KC DOG BLOG

Weekly Roundup - -Week ending 9/15/13

Here's a very quick look at some of the top stories from the past couple of weeks. 

Cities/States and Laws

Some speculation in Denver that after the White House denounced policies targeting specific breeds of dogs that Denver may reconsider its long-standing ban on Pit Bulls. Just speculation for now, but I have to wonder how long the old guard like Cory Nelson and Charlie Brown can hold onto the power in that city in spite of all of  the evidence against them.

In Swanton, OH, there is a legal tangling over the definition of a 'pit bull'. A dog belonging to Tim Bork was identified by acting Dog Warden Brian Bannister as a Fila Brasileiro -- which under the "a pit bull is what I say it is" philosophy Bannister considers to be a "pit bull" type dog. However, the law doesn't call out Fila Brasileiro in its list of "pit bull" type breeds. This suit is costing one resident his relationship with his dog, and the taxpayers a whole lot of money. Meanwhile it appears that Bork's dog has earned its Canine Good Citizen certification and is not a threatening dog....

Twenty-five years after instituting its breed ban, residents and officials in Yakima, WA are questioning whether the law is actually effective. 

A solid read from The Tennessean that debates the reputation of pit bulls as being dangerous.

Another solid report out of Kansas City. There are quite a few things that I would have done differently if I controlled this story, but overall a solid report.

Even though residents in Burnaby, BC say they don't want the city's breed-specific law, there is a chance the law might stay.

Clay, AL has decided to not enforce its breed ban under the advice of their attorney.

Dardenelle, AR passed the first reading of its proposed law to target specific breeds of dogs. The Dardenelle Police Chief says the law is needed because they increasingly see vicious dogs at drug houses. For the life of me I have no idea why anyone would think that dogs laws are an effective approach for dealing with drug problems....

After months of debate, Watertown, WI chose to listen to experts in their community and voted no on breed-specific legislation and instead voted in favor of a strong, breed-neutral ordinance.

Animal Shelters

I never cease to be amazed at the myths some people still believe in -- but a shelter in Texas is holding an adoption special on black cats now because they don't adopt any out during the month of October.

A couple of weeks ago I noted that the Genesee County shelter was doomed because they tried to implement their version of no kill by focusing on not euthanizing animals instead of not saving them. A couple of weeks ago they eneded their "no kill" policy.

Residents in Bakersfield have been stepping up to adopt following the news that the city was going to kick the Kern County Animal Control out of the shelter and let a not-for-profit run the shelter -- leading to more than 500 dogs and cats to be adopted in just a couple of weeks. This is still a huge mess out there and it seems like there are a lot of responsible parties, none of whom want to play in the same sandbox together and get this right. The Bakersfield Californian has a solid article about the decade of failure in Kern County.

Costa Rica's plan to adopt out more shelter dogs includes creating "designer breeds" for the mixed breed dogs. Our shelter has often called them "one of a kind" and "coutour" dogs, and this is another spin on the idea.

Positive Press

When the Toronto Blue Jays were in town, pitcher and advocate Mark Buerhle talked to the local press about breed-specific laws in Ontario and the challenges it created for his family. Many Kansas City area communities have breed bans similar to Ontario's so it was good press for us to have here in KC.

Good interview about Breed-specific legislation with Drayton Michaels.

Experts in Iowa concur that 'pit bulls' aren't dangerous.

Miscellaneous

A new virus called circovirus, that sounds similar to parvo, but different, has been confirmed in Ohio. This is obviously a concerning proposition for many as it can lead to a lot of dead animals quickly if a cure/vaccine is not found.

For all the talk about dangers of dog bites, after Labor Day weekend it was noted that drowning deaths in Missouri have doubled this year. More people have died from downing just in Missouri than will die from dog bites in the entire US this year.

Blogs

Wisconsin Watchdog notes that signage pointing people to an out-of-the-way animal shelter can help with owner reclaims as people often don't consider the animal shelter until their pet is lost. For years, shelters didn't really want people to know about them because they didn't necessarily want to publicize what happened in them. However, changing mindsets also includes doing 'little things" like creating signage to help people with finding their lost pets and knowing where to adopt.

The first step in addressing a fear is to recognize it as unfounded -- Modern Dog takes a unique look at BSL from the view of someone who is afraid of pit bulls, but realizes it is an irrational fear.

PETA confirms support of breed specific laws and the idea of killing pit bulls to keep bad things from happening (you know, like dying). SwayLove has a nice report of their correspondence with PETA who is clearly on the fringes of common belief.

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

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.

Weekly Roundup -- Week Ending 7/14/13

I've obviously been light on posting the past couple of weeks. It's been really busy in my personal, and professional life and just haven't had time to get to the blog. I'll have a bit more on some of those things in the coming week or so. Meanwhile, I've been stockpiling blog posts, some that just won't ever get written, but some I plan to get out there shortly. 

