Wednesday, March 17, 2010

shake ups and shake downs in oakland


We're grateful to everyone who has expressed their concern about the 23 dogs that were rescued by Oakland Animal Services from squalid conditions in an Oakland home on Tuesday. We know the perpetrator all too well ... This 'prolific' backyard breeder - who stuffed crates-full of young dogs into a crowded out building - has been vexing our fair town and filling our shelter's kennels with homeless pit bulls for many years. We all look forward to watching the legal process unfold.


Fear