KC DOG BLOG

No Kill Conference 2011 -- how to follow along

Well, I'm getting ready to head out to the No Kill Conference in our nation's Capitol.

I will make my best attemt to post a few blog thoughts from the conference along the way -- but as this usually goes, technical difficulties, lack of time, too much time networking may or may not have an impact on how much I post here over the weekend.

I will, however, be live tweeting from event - -so you can follow along some @kcdogblog on Twitter. The follwing people I know will also be live tweeting from the conference - -I'll add more names as I hear of them (feel free to post more in the comments).

@kcdogadvocate

@nokillnation

@pobloskie

@christiekeith

I will also be giving a presentation with Shirley at Yesbiscuit! on advocacy blogging - and am looking forward to that as well.

Have a great weekend...

Updated: Temperament Testing, Bias & ridiculousness in shelter practice

Meet Dusty.

Dusty is a red 'pit bull' type dog that was given a behavioral evaluation by Dr. Katherine Houpt.  I've embedded the four minute long evaluation:

 

As you watch the video you'll note tht the dog happily walked in the evaluation room with the animal control officer with the lead. Then, when being stroked by the (clearly) fake hand, the dog shows clear play signals with the hand. The dog showed no aggression when the food bowl was placed in front of it and removed multiple times, and play bowed to the fake doll (and upon the doll's continued approach showed signals of avoidance). The dog jumped up on the stranger at first, but not in an aggressive manner. In a separate video, you can see the excitement with which Dusty met another dog (keeping in mind that this is a high-stimulous environment as you can clearly hear a lot of dog barking in the background.

Dr. Houpt declared Dusty aggressive and recommended killing Dusty because of his "lack of any useful purpose and public safety threat (he) poses".  Threat?  The dog in the video?  Really?

This sure seems like an effort by someone to have the dog killed because of, possibly, perceptions based on the type of dog she is vs any actual behavioral issues.

I've talked about Temp Testing in shelters before -- and strongly believe that too many shelters are using bogus temp testing to declare too many animals "unadoptable" and killing them in the shelter. But in declaring them "unadoptable", don't count them against their kill numbers -- and there are no shortage of shelters out there that are declaring 25-30% of all of their impounds "unadopatable".

There is no rational person who would view the video above and think Dusty poses a threat. She may need to develop better manners, but threatening? 

There is a petition on Change.org from a group with the Monroe, MI SPCA appealing the decision to kill Dusty. Please sign the petition and show your support.

And if your shelter has a similar policy on temp testing please stop it now. Temp testing should largely be designed to give behaviorists an idea of what type of training/situations the dog needs help with to make it adoptable. In some rare situations, dogs will be too aggressive to be safely rehomed, but this will be the exception, not the norm. For the most part, temp testing should be designed to show the dog's training needs so people can work with the dog on those needs. Temp testing should not be treated as a pass/fail concept where any dog that "fails" is killed....and certainly dogs that show the behavior of the dog in the video above should not be "failed" and certainly not "killed".

It is a shame when the shelter system fails the dogs it was created to save.  So please voice your support for Dusty...and stop Dusty, and dogs like her, from being needlessly killed in shelters.

 Updated:

Here is a link to the backstory behind the dogs in question, who were "rescued" from an alleged dog fighting ring only to be unjustly sentenced to death by their "rescuers" - -the backstory is from the Buster Foundation.

Bad Rap discusses behavior evaluations at their best, and at their worst - -and some good thoughts on how dogs from these situations SHOULD be judged on their evaluations.

The Monroe Daily news has now picked up the story -- unfortnately, without the video footage, it is simply a he said/she said situation. The video really is the damning evidence here.

For the Pit Bulls discusses how bad temperament tests kill good dogs and has more back-story here.

Shirley over at YesBiscuit! posted the other behavior evaluation videos at her place.

Thanks everyone for covering this story.

Denmark Breed Ban is failing (and why the solution is not more banning)

Last week, an organization in Denmark called "Fair Dog" released a report detailing some of the failures of the Breed Ban in Denmark.

If you recall, on July 1 of 2010, Denmark banned 13 breds of dogs, including the pit bull terrier, Tosa Inu, American Staffordshire Terrier, Fila Brasileiro, Dogo Argentino, American Bulldog, Boerboel, Kangal, 3 breeds of Ovtcharkas, Tornjak and Sarplanina.

In the Fair Dog report, they accumulated dog bite numbers for the 12 months prior to the ban and for the 12 months post the ban -- by accumulating data from veterinary offices, the internet and police numbers. While they acknowledge the data is more of a collection of facts than truly statistical, the numbers do give some insight into the failings of the National Breed Ban.

