous puppy, who has overcome parvo, is struggling to find a home because he is of an unknown breed and MIGHT grow up to look like he should be banned in a city.
More on Oreo's Law
Winograd responds to criticisms about Oreo's law that would require shelters to surrender dogs to another 501c3 organization that wants the dog instead of euthanizing it -- forcing shelters to use other options to killing if they are available. W
More Toledo News
The Toledo Blade has an in-depth feature on the legacy left behind by Tom Skeldon as Lucas County Dog Warden. It's a long read, but worth the time on what eventually led to Skeldon's resignation in Lucas County.
Lucas County Commissioners have ordered an end to the killing of puppies - even pit bull puppies -- at the shelter. Unfortunately, if they don't change their policy on adopting 'pit bulls' out of the shelter, they will end up just holding the puppies for a period of time before killing hte dogs.
The Blade also ran an editorial calling for updates to the county's dangerous dog laws -- including a call to increase licensing, a call to end the state-wide breed-specific legislation, and a call for harsher penalties for dog fighting.
A solid post on Skeldon from a new animal welfare blog at Change.org. I've been keeping an eye on the new blog and they seem to be doing a solid job there so far -- although they tend to be writing directly from the HSUS playbook.
Mediots
Elizabeth City, NC police raided a house that led to a charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of cocaine with an intent to sell, maintaining a house for drug purposes, possession of drug paraphenalia and possession of marijuana - -the headline: "Elizabeth City officers shoots dog during drug search". The dog, a "Rottweiler/Labrador mix", didn't bite anyone -- why was it the headline?
This may be the worst such story I've ever seen. In this one from Brantford, Ontario, officials found an illegal revolver, 2234 ecstasy pills, 3 viles of hash oil, and cocaine when they visited a home of a many accused of robbing a tying up an elderly couple and sexually assaulting his wife. The headline, "pit bull removed before search". For the pit bulls has a great take on this. The dog did nothing but be there and made the headline over clear drug violations and violence.
A 'pit bull' named Ruby is shattering breed stereotypes by being a service dog in nursing homes in Scandia, MN.
Cesar Millan has added a new dog, a 'pit bull' named Junior, to his pack. I know that many people don't like or agree with Millan's training methods, but he has been a wonderful advocate for 'pit bulls' and helped dispell many myths about these dogs.
Good editorial about Elkhart, IN "getting it right" by focusing on irresponsible dog owners instead of breeds in their dangerous dog law.
Rottweilers -- The misunderstood breed. A solid article -- Rotties are definitely not the only misunderstood breed.
Miscellanious
A good article from US News and World Report that highlights the value dogs can have as alert dogs for people with seizures.
A family in Fremont, NC is upset after police shot and kille their 7 month old American Bulldog puppy.
A Minnesota Police Dog was euthanized by a shelter accidentally this week. The dog, a drug sniffing dog, somehow got away from his kennle, ended up at the animal shelter, and because he wasn't microchipped, ended up euthanized at the shelter after his 5 day holding period. The death has caused a change of policy for police dogs that will require all of them to be microchipped.
If one reads all the way to the end of the article about the GSD in Pa., the picture shows a dog either falling down, or struggling to stand, at the vet's office. 'Don't know why they picked that as the story photo, but what's saddest about it is that there appears to be a swelling in the dog's abdomen (it just doesn't look the right shape), that looks oddly like a huge tumor. Another thought from the photo is that the dog has horrendous hip dysplasia and the tech/vet isn't helping the dog because...?
And the 'police dog' in Minnesota sure doesn't sound like it's really treated like a valuable member of the squad. Living in an outdoor kennel at the water treatment plant and still 'working' at 11 yrs. old? Uh, maybe that department shouldn't bother getting another dog, even if they do microchip it, as their care standards are pretty crappy, even for a tiny burg.
Posted by: KateH | November 29, 2009 at 09:24 PM
Kate is absolutely correct that the dog should not have been living in an outdoor kennel. Many departments have the dogs live as members of the handler-officer's family, and after retiring, the dogs live with that officer's family. That aside, this case underscores how shelters misuse temperament testing to unfairly label dogs unadoptable and kill them. This particular dog was a highly trained narcotics detection dog who also went into schools as part of the humane education component of the police department. The dog protected public safety, yet this particular shelter claimed the dog was a threat to public safety. The real reason he was killed, according to long time critics of this particular shelter, is more likely that he was older and black, and they were looking for a reason to fail him.
Posted by: Nathan Winograd | November 30, 2009 at 09:47 AM
My family labrador lived its whole life of 14 years outside on our 20 acres before dying from a brain tumor. This breed is designed to withstand swimming thru freezing water to retrieve ducks. We had to force Heidi to come in when it got too cold and she also had an insulated dog house in the barn with a heated water dish. We also let her run loose her entire life!
While the police didn't do enough to find their lost dog IMO, I find it frustrating that people will point to things like living outdoors or "working" like its a form of cruelty. The issue here is the dog has been killed for no damn good reason.
Posted by: MichelleD | November 30, 2009 at 11:06 AM