KC DOG BLOG

9 day old North Carolina infant dead from dog attack

A 9 day old Clarkton, NC infant is tragically dead today following what is being reported as a dog attack. At this time, it is known that there were 5 dogs in the home, but no information on how many of the dogs were involved in the actual attack. Two dogs have been identified by a neighbor as being 1 pit bull and 1 Rottweiler, but again, no word on if either of these two dogs were involved in the actual attack.

Not a lot of information is available on the case at this time, nor does it look like much more will become available any time soon as the district attorney and investigators are being tight-lipped during the course of the investigation, but I will update if more information becomes available.

Clarkton is  a small, rural community of less than 700 people -- over 40% of whom live below the poverty line (state average is 16%)  and 29% live at less than 50% of the poverty line (state average is 7%). 

Very young infants only a few days old are among the most common victims of dog attack fatalities in large part because parents don't make the effort to socialize the dogs with the children or tragically leave them alone with children (although, it's worth noting that by "common" this only happens about 4-5 times per year in the entire nation).

This story has been picked up by 25 media outlets thus far.

There is a wealth of information available for parents with pets about how to safely bring a newborn into the family. One of my favorites is Dogs & Storks, and they have excellent information about ways to integrate dogs and family safely together for all involved.

Academic paper on behavioral challenges when dogs removed from litters too young

There is a new study that was just published in the August issue of Veterinary Record.

The Italian study compared the owner-reported behaviors of 70 dogs that were separated from their litters at 30-40 days with the owner-reported behaviors of 70 dogs that were separated from their liters at 2 months, and studied whether behavioral issues arose from dogs being separated from their litters at the younger age.

Based on the study's results, here are the percentage of dogs in the study that developed the specific behavioral problem for each group - the first number respresents those dogs that were separated from their owners early, the second number those that were separated later.

Destructiveness:             47/16

Excessive Barking:         63/21

Fearfulness on walks:    53/7

Reactivity to noises:       81/39

Toy possessiveness:         34/4

Food possessiveness:        34/7

Attention-seeking:          87/49

Aversion to strangers:    60/24

Stranger aggression:       23/4

Owner aggression:           17/9

Play biting:                        28/3

Tail chasing:                     14/1

House Soiling:                    26/10

Specific definitions of each of these is included in the study.

There is a further analysis in the study -- a large part of which shows that dogs that are bought from pet stores have significantly greater issues than dogs that were obtained from other sources.

From the discussion:

"The results of the present study indicate that early separation of a puppy from the litter is an experience that may increase the animal's chances of showing potentially problematic behaviors as an adult. Moreover, the effect can be further potentiated by the puppy's first environment"

There are certainly a few other factors that could have influenced the study. First off, there were only 70 dogs in each group - -so a pretty small sample size. Secondly, there was a significant difference in breeds of dogs involved (67% of the dogs that were not separated from their litters until 2 months were purebred dogs while 100% of the dogs in the early separation group were mixed-breed dogs).  The study didn't not attempt to take into account owner-behavior either.

However, the study is still worth examining -- in large part because nothing in the study is consistent with what you would hear from most professional breeders, behaviorists, and previous studies on the topic.

The study does show a very strong correlation (likely causal) between aggressive-types behaviors like stranger aggression, owner aggression, and possession aggression and dogs being removed from their litters at 30-40 days. The study also suggests that there are several fearfulness behaviors (fearfulness on walks, possession aggression, aversion to strangers) that may result from a lack of confidence that would be garnered by extending the time with their litters.  The differences in all of these behaviors is very significant between the early separation group and the not-early separation group.

This shouldn't be a surprise to most people -- but does highlight that there could be some other significant issues that lead to aggressive behavior that doesn't show up on anyone's dog bite 'statistics'.  In addition to increased aggressive behavior, it is also worth noting that removal from a litter too early (in this case before 16 weeks) has also been shown to decrease bite inhibition -- which is a major determinent between a dog that issues a "bite" and a full on "attack".

It is also likely very telling that dogs that were removed from litters early had a better chance of good behavior if the dog was not immediately put into a non-home environment in a pet shop. It seems clear that removing the dog from a its litter, where it would receive natural socialization, to another situation where it would receive less socialization enhances the problems (the study calls this an epigenetic impact -- which we've also discussed on this blog).  This would logically suggest that the same impact would be had on dogs removed from their litters and put on chains full time.