Meanwhile, there are a lot of articles that I"m reading that I want to share in this week's roundup that I think you'll find interesting. Again, going to skip over the majority of bite stories (although there are a couple I want to share) and BSL fights (again, with exceptions). With that, sit back, relax, and enjoy some of the articles from the past couple of weeks.

Cities/States and Laws

Laws targeting specific breeds of dogs "not an option" for Great Bend, KS.

Mason City, IA approved a new dangerous dog ordinance that targets dogs based on behavior, not breed. The ordinance "promotes responsibility of the owner, supervision of the dog and safety to the public -- it does exactly what it was supposed to do" said Chairman Jay Urdahl.

Benton, AR passed a new dangerous dog law at a vote of 7-0. The law targets dangerous dogs based on behavior, not breed.

A Westwego, LA city councilman pulled his breed-specific law off the table after realizing there was no support for the law among his fellow city council members. The law was introduced as a form of panic policy-making after an attack in the community, but wiser heads have prevailed.

A dog owner in Richland, MS has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the city's ban on pit bulls. The mayor of Richland says that the law doesn't deprive people of the right to own pit bulls, only the right to own them in the city. Um, yeah.

Speaking of panic policy-making, Garland County, AR passed a law targeting specific breeds of dogs which they refer to as "gripper breeds"  including Am. Staffordshire Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers, Dogo Argentines (they're wording not mine), Persa Canarios (again, their wording, not mine), Can Corsos (yip, them again) and any mixes of those breeds.  The law applies only to rural Garland County, but doesn't apply to first class cities in the county.  Not to say that the law is a form of panic policy-making,  but the passing of the ordinance comes after a fatal dog attack in the area 2 months ago -- in which a Bull Mastiff (not mentioned in the ordinance) attacked a young boy and less than 8 months after a committee was formed to discuss breed-specific language and determined it would not be effective. Anyone who thinks that passing breed bans is a rational conclusion reached to solve a problem needs to look no further than Garland, AR for how these small communities really pass these laws. 

Collins, MS passed a ban on pit bulls and Rottweilers. The law was passed with no grandfather clause, so anyone who owns a pet of these breeds will have to lose their family pets. Collins, MS, a small community of about 2500 people. 

Pasadena, CA passed a law requiring pets to be spayed or neutered by four months of age. I'm just amazed at the number of animal advocates that continue to support these types of laws in spite of their lack of success in controlling shelter populations, in spite of the reality that nearly no animal welfare organization supports them any more, and in spite of the potential health impacts that such early spay/neuter can create. Keep reading for more...

Positive Press for the Bullies

The Racine Journal Times (WI) notes: Defending the pit bull: Experts say the animals no more aggressive or prone to attack than other breeds. 

Some positive press from Sioux Falls, SD on dog breed profiling.

Dog Bites/Attacks

A rural North Dakota man was tragically mauled by a pack of up to a dozen wild dogs that were roaming at large. While there were a dozen dogs believed to be involved, the media decided to single out "a rottweiler, a pit bull and several other dogs" -- as if those dogs didn't matter. In all likelihood, if they were wild dogs, they were all mongrels of unknown breed.

In Baltimore, a 7 year old boy was attacked by a 'pit bull".  According to witnesses, the boy was one of several kids that was playing on the block and "teasing" the dog, causing the dog to jump the fence and come after them. 

In Palmer, AK, a Husky is going to be allowed to live after it attacked a 2 year old girl back in May. The young girl was in the kennel yard with 52 huskies -- all of which were working dogs -- and this dog broke free from its chain and attacked the young girl. Authorities claimed the girl's mother, who was with her, took a "totall unnecessary assumption of risk" by bringing three children under the age of 5 to the center of a busy dog yard.

Three people in Sikeston, MO were attacked by a Japanese Akita -- two of them losing parts of fingers in the attack. You might remember that last fall, Sikeston Authorities were accused of going around neighborhoods and rounding up 'pit bulls' under the community's breed ban -- taking resources away from dealing with dogs that, regardless of breed, were a danger to the community.

A Des Moines area man was severely attacked by two dogs in his home. The two "Chow-Chows" were copulating and the man tried to break them up. When he tried to interupt them, they both turned on him and began to attack. 

I'm including these attacks because I think they show several things: #1, the variety of dogs that can be involved in significant attacks, #2, that the circumstances around the attack are what lead up to them and that most are preventable, but human error and misunderstanding of dog behavior helped spur the attacks and #3 breed specific legislation does NOT protect people from attacks.

When "helping" is not "helping".

Sometimes rescue groups aren't what they appear to be.  Raised with Wolves shares the story about a "rescue" that is simply a buyer of puppies from puppy mills and then redistributing them via "adoption".  This is not the norm, of course. Most rescues are great, helpful people. But I share the recommendation to always do your research before you donate, or adopt, so you know you're getting what you're intending to get.

