KC DOG BLOG

A bit of an anniversary

First of all, this is a day late. Or two. But as my wife will testify, that is sometimes when I remember anniversaries. Or Birthdays. 

But on Monday, had a bit of a milestone. 7 years. 7 years writing this little blog.

I started this blog in 2006 after months of fighting breed-specific legislation in several area communities. At the time, I felt like there was a limited amount of information available on fighting breed-specific laws, including suprisingly few cases studies. So I started this blog as a depository of information about our fight here in the Kansas City area, and for me to post what I learned in hopes it would be beneficial to others.

In the early months, not many people read this blog. I'm probably thankful for that. Some of the early stuff wasn't very good.  A really high traffic day happened when a link got posted on a chat board. Facebook, by far my largest traffic driver now, wasn't even open to the public yet.

A lot has changed in the past 7 years.

Because of this blog I've gotten to meet a lot of great people. Many are doing amazing things in their own communities. Some are kind of celebrities. Some are actual celebrities of the canine-variety. I've been invited to speak at several conferences. We've repealed a few breed bans. Two years ago we started a process to take over our city animal shelter and to end the killing. 

And I've written on this blog. A lot. In total I've written more than 2000 blog posts, had more than 1.5 million page views and nearly 12,000 comments. I've learned a lot from many of the commenters. Thanks for that. There also are a lot more great blogs out there than there were 7 years ago. I love their voices, and perspectives. 

I'm happy that I've been able to stick with the blog. Most blogs rack up about a dozen posts and fade into oblivion. Maybe I'm more stubborn than most. But I have enjoyed it. And it has inspired me to keep reading and learning and hopefully sharing. 

Thanks for reading. Sharing. Inspiring. Commenting and being a part of my little corner of the internet. And thanks to my wife who patiently (or sometimes not patiently) tolerates the time I spend here and her many great thoughts that have made me sound smarter than I am here.

So happy anniversary. To me. Late. 

 

Good intentions, but the wrong focus

Last monht, the Genesee County, MI Animal Control Department Shelter made the declaration that they were going to "end routine euthanasia" at the shelter. In fact, they were so serious about the 'no kill' declaration that euthanasia there cannot take place without a court order or written instruction from a veterinarian. 

However, a month into their directive, the shelter is overwhelmed with animals, turning away pets, and suffering from over-crowding.

This isn't the first time I've seen something like this happen, and no doubt won't be the last. And while I applaud the intentions of the shelter in ending the killing of animals at the shelter, their focus is wrong.

The focus should not be on ending euthanasia -- it should be on saving them all.

It's a subtle difference, but important. From my experience, the focus of "ending euthanasia" sets up a mindset of looking for space at the shelter to put more animals when they come in. "We can't kill them, so we have to find somewhere to put them". Inevitably, the result is overcrowding, lack of space, etc. Exactly what Genessee County is experiencing here.

However, when the focus in on saving them it, changes the mindset entirely. Instead of focusing on where to put the animals, the focus becomes: How do I get more adopted?  How do I move more to rescue?  How do I get them treated? What foster home can they stay in while they get better? How do we get more out humanely and alive?

It's a subtle difference, but an important one. And in my experience, focusing on saving a lot of lives is far more effective as a strategy than focusing on how to just not euthanize them. 

Weekly Roundup -- Week Ending 8/25/13

Dusting off some links this week and sharing some of the top stories from the past couple of weeks.

Cities/States and Laws

Chippewa Falls, WI is reworking its animal control laws....and they will not be breed-specific.

Bonner Springs, KS is still wisely looking at repealing their 25 year old law that targets pit bulls.

Forsyth, MO appears to be looking at a new dangerous dog law that is focused on behavior, not breed. 

Dog bites/attacks

Major dog bites are rare for the 75 million owned dogs in this country, but they do happen, and when they happen, it is important to focus on the causes of the attacks, not breed. Focusing on breed does not help.

For many years, many states in Australia have played with the idea of targeting specific breeds of dogs, with some of them having passed such laws, in spite of professional opposition to the idea.

