I missed the roundup last week while I was at the No Kill Conference -- so I have a couple of weeks worth of stuff to link to. I also have a lot of blog ideas working around in my head -- so we should have a busy week of posting this week. If you know of anything I missed, please feel free to post in the comments section.
Let's dive in:
Cities and Laws
Niles Township, MI is considering an ordinance that would put an end to breed discrimination in the community. Hanover County, VA is looking at a similar law.
Charles County, MD appears to be looking at tight restrictions on 'pit bulls", "bulldogs" and other "pit bull terrier type" breeds in spite of a lot of opposition in the community.
Haskell, AR had thoughts of passing restrictions on some breeds of dogs but after 40-50 people showed up opposing the legislation, the city appears to be considering breed neutral policies.
Lakewood, OH has begun the process of trying to clarify language in the city's breed ban. They're looking at cleaning up unclear language, but everyone who showed up at the meeting was in favor of removing the ban altogether. It'd be great if the city could acknowledge that the problem is less with unclear language, and more with a failed premise for the law in the first place.
Jasper, AL is still potentially considering a breed-specific ordinance.
No Kill
Fluvanna, VA, a small community in Virginia, has achieved a save rate of 92%. More success is awesome news. Thanks to new blog No-Kill News for the news.
Dr. Sara Pizano, the leader of Miami-Dade Animal Services, resigned this week. Her 6-year tenure was marked with the deaths of over 114,000 animals and many documented cases of abuse and neglect. Local advocates are now calling for a replacement that believes in No Kill philosophies...which would be awesome.
A climb in kill rate at the Michigan Humane Society has put their management under fire. It is awesome to see pressure building in communities across the country for better save rates.
The Companion Animal Alliance in Baton Rouge, LA is looking to make their shelter no kill -- and are looking to the community for support in order to help them achieve that goal.
Manatee County, FL is taking its first steps toward No Kill -- and has pledged to make their community No Kill.
Lucas County, OH has unvelied a new adoption center to make adopting a pet a more friendly experience.
Dog Bites and Attacks
In Tuscon, AZ a 61 year old man had pretty severe injuries when he was trying to break up a fight between his two dogs. Apparently the larger of the dogs, a 'pit bull' had just been neutered that day.
A young couple in Calgary suffered significant injuries (the man required over 600 stitches) after being attacked by two Akita's that were with their puppies.
A 14 month old Portsmouth, OH girl was attacked by three 'pit bull mixes'. The dogs were usually kept separated from the girl (which leads you to believe they were not socialized with her), but they then saw her when they got let out to go to the bathroom and attacked her. The owner of the dogs was arrested on 3 felony charges.
The Newfoundland Club of America has rushed to the defense of their dog breed after at least two attacked a Labrador Retriever being walked by her owner in Oxford, CT. Newfies are great dogs of course,and any type of dog can be involved in a bad incident like this.
A two year old UK girl was severely attacked by a neighbor's pet. The UK has a ban on four different breeds of dogs, but their bite numbers continue to increase -- and police are saying the law gives them no authority to take action against the dog. A different four year old girl was also bitten this week in the UK- -by a neighbor's German Shepherd.
An 8 year old Battle Creek, MI boy was attacked by a neighbor's "Rottweiler/Shepherd mix" that he was outside playing with.The boy was apparently trying to get the dog back on its leash that it had gotten free from.
A four year old Saskatchewan boy was hospitalized after he was attacked by a sled dog he was helping his father feed.
Miscellaneous
Twenty years ago, the city of Yakima, WA banned 'pit bull' type dogs. However, there appears to be a major concern in the city about stray packs of dogs and dogs (St. Bernard and German Shepherds are mentioned) being used to guard drug houses. Yakima continues to see what everyone who is paying attention has seen - -which is that banning breeds of dogs do not deal with irresponsible ownership issues - -and just changes the types of dogs involved.
A pet owner who recently adopted a pet from her local Kansas City Area shelter says that her pet was altered at too young of an age prior to adoption.