Shelter Success

The Martinsville-Henry County SPCA (VA) is celebrating becoming "no kill" 2 years ahead of schedule. 

Los Angeles, CA under the No Kill LA Coalition is also seeing success. For several years, the number of animals killed in LA shelters was around 19,500 - 22,000.  In 2012-13, the number appears to be closer to 17,500, so roughly 4,000 fewer than in previous years. (It's worth noting that in 1971, the shelters killed 111,000 dogs and cats. By 2003, that number was decreased to 30,000 -- and has now nearly halved again).  LA still has a ways to go, but they are making progress pretty quickly and I wish them luck...

Miscellaneous

Law Enforcement Today article advised police not to kill family pets. Finally it seems that awareness of this as a police issue is becoming more popular.

However, a lot more work needs to be done in this arena. Police shoots man's dog in front of him, and then arrests him for recording it on video. In response, police in the community are being given more training on how to deal with dogs noting that the officer's response was a last-ditch response, with no other measures even tried.

Science is studying the strikingly similar relationship that adult dogs have with their owners vs the way human children interact with these same adults. In another report of the same study: Your creepy friend who acts like their dog is a child is actually pretty normal.

A collar that acts as a fitness tracker for your pup.

Blogs

The Tragedy of Wolf Dogs -- some interesting thoughts from Patricia McConnell.

Kennel Cough: Natural Prevention of the Canine Cold -- Dogs Naturally has a potential solution to kennel cough -- something that is a neussance for sure in almost every shelter environment. Has anyone tried this as a way to stop kennel cough in their shelter?

The Plot Thickens: Spay Neuter Effects and the Health of our dogs -- There isn't much new research here that I haven't covered elsewhere on this blog, but more and more the impact of the health impact of spay/neuter is coming to the forefront. This time from Patricia McConnell.

Your Dog Needs to be Spayed or Neutered, Right? -- Dogs Naturally also tackles the subject of the health benefits, and negative impacts, of spay/neuter. 

"Raising them right" and "bad owners" -- Beyond Breed askes what message "it's how they were raised" sends about shelter dogs....

Reactive Dog: Foundation Exercises for your Leash-Reactive Dog --- a great training guideline for a popular problem of leash reactivity in dogs -- from Dr. Sophia Yin.

The dog bit me -- a New York Times Magazine writer talks about the day her dog bit her child and many of the circumstances that led up to the bite. It's interesting how important the circumstances become when you take "breed" (which is never mentioned in the article) out of the equation.

I was bitten by a dog as a kid and nobody freaked out -- I love this article because I think it represents a similar situation to when I was bitten as a child. No one freaked out. No one blamed the dog. Nobody blamed me. When rational judgment replaced hysteria....

Speaking of hysteria, a family in Salem, MO is struggling to keep their pet from having to be killed by local officials after the Labrador "nipped" a 7 year old child. In spite of passing a local professional's behavior evaluation, local authorities are insisting the dog should be killed.

Weekly Roundup - -Week Ending 6/16/13

Well, this is awkward. But I have this weekly column, the weekly roundup, that it's been over a month since I've posted. That's a little embarrassing. So today, I'm cleaning out the files. No dog bite news. Probably not much BSL News. But today I'll post a collection of links that I think are useful that I've collected over the past month that I hope you'll find of value. Let's see how this works:

Cities/States and Laws

Clay, AL (population less than 10,000) passed a law targeting "pit bulls" after the sheriff was approached by an aggressive pack of dogs that he believed to be Rottweilers. Anyone who thinks laws targeting pit bulls are done because of a rational approach, see this.

Breed Specific Legislation

Animal Farm Foundation has the details, and a really nice infographic, that notes that more communities are either looking at breed-specific laws, and choosing breed-neutral ones, or repealing BSL, than passing it. This is something I've been discussing for years here on this blog -- but the infographic and details in the AFF blog are nice to see.

Here's the trailer to the new documentary "Guilty 'til proven innocent".  Looks interest for sure from the short trailer. If anyone has more information about the movie, or has seen it, I'd love to hear feedback.

Breed Specific Legislation - Pride, Prejudice and the damning of pit bulls -- Great thoughts from Dancing Dog Blog

Increasing Adoptions

Short term offers with fee-waved adoptions are a great way to help move animals quickly for shelters and research indicates that these pets are just as valued as pets that are paid for. I'm going to post more thoughts on this, but this is good research for now.

Health

New study links herbicide exposure to bladder cancer in dogs -- this isn't probably earthshattering news to anyone paying attention...

Behavior

Are you overly protective when your dog plays rough?  - A nice article from Dogster about reading canine body language and not interfering with healthy behavior.

Miscellaneous

We are them -- ASPCA Pro, Dr. Emily Weiss, notes how spending time with "Them", with an open mind, will help people overcome negative perceptions of low income people not believing in spay/neuter, or not being safe, and turning those perceptions into the reality that "they" just need access to resources and comunication. Great thoughts Emily.