Meanwhile, a two year old boy was attacked and killed by a "mastiff cross" when the dog followed the toddler outside without adult supervision. 

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, which also has laws targeting pit bulls, an 8 year old boy was badly attacked by two Rottweilers. In the wake of the incident, local experts say that media sources place too much emphasis on breeds instead of ownership and causes.

A 21 month old toddler in Milford, IN had to be airlifted to a hospital after he stepped on the paw of a Great Dane and the dog spun around and bit the child in the face.

A paralyzed man in Trumann, AR had a stray "small white fluffy" dog chew off his testical while he slept.

Dog bites in the UK continue to climb -- 25 years after they passed a law targeting specific breeds. They've seen a 551% increase in two decades and yet still stubbornly hang onto their law.

Animal Shelters

Apparently political disagreement between the County of Kern County and the City of Bakersfield has led to the city evicting the Kern County Animal Control from it's shelter at the end of September. The move would force Kern County AC to remove 900 animals, many of them from the city of Bakersfield, as part of the move. As is usual, when animals end up in the middle of a political controversy, it's the animals that have the most to lose.  I'll be following this one in the coming weeks....

Volunteers at the Chester County (PA) SPCA are complaining that the shelter is becoming a "kill factory" because of poor management.

Rick DuCharme, out of Jacksonville and the Target Zero Program, says that Waco, TX is in a position to possibly go No Kill by late 2014. Meanwhile, the city is looking to pass a law mandating spay/neuter for all pets, which is a law that always targets the low-income, and when enforced, leads to more animals coming into the shelter vs less. It's unfortunate that the positive headline gives you hope that they're headed in the right direction, but that the mandatory spay/neuter headline shows they really have no idea how to get there.

BSL

The White House offered its official statement on Breed-Specific Legislation -- calling it "largely ineffective" and "often a waste of public resources" -- and ccalling for a community approach to the prevention of dog bites. 

The news from the White House led many others to discuss the topic, including Time, and Brian Lehrer.  And the news has called for a petition for the President to end dog breed discrimination in military housing.

Breed Specific Legislation Polarizes the community -- which is opposed to the effectiveness of a community-based approach

Fear and Hysteria

More fear and hysteria out of Detriot this week, where major news outlets began reporting that the city had an estimated 50,000 stray dogs roaming in it, biting people, killing pets, etc. Turns out locals are saying that while stray dogs are a problem in Detroit, the 50,000 number  "seems quite inflated".  Meanwhile, another local writer noted "Propagating phony-baloney numbers to spike interest in Detroit's strays may attract attention in the short-run, but int he long run it can only harm the cause by undermining credibility". 

An Oklahoma Police officer shot accidentally shot and killed a 5 year old boy when he opened fire on a snake and a stray bullet hit the child.

Miscellaneous

Soon, the technology may exist that we can actually talk to our pets. Dr. Doolittle not required. Some days I think this would be great, as I often wonder what they're thinking. Other times I think I'm better off not knowing. More from The Poodle and dog blog.

A Longview, WA man is being charged for animl cruelty after he tried to kill his pit bull with a sledge hammer.

Animals are also getting fatter. While we would expect that cats and dogs are gaining wait, the same is also true in rats and other non-domestic species.

A new study suggests that performing vasectomies and tubal ligations in feral cat colonies may be more effective than spay/neuter becasue it would preserve hormone-driven behavior such as territorial traits in male cats and can help reduce a colony's reproduction rates.

On a related note, Whole Dog Journal is now pushing for Ovariectomy -- removal of just the ovaries -- instead of the complete ovariohysterectomy (removal of Ovaries and the uterus) - as a safer form of altering pets.

Prolonged exposure to Facebook makes you hate your life, study finds -- I'm sure many animal welfare people can identify, but maybe not for the reasons the study suggests.

Blogs

Keep Calm and Stop Reacting - Beyond Breed wonders why may of the popular 'pit bull' memes continue to exist and why in spite of the obvious signs that public perceptions of the dogs has changed, the memes have not.