According to the study:

"In consclusion, early separation from the dam and littermates, especially when combined with housing in a pet shop, might affect the capacity of a puppy to adapt to new environmental conditions and social relationships later in life."

If we are going to have serious conversations about canine aggression, it is imperative that we drop the discussion of "breeds" being the problem, and start  listening to science and experts. Science has repeated told us that breed is not a significant differentiator in aggressive behavior, and that environmental factors, such as early removal from litters and early upbringing have a much more dramatic impact.  

If we were to focus on these environmental factors, which is substantiated by science as being a factor, instead of focsusing on 'breed' (which visual identification studies have shown us is unreliable), we would have a much greater impact on solving the dog bite issues in this country. The time to start is yesterday.

You can read the study in its entirety here (it's only 6 pages, so not long).

H/T goes to Sam the Dog Trainer, who posted a link  to this article via social media about the study.

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 8/28/11

Let's just dive right in:

Cities and laws

A Seattle, WA councilor is looking to ban certain breeds of dogs from city parks.

The dangerous dog law committee in Jasper, AL has come back with a recommendation for BSL

Glidden, IA, is considering a dangerous dog law that could be breed-specific.

Dog Bites and Attacks

 A Schenectady, NY woman suffered some pretty significant injuries after she was attacked by two "pit bulls' that were roaming at large in the community.  This is a very poverty stricken area of Schenectady, with over 45% of the people living in this zip code living below the poverty level (the state average is 14%) and 25% living on an income 50% below the poverty line (state average is 6%).  The woman is going to be ok, which is great news.

An 8 year old, Olathe, KS boy was taken to the hospital after being attacked by what is being called a Boxer-Shar Pei mix (I question the breed ID here, but am relieved the're not calling the dog a 'pit bull' because it definitely isn't that either). The dog was on a chain and the boy was playing near the dog when the dog broke  free from the chain and attacked the boy. The dog was young, only about 11 months, and was no doubt getting very excited (and frustrated) by the playing boy which likely led up to the attack.

 A Fenton, MI boy was bitten multiple times by an Australian Shepherd. The dog was being walked by an 11 year old girl and the 7 year old victim walked up to the dog. The girl told the boy not to pet the dog (the dog was apparently growling at the boy) but the boy ignored both the dog's and the little girl's warning and tried to pet the dog anyway, and was bitten multiple times by the dog.

While the Australian governments have been going crazy talking about what to do about "pit bulls', a 77 year old woman was attacked by two stray German Shepherds that broke into her sunroom. Most of the article is still about the 'pit bull' attack that happened last week however.

A 6 year old Genesee County (MI) boy was attacked by a Shar-Pei. There aren't a lot of details around the attack, although it's worth noting that the dog's owner was arrested earlier this month in connection to stealing a motor vehicle.  The newspaper has decided to create more hysteria by asking the question of whether the community should have a breed-specific law and whether or not Shar Pei's should be added to the list.

Kansas City News

Some volunteers at the Kansas City, MO shelter were fired this week after some conflicts with them and the city staff over what was perceived to be improper veterinary care for sick animals in the shelter. City leadership says there are no disease problems at the shelter, but the photos tell a bit of a different story. KCMO is about 1 month from having new leadership at the shelter, and it just can't happen too soon for the animals down there.

Meanwhile, in Independence, the project for a new shelter that serves Easter Jackson County has fallen behind because the contractor chosen by the county was unable to get a performance Bond after it was awared the contract in May. So the County must find another bidder to work on the shelter.

In Kansas City, apparently a person's dog wandered over onto a neighbor's front porch.  The dog's owner appologized for his dog getting loose and apparently thought the issue was resolved, but apparently not so much. The neighbor responded to the dog being on his porch and the subsequent appology by shooting the dog's owner -- killing him.

The UK

A newspaper asks "What use is our dangerous dog law?" after yet another attack in the country that the national breed ban has not prevented.

Here is yet another incident in the UK -- this one by a Bull Mastiff.