Pet Diaries: What a street savvy cat taught me about building a community -- from GOOD

 What I learned, what I've come to appreciate -- some interesting thoughts about looking back on what previous notions she had about dogs, and things she didn't know and thought she knew --  from Beyond Breed

The anatomy of a dog attack -- a reminder that dogs don't attack "out of the blue" or "totally unprovoked" -- from K9 Magazine (UK)

Black Dog Syndrome - Fact or Fiction -- more thoughts on "Black Dog Syndrome" from Patricia McConnell

Lost & Found

Could your lost and found listings use a tune-up?  Some good thoughts from ASPCA pro on how to up your Return-to-owner rates through lost and found.

Probability vs Possibility -  Lost Dogs Wisconsin has a great post on finding your lost pet -- focusing on what PROBABLY happened will more likely lead you back to your lost pet that focusing on what possibly happened.

Deep thoughts

This is an interesting post from Lucky Dog about the first pit bull that changed everything for her and drew her to rescue. I think most of us have a "that dog" and I think this post will help move you to remember back before "that dog".

And if that post doesn't get you, this visual from Poodle and Dog Blog will.

The world is not changed by people who sort of care -- not animal welfare related, but completely animal welfare related -- from Sally Hogshead.

Fun

Participation isn't difficult or mandatory -- I love this little graphic that reminds us that politics, and particular dog politics, is not a spectator sport.

25 animals at bath time - this pictoral is as cute as you'd expect

Weekly Roundup -- Week Ending 5-5-13

I'm a couple weeks behind on roundup, so I have quite a bit of stuff to get through. So sit back, relax, and let's take a look at the top stories from the week(s) that was:

Cities/States and Laws

In North Carolina, a bill was filed that would have restricted ownership of six different breeds of dogs. The bill was wisely killed only 3 days later, again, showing the completely lack of support for laws restricting ownership of certain breeds.

Madison County, AL has a new breed-neutral Dangerous Dog law that has taken effect -- targeting owners who's dogs show signs of aggression, regardless of the type of dog.

Murfeesboro, AR, a town of about 1700 people,  banned all 'pit bulls' from the community -- taking 25 year step back in time in how to deal with aggressive dog issues.

 

Dog bites/attacks

In this country there are more than 75 million owned dogs. Most never bite, and dogs continue to be among the safest creatures on the planet. But sometimes they do bite, and when they do, it can occassionally lead to major injuries. When this happens, it is important to look at the CIRCUMSTANCES behind the events, not breed. By focusing on responsible pet ownership (and parenting) and focusing on dangerous behaviors of owners, we will be better equipped to deal with the few dogs that act aggressively.

An Ohio inmate lost part of his nose while playing with a dog that was part of the prison dog program there. The inmate reportedly tripped while chasing a ball during recreation and fell onto the dog and the dog spun around and bit him.

A woman in Madrid, IA lost her nose when a 50 lbs "Lab Mix" ran out of the yard and attacked her, her husband and their pet Beagle. The husband bit the dog back to stop the assault. Interestingly, the type of dog involved in the attack was not mentioned when USA Today covered the story.

A three-year old Alabama girl suffered bites to her face and wounds to her arms after she was bitten by her Grandmother's German Shepherd mix. The young toddler was left alone, unattended with the dog and unfortunately "came into contact with the dog" and the dog bite the child multiple times. The dog was put down so it could be tested for rabies. Parents, PLEASE, supervise all interactions between your toddlers and dogs.

A Long Beach woman suffered major injuries, including "significan nerve damage" in one of her arms, when she was attacked by an off-leash Akita. The story wasn't picked up by any main stream news reports, but only by a citizen journalism news source.

In Bradenton, FL, a 6 year old boy was severely bitten by a 'pit bull'. The dog actually had a bite history of two other bites, one to its owner, and another to the owner's niece. If your dog has a history of aggressive behavior, it is YOUR responsibility to get the dog the training and socialization it needs to overcome these issues. Hire a professional. Do whatever, but fix the problem.

In the Town of Kinston, NY, a five year old girl was airlifted after being bitten on the face by a German Shepherd that lived at the home.

A 3 year old Maine girl is expected to remain in the hospital for at least a month after being severely attacked by a Rottweiler. According to the report, the dog was tied by a metal cable to a barn and the young girld approached the dog with a dog biscuit.  The dog broke the choke collar and attacked the girl. Apparently someone in the household watched the event take place and didn't recognize what were likely obvious warning signals in the dog's behavior that would have led up to it breaking its collar.

A 7 year old Akron girl was severely injured when she was attacked by a Rottweiler that police say belonged to a neighbor and got out of its enclosure.

 

Positive Press

A "pit bull" in Long Island, NY saved its owner's life when it barked to wake her as fire began to engulf the house.