The report focuses on 464 bite episodes from every region of the country, and even breaks down the bites from dog vs human, dog vs dog, dog vs other animal and fatal attack.

Based on their data, the number of dog bites on humans went from 67 in the 12 months prior to the ban to 107 in the 12 months after the ban (a 60% increase), dog bites on other dogs from 75 to 117 (a 56% increase), dog bites on other animals 21 to 24 (14% increase) and fatal attacks from 23 to 30 (30% increase)*.  Total dog bites went from 186 to 278 -- a 49% increase.

*The study doesn't specifically mention what constitutes a 'fatality' -- my assumption is that a fatality includes human and other animal deaths and not just human deaths -- as 30 human fatalities in a country of just over 5 million people would be a ridiculously high number -- as 30 is a high number of fatalities per year in the U.S. where we have a population of over 300 million people.

Of the bite incidents, 6.5% of all bites in the 12 months prior to the ban were from the banned breeds, this number dropped to 4.3% in the 12 months after the ban as bites from non-banned breeds increased.

The top biting dogs have changed little from before the ban vs after. Post the ban, the top biting dogs are Schaefer (German Shepherds -- who were #1 before the ban), Rottweilers and Bladinghundes (which is the Danish term for mixed breeds).

The Danish Government has responded to the poor first year of the ban, not by acknowledging the failure of targeting breeds vs targeting careless owners, but by discussion adding another 12 breeds to the banned list.

That too, will fail.

The report also details other areas in which breed bans have failed, including detailing information from Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Scotland and the UK. Continuing to

The problem with dogs is not dogs. It is with people. And laws that continue to focus on dogs and not on the owners are destined to fail because they are targeting the wrong end of the leash. This has been true throughout the world -- and study after study proves it.

Focusing on responsible dog ownership is the solution, not targeting dogs based on their shape.

You can read the entire report here (much of it is in Danish but Google Translate can help you muddle through it). Some pieces are in English.

H/T to Kenzo the Hovawart -- who has more there and has been doing a great job of covering the news in Denmark.

Stubby Dog also has more on the story.

Weekly Roundup, Week Ending 7/24/11

 First off, I do want to appologize for it being nearly a week between posts and missing two consecutive weekly roundups. We've been busy, and out of town, and busy.

A lot to get caught up on in this week's roundup since it's been 3 weeks since my last one -- so I'm gong to grab some older stories, and skip a few. As always, if you have something you'd like to add, please post in the comments section.  On to the roundup:

Cities/States and Laws

Dekalb County, GA may be looking at lifting their ban on 'pit bulls' in an upcoming board meeting. There is no timeline for this, but if you're in the area, be sure to reach out to your representative.

HSUS has given another $93,000 toward a Missouri initiative that would make it harder for state lawmakers to overturn citizen's initiatives.  This after the state improved HSUS's law that they spent $2 million passing last fall.

Preston, ID considered repealing their breed-specific law - -but, unfortunately took no action on it.  Kearney Missouri did the same thing (I can update more on this later -- I was at the Kearney meeting).

An Alderman in Waukesha (WI?) is proposing that pit bulls be banned from all ownership -- except in commercial use "such as in junk yards for security at night". So while pit bulls that are trained to be aggressive in this instance are ok, but ones that are in family homes are not ok.  This may give you some idea as to how well thought out this proposal is.

Marinette, WI has a written up ordinance that proposes banning 'pit bulls' from the community.  If you live in or around Marinette, you know what to do.

Trumann, AR has banned 'pit bulls' from the city limit.

Oakwood, OH passed a law that automatically declares 'pit bulls' dangerous or vicious.

Dog bites in Sangamon County, IL are trending downward.

Only a few months after repealing the county's decades old breed ban, Seward County, KS replaced it with other breed-specific policies -- while not a ban, equally ineffective at preventing dog bites.

Charles County, MD appears to be considering a 57 page proposal that would regulate the ownership of "pit bulls".

Dog Bites

Major dog bites are not common, but they do happen. And when they do, it is a variety of different breeds and types of dogs that are involved. This is why circumstances, not breed, should be considered when trying to prevent dog bites.

A Springfield, OH woman was bitten in the face by an American Bulldog that she was holding for another woman at a pet store while they were waiting for grooming.

A Bull Mastiff was euthanized after it bit a 6 year old boy in the face. The boy was with his dad at the shelter -- who was helping out the shelter as part of his community service work. The boy was with his father and got attacked by the dog.

A young Calgary (AB) girl was bitten in the face by the family's black Labrador Retriever. The dog bit the young girl, and then bit the man in the arm.  