No Kill News

San Antonio is holding onto its dream of becoming a no kill city. In 2006, the city was killing 90% of the animals that came into the shelter, now it's "down" to 69%. They should be able to look just down the highway to Austin on a great example of how to realize the success they're seeking...

Miscellaneous

If you haven't seen this photograph yet, or read the story,  please do so now. It's an image captured at the funeral of one of our Navy SEALS who was killed in Afghanistan. The image is of the man's dog that walked up and laid next to the casket of his fallen owner. Nothing captures the heart of the human/canine bond like this image.

Much has been written over at Yesbiscuit! about the failings of the Memphis Animal Shelter. So Mayor AC Wharton decided to allow the local Rotary Club to do an audit of the shelter.  The Rotary Club seemed like an odd choice from the get-go, since, well, they don't really have animal shelter experience. But it's a start, right? Well, turns out it was a bit of cronyism as the Rotary Club president and Mr. Wharton are good friends....as we find out when said President was arrested for a DUI, public intoxication and Reckless driving -- and during the arrest, continued to ask to speak to Mayor Wharton.

A Chicago Family was awarded $333,000 after police officers raided their South Side home and shot their dog in a search that led to no criminal activity being discovered. It seems like for years officers have been getting by with the shoot-the-dog-first attitude and it is nice to see the courts start compensating the victims in these situations -- so that hopefully it will lead to officers doing what they can to spare the lives of the family pets.

Blogs

Proposed changes after HSUS Evaluation of Dallas Animal Services - YesBiscuit! provides some commentary of the HSUS evaluation of the Dallas Shelter including a lot of focus on how animals should be killed and little emphasis on how they could be saved.

How we could cover storms - This post isn't dog-related, but it's some commentary about how the news media COULD cover major storms like Hurricane Irene. I think it's interesting the blog's focus on reporters repeating the same hysteria instead of, well, reporting.  This is an issue that has bugged me for a very long time but I thought this was a smart post on the topic.

Sit, Stay...Detect? -- A good post by NAIA on the many abilities dogs have shown, including their ability to detect Cancer.

The ups, downs and fun of fostering -- this post specifically is about fostering 'pit bull' type dogs -- from HugABull

How to save a life through dog fostering -- another great post on the importance of fostering -- this one from Love and a Six foot leash.

 Street Dogs Debate -- a thoughtful look at Street Dogs from Dancing Dog Blog

Weasel Words - Saving Pets has all of the quotes by the scientific community, dog training community, and veterinary community following a tragic attack in Australia -- and then the fear mongering, knee jerk reactions that are ignoring the experts in the field by the state politicians.

Dangerous Dog Evaluations -- this is an older post by Jim Crosby about evaluations of dangerous dogs and whether we can, or should, rehabilitate these dogs. It's a good post. One thing that as we continue to move toward no kill communities we can, should and must start rehabilitating these dogs. In some communities where kill rates are still very high, it may not make sense to invest a lot of resources on one dog....for now. But as we eye the future, we very much should be considering it.

Size matters, but so does how you use it -- Winograd looks at mandatory hold times in various states -- and not only does the he advocate for longer hold times, but also for better use of those hold times in terms of finding the owners of these pets.

Excitement is building as Twin Cities move closer to no kill - Animal Ark has the details on positive progress in the Twin Cities area.

The Idiot Whisperer -- Some funny Cesar Milan Parody from over at Seattle Dog Spot

Breeders, dog shows and the German Shepherd -- The Poodle and Dog Blog has a quick photo essay of what is wrong with how the breed clubs are breeding show GSDs right now.

Is food to expensive? And what that says about our respect for animals -- A good blog post from Dr. Khuly about our food supply and what it says about our respect for animals.

How desperate must a surrendering owner be to escape judgment -- love this post from YesBiscuit!

Putting NYC Animal Care and Control out of its misery - -Micah Kellner

KC Dog Blog Turns 5

Five years ago today I wrote my first post on the KC Dog Blog. I think it may have been 2 days later that someone actually visited my blog.  But today is the official birthday.

It's hard to believe it's been 5 years.

Over the past 5 years I've had 1708 posts. That's 341 posts a year.  So, essentially, I've missed posting for only about 117 days in the past 5 years.