Pit bulls in Michigan are helping build responsibility and compassion at a juvenile detention center. Through the dogs, the youth learn about dog behavior, patience and affection.

Aggressive pit bulls: Nature or Nurture?   In Lee County, FL the media gets an opportunity to meet a few of the many very good pit bull type dogs at their local shelter.

An update on another one of Mike Vick's dogs named Mel, who is doing well in a home environment 6 years after he was saved from Vick's property.

A tail-wagging pit bull helps students with their reading. This is from Des Moines (which has breed-specific legislation targeting pit bulls) -- really cute picture at the link as well.

A pit bull's aggression is nurture, not nature, says a Sacramento area veterinarian. Experts overwhelmingly agree.

 

No Kill News

In response to some ridiculous statements by PETA, the Gainsville Sun ran the editorial "Don't be absurd: No kill shelters are beneficial for animals." Yes, saving them is better than killing them, under most circumstances.

Miscellaneous

Stray Rescue in St. Louis is uniting dogs with runners in a Running Buddies enrichment program. The program helps get high-energy running dogs the exercise they need....and runners a running buddy.

FitBark, a new company that recently launched a Kickstarter campaign, seeks to monitor the amount of exercise your dog gets during the day to see if it is getting the amount of exercise it needs.

In what I can only describe as a simply amazing story, in Russia, wild dogs learned to take the subway into the city center to get food scraps from urban dwellers, and then take the train back to the suburbs each night for safer dwellings.

Bite prevention requires common sense -- a solid article from Jean McGoarty, the executive director of the Kokomo Humane Society.

Humans and dogs need training to avoid bites -- another veterinarian gives her viewpoint, which again, focuses on owner education, human education, and how to handle dogs.

National Animal Groups in the News

A positive reveiw by the ASPCA for HSUS and their Pets for Life program -- which is a great program. On the flip side, this news report notes that HSUS does not give money to local Humane societies, like many people mistakenly believe.

The Today Show takes a look at the AKC and how just because a dog has AKC papers doesn't mean it's a well-bred dog or that it came from a well-raised environment.

Blogs

Why the internet loves cats -- an infographic from social media times

Volunteer programs, what we're learning -- from the ASPCA Pro.

Fear and Loathing in Ontario - SnorkyShorkie takes a look at biased media reports and anti-pit bull propaganda in Ontario

Weekly roundup -- Week ending 4-14-13

It's actually been a pretty brutal week on the news front. Maryland completely screwed up their opportunity to overturn the Solesky court case, and there were two fatal dog bite incidents. I'll cover all three of these stories under separate covers in the next day or so.

Meanwhile, a lot of other interesting stuff out there and here's a look at some of the top stories from the week that was.

Cities/States and Laws

Chippewa Falls, WI has decided against breed-specific legislation and instead want to focus on owner accountability in how they handle aggressive dogs. We agree.

Wooster, OH is looking at eliminating its breed specific law noting that the current breed-specific law actually makes it challenging to deal with aggressive dogs that are not of the restricted breed.

Bluefield, WV is proposing an ordinance that would ban new pit bulls from entering the community of about $10,000 people.

Parkersburg, WV appears to also be discussing breed-specific regulations. Several council members are concerned about the ability to enforce such a law, others are concerned about the legality of it, but the success (or failure) of the law in Bluefield may have a role in determining what Parkersburg does.

Bloomington, IL  is staying away from breed-specific legislation. One city council member noted that discussing breed specific laws would "move us away from the issue at hand" -- which is oh, so true.

Miscellaneous

Law Enforcement Today has an interesting article warning police officers of potential legal suits that could come from shooting dogs owned by the public. Hat Tip to the Greenville Dog Examiner.

 In maybe the most bizarre story this week, the Idaho Humane Society received 63 'pit bulls' that were found at the site of a triple homicide.  Three people were found dead at the scene, including a mother who was still clutching her still-alive infant. There were 63 dogs at the scene and the dogs were saved from the situation. There was also about $100,000 worth of marijuana found at the scene.

Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware suffered a horrific combound fracture in his leg in the NCAA Basketball tournament. To help him deal with the tragic injury, he adopted a new pit bull puppy he named "Scar." Dogs bring so much to our lives, including comfort when we're down.

Blogs

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers good advice - for parents to never leave dogs and their young children alone together.

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 4/7/13

A lot of stuff going on out there, so sit back, have a cup of coffee and catch up on some of the stories you may have missed from the week that was. As always, if you have other stories you'd like to share, feel free to post them in the comments.

Cities/States and Laws

Unfortunately, a lot of tiny little communities moving in the wrong direction this week:

The tiny community of West Branch, MI (Population 2100) decided to uphold it's 14 year old ban on "pit bulls" by a vote of 3-2. Most the people in this community probably know every dog there by name and would know which ones were aggressive or caused incidents without such a ban, but ignorance remains in some areas.