A man and his dog were attacked by a Rottweiler that got loose from its owner in Sebring, FL.

A Dubuque, IA boy was hospitalized after being attacked while he was outside playing with a neighbor's American Bulldog.

A Minnesota Sheriff's deputy was attacked and bitten twice by a large Shepherd mix that was not able to be controlled by its intoxicated owner.

A Beachwood, NJ woman received 50 stitches to close a neck wound after being attacked by a Bull Mastiff.

No Kill

Public/Private Partnership leads Reno to 94% Save Rate -- Best Friends has a great article about the success in Reno -- where the city and the private sector are combining to create positive outcomes for animals.

Austin's Pet Friendly Policies are Working -- from the Austin Statesman.  And there is no surprise that policies that have proven to work actually work.

In Collier County, FL, 430 fewer animals were killed last year at the shelter vs 5 years ago. Euthanasia rates dropped 36% in Lee County vs 2009 -- both communities are crediting their low cost spay/neuter programs for their success.

Austin Celebrates 6 months of No Kill Succes.

Miscellaneous

Former and current workers at the Independence (MO) Animal Shelter are issuing complaints that animals aren't being fed enough food and not given medical care for treatable illnesses.

The Michigan Humane Society's board of directors continues to see defections who are leaving because of the the shelter's unacceptably high euthanasia rate of 70%

Fact Checker: What's so scary about pit bulls?  This is a solid edit piece from the Reno Gazette Journal

A Jackson, MS woman shot her husband and a dog last week -- killing her husband. According to reports, a 'pit bull' named "cocaine" (getting a good idea of what this neighborhood is like already with that name) lunged at some children "trying to attack them".  Apparently the children's father picked up the aggressive dog (if the dog were truly aggressive, 'picking it up" would probably not be an option). It was at that point the woman shot both the dog and the husband -- while he was carrying the dog.  There is so much wrong with this tragic story I barely know where to begin...

This is one of many stories following the 4th of July where many area shelters were filled up with dogs that got loose because they were scared by 4th of July Fireworks. Two things: First, owners, please do all you can to keep your dog up on the 4th. It's a scary time, and it's just not worth it to take chances. Second, Shelters, you KNOW this happens. It happens every year. So why not be open for adoptions on the 4th so you can clean out some kennels to make room for these animals.

Blogs

You can't spay/neuter your way out of pet overpopulation - This is my must-read blog post of the week on the myth around this often-used statement.  But the reality also is, you can't spay/neuter your way out of animals that are already in the shelter.  To solve the problem, you must focus on adoptions too.

Our Business is the business of saving lives -- What would Mike Say -- I don't necessarily agree with Mike's sentiment about raising adoption fees (if for no other reason I've seen no evidence that what he says about lowering adoption fees not leading to more adoptions -- in fact, I've seen the exact opposite on many, many occassions) -- but I do like his sentiment about us being in the business of saving lives.

Pounds behaving badly -- Saving Pets is back after a hiatus - -with a good post about local pounds that are killing nearly every animal they take in.

Animal control agencies slam door on public scrutiny - Christie Keith notes several examples of shelters that are trying to hide their actions from constiutents in order to avoid the public scrutiney.

How much do we love our pets?  1 in 10 pets owns a profile page on the internet.

What if you die?  Bad Rap looks at making a plan for your beloved pet in the sad situation where your pet outlives you.

 Behind door #3: A winning Shelter Campaign -- Will My Dog Hate Me takes a look at a really strong advertising campaign for Adopting Pets from the Austin Humane Society.

The Tsunami of Pets from MS and AR to Memphis - YesBiscuit! has a work of comedic gold as she breaks down Memphis Mayor Wharton's statement that the shelter wasn't to blame for their killing 77%, it was people in other counties as far away as Mississippi and Arkansas that were dropping off their animals there.  Well, maybe no so much.

Dog Bite Statistics: Do the math before you freak out -- Dogs and Babies has a great post breaking down dog bite numbers and noting how safe we from dog bites.

PETA thinks I am a thug and Mina should be dead -- For the Pit Bulls looks at PeTA's "logic" that 'pit bulls' should be killed because good owners don't want them. The dogs in my household would be stunned to find out how bad they have it too (except come bath time, in which case they would agree that we are evil, awful owners).

Here's the latest on the situation in Memphis - -from YesBiscuit!

Parentvision vs Supervision -- Family Paws takes a look at why there seem to be a fairly large number of dog bite incidents when the dog owners are not at home and someone else is watching the dog.