During that time I've accumulated nearly 1 million page views, and nearly 10,000 comments. That's pretty cool.

Thank you.  Thanks for reading. Thanks for commenting and sharing your experiences. I've learned a lot over the past 5 years from the comments here and off-line email conversations.

Over the coming months, I'm probably going to adjust the flow for the blog a little bit -- you may or may not really even notice the difference.

There are a lot of places for people to get news and information now that weren't available even 2 years ago. There are more people sharing links and opinions. That's a good thing.  But it kind of changes what I feel like my role in this whole information stream is and I'm going to evolve this blog accordingly. 

Thanks for reading over the past 5 years. We're making a lot of progress out there....

Shelter customer service in a No Kill world

Several years ago, when I bought my first house, there was a local hardware store down the street from me. The first day I walked in, the guy at the front desk introduced himself to me and asked "what project are you working on today?"

I told him, and he helped me gather all of the supplies I need to complete my task. For several years I stopped at this hardware store, and every time they asked "what are you working on today?"  They knew I was there working on a project.  They also probably knew that I had no idea how to fix it, so they always helped me find what I needed, and never (at least openly) judged me for my lack of handyman skills.

One day I even bought a ladder to clean the leaves out of my gutters, and realized after purchasing it that I had no way to get the ladder home because it was too big to fit in my car. They offered to drop it off by my house on their way home from work that day.

It was great customer service -- and I liked doing business with them.  And told all the new neighbors how great they are.

There have been a couple of blog posts this week that have made me think about that little hardware store in my old neighborhood -- and both were discussing customer service in shelters.

There is a common cry in the rescue community that "Puppies aren't products".  I get the point of the saying, they're living creatures, not widgets, but often times I think this attitude causes shelters to not realize they're in the retail business. I say this because if someone is in the market for a dog, they can go to a pet store, a breeder, a rescue, a shelter or a neighbor with an unaltere dog and get a dog that will fit perfectly fine into their household. Rescues and shelters are competing with these other outlets -- similar to how my local hardware store was competing with Lowes, Home Depot and the handyman down the street who I could pay to do the project for me.

One way shelters can win a larger share of the "market share" of the dogs and cats that go into homes is through outstanding customer service (reminder, that if every shelter adopted out 2 more pets per day we would end shelter killing in this country).

Yesterday, Mike Arms presented three ideas to improve customer service at shelters.  #1 was, don't ask, "can I help you?" -- because the answer is almost always "no". My local hardware store got this. They assumed I was there for a reason (most people don't window shop small hardware stores) and asked about MY project.  Most people don't window shop at animals shelters. So assume that they are there to adopt a pet and ask "what type of pet are you looking for?"  This gets them talking about them and helps you help find them the right pet for their lifestyle. It's simple, but changes the conversation. 

His other recommendations are good also, so please go read them. But let me add another one, don't judge your customer. I think too often people in shelters/rescues want to judge people for not knowing enough about owning a pet....and don't realize, it's our job to give them the tools to be good pet owners. My hardware store didn't judge my inability to even do basic plumbing chores, they gave me the knowledge and tools to be successful. Shelters and rescues should too. It takes a little more work on the front end, but it ensures many more happy, successful adoptions and people who will tell others about the great experience at your shelter. Judging (and denying) adopters because they "don't know enough" will do neither of these things.

On Monday, Wisconsin Watchdog had an excellent post about a woman who went to the shelter, adopted a puppy, then, went out, bought all of the supplies for her new puppy and went back to the shelter on Friday to pick up her new pet. After one night at the home, she realized she had fallen in love with the puppy (who doesn't!?) but it probably wasn't a practical choice for her lifestyle. So, the next day, she took the puppy back to the shelter in hopes of being able to choose an older, less energetic (and tougher to adopt) dog. Instead of taking the opportunity to thank the woman for making a responsible decision, and being understanding, the shelter reprimanded her for being irresponsible - -and left the shelter with zero dogs.

I think most shelters would react in a similar fashion.

Somewhere, the collective "we" has lost what the mission of the shelter is. It's not to cast judgment on adopters. It's to save lives. And having a more retail mindset will help us all do that better.  It's a bit more work, but the rewards will be a lot more lives saved.

