KC DOG BLOG

Scale

Last Saturday was Pit Bull Awareness Day. According to Jodi Pries, who spearheads the efforts, there were more than 150 events around the country where pit bull owners came out to celebrate their family pets and expose the public to the reality that pit bulls are just dogs.

Events took place across the country -- and garnered a lot of media coverage.

Around 30 dogs and owners showed up to walk in the cold in Chesterton, IN.

More showed up in Lubbock, TX -- where the walk was coupled with 3 movie showings of a movie celebrating pit bull type dogs, Beyond the Myth.

Approximately 100 dogs and dog owners were expected to attend an event in New Bedford, MA.

"Hundreds" showed up for an event in Ansonia, CT.

"At least 300" people attended a screening of the pro-pit bull documentary "Guilty Til Proven Innocent" in Tucson, AZ.

Other events were held in Joplin, Mo; Waterloo, IA; Monterey, CA; Houston, TX; Austin, TX; Toledo, OH; Plattsburgh, NY; Cape May, NJ;  -- you get the idea.

These events were all widely attended, and drew professionals from all walks of life.

Meanwhile, in Tucson, a small group organized to do a "victims walk" that, I think was accurately defined by this author as a "hate walk". The event was organized by a couple of anti-pit bull activists, and it was no coincidence that they hosted the event to try to overshadow pit bull awareness day activities.

But they did anything but overshadow the events of the day. If anything, the reality that they had two dozen attendees at their one event, in one location, while advocates had dozens, and sometimes hundreds, across more than 150 locations, shows the scale of differential in the issue.

Consistently I have pointed out this differential -- and that there is a complete lack of professsional support for laws targeting pit bulls (or any other breeds of dogs for that matter).  And the poor attendence at their one hate event shows that there is little non-professional support either. Meanwhile, literally THOUSANDS of people showed up with their dogs to celebrate their pets in public spaces to help educate the public that pit bulls can be, and are, great pets. And the scale between those who realize that and those who continue to support the mythology of pit bulls as savage and dangerous dogs continues to grow wider and wider.

Congrats and thank you to everyone that showed up to rally events in your communities, and to Jodie Pries at Bless the Bullies who organized the events.

Book Review: I'm a Good Dog: Pit Bulls, America's Most Beautiful and Misunderstood Pet

Over the weekend, I got the opportunity to attend, and present at, Best Friends' No More Homeless Pets Conference in Las Vegas. I'll be posting some thoughts from the conference later in the week as I work through articulating the stream of thoughts that have come from the conference.

While I was there, I was very happy to get the opportunity to buy an early copy of Ken Foster's new book "I'm a good dog: Pit Bulls, America's Most Beautiful (and Misunderstood) Pet.

I had the pleasure of meeting Foster about 5 years ago -- when he was on tour for his book "The Dogs Who Found Me, what I've learned from the pets who were left behind". In the book, Foster lays out sometimes humorous, and sometimes sad, stories about the dogs that have found him in life. Over time, Foster has become a founder of the Sula Foundation, a pit bull advocacy (and sometimes rescue) group in New Orleans.

So, I was thrilled to be able to pick up a copy of Foster's new work.  And it didn't disappoint.

The book is a short read as it's only about 140 pages long and contains more than 80 photos. But I think the impact of the book will be pretty significant.

The book is broken into four chapters -- with many outstanding images along the way and often interupted with stories of pit bulls owned by celebrities, or in pop culture, or those that have influenced other advocates throughout the country.

In Chapter 1, Foster makes an attempt to define 'pit bull' -- not the easiest task in the world. Foster acknowledges that the definition changes depending on who you ask: from very narrow definitions from breed enthusiasts that refer to "pit bulls' as only purebred American Pit Bull Terriers to broader definitions that include 3 or four breeds of dogs and then on to very broad definitions, sometimes even used in a legal tense, of any dog that physically resembles a pit bull. He attempts to give the history of the breeds (again, something that has variable answers depending on your source) to help define the dogs.

In Chapter 2, Foster talks about Pit Bulls as family, and introduces us to several families he's met over the years whose dogs have very much become part of their family. Foster also notes that the ideas of pit bulls as family is not new -- and takes us through many historical photos depicting pit bull type dogs in family photos that would indicate that they were, even 150 years ago, often considered family.

