A lot of news and information going on out there and I'm a couple weeks behind. Here are the top stories for the week and a few back stories from the past couple of weeks to help you get caught up.
Cities/States and Laws
A group in Sioux City, IA continues to try to educate officials about why they should repeal the city's 4 year old breed ban. The numbers are definitely in their favor.
Fairfield County, OH will no longer use the gas chamber for ending pets' lives.
Pit bull 'underground railroad' saves lives for pit bulls banned in Ontario.
Being a pit bull in the Saginaw County Animal Shelter is no longer a mandatory death sentence after officials changed policies on shelter pit bulls.
Amite, IA passed a law that declared 'pit bulls' to be vicious dogs.
The idea of a breed ban was brought up in Hinesville, GA, but was quickly shot down by the mayor and city council.
After studying the possibility of passing breed restrictions in Sioux Falls, SD, the City Council opted to remain with their breed-neutral law.
Dog bites/attacks
Serious dog bites are rare, but when they do happen, it is usually a series of events that lead up to the attacks and not breeds that cause them. Here are a few stories of the incidents that are out there.
Two women in Massachusetts were transported to the hospital after they were attacked by two German Shepherds.
A 27 year old Massillon, OH woman was severely attacked by a dog that is described as a "Rottweiler mix" and was aided by another resident of the apartment complex who helped free her from the attack.
In Independence, MO, a German Shepherd escaped through a hole in the fence bit its owner and then two officers before being shot by the police. Independence has had a breed ban against Pit bulls since 2006 -- but there has been no improvement in public safety since enacting the ban.
A Papillion, NE man was bitten by a dog and likely died due to the bite. The bite was pretty minor and the man refused medical attention. However, the man didn't have a spleen (which clears the blood stream of infections) and became infected due to the injuries and died due to the infections. The bite was considered not-serious, thus this isn't lassified as a fatal dog attack, but it is a lesson to people that if you are injured in an bite, please seek medical attention so you can avoid therisk of infection.
UK Dangerous Dogs Act
Hospitalizations due to dog bites increased by more than 5% again last year in the UK -- continuing a trend of increasing dog bites in the UK, in part because of their national law that focuses on breeds of dog instead of on dog behavior. Here is one example of a recent attack that continues in spite of the ban.
No Kill
Philadelphia has seen two consecutive months of increased intake -- which is overwhelming for a shelter that already takes thousands of animals each month during the busy season. To compensate, the Philly Shelter is offering fee waved adoptions through September 4.
Manatee County, FL was honored at last week's No Kill conference for their dedication to No Kill. As of July, the shelter had an 81% save rate as they worked toward their goal of No Kill. While it seems it has often become the expectation that shelters would become No Kill overnight, it often takes, particularly larger shelters, a little time to develop the programs that allow them to ge there and I'm pleased to see Manatee County getting some props for their live-saving efforts as they build toward becoming a No Kill community.
The Animal Shelter in Jeffersonville, KY has announced a dedication toward becoming No Kill. The shelter takes in roughly 2500 pets a year. They believe they can achieve No Kill Status by August of 2013.
A new shelter director in Terrell County, TX has taken a small shelter that routinely used to euthanize animals to one that is saving the lives of all the animals in their care.
A quality article about No Kill sheltering -- helping reinforce that no kill is about saving lives, and not about hoarding.
Linn County, IA has made significant progress toward No Kill since a new shelter director took over in September of last year.
Miscellaneous
In one of my favorite stores of the week, one Los Angeles landlord and rescuer offered discounted rents for people who adopte pets.
76% of dog owners have made online purchases for their dogs -- with toys and medicine being the top sellers. Saturdays are by far the most popular day for purchases. More info at this infographic.
Some new technology is allowing people to root out the start of rumors and epidemics online. I really wish this technology would have beeen available 25 years ago so we could have sourced out all of the false bite pressure information, locking jaws rumors etc that have plagued pit bulls for a generation now.
According to a report in Houston, the new AVMA Pet census is going to show a slight decrease in pet ownership -- for the first time in nearly a decade.
A great new quirky sofa for you and your cats that doubles as a play area for your cat (and not just as a scratching post as a lot of sofas end up being.
Spay & Neuter Kansas City is introducing Non-Surgical Neutering to the area -- this would allow for male dogs to be sterilized and yet still keep their "Manhood" for owners that think that is important. It's a great new technology and I'm thrilled that the Kansas City area is among the first to introduce it.
A new dog bone comforts pets while owners are away by containing the smells and sounds of a dog's owner.
The nonsurgical sterilization makes me uncomfortable. I can just see Animal Rights nuts going around injecting show and working dogs with this stuff (I mean, they've poisoned dogs and let dogs out of their pens in the past, I wouldn't put it past them to do this too). I hope it is highly regulated.
Posted by: CristyF | August 20, 2012 at 12:23 AM
I'm sorry, but the fact that owners are obsessed with their dogs keeping their testicles - that it is even an issue and they feel it reflects on them somehow is just bloody pathetic. Real men don't need dog testicles to make them masculine ...
Posted by: selkie | August 20, 2012 at 05:04 AM
So we're going to skip over small stories like the Spindletop raid and the Atlanta rescuer killed by one of her own dogs?
Posted by: Just wondering? | August 21, 2012 at 09:04 AM
I actually covered the Atlanta Rescuer story under a separate title yesterday:
http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2012/08/two-dog-bite-fatalities-week-of-813.html
And briefly covered Spindletop in my weekly roundup on July 22:
http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2012/07/weekly-roundup-week-ending-72212.html
At this point there has been so much written about Spindletop that I really have very little to contribute to the discussion.
Posted by: Brent | August 21, 2012 at 09:57 AM
Any news on the use of dogs during the wolf hunt in Wisconsin? This is a tragedy waiting to happen!
Posted by: Jen O | August 21, 2012 at 10:04 AM
Not rescue related, but a friend of mine is giving a presentation in your neighborhood you might find interesting:
http://www.kclibrary.org/press-release/just-time-labor-day-author-lincoln-cushing-agitates-educates-and-organizes-history-lab
Posted by: Dianne R | August 22, 2012 at 07:55 AM
Thanks Dianne for passing along!
Posted by: Brent | August 22, 2012 at 08:24 AM