Why do dogs give chase? -- From DoggyWoof

Such Sadness -- A story of an adopted Beagle that attacked the other family dog in the middle of the night and no one quite knows why, and the sadness that comes from a loving pet not acting out in love. -- From DoggyWoof

I finally acknowledged my senior dog will die soon -- Seattle Dog Spot has a touching story about the exact moment he realized his dog had entered the last stage of his life. 

The Cats of Torre Argentina -- This really is a remarkable place that I stumbled upon a decade ago on my honeymoon with my wife. Pound dogs has a bit of the back story, and as usual, great photos. 

Dog bites - Debunking the Myths -- From Wisconsin Voters for Companion Animals

Ray, a seven year old dog that was seized from Mike Vick's dog fighting operation and spent the past 5 years with Best Friends Animal Society, has passed his CGC.

Mandatory de-sexing -- saving lives or costing lives?  From Saving Pets

Euthanizing Aggressive Dogs: Sometimes it's the best choice -- Vetzinsight has a first hand case of why this is important.

They want them, they really do! -- ASPCA Pro notes that people really do want to adopt pit bulls. Great article, although it's frustrating that this is somehow still a debate given that pit bulls are among the nation's most popular dogs.

Pit bull type dogs featured in National Advertising?  Yes Please! -- from Stubby Dog

CDC tries to stir up more hysteria over nothing -- and again the result will be dead animals

Ealier this week, media began reporting about a new CDC Study. It seems like every time the CDC publishes anything about animals, it tends to do so in a way that creates a swarm of hysteria, and leaves a trail of dead animals in its mist. If taken at face value based on media reports (at this point, I've yet to find a full copy of the report) this appears to be no exception. 

The USA Today report starts off the fear mongering this way:

Headline: "Feral Cat Colonies could pose rabies risk CDC says."

Subhead: "Cats are main domestic animal linked to human exposure of rabies."

Lead: "Efforts to care for abandoned cats could mean more huamns will be exposed to Rabies."

Before reading further I was quick to lock my cat up in another room just to be safe. 

The story goes on to note that for 30 years the main domestic animal linked to human rabies has been the cat. And in the past 10 years, the number of feral cat colonies has "exploded as animal rights groups fight to end the capturing and killing of strays. These two trends are now on a collision course." 

Scary indeed!

Except, when it's not. 

According to the sceintific data (also published by the CDC), in 2010 (the most recent year of the study), there were 6,690 rabid animals reported in the US. That sounds like a lot, go on.

Here are the species of animals that carried those rabies:

1) Racoons: 36.5% of cases

2) Skunks: 23.5% of cases

3) Bats: 23.2% of cases

4) Foxes: 6.9% of cases

5) Cats: 4.9% of cases

6) Cattle: 1.1% of cases

7) Dogs: 1.1% of cases

So, in other words, of the estimated 60 -150 million estimated free-roaming cats in this country, 303 were diagnosed with rabies. That's .0005% -- if you use the lowest estimate of population.

Hmmm, that seems a bit less scary. 

So while wildlife accounts for 92% of the total population of rabies cases, cats somehow, as the leader among domesticated animals, ended up with the target on their furry little heads.  Anyone suspicious yet? 

But wait, there's more from the study: 

With the so called "explosion" in feral cat colonies, the increase in cat-diagnosed rabies was only a 1% increase -- which could be a trend, or just a random deviation from year to year. Most likely the latter.

Meanwhile, it's really important to realize exactly how dangerous all of this is to humans. In 2009 (again, the most recent year reported), there were exactly 2 cases of rabies in humans. In the 9 years from 2001 to 2009, that number was exactly 29. Of those 29 (approximately 3 per year), 8 actually got the disease from a bite in another country. 20 contracted it from a bite by a bat. 

Since 2001, the number of humans in the US that have contracted rabies from a cat?  Zero. 

So while the number of feral cat colonies has "exploded" in recent years, the likelihood of a human getting rabies from a cat in the past 13 years?  Zero. 

Um, what is that collision course thing we were talking about before? 

So WTF was the CDC thinking in publishing this?

The facts are what the facts are:

 -- People are not contracting rabies in large numbers in this country (roughly 3 per year, 1/3 of those are getting it other countries). 