Study Shows that dogs have the ability to learn about 165 words.
Blogs
Shelters Doing Good -- For The Pit Bulls discusses shelters offering free vaccinations for life, adotpion fee discounts, and a satellite adoption center in this edition of shelters doing good.
Lazy and Lazier -- YesBiscuit! discusses just the opposite of shelters doing good
The Michigan Humane Society Kills 70% of animals, claims to save ALL who are adoptable - Save Shelter Pets discusses the ridiculousness of any shelter that claims only 30% of the animals it impounds are adoptable.
Baby and dog sharing food bowl -- YIKES! -- Dogs and Storks has another excellent educational post using video to demonstrate.
How to help your child emotionally after a dog bite -- from Doggone Safe
Let me nag about the tag -- ID Saves Lives -- Paw Prints the Magazine discusses the importance of ID tags in helping dogs get home.
The Surprising results of the NSW pound survey - Saving Pets analyzes shelter results in New South Wales Australia. The biggest predictor of whether or not a dog will die at the pound is not the animal's breed, behavior or the owner's profile, but simply, which pound impounds the pet. Good shelter leadership is severything.
My dog is afraid of children - Dog Spelled Forward addresses a fairly common problem dogs sometimes have when they are around children, who are often noisy, move quickly and are unpredictable in their behavior.
Consumer Reports: Pet Insurance is a bad investment -- From Life with Dogs
The correct answer is....Proactive redemptions, pet retention and high volume, low cost spay/neuter -- from Wisconsin Watchdog
These issues have remained unresolved -- YesBiscuit looks at unresolved issues from a 2009 Memphis Advisory Board meeting....that are still far from resolved.
Animal Control Officer dares to care, tormented and fired by the city - -an animal control officer in Cuba, MO was fired for working so hard saving animals' lives.
A picture is worth....an animal's life -- Wisconsin Watchdog has a great post on the importance of good pictures in helping animals get home.
It's not just how they were raised -- a smart and thought-provoking post from Stubby Dog.
We hate this - YesBiscuit! discusses people who say they "Hate killing" but do almost nothing to put a stop to it.
No Two Ways about No Kill -- by Humane Watch -- after the controversial decision by the city of Louisville to hire Justin Scally as their head of animal services.
Fixing Memphis' Broken Shelter System -- Winograd writes a letter to the Memphis Rotary Club -- who has been asked to perform a management study for the failing shelter. I'm not sure why an organization with no animal welfare experience would be asked to perform such a task, but I wish them the best and hope they reach out to people like Nathan to get feedback on how successful shelters run.
Dear kill shelters: Please close your 'open" doors -- a thought-provoking post by Christie Keith. I plan to write a bit more about this one in the next week or two...
Know when to call BS on an "Expert" - Ryan Clinton looks at self-proclaimed "experts" and the idea of ipse dixit -- that just because someone says it's true doesn't make it so. This is a great blog post -- and the must-read of the week.
A Pit bull with Angel's Wings - -The Allentown Advocacy Examiner takes a look at the life of Sarge Wolf Stringer -- a "elderbull" that captured the hearts of many people in animal welfare circles. RIP Sarge. More goodbyes from The Pet Studio and City Pittie.
Get out there and Lead - -More on leadership from Save Shelter Pets
No Kill Conference Wrap-Up #3 - YesBiscuit! discusses Mitch Schneider's No Kill Animal Control seminar and Turbocharging Pet Adoptions by Bonnie Brown.
The Power of You - This is the text of Winograd's introductory presentation from the No Kill Conference
Advocacy Blogging with KC Dog Blog & YesBiscuit! -- Save Shelter Pets has an overview of my presentation at the No Kill Conference.
Hysteria is no way to protect children from pit bulls - -from Seattle Dog Spot
Thanks for the shout-out!
Posted by: Eric Goebelbecker | August 07, 2011 at 04:01 PM