Chapter 3, Foster entitles "The Comeback". Earlier in the book, Foster laments that this is a book he wanted to write many years earlier, but there was no interest from publishers to do so. However, I'm glad he had to wait, because much of this chapter largely wouldn't have existed 5 years ago. The chapter talks about dogs rescued from Hurricane Katrina -- and how the majority of all the animals saved in Katrina were pit bulls. In Foster's opinion (and it's one I tend to agree with), Katrina exposed pit bull typed dogs to rescuers from throughout the country who, up to that time, had had little to no exposure to the breed. He thinks it was then, that perceptions of the dogs among animal advocates began to change.

Then, a short time later, you had the dog fighting bust at Bad Newz Kennels. With Mike Vick's arrest putting the dogs in a higher profile, several organizations reached out to see if authorities would allow the dogs to be temperament tested to possibly allow for their release. The release of the dogs, and the reality that nearly all were allowed to go to rescue and many to re-enter public life, and the media publicity that followed, helped to elevate "pit bulls' back to the roll as a beloved dog in American Culture again.

Throughout the chapter, Foster focuses on several dogs that have been rescued from dog fighting rings across the country over the last 5 years.

In Chapter 4, Foster looks at pit bulls in the community. He discusses pit bulls as working dogs, both now, and historically. He looks at dogs that help children with their reading skills, as therapy dogs, as dogs that help soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Disc Dogs, Agility Dogs, show dogs, celebrity dogs and dogs that simply live in our communities and live their lives mostly on the couch.

For regular readers of this blog, you will probably not see a lot of new information in this book, but you'll likely love the stories he tells, and how he combines those stories into a larger narative of pit bulls. You'll definitely see familiar faces, like Wallace, and Leo, and hear from familiar voices. But while the book may have been written for the many of us that celebrate, and love, pit bulls, I don't know that that is where the book will have its biggest impact.

"Does the fact that people question our pit bull love make it that much more intense? Possibly -- because in the case of Sula, I know that I saved her life, and despite what some people say, saving an animal's life is never a selfless act; there are huge emotional rewards. Like all forbidden love, from Romeo and Juliet on down the line, each time anyone questions or disapproves of our love, we defiantly love each other even more than before." -- Ken Foster -- from the Forward.

So go out and get a copy of the book - and you may think about buying multiple copies as gifts for your pit bull loving friends, or your family that just doesn't understand why you love the dogs so much.

 

 

Very Good Sentences -- Edmonton, AB

"Arguments against breed specific legislation suggest there are significant difficulties deterimining breed, and breed type, based on appearance, thus, any breed ban inevitably results in the creation of subjective, arbitrary factors to determine breed type. There are many contributing factors to most dog bite incidents, including poor breeding practices, inadequate socialization and training, health or behavioral issues and inadequate supervision and/or control of the dog. Bylaws that are breed neutral and ensure that aggressive dogs (regardless of breed) are not a continued threat to public safety and are the most consistent and fair approach."

Last week, the city of Edmonton repealed its breed-specific law targeting pit bulls. This is just one of many sentences in an overview report of the reasons why Edmonton should, or should not, repeal its breed-specific law. It's also important to note that the administration contacted seven different major companion animal stakeholders and all, unaniomously supported a repeal of the breed-specific law -- showing again, a complete lack of professional support for laws targeting specific breeds.

You can read the entire overview here.

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 10/21/12

There's quite a lot going on this week -- some good, some bad. Let's dive into the top stories of the week. As always, if you have something you'd like to add, feel free to do so in the comments.

Cities/States and Laws

A city councilman in Pasadena, CA seems to be pushing ofr his city to ban 'pit bulls'. He's obviously done a lot of research on the topic as he doesn't seem to realize that such a ban would violate state law in California. There is also talk here though of mandatory spay/neuter of pit bulls -- which would also be very bad. The local humane society, which handles both the animal control and sheltering or the city, seems to be very much against this, but if you live in the area, you might want to express your views on why this is an awful idea.

The RSPCA (UK) is angry about the delays in repealing the UK's horribly ineffective and costly ban on 4 breeds of dogs. The law has been around for 25 years, and the move to elminate the ban is moving forward, although VERY slowly.