 -- In spite of the growth of feral cat colonies, no one in the last 13 years has contracted rabies from a cat.

--  In spite of this supposed growth of rabies, the increase in cats diagnosed has increased only 1%

So why are we trying to scare people about feral cat colonies?  Why are they seemingly trying to encourage people to round up and kill feral cats for protection from something that isn't a threat? Why are they not advocating for the roundup and killing of racoons, bats and skunks?

And why would we discourage TNR -- which is what animal welfare groups are promoting which encourages not only altering cats to keep them from being reproducing, but also vaccinating them against rabies in the process? Why are they discouraging a solution that actually a) lowers the population and b) vaccinates cats against this supposed risk? 

BTW, it's worth noting that one of the co-authors of this "study" just happens to be George Fenwick -- who is the President of the American Bird Conservancy(ABC). Fenwick is quoted in the USA Today that he predicts that more feral cats will mean "the incidents of rabies exposure is going to increase at a fairly rapid rate (even though, there is no evidence that points to that based on the fact that it hasn't over the last decade).  

It's worth noting that the ABC is very outspoken against Feral Cats - so Fenwick is hardly an unbiased source here. But the rabies argument is easily among his worst. Fenwick founded the American Bird Conservency and now makes $170,000 a year doing it. His wife then earns another $85,000 a year off their efforts. So preserving his interests is very lucrative. 

It's a shame the CDC allowed Fenwick to influence this study and create hysteria over a problem that doesn't seem to exist and advocate against something that is actually a very viable solution to that supposed problem.

We need to demand better from government published stories and not let outside interest groups impact public policy in a way that creates a slaughter of healthy animals. 

More from Vox Felina and Alley Cat Allies

KC Pet Project logs 12 months of No Kill Success

On July 1, 2013, KC Pet Project officially achieved 12 consecutive months as a no kill shelter.

Our little organization took over operations of the Kansas City, MO shelter in January 2012. The shelter is a completely open-admission shelter serving the entire city of Kansas City (population 460,000).  

The shelter had gone through a couple of different stages of management in recent years, some public, some private. As recently as 2008, 62% of the animals that entered the shelter were euthanized. 

While quite a bit of improvement had been made, there was a long way to go.

In our first year with the shelter, we finished 2012 with an 86% live release rate. This was a huge improvement over previous years. This also came after a run of 6 straight months above 90% at the end of the year.

Through the first 6 months of this year, the success continued. 

In the 12 months, July 1 2012 through June 30, 2013 KC Pet Project achieved a 91.3% live release rate for dogs and cats. During that time, we adopted out 3,730 animals (more than a 100% increase in adoptions), reunited 1,035 with their owners, and transferred another 1,280 to other shelters and rescue groups -- totalling more than 6,000 positive outcomes on the year.

By my best calculations, I believe the feat makes KC Pet Project the 4th largest open-admission no kill shelter in the country. 

We're no doubt thrilled with achieving this -- but I dare say we're in no place to say "mission accomplished". No kill is a journey, not a destination. As with any open-admission shelter, we continue to see a lot of animals coming through our doors. Our shelter is small, and very outdated, and these limitations add to the challenges. 

 We continue to need support from the community and our partners in helping us sustain. We continue to need the community support by adopting, helping keep animals out of the shelter, their volunteer time and their donations. We continue to need rescue support in helping us with the placement of dogs and cats -- particularly some of the the larger and more challenging ones.  And we have many neighboring communities that have very bad laws for pets (strict pet limits, prohibition of TNR, breed bans) that make for pet population issues in the area. Some of our own city laws are outdated and regressive.

I can't say enough about what a huge team effort this has been. We have an amazingly talented staff that works day in and day out at the shelter. We have continued to build a team that buys into the vision and mission of the organization and works miracles daily. Several of our team members -- you know who you are -- have been with us from the beginning; including some of the very rough early months. Thank you for hanging in there. 

And we have developed an amazing team of volunteers who never cease to amaze me with their spirit and dedication. 

And we've had a few friends, some old, some new, that have come in and provided a lot of guidance, advice and moral support. I'm not sure we could have done it without you.  