 

Dog Attack Fatality in Saskatchewan

On Sunday, a 3 year old Saskatchewan girl was tragically killed when being attacked by two dogs. According to the reports, the girl wandered into a yard unattended and was attacked by two "Husky-cross" dogs that were neither fenced nor on a leash.

The attack occurred in a Mosquito First Nation community.  While other reports have noted that stray dog attacks are somewhat common in the area, these dogs had an owner who agreed to euthanize them.

My heart goes out to all the families involved in this tragedy.  This attack won't be counted in 2012 dog attack fatality numbers, but does highlight how breed continues to be an irrelevant issue when it comes to fatal dog attacks, but circumstances are.

Weekly Roundup -- Week Ending 8/21/11

 It's been a busy couple of weeks, and I missed last week's roundup - -so again, twice as much stuff as usual to get through. But there is a LOT of interesting stuff out there, so grab a cup of coffee and take some time to click through the links this week.  As usual, if there is stuff you want to comment about, or link to, feel free to post it in the comments.

Cities and Laws

Following a fatal dog attack last week in nearby Pacifica, a Sonoma, CA city council woman now wants to consider a breed ban in the community. California has a state law prohibiting a breed ban, but this is exactly the type of knee-jerk behavior that should be avoided during a very emotional time.

Some advocates in San Antonio are trying to push for a law mandating spay/neuter in their community. The head of Animal Control Services there opposes the law, noting that MSN advocates are trying "hit somebody over the head" with the law instead of implementing an effective program.

Marinette, WI began talking about a possible 'pit bull' ban in July -- but after a couple of months of review, UNANIMOUSLY voted against the idea.

Fontana (CA) elected to pass new legislation that requires all 'pit bull's to be altered before they reach 4 months of age.

Gardner, KS appears to be re-looking at a ban on 'pit bulls'.  The city had previously passed one, but then removed the ban in 2007. The police department captain notes that when the ban was in place,  the dogs were registered as "boxer mix" or some other type of mix" and breed identification was a huge issue. However, althought there have been no reported problems, the city is looking at possibly re-instituting a ban there.

Mason City, IA is discussing a potential breed ban there -- and met dozens of people and their dogs who showed up in protest of the ordinance.

Lisbon, IA will be discussing a bill that would regulate the ownership of 'pit bulls' on Monday, August 22.

Port Orange, FL gave an initial approval of a new law that will require all pets over 6 months of age to be spayed or neutered.  The one dissenting vote was the city councilman who had formerly been a police chief and oversaw animal control -- and recognized that the law, at best, was not enforceable (at worst, it is enforced and makes the situation worse).

Junction City, KY is considering a law that would target pit bulls, Rottweilers and German Shepherds.

Dog Bites and Attacks

A UK woman suffered a broken arm when she was knocked down by an unruly and aggressive off-leash chocolate Labrador and was knocked down and rolled down a riverbank. The dog was muzzled (apparently it had been aggressive before) and was reportedly acting aggressively before the attack.

Here's another UK dog attack, this one involving a Rottweiler that bit a child.

In a separate incident in the UK, a pregnant woman was injured when she had to fight off a German Shepherd type dog that attacked her and her dog while she was walking in the park. The UK has had breed-specific legislation for more than 20 years, and still, the dog bite hospitalizations are at an all time high and contine to prove the ineffectiveness of breed-specific laws.

A Clarksville, TN boy was attacked by his neighbor's mixed breed dog, described as "part pit bull". No circumstances leading up to the attack are given.

An 84 year old Zephyhills, FL man was attacked by two Boxers that were able to get through a whole in their fence. The man remained has remained in the hospital for nearly a week after the attack. Thus far, no charges have been filed.

In Yucca Valley (CA), two children were hospitalized after being bitten by dogs -- one a "pit bull/labrador mix" and the other a "shepherd/chow mix".

A 9 year old Sacramento girl was injured after being attacked by a 'pit bull' type dog that broke loose from its fenced in yard.

An 8 year old Charlotte, NC boy was hospitalized after being bitten in the face by a Beagle. The dog's owners think the boy was taunting the dog, but again goes to show that any dog can cause a problem under the wrong circumstances - and it is these circumstances that must be addressed, not the type of dog involved.