Woonsocket, RI continues to look at passing a law banning 'pit bulls' from the community. If you live in or around Woonsocket, please let them no why the law would be ineffective and only lead to the killing of more dogs in that community. The community is planning to talk to the Pawtucket Animal Control (which has a similar ordinance) to see how that ordinance is working.

A lawmaker's task force in Maryland is beginning to reconvene to come up with a solution to over-rule the Maryland Court decision that declared pit bulls as "dangerous".  The court ruling was passed earlier this year, but state lawmakers immediately began the process of overriding the faulty judge ruling.

A new Alabama state law would actually eliminate non-profit, low cost spay/neuter clinics. This would be an awful thing as studies consistently show that people need MORE access to low cost services, not less. Even the discussion of such a law falls under a "what the hell are they thinking?" question.

Ishpeming, MI appears to be looking at several different dangerous dog laws -- including possibly restrictions by breed or by size.

Maple Ridge, BC may be moving forward with breed-specific legislation.

Deer Park, OH is considering repealing their breed-specific legislation.

Dog Bites & Attacks

Major dog bites are very rare when compared to the 72 million owned dogs in the United States, but occassionally they do happen. And when they do, it is extremely important to look a the CIRCUMSTANCES behind those attacks, instead of incorrectly focusing on breed.

A young man in West Vancouver, BC was badly attacked by a stray/off-leash German Shepherd that went to attack his dog and he tried to intervene.

Two young girls in Mansfield, OH were badly attacked by 3 Rottweilers. The dogs were apparently being walked, but not on a leash. The two girls saw the dogs and began running and the dogs chased them and attacked them, causing pretty significant injuries. While this is not the children's fault, we do need to teach children NOT to run from dogs -- as they could never outrun them and it only incites prey drive. Meanwhile, the owner of the dogs definitely needs to control her animals.

A young girl in Perham, Ontario, was badly attacked by 2 dogs -- also described as Rottweilers. The dogs did have a history of being violent. Ontario has had a breed ban for 7 years that has been ineffective and costly for them to enforce.

Miscellaneous

Ken Foster, author of "The Dogs Who Found Me", is launching his new book tour at the Best Friends No More Homeless Pets Conference for his new book, "I'm a good dog." The link has a good Q&A with Foster about his writing of the book and this is another one I need to add to my growing reading list.

Owners of a pit bull in San Antonio are upset after police officers showed up at the wrong house and shot their family dog.

A homeless man in Kansas City is heartbroken after his dog was taken away from him. The man had a lot of people helping him with the dog, providing food and other care. Unfortunately, the dog was still taken away from him.

No Kill

More on the changes being made at the Niagra (NY) SPCA in their attempts to become No Kill.

The new shelter director in Kern County (CA) is looking to lower the shelter euthanasia rate. Last year, the shelter took in 27,000 animals, and killed almost 18,000 of them, and the new director is looking to lower that number significantly.

Several communities in Michigan were recently recognized for their No Kill Success.

A new group, Cleveland (TN) For a No Kill City took over animal control earlier this year, and in their first 3 months were able to save 80% of the animals at the shelter -- this was up from only 24% saved during the same 3 months a year ago. Congrats to the folks in Cleveland, TN.

Blogs

Animal Farm Foundation is launching a "I am the majority" campaign to focus on good, responsible pit bull owners.

If you click one link this week, click this one. Not Good Enough is a fantastic blog from the folks over at Team Unruly that discusses blanket adoption policies that cause potential adopters to not be good enough -- and how they systematically eliminated pretty much everyone from their rescue team through these unnecessary requirements.

Video of the behind the scenes shoot for the 2013 Pin Ups for Pit Bulls Calender.

Christie Keith tackles the facts and realities behind Halloween Pet threats -- tackling which ones are urban legends and which ones are real threats. In a nutshell, Chocolate is bad but your black cat is probably safe.

We can rebuild him...we have the technology -- Paw Prints the Magazine discusses how they used stem cell therapy to help their dog that had very bad hip displasia.  This is a very interesting article in the newest research in treating sick animals.

Why you should volunteer -- one of KC Pet Project's awesome volunteers writes about what benefit she gets from volunteering -- including meeting new friends, getting warm hugs, and being a part of the solution.