Thanks to everyone who has bought in, helped, laughed, cried and supported us along the way. 

Now, on with the journey.

Weekly Roundup -- Week Ending 8/4/13

A little behind this week, so here are some of the top stories from the past two weeks:

Cities/States and Laws

A new law in Florida was passed earlier this year that requires shelters to provide accurate and detailed information about the number of animals impounded, saved, and euthanized. Unfortunately, a lot of shelters are still not yet in compliance.

A family in Postville, IA is fighting for their right to keep their dog against the city's pit bull ordinance.

Bonner Springs, KS is looking at eliminating it's 25 year old breed ban after an area owner started challenging them for the right to keep her dog.

The community of Swanton, OH has decided to retain its policy declaring all pit bulls 'vicious' in spite of their behavior, being one of the few communities in Ohio that have not followed the state's lead in removing breed-specific legislation. The Toledo Blade editorial staff weighs in.

A family in Clay, AL has filed a preliminary injuction against the city's pit bull ordinance.

Even after the state of Rhode Island prohibited breed specific legislation, the community of Pawtucket has stubbornly decided to continue enforcing its ridiculous breed ban. The Rhode Island Attorney General will weigh in on that decision and it may well end up in the courts.

Dog bites and attacks

Major dog bites are very rare given the 75 million owned dogs in this country. However, they do happen, and when they do, it is important that we look at circumstances, not breeds, when determining the causes.

A bull mastiff in Corpus Christi, TX was adopted by a family an within 10 days had bitten their child twice. Turns out, the dog had a history of bad temperament and was in the shelter in the first place because it had previously bitten. Shelters need to know what they can about a dog's history and be honest with adopters about that history in order to set both up for success.

An Ottawa, ON woman lost her left arm and both legs after getting a blood infection after being "nicked" on one of their knuckles by their three year old "Shih Tzu". The infection got so bad that the woman fell into a coma and when she woke up, was told she'd have to have 3 of her limbs amputated. It's worth noting here that Ontario has had a ban on specific breeds for 8 years now and instead of focusing on education and what the ACTUAL risks from dogs are, they've been spreading breed hysteria for nearly a decade. 

A 17 year old Illinois boy recieved a $1.1 million settlemend from a dog bite that occurred in 2011 after being attacked by a 120 lbs Bull Mastiff. This is the highest-settlement ever in the state of Illinois. This is another reason why Merritt Clifton's report from last week is ridiculous as one significant outlyer (which this is) can skew data not to mention that it's somewhat telling that Clifton used his report to try to villify pit bulls, but the outlyer here isn't a pit bull at all. 

In a non-dog-related story, and very weird one, a French woman was strangely attacked by a pack of feral cats. Feral cats are normally shy and fearful and flee from people -- not aggressive. 

A 5 year old girl in South Ogden, UT sustained critical injuries when she was attacked by a neighbor's Husky that reached over a 3 foot tall fence and grabbed her.

No Kill

In Cleremont, OH, a new contract between the city and local humane society (who owns the only shelter in Cleremont) requires the humane society to partner with a third party to decrease euthanasia rates. This agreement comes after several years of discussion about the humane societies inability (unwillingness) to try to same more of the 3500 animals they impounded last year -- but the humane society owned the only shelter in town. Now, the city, a group Cleremont Pets Alive, and the Humane Society are going to partner to try to make no kill happen there. The temporary contract will be in place for the next 5 months and re-evaluated at the end of the year when contracts are up for renewal.

Austin, TX is a model for many communities seeking to be no kill -- but that doesn't mean it is easy, even for them. Austin, which is the largest no kill city in the US was facing capacity issues two weeks ago as well. Like a lot of shelters, intake goes up in the summer and can really stretch the capacity at a shelter, even a good one. Austin was reaching out to the public asking for help as they try to retain their no kill status.

The Niagra County (NY) SPCA is concerned after the city mayor did a 180 on his support of their no kill mission.

Miscellaneous

In a ridiculous piece of breed discrimination, a Griffin, GA couple was denied adopting a child because they own a 'pit bull' type dog. 