New Llano, LA voted to ban 'pit bulls' (and anything that looks like one) in their community. It's another small community of 2500 people and they can probably fit all the affected owners in a small room and it seems either hysteria, or a way to target an individual, than a real public safety issue.

Chippewa Falls, WI is kicking around the idea of a breed ban. Hopefully they'll listen local experts and decide to stay with a behavior-based ordinance instead of the breed-specific one.

Hornbeak, TN (population 450) has pased a ban on 10 different breeds of dogs. Again, anyone who thinks breed bans are a 'pit bull issue' is wrong...

Fortunately, many smart communities get it:

In Royal Oak, MI, they are toughening up their dangerous dog law and Mayor Jim Ellison said it would target breeds "over his dead body". They are looking at responible pet ownership, dog behavior and education as their keys. Bravo.

Dog bites/attacks

When we discuss dog bites on this blog, I often refer to a couple of realities that a) most dogs are not aggressive and as companions fit very safely into our homes and b) that when dog bites/attacks occur, that it is almost always a set of circumstances, human behavior (often including unsupervised children), warning signals and social issues that lead up to a severe attack and that these are the circumstances that should be targeted, not breeds. Here are a few examples:

In Bennsville, MD, three dogs, including dogs reported as a Presa Canario and an English Bulldog (although there appears to be a lot of confusion on the types of dogs involved) attacked a 5 year old girl who wandered outside at night unattended and unsupervised as the child's boyfriend was supposed to be watching her but wasn't. The girl wandered into an area that contained the dogs and was viciously attacked. Apparently animal control had been to the home before and were asked to remove more than a dozen Cane Corsos and poverty appears to be a pretty major issue in this community.

 In the UK, a 9 year old boy had to have stitches and a huge amount of swelling on his face after being bitten by a Yorkshire Terrier -- a tiny toy breed.

A Sandusky, OH woman suffered significant injuries when a 17 week old German Shepherd attacked her. Apparentlyt he woman was leading the dog outside and it became VERY agitated when a cat zipped by and redirected the frustration onto the woman, causing significant bite injuries to her arm and wrist.

No Kill News

The Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association  is working with a local rescue group to help reduce shelter euthanasia - and in fact, saw a 77% decrease in dogs killed at the shelter and an 89% decrease in puppies killed via their partnership and programs to increase adoptions.

Media Reporting

Police arrest a man for possession of crack cocaine and illegal handguns -- however, somehow it's his dog that makes the headline.

An Iowa Man was apparently bitten in the face by a dog during the middle of the afternoon. The victim described the dog as either "black or brown" and either a "pit bull or a rottweiler". These two dog breeds look little alike, but apparently any dog that bites is either a pit bull or a rottweiler when a victim reports it...which is why too often witness accounts of breeds are not reliable.

Dos and don't when it comes to dogs -- real efforts to edcuate people about canine behavior from the Irish Examiner. Bravo.

Positive Press

A pit bull therepy dog not only helps students with their reading, but helps dispell stereotypes in the process.

Abuse cases 

Nine 'pit bulls' were found severely abused in the backyard ofa home in Bardstown, KY. Humans continue to be more of a threat to pit bulls than vice versa and it's another reason why looking at containment/ownership issues is important.

In the Kansas City area, more than 70 dogs were seized from a 3-state dog-fighting bust. A local expert (and friend of mine) discusses how the dogs will need to be evaluated as individuals to determine their eventual fate. It's worth noting that one of the locations of the bust was actually in a comminty with a 25 year ban on pit bulls -- showing once again that breed bans don't stop illegal activiites.

Blogs

More dogs = more attacks - Sam the Dog Trainer looks at how the more dogs that are in the home the more likely you are to struggle with group dynamics.

Dog memory - a clever take on dog memory (and how people have it too) from The Poodle and Dog Blog

Long-time advocate Kim Wolfe has started a new blog entitled "Beyond Breed" that is worth checking out. Here's why she chose the name, and a couple of highlights from the past couple of weeks.

When raising awareness raises fear - more from Beyond Breed about how sometimes efforts to "educated" people on issues like dogfighting creates more fear than helping solve a problem.

10 tips for speaking with Legislators about BSL -- good advice from Beyond Breed

Don't think, adopt! - ASPCA Pro discusses impulse adoptions -- and that they're not as bad as many people mistakenly think.

There's no Us vs Them: We all want the safe communities -- Animal Farm Foundation has a nice post about how everyone wants to live in a safe community, so meeting people on that common ground is important before discussing the difference in opinion on breed-specific policies.