Has HSUS walked away from companion animals?  Wayne Pacelle posts his top 10 important state laws for animals and not a single companion animal act among them (and I'd note that Ohio's repeal of its state-wide breed-specific law and Massachussett's banning Breed-specific laws state wide both happened this year and were not even worth a mention).

A yellow lab saved a newborn calf from freezing to death -- from the Poodle and dog blog

Mike Vick

About a week ago, word was announced that Mike Vick, who was a leader of a very high-profile dog fighting ring bust 5 years ago and confessed to many horrible forms of abuse was allowed to get another dog. Obviously, a lot of people were angered and outraged by the decision to allow him to get a dog (which was partly facilitated by the Humane Society of the United States. Here are some of the best takes:

Douglas Anthony Cooper takes on HSUS in the Huffington Post: Michael Vick just adopted what?

 Did Michael Vick get a dog? from Yesbiscuit

A little more info on DNA Testing

So, earlier this week I posted some results from a Maddies Fund/University of Florida study that compared the breed ID (based on photographic  questions) compared to what DNA matched with the dogs pictured.

The results caused several, both here and on Facebook, to question the validity of the DNA tests.

So, let's go back and look at at least one view of the validity of the DNA tests.

This summer, the Veterinary Information Network did a small study to test the validity of DNA tests with dogs of known (and unknown) heritage. Their research has a very small sample size, with 4 dogs of known ancestory and 2 of unknown. They also tested various DNA tests. From their results:

"What we found: Wisdom Panel was the superior competitor. Though not flawless, the test tended to give reasonable and ususally consistent, if not necessarily enlightening, results. Veterinary geneticists we consulted also pointed to the Wisdom Panel as the most scientifically reputable."

Most of the other tests provided some pretty ridiculous results, so I'm just going to focus on the results from the Wisdom Panel test (which is the only one I'd ever claim, at this point, to have validity).

Dog #1: Actual: Purebred Standard Poodle -- Wisdom Panel Results -- Purebred Standard Poodle

Dog #2: Actual: 68% Beagle, 14% German Shepherd, 9% Giant Schnauzer and 8% Bassett. Wisdom Panel results: Primary: Beagle. Secondary German Shepherd and also a trace of Ibizan Hound.

Dog #3: Actual: Golden Retriever and English Springer Spaniel mix (the spaniel is from Australia).  Wisdom Panel noted Golden Retriever and English Springer Spaniel, with a minority blend of other breeds.

Dog #4: Actual: Australian Shepherd/Jack Russell Terrier mix.  Wisdom Panel results: 50% Rat Terrier (very similar genetically to Jack Russells), 1/2 Border Collie (the closed match to the Australian Shepherd) and 1/2 potpourri.

According to a spokesman for the Mars Wisdom Panel tests, the test has an accuracy rate above 90% in a sample of more than 200 mixed-breed dogs of known ancestory -- but that dogs that are mixes of many different breeds are sometimes more challenging and thus, less precise. 

These results (although, with a very small sample size) would tend to show a little less prcision than this, a slight tendency to mix up closely related breeds and the less of the mix the dog is, the less precise the breed profile. But the results don't appear to be "junk science" either as some would attest.

There's a lot of good info on how breeds are determined by the DNA tests in the article, so be sure to check out the whole thing. If you have tested your dog with the Wisdom Panel test within the past 2 years ( and it is of known heritage), I'd love to hear how your results turned out.

 

Edmonton, AL repeals law targeting 'pit bulls'

Earlier today, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, repealed its law targeting specific breeds of dogs.

Until today, the law required owners of American Pit Bull Terriers, Stafforshire Terriers, and Staffordshire Bull Terriers to pay higher licensing fees, have $1 million insurance policies, and muzzle their dogs in public -- in the same way dogs with actual bite histories were required to do.

But today, the council approved a law that eliminates the breed-specific language.

Edmonton has a population of over 800,000 people, and is the second largest city in Alberta. Alberta's largest city, Calgary, has long been an example of how laws targeting dogs (and owners) based on their behavior were more effective at improving public safety than laws targeting specific breeds.

Today, Edmonton joins 20 other North American jurisdictions that have repealed breed-specific laws -- including the entire state of Ohio, and the state of Massachussetts outlawing laws targeting specific breeds.

Congrats to everyone in Edmonton.