10 very good reasons not to get a puppy -- Pound Dogs -- and warning, this is a trick.

Excuses -- Spay/Neuter --No Kill Tallahassee takes a smart look at the excuse many shelters make for their high kill rates that their public is irresponsible and doesn't spay/neuter.

Excuses - That Irresponsible Public - No Kill Tallahassee continues on with her "excuses" series that calls out the excuse of shelter killing on blaming the public.

The Hypoallergenic Dog Myth -- there is no such thing. Get over it. From Paw Prints the Magazine.

A Bernese Mountain Dog fell over a 150 high cliff while chasing a Mountain Goat (bad dog!) in Olympic National Forest. Despite breaking a leg and not having any food or water, the dog was found 3 days later in pretty good shape.  -- From Seattle Dog Spot

The Good Fight -- Stubby Dog interviews Bless The Bully's Jodi Preis about fighting breed-specific legislation.

The Same River Twice -- Valerie Hayes has started a new blog (breaking away from the Examiner a bit it appears) called Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World -- this is a great early entry on this blog discussing no kill

12 Reasons to Oppose Breed Discriminatory Legislation - -from Stubby Dog

Who Benefits from TNR? -- From the ASPCA Professional Blog

How Michael Vick could really redeem himself - -from the Pet Connection

Is your dog as well-trained as you think?  Dog Spelled Forward

Aggression and breed - -My thoughts -- from Jim Crosby

A Kiss or Dismiss -- Doggone Safe has a great blog detailing the differences in the way dogs lick -- one way being a "kiss" as we often associate it, the other being "dismiss" -- or, "I'm uncomfortable with this". Knowing the difference is important -- so go check it out.

Puppy Socialization New Rules - -Dancing Dog Blog notes that puppy socialization should start earlier than most people think.

This week's dose of cute features kittens as DJs and a smartly trained dog that will go fetch you a cold beer and close the refridgerator door. And then, this one, from two weeks ago, features the dog that fetches a rock out of the water over and over and the cutest cat in the world playing with an apple on a bed (this is truly a great video) and a corgi that helps his buddy escape from his kennel (also very impressive). 

Taking responsibility vs assessing blame in Memphis

Eighteen months ago, a puppy was starved to death at the Memphis Shelter.

Last week, an animal control employee, an ex-felon, was arrested on two counts of animal cruelty, including the death of one dog, and the mysterious disappearance of another.

The shelter has continued to kill 77% of the animals that enter the shelter (well above the national average which is close to 50%), even though the shelter impounds 24 animals per 1,000 in population (which is slighly less than average).

Last fall, in spite of the wealth of evidence that shows its ineffectiveness and the total lack of support from national animal welfare groups, Memphis passed a law mandating the spay/neuter of all pets.  The law is predictably failing, and has led to an 8% increase in impounds in just its first few months of existance.

So, amid all of the criticism, the city's animal control workers requested that observation cameras not exist at the new shelter (they were installed to give a sense of transparency) -- this request was granted.  So there will be no more transparency at the failing shelter -- even though almost everyone thinks removing the cameras is a bad idea.

Amid all of this, guess who is to blame for the shelter's bad hiring practices, bad managment and bad laws.

The public.  At least according to Mayor A C Wharton. Here are a few diddies from quote machine Mayor Wharton based on an interview with WMCTV:

"When are they (the public) going to take responsibility by coming down hard on spaying and neutering?"

Again, I note, that Memphis' impounds per capita are really quite average - if not slightly below average.

"We take everybody," said Wharton.  "These little boutique shelters around the country that have all of these rules: We won't take three-legged dogs, we won't take dirty cats, don't take unless you live there.  If an animal shows up, we take it."

There are a lot of shelters that do this - -and most do not kill 77% of the animals they impound.

"The conduct is changing and will change inside the shelter, but the more important question is what are we going to do as a society to change the way we are abusing these animals and then dumping them," said Wharton.

This was the promise made 20 months ago when a new shelter manager was hired. Not only has it not happened, the city has decided that it no longer thinks cameras in the shelter to show transparency is a good idea.  What is it that you're trying to hide? Oh, that's right.

No, the important question is whether the city is really going to make the changes it needs to fix the problem. If they were to embrace the public, it would be their surest way to get the support they needed to make an impact -- but as they continue to put a divide between the shelter and the public that is most in a situation to help them, they are definitely setting themselves up for more failure.

But it has quit being about trying to fix the problem in Memphis (if it ever was about that). It's now about hiding reality and deflecting blame. 

Postpartum and family dogs webinar TONIGHT!