Picture of a Pit Bull with Bird on its Head surrounded by Bunnies -- the headline says it all, but the picture is worth a thousand words

You keep using that word - Euthanasia - I do not think it means what you think it means -- from Rescue One Dog -- the words "euthanasia" and "kill" should not be used interchangably

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 3/24/13

Changing up the format of the weekly roundup a bit - with fewer links, but hopefully more important links.  Let's see how this goes:

Cities/States and Laws

The Florida Bill that would force shelters to be transparent unanimously passed out of the Senat committee last week. Supporters of the bill hope that promoting accountability will aid in the number of lives saved in these communities.

The city of Overland Park, KS, which already has a host of ridiculously bad pet laws including very restrictive pet limit laws of 2 and a breed ban, now wants to charge pet foster homes $100 per foster pet.

A city councilman in Westwego, LA is pushing for a breed-specific law after a woman was severely injured by her own dogs in her own home. 

West Memphis, AR is looking at a breed-specific law to target pit bulls. West Memphis is a community of 26,000 people where a whopping 42% of the population (3X the national average) live below the poverty line. They had 28 dog bites last year, with 3 coming from pit bulls to people outside of the dog's home. They seem to be looking to solve a problem that doesn't exist in a community that no doubt has more than its fair share of problems.

A New York Law that would prohibit insurance companies from descriminating based on breed was approved by the Assembly Insurance Committee.

Dog bites/attacks and dangerous dog laws

In Boston, a 14 year old boy apparently entered a fenced in area where two Rottweilers were being used as a guard dog. The dogs attacked the teenager (as it was specifically trained to do) and the boy was saved by a police officer who arrived quickly to the scene and shot one of the dogs. The boy was apparently familiar with the dogs and had pictures of himself playing with the dogs, so it is a bit of an odd situation. However, I think it's interesting that this incident occurred in Boston, where they have been focusing all of their efforts on trying to keep their law targeting breeds of dogs instead of focusing on situations that lead to dogs (regardless of breed) to be aggressive -- in this case, actually training dogs to be aggressive as watch dogs.

A pack of mixed breed dogs reportedly attacked an elderly woman in Portsmouth, OH. The owner of the dogs has been repeatedly cited for letting the dogs, several with a history of aggression, repeatedly roam at large. Officials continue to just write citations and not crack down further. Many cities do need stronger laws that crack down on dogs that show a history of irresponsible pet ownership and repeatedly put the public at risk through their actions.

Officials in Verona, MO suffered from "confusion" in trying to determine whether a dog owned by a family in the community was a French Mastiff, or a pit bull. Pit bulls are banned under community law. No actual discussion seems to have taken place over whether or not the dog was aggressive in any way (by all accounts, the dog never bothers anyone). But the city is trying to enforce it's law an now seems unable to tell the difference between a 150 lbs breed and a 60 lbs breed and instead of asking the right question, of "is this dog safe?" -- they're trying to determine breed. What a collossal waste.

Miscellaneous

An interesting story about a family that lost their home owners insurance because the company declared their dog to be a pit bull and dropped their insurance. The dog is a member of the family and is not aggressive, but now the family is looking for new insurance. The ridiculousness of insurance bans against certain breeds is being addressed in several state legislatures right now and I'm glad that governments are looking at this.

A new study shows that people have evolved to be able to read dogs' facial expressions.

Pit Bull Therapy helps veterans in Tennessee.

No Kill News

Monmouth County, NJ has reported a 94% live release rate for 2012 -- with an intake of about 4500 animals and a budget of about $4.2 million.

Animal shelters in Cleveland, OH continue to have success in minimizing shelter euthanasia. As recently as 2000, the two large shelters in the community took in more than 26,000 animals -- and killed nearly 17,000.  In 2012, the shelters took in less than 13,000, and killed just over 3,000. The shelter euthanasia rates are now 14% for dogs and 27% for cats. Congrats on the progress in Cleveland, and here's to more improvement and success.

The Huffington Post covers No Kill Success in Austin.

Positive changes in Racine, WI  -- including nearly doubling the number of animals adopted in the first two months of the year-- from Wisconsin Watchdog.

Blogs

Can a photo-bombing dog sell a house or rent an apartment?  - This is hilarious and awesome from The Poodle and Dog Blog

Animal cruelty, do you know it when you see it?  Department of Ag Disagrees? -- Some interesting thoughts on Animal Cruelty from Dancing Dog Blog

Reducing Shelter Admissions with Animal Help Desk -- from Nevada Humane Society's Bonney Brown via Maddies Fund

Yes - I think I want one -- Would you like to have a pet fox? -- From Poodle and Dog Blog

3 ways to boost return-to-owner rates -- from the ASPCA Pro

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 3-10-13

It's been a busy week and I'm a little behind on a host of topics. I should be able to get to many of them this week. Meanwhile, here are some of the top stories you may have missed from the week that was.

Cities/States and Laws

Hornbeak, TN passed the first reading of a bill that would ban several breeds of dogs, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, Akitas, Chow Chows, Doberman Pinschers and German Shepherds. If you are in the area, please contact your city officials to tell them that breed-neutral, behavior-based legislation is the best for public safety.