What kind of doggie is that in the window?

A couple of weeks ago, the University of Florida, along with Maddie's Fund, announced the results of a study that they have been working on all summer.

More that 5,000 dog experts -- including breeders, trainers, groomers, veterinarians, shelter staff, and rescuers completed a survey in which they were asked to identify the primary breed of dog of 20 of 119 dogs in the database.

The results were then matched with DNA tests. Here are the 100 dogs, with their DNA results, and the top responses from the experts.

I realize that there is a lot of skepticism about the accuracy of DNA testing. I will note that my experience has been pretty good with the Mars Wisdom Panel test -- at least within the past couple of years. I do think it has issues at times with uncommon breeds that are less likely to have deep DNA pools for which to pull genetic markers. But otherwise I think the results are fairly reliable.

I also think it's then interesting to see the variety of different breeds that were assigned (based solely on picture identification) to different types of dogs by the panel of experts -- with many of the responses varying pretty widely.

Specifically, I think a lot of "lab mixes" end up having no Lab in them at all and a lot of "American Staffordshire Terrier mixes" have 25% or less AST DNA in them. The testing group also did pretty well on identifying purebred dogs, or ones that were 75% of more of a certain breed, but often had some pretty far-off results for ones that were 50% or less of a certain breed. This means that even people with a fairly good understanding of dog breed charactersistics did fairly poorly at identifying mixed breed dogs of which were just 1 generation away from being purebred. They were awful at identifying ones that were 2 generations or more away from being purebred.

The study is yet another in the growing list of data that suggests that looks-based breed identification for mixed breed dogs is very unreliable -- even if "experts" are doing the identification. This means that any dog bite data based on visual identification, and newspaper reports indicating breed,  is going to be VERY unreliable with the exception of truly purebred dogs.

Thus, pretty much every dog bite study in existence is inaccurate, and pretty much any law targeting dogs based on how they look is completely unenforceable. And once DNA gets diluted into mixed breed dogs, a dog can easily look very different than what you'd expect based on its genetic makeup.

 

 

 

Study indentifies top barriers to pet ownership

Later this month, the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association is going to publish an article showing the survey results of why people don't intend to adopt a pet at this time.

The survey looked at why people won't get both cats and dogs, and both previous pet owners and those who have never owned a pet. The survey included 500 people in each category.

According to the survey, the following are the top reasons why people do not plan to adopt a pet:

Among Previous Owners -- Dogs

-- Veterinary Expenses -- 30%

-- General Expenses - 29%

-- No time - 27%

-- Still Grieving previous pet - 20%

Among Previous Owners - Cats

-- Travel too much - 28%

-- Cleaning up - 25%

-- Veterinary expenses - 25%

-- Still grieving - 17%

Of never-owners - Dogs

-- Lifestyle - 30%

-- Cleaning up - 30%

-- General expenses - 29%

Of never-owners - cats

-- Don't like - 35%

-- Litter box smell - 29%

-- Lifestyle - 22%

The survey also noted that 22% of previous dog owners and 18% of previous cat owners acquired their pet from a shelter or rescue organization and that most respondents over the age of 65 are no longer interested in owning a pet -- noting that "we're done".

The study highlights several key insights that I think are interesting. One is how large a barrier cost is to adoption. This is probably higher now, due to the poor economy, than it may have been several years ago, but the cost of pet ownership is still a very real barrier.

I also find the overall dislike of cats interesting -- as they often get a bad reputation but I think there is a lot of opportunity to educate people on the benefits of cat ownership and letting them realize that it is actually pretty easy to own a cat (although, I do dislike the whole litterbox thing mostly).  

I also think it's sad that older people are not as interested in pets, as pets are great companions and often really help people in their later years.

And finally, I think the number who are still grieving over their lost pet is VERY interesting -- as it not only shows how strong the connection between people and their pets can be, but also that there may be some pretty big opportunities in grief counseling for pet owners. 

This is part one of a study funded by PetSmart Charities. Future phases will examine the outcomes of pets adopted from shelters after 6 months of being adopted and a final phase will test strategies for owner retention.