No Kill News

The Rockwall (TX) City Council voted unanimously to make the city a No Kill Community. In 2008, the city only saved 48% of the animals that came into their shelter. Their goal moving forward, is 90% or more.  They have already implemented some changes at the shelter, but after seeing the success in nearby Austin, they are now ready to make the next step.

Miscellaneous

Researchers in German have a new study that shows that dogs can reliably smell lung cancer on the breath of patients.

A new pet collar has GPS in it that allows you to find your pet if it gets loose. The collar is waterproof and will be on sale in September for $199. It uses Verizon Wireless Service, so it should be as reliable as their cell phone coverage.

The Sheriff in North Platte, NE has adopted two cats from the local animal shelter because he had read studies that showed that pets can relieve stress - -and he thought stress relieve was much needed at the city jail. The cats have been a hit, and inmates eagerly await their turn to care for the cats.

A Houston area man has been charged with murder after he was allegedly bitten in the leg by a dog at a party, got into an argument with the dog's owner, and went home, got a gun and came back to the party and shot 3 men, including one fatally. Is there any question which is the more dangerous species?

I thought this was an interesting and very good article about the large numbers of stray dogs that are roaming around on Navajo Nation land in New Mexico. The story is a follow-up from last December when a man, Larry Armstrong, was killed by a pack of stray dogs in the area. There are apparently thousands of dogs on these lands that cause a wealth of problems to both humans and livestock.  This isn't an unusual situation in many Native American  lands in this country....

The Kent County (MI) Animal Shelter "accidentally" killed a family pit bull just hours after it got loose -- the Health Department officer noted that it was "an awful human error". Ya think?

Abuse Cases

A Kansas City area dog was rushed to a vet to treat her for a severed leg. Fortunately due to some quick action, they expect her to make a full recovery.

This is a lengthy story about the Independence (MO) Animal Shelter and its struggles with keeping up with the health care needs of the pets that stay there.

Positive Press

Pit Bulls (and others) show off good citizenship skills -- this is a great story from the Seattle Times

Blogs

Stepford Wives and Gargoyle Pits -- Zoe, It's our Nature has a smart (and sadly identifiable) post about how many efforts to ban dogs really isn't about the dogs at all, but stereotypes about the type of people are perceived to own them.

Subsidizing Pet Sterilization in Oklahoma City -- NAIA talks about what seems to be a good program where 1/2 of the city's adoption fees go into a program that helps fund spay/neuter and public outreach.

Bill Bruce, the mastermind behind the successful Calgary animal services program, is going to do a speaking engagement in Toronto -- where they badly need leadership like his that realizes that public safety is not about breed bans, but about responsible pet ownership. I hope every politician in Ontario shows up for this.  Pound Dogs has the news.

Speaking of Ontario politicians, this is Why the 2011 Ontario Election Matters in October -- by The Truth About BSL

Watch your head! - Dog Spelled Forward has a good blog post about prompts, and how adept dogs are at understanding our body language (often better than we do ourselves).  I personally think this is one thing that Cesar Millan has done very well is talk about the importance of body language and presence and how dogs react to it -- but it's always interesting to see this from another type of trainer's point of view.

Image Problems - YesBiscuit! discusses Memphis Mayor AC Wharton's contention that MAS simply has an "Image problem".  In a separate post, Shirley notes that Memphis only adopted out 11% of its pets in the first half of 2011.  Really Memphis?

Memphis: It doesn't have to be this way -- Commentary on the matter by Christie Keith at The Pet Connection.

Weigh in on MI Dog Mauling Case -- in Michigan, a 6 year old girl, who was unsupervised, opened the gate to a fence to go into a neighbor's back yard (after she had already been told not to go into the back yard).  The dogs mauled the girl. Even though Michigan state law indicates that a dog cannot be declared dangerous for attacking a trespasser, the dogs' owners have been charged. YesBiscuit! wonders if this is in any way fair...

The Limits of Educating -- a post on the struggles of changing public opinions from Two Pitties in the City.