After 10 months of discussion, Schuyler, NE passed a dangerous dog law that targets 11 different breeds of dog -- including the "Pit bull Terrier", Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Presa Canario, Cane Corso, American Bulldog, Chow Chow, Doberman Pinscher, Rottweiler, and American Bandogg. Anyone who thinks that breed specific legislation is just a pit bull issue make note.

Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in Rhode Island that would create state-wide breed-specific legislation. However, after more education from experts in the community, the bill was pulled. Now, a new bill has been introduced that would prohibit breed-specifc legislation from municipalities. This shows how quickly ideas can change once experts in their local communities are consulted and people understand that breed-specific laws are not the solution to increasing public safety.

Bronwood, GA briefly considered a breed-specific dangerous dog law, but then after careful consideration opted not to go that route.

SB160 in Maryland, a bill that would over-ride a court ruling that declared 'pit bulls' as dangerous advanced out of the Senate Judicial proceedings by a unanimous vote. The bill now advances to the entire Senate floor. The companion bill advanced by a Unanimous vote in the House of Representatives as well. While the Baltimore Sun seems to imply there is some "unraveling" that is going on, at this point there is no evidence of that from the votes that have been cast.

Lansing MI is discussing the possibility of enacting breed-specific legislation -- so far the majority of the people commenting on the bill, per usual, are opposed to breed-specific provisions.

In Colorado, legislators are looking into a bill that would require police to take dog encounter training as a way of preventing so many dogs from being shot.

Dog bites/attacks

A year old infant in New Jersey suffered "serious" injureis when she was bitten in her face by a Husky in her home.

An 8 year old Saskatchewan boy suffered major injuries, after he entered a fenced kennel where a mixed breed dog was kept and the dog attacked the boy.

No Kill

The Bark magazine has a great article about the innovative sheltering idea of creating mall "boutique" adoption centers. These centers provide high-traffic exposure of adoptable pets and with the recent recession, space in these malls is often available and can be gotten for discounted rates for 501c3 rescue groups. Late last year, our organization, KC Pet Project, opened a retail adoption center that has created about a 40% increase in total adoptions since its opening - which has bee critical for lifesaving in our community. Great article from the Bark, and great idea for shelters across the country.

KC Pet Project was invited to speak at the Kansas City Mayor's stat meeting -- discussing the decrease in euthanasia at the city shelter over the past 14 months. Midtown KC Post has details, and a chart from the meeting that I'm really proud of.

The Fairfield County animal shelter (Lancaster, OH) has decreased its euthanasia rate from 34% to 17% over the past year. They're continuing to look at options to reduce this rate even further.

Austin schools other cities on No Kill - media coverage about Austin's Pet Alive Conference as others went to Austin to learn how to make their communities No Kill.

Miscellaneous

Many people in No Kill circles know Aimee Saddler's name. Aimee is a great dog trainer, who is helping shelters (including ours) institute playgroups for shelter dogs. The playgroups are designed to give the dogs good socialization, enrichment, and burn off energy -- all of which are invaluable to making them more adoptable in a shelter setting. Here's a great video she posted this week about why they don't micromanage interactions in a playgroup setting.

A feature on Canine Investigator Jim Crosby. Jim does a great job of investigating canine attack scenes and deterimining the circumstances behind these attacks.

Three pit bulls were stolen from the Lake Jackson SPCA (TX) last week -- showing once again that the idea that pit bulls are good guard dogs is a myth, and often can't even keep themselves from being stolen.

A pit bull helped his master this week -- as the master was being attacked by another man with a golf club, the pit bull intervened and attacked the attacker.

Trooper, a pit bull puppy that was dragged nearly to death, has finally healed under the care of the Humane Society of Missouri and is now available for adoption.

Blogs

A volunteer love story - Barb and Dru - A day with Homeless Dogs discusses a volunteer at our shelter in Kansas City and how the volunteer has connected with a long-timer at the shelter.

Babble has a great article and pictoral about the Pin-ups for Pit Bulls group that is increasing awareness of the softer side of pit bulls.

Counter Conditioning and Desensitization for Dogs - Part 1 -- Eric is finally back at Dog Spelled Forward with insights in to Classical Conditioning for dog, and how to change this conditioning.

My dog is aggressive to others on leash - Dog Spelled forward looks at the common problem of leash reactivity, and how to manage. Step 1, pay attention. Step 2, change the association to the emotional aggressive response.

Book review of the book Mr. and Ms. Dog -- by Raised by Wolves.

To save animals, you have to like people -- trusting the public is the most important part of saving lives -- it is the public that is going to adopt, foster, donate and tell others to do the same.

The problem with Dandelions - Lost Dogs Wisconsin has an interesting article about "dandelions" -- which they describe as dogs that are very common and look very similar -- with good advice on how to find them when they're lost.

For Fun

An image of a well-prepared cat.