Pet Health

Forcing ideologies on your pets can be dangerous, as noted by this cat in Australia that nearly died when his owner tried to feed him a vegan diet.

The Companion Animal Parasite Council has altered its guidelines on heartworms --- and no longer recommends the "slow kill" method of treatement

Blogs

Can helping animals make you happier?  A new study says that having a purpose in life makes people overall happier. So help animals, live well. 

The Poodle and dog blog talks about the life of dogs on Indian Reservations and how a dog birth control vaccine could limit the feral populations there.

Beyond Breed takes a look at her experience with a low cost spay/neuter clinic in Brooklyn -- where a line began forming before daybreak and nearly 2/3 of the people who came had to be turned away because there weren't enoughopenings at the clinic that day. Seriously, if you click on one link today, make it be this one.

Dogs don't touch us on accident -- the behavior is very meaningful to them and something we should be mindful of when "correcting" behavior in a shelter setting -- from Emily Weiss at ASPCA Pro

Your dog isn't being friendly. He's an asshole. And so are you. -- The Dog Snobs talk about inappropriate greetings.

If you were bitten by a dog as a child, doggone safe is doing a survey and would like to get more information about your story.

On breeds and profiling -- a great read from Dogs Spelled Forward

Yellow ribbons and wishful thinking -- a few weeks ago I posted an article about how there is a movement to try to make tying a yellow ribbon on your dog a standard signal for your dog not being great on a leash so other owners know not to do intros. Dogs Spelled Forward (I'm so glad Eric is back writing again) has a great opinion on this and that it is a poor solution instead of actually dealing with your dog's leash reactivity.

All you need is love -- Beyond Breed has a look at dogs, love and poverty in the US

A great interview from PBLN Radio with Paul Tullis, who is the writer of this story by Time Magazine. It's a solid article, but the interview with Mr. Tullis shows us just how informed the writer was in his writing. This is worth the 20 minutes to listen to the entire interview.

Stop the introductions -- ASPCA Pro looks at dog/dog introductions at the shelter and why they really aren't meaninful to transferring whether two dogs will get along in a home environment.

For several years, veterinary programs have been teaching the "5 Freedoms" to students. The five freedoms include "Freedom from Hunger", "Freedom from Discomfort", "Freedom from Pain", Freedom to Express Normal Behavior" and "Freedom from Fear and Distress". Maddies Fund is recommending a 6th freedom for shelter animals -- the Freedom to Live.

It's why we're here

Yesterday, the television news crews came out to our shelter after word was received of a dog named Ace that was found with severe trauma on his head and thrown into a dumpster behind a school.

I think when the news crews arrived, they got more than they expected. 

On the floor in our vet's office was a beautiful Husky that had been hit by a car and had a wounded leg. 

Waking up from surgery was a chow chow -- that had also been hit by a car and had a bandaged leg. 

Then there was Ace, who had a severe wound on his head.

KMBC News covered them all in this short clip:

This is the life of an open-admission shelter: animals hit by cars, animals with bullets in them, and those that have been abused. We see these things all the time (although, not usually three in one day).  These are the ones we're here for: to get them well, and find them homes.  We have a very talented staff and veterinary team that is helping make sure they get the good medical treatment they need. 

When we formed the KC Pet Project we wanted to be a place to help Kansas City's homeless pets and it's animals like this that we want to be there to help.

I'd still like us to get out of the business of being forced to help animals that already have homes because our laws are taking them out of homes and bringing them to our shelter. That just takes resources away from dogs like Ace that really do need us to be there.

Our facilities are modest. The shelter was never really designed to save animals -- most built in the early 70s weren't. Our vet clinic is incredibly small for a shelter that takes in more than7,000 animals a year. And yet our team does some pretty amazing things.

I hope Ace pulls through OK. There are never guarantees in cases like this -- but we owe it to him to try. 

Thanks to our area news stations for covering Ace's story. I sometimes don't think our organization takes enough credit for some of the lives we save and so I'm glad the larger public gets to see it. And some of these cases really are miracles. 

More from Fox 4, and KSHB. 

I'll post an update on Ace as his treatment progresses.