Patrick, 5 months later - Do you remember the story of Patrick?  The horrifically abused pit bull mix found in a New Jersey Dumpster on St. Patrick's Day? He's doing better. WAAAAY better.  Save Shelter Pets has the news with links to pictures of him the day he was found and now -- and WOW does he look good.

The Indictment of Wayne Pacelle - Winograd points out where Wayne Pacelle has failed as the leader of the nation's richest animal rights organization and calls for new leadership. Here's a follow-up to that post.

Stop fighting the Good Adoptions -- The Pet Studio discusses a friend of hers that was denied adoption from a shelter for ridiculous reasons.

Notable quotes from Day 1 of the No Kill Conference -- from Cruel, Crazy Beautiful World

What they said: Notable quotes from Day 2 of the No Kill Conference -- From Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World.  Valerie highlights the top Quotes from the No Kill Conference.  Here is my favorite quip from the whole post -- which I think is Valerie's, and not from a speaker:

The public–those people you’ve been led to believe were the enemy, the ones that criticize shelter killing–they’re the key to saving lives.  If you stop punishing them and yourself, and ask them for help, sincerely ask them, and if you commit yourself to laying down the needle, you will be amazed at what can happen.  There is a groundswell of change in the world of animal sheltering.  You can choose to be a part of this lifesaving adventure, or you can fight it bitterly for a time, kill some more animals, make some human lives that much more miserable, and then be swept away.  We’re past the point of no return.

Longmont Humane Society is making progress toward their No Kill goal -- adopting out 95% of dogs and 68% of cats in 2010 (with the cats number being affected by a large calici virus outbreak). -- Thanks for the info from No Kill News

Shake -- AMAZING photos from Carli Davidson Photography.  Love these.

Marketing Tips for the Holidays - -from What Would Mike Say?

Dog and Human Anatomy Compared -- Dog Spelled Forward has a great (and fun!) chart comparing dogs to humans including the facts behind why dogs don't cringe when licking each other's butts, that a dog is about as smart as the average 2.5 year old, colored-blindness in dogs,  how much faster they are than we are (so never try to run from a dog!) and why they sleep  about 50% more often than you do.

When shelters "accidentally" kill people's pets - -from Save Shelter Pets

Why No Kill can happen in Miami-Dade -- (or anywhere) by Save Shelter Pets

How biased is the media? -- Freakanomics takes a look at media bias -- and yes, it does seem to exist. Their example is on that the media has a very Liberal slant in the US.  I'm bringing this up because I think it's important that yes, the media too has a bias, not really to get into a conservative/liberal debate on politicis, so don't harrass me for this in the comments section. Or do. Bring it. I'm always up for good political debate. And yes, I realize that Fox has a Conservative Bias...

Feeding the Pets of the Homeless -- some touching commentary from Paw Prints the Magazine

Do some rescues and shelters actually keep pets from being saved  -- some good fodder at PetDocs on call - and I'm saying that not just because he was so nice to me in the writing of it, but because it's a good conversatoin that we all need to be having.

Listen up animal adoption shelters! -- Tales from Clark Street tackles the same topic of shelters being overly paranoid in their denying of potential adopters by sharing her own, personal experience

How to generate revenue for your animal welfare organization through animal relinquishments -- a good idea from What Would Mike Say?

5 Problems with Breed-Specific Legislation -- From WellFur

Excuses -- No Kill Requires Limited Admission -- No Kill Tallahassee has another feature in her "excuses" series and why these are just "excuses", and not real.

Excuses -- There aren't enough homes -- Another part in the series from No Kill Tallahassee

Why are you killing cats?  Part 2 - -Wisconsin Watchdog discusses outdoor cats -- and why too many shelters are killing them when there are much better alternatives.

Maddie's Fund's Parting Shot? -- Winograd looks at the failure of Maddies Fund as they fade off into the sunset.

Best Friends is taking over one of Los Angeles Shelters -- LA Animal Watch

When adoption groups charge different fees for different pets - -Christie Keith on her personal Dogged Blog. Please share your thoughts on this one...

Your Weekly Dose of Cute -- comes from Seattle Dog Spot with this video of a dog and a river otter playing together. Apparently this isn't terribly unusual. I now, officially, want a river otter.