Pit Bull Facts/Myths Info Graphic

October is National Pit Bull Awareness Month -- and in honor of it, the folks over at 1-800-Pet Meds put together a snazzy little info-graphic on the topic of facts and myths about pit bulls. I like the premise of the info-graphic, and it is a visually appealing way of telling a story that needs to be told. I'm not sure I'm buying all the data, but the general premise of this is solid and the story it tells is right.

Two dog attack fatalities week of 10/7

Wow. It's been a really rough couple of weeks on the dog bite fatality front. Dog attack fatalities are EXTREMELY rare -- usually amounting to only about 30 or so a year as compared to 72 million+ owned dogs in this country. Unfortunately, they do happen. And because of their rarity, it is exceedingly important to recognize the circumstances behind these attacks -- because, if any type of dog was 'bred to kill' incidents like this would be far more common. The reality is that dog attack fatalities are so rare you probably couldn't create one if you wanted to.

However, there were two incidents last week. Both tragic. Both preventable. And both can probably tell us a lot about how to avoid tragic attacks and how the humans involved helped create the incidents.

Mary Jo Hunt

Mary Jo Hunt was a 53 year old woman in Pembroke, NC. Hunt, a rescuer, was in the back yard of her home with "10-15" dogs.  According to the reports, several of the larger dogs began attacking one (or more) of the smaller dogs. Hunt apparently tried to intervene and separate the dogs using a rake, but was overwhelmed by the total number of dogs. She was caught up in the attack and died of injuries sustained when the dogs also attacked her.

The situation on the dogs involved is a little unclear -- including how many dogs were actually involved. "Several" of the dogs were German Shepherds and  7 'pit bulls' (the sheriff's office is calling the dogs "mixed breeds" while the Interim Shelter director is calling them 'pit bulls" -- the video footage shows a lot of mixed breed dogs at the shelter -- but it's unclear if the dogs in the video are the ones involved in the attack ) are being blamed for the attack, and 2 other terriers and another 'pit bull" were apparently among the dogs that were "attacked" by the other dogs.

The area where this happened has a 26% poverty rate -- nearly double the national average.

While a lot of the details of the attack are unclear, it does show a situation where one person was responsible for caring for a large number of large dogs all on her own. Any time you have multiple dogs together, there is an opportunity for a skirmish to break out between a couple of the dogs. If that happens, and multiple dogs decide to jump in, then you can definitely have a mess on your hands if you are by yourself. A similar situation happened in August when 23 year old Rebecca Carey was attacked by one of five dogs that were being kept in her home and she apparently got in the middle of two of them fighting.

I highly recommend that rescuers, who often have big hearts and find it hard to say no, understand their limits and avoid situations where they have too many animals for them to handle on their own and always plan on what to do in the "worst case" scenario.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Ms. Hunt.

The story was picked up by 23 different news sources -- only one of which bothered to mention the presence of German Shepherds at the home.

Tarilyn Bowles

Tarilyn Bowles was a 3 week old infant that was tragically killed by a dog last week. According to the reports (in, what is an odd story that I'm not quite buying), the infant's mother was temporarily staying in the home of friend and came into the home. She set the toddler on the floor in her child safety seat. The mother did not realize the dog was in the house and thought it was outside. While the mother left the baby unattended, the dog apparently bit the infant in the face and the infant died of the injuries.  The dog is being described as a 'pit bull'.

A lot of parts of this story don't make sense -- particularly that the mother said she didn't know the dog was in the house when she came home. I've been around a lot of dogs in my life, and I'm not sure I've ever met one (either aggressive or friendly) that didn't greet me at the door when I got home. So to arrive at the home, and the dog not make its presence known, seems, well, odd.

The incident happened in the 48228 area code of Detroit -- which has a 38% poverty rate -- nearly 3x the national average. I highlight this because I think often people in low-income areas feel the need to get dogs that are (or train dogs to be) somewhat aggressive because they usually live in areas of higher crime. I also think there is a lot of dog ownership education that needs to happen in a lot of low-income areas to help avoid tragedies like this.

Regardless, very young infants are very vulnerable to bites like this as a bite to an adult can be life-threatening to a very young infant - and a bite like this is more likely to happen if the dog is not well-socialized with the infant. And regardless of the socialization, a dog should NEVER be left alone with a child that is under the age of 6 without adult supervision.

My heart goes out to the family and everyone involved in the incident.

The story was covered by dozens of media outlets across the country.