We've all seen it. Postpartum is a tough time for family dogs -- who often go from being the only "child" in the household to sharing the attention. Exhausted families often either don't make time for the dog, or, decide they would be better off with "one less thing to worry about". 

This stressful time for dogs and families all-too-often leads to dogs being rehomed.

Dogs & Storks is a leading organization in dealing with making this family transition safe for both families and dogs -- and they are hosting a webinar TONIGHT, 7/15, from 9-10 pm EST that is designed to help families and professionals work through this challenging time so dogs can remain safely in their home.  Online registration is here.

If this is something you or your organization sees a lot (and chances are you do), then please plan to attend the webinar. It's free, and a great resource.

Now is probably not the time to ask for privacy

Eighteen months ago, a healthy puppy entered the Memphis Animal Shelter.  Eight days later, the puppy was dead, having starved to death.

In response, the city fired the director of animal control. And to give the shelter transparency to the public, the city installed cameras in the animal shelter.

Through the help of the cameras, and with the due diligence of Shirley over at YesBiscuit!, public discontent over the lack of improvements at the shelter is growing.

The public is upset over being shut out of Shelter Advisory Board meetings. They're upset about the misuse of choke poles, dogs being dragged on choke poles, skinny dogs, dogs being lifted 5 feet high with choke poles, and cages being sprayed down with dogs still in them.

They're even more upset that an animal control officer (and ex felon), Demetria Hogan, stole a dog, went virtually uninvestigated for nearly 3 weeks before finally being arrested, and is being charged with 2 counts of animal cruelty and is suspected in being involved in a case involving a missing dog (there is a $6000 reward for finding Kapone).

The public is also trying to increase awareness to push for change with a new billboard along a heavily traveled highway in Memphis.

So in response to the shelter killing 77% of the animals it impounds, and questionable actions at the shelter, and an ACO killing at least one dog and being held as being involving in another dog that is missing, what would you guess the shelter staff would do:

A) Appologize to the public for the failing of the shelter

B) Express remorse about the dead dog and the missing dog (and all the dead dogs) and promise to help find Kapone and do better at saving lives

C) Ask that the cameras be removed so they can operate without public scrutiny.

If you answered "C", you are correct. After all of the talk, all of the outrage, all of the cruelty, their solution is to NOT make it better or even appologize for the actions of a coworker. Their solution was to hide, because if no one can see it, it must be ok, right? (as of right now, 91% of the Commercial Appeal voters are saying that cameras should not be removed from the shelter).

When the cameras were installed, Mayor Wharton said it was the "ultimate transparency" and that he wanted to "dispel the image that the animal shelter is a despicable place where all these horrible things go on."

It actually ended up proving that it was.

Folks, if you want to end the criticism, HIDING is not the answer. Doing it right is. The status quo is not good enough.  And hiding it won't make it so.  And asking for privacy now, at what (we hope) is your lowest moment, doesn't ring of sincerity.  It rings of desperation.

If you threaten "It's me or the cat", better be sure who is more important

I can't verify to whether this story is true or not, but word is that a guy had his girlfriend move in with him, and then, after a few months, the girlfriend gave the ultimatum, "it's me or the cat."

So the guy put the girlfriend up on Craigslist as free to good home.

Whether it's true or not, it's great writing and a good, fun read. Thanks to Paw Prints the Magazine for posting -- and you can read the brilliant Craigslist ad at their place.

Organization, Movement or Philosophy

For the past week or two I've been thinking a lot about this post, that briefly describes the difference between an organizaiton, a movement and a philosophy.

And I've been wondering, where does No Kill fit in that continuum?

I think it's clearly more than an organization and definitely a movement.  But is it so ingrained that it could be a philosophy?  What do you think?

Success is available to you

Earlier this week, Seth Godin had a great post entitled "Every Successful Case is Special".  It's short -- it will take you 2 minutes to read -- and worth every second. Heck, read it twice.

It is common to think that each successful case was created by a special set of circumstances that was available to them, but not available to you.  And as Godin notes, we think that way because we don't see simple, every day things as being "success" -- because everyone achieves them.

But as we think about what "success" means to creating no kill shelters, I think most communities have more in common with those that are successful in being No Kill than they have differences. Your situation is not unique.

Instead of seeing those success stories as something unattainable to you, look at what they've done and recreate it in your own community. If people question what you're doing, ask them what is their authority? If they are promoting a model that has not been successful, or defending a model that is still leading to animals being killed in the shelter, then they need to step aside.

If you are looking to emulate a model that has proven successful, a good place to start is here:  Nevada Humane Society's "How we did it!"

Your situation is not unique and there is nothing special about their success, because success is available to you too.