Photo with Shorty from Pin Ups for Pit Bulls Summer Carnival

 A couple of months ago we got a chance to attend the Pin Ups for Pit Bulls Summer Carnival at Knuckleheads in Kansas City.

It was a great time.

Shorty Rossi (from The Pit Boss) was there with his dog Hercules.  It was great to meet the two of them - as well as Little Darling from Pin Ups for Pit Bulls. 

I finally got our picture from the event downloaded and purchased -- and thought I'd share for a little Saturday fun.

Knee-jerk reactions and BSL Failure -- Australia Edition

Earlier this week, a four year old girl in Australia was tragically killed when she was attacked by her neighbor's dog -- which is being described as a "pit bull/mastiff cross". 

In spite of the story being picked up by more than 300 news sources around the world, there are few details about the evens that led up to the attack -- although it seems as if somehow the dog wandered into the home where the victim was staying (the victim was staying there because her own home burned down).

The media, and the politicians in the area have, of course, greeted the news not in a rational way, but by encouraging knee-jerk reactions and hysteria -- exactly the type of Panic Policy Making that leads to most breed specific legislation.

First, it should be noted that the state of Victoria, where the attack took place, already has very heavy restrictions on American Pit Bull Terriers -- where dogs have to be licensed, muzzled and altered in an attempt to allow these types of dogs to die out. The legislation has not helped curb dog attacks in Victoria in any way (and also note, because the attacking dog was a cross, the dog was not impacted by the current breed restrictions). 

However, following the attack, councils are being given more authority to go out and capture (and kill) any dangerous dogs they find. The Baillieu Government has now been given the power to enter properties and destroy "dangerous" dogs.

In spite of the current restrictions, the Herald Sun has scarily reported that you can easily "buy a deadly dog for $1500 online".   They are noting that in spite of the restrictions, the dogs are readily available -- and of course, "deadly".  They then ratchet it up a notch by noting that there are as many as 5000 of these "deadly" dogs in Victoria.  Whoa, that's SCARY. But wait. If they're all so deadly, how is it that only 1 of these 'deadly' dogs has been involved in an incident?  That's just .02% of these dogs that are supposedly predisposed to attacking?

Other areas are also jumping on the panic-policy-making bandwagon. The city of Orange (in NSW) has now already proposed a ban on several different breeds of dogs. 

The whole situation is exactly what happens when politicians and the media fall prey to the "hysteria of the moment" and start engaging in panic policy making. Fear is the most irrational of motivators and in the process, the government is ignorning the rational views expressed locally by experts in their veterinary and rescue communities who all agree that breed specific legislation is not a viable solution.

This is now knee-jerk policies happen -- when politicians cave to the hysteria of the moment and ignore the experts in their community.  It happens here in the US of course.  Our governments must do better -- and listen, observe, and seek out what other successful communities are doing to avoid these types of attacks. Because panic-policy-making is not a solution.

For more: Hysteria doesn't help solve our dog problems -- Saving Pets (AU)

 

Calgary Animal Control Webinar - Tomorrow MORNING, 8/19!

Several years ago, Kansas City Dog Advocates brought Calgary's Animal Bylaw Services Director Bill Bruce to town to speak at our Canine Legislation Conference.

Bill's vision of animal control in his city completely changed my way of thinking about animal control, animal control enforcement, and shelter killing. 

Calgary's approach to animal control is different than most other places. Bill's approach is somewhat different than that of Nathan Winograd (although there are similarities). But the end result is pretty much the same.  And Calgary has seen tremendous success in lowering dangerous-dog related incidents and eliminating killing -- and he's done so without breed-specific laws and without mandatory spay/neuter.

Petsmart Charities is hosting a Webinar with Bill Bruce tomorrow at 9 am Pacific Daylight time.  It's a 2 hour presentation.  

I am planning about writing a blog about no kill animal control in the next week or two.  Much of that post is going to feature thoughts after Mitch Schneider's (Reno, NV) presentation at the No Kill Conference, but I do plan to incorporate some of Calgary's ideas in that write-up (many of their ideas are very similar).  But for now, I strongly encourage you to watch the Webinar tomorrow

Here's my previous blog post from 2007 about Bill Bruce and Calgary.

H/T on the Webinar from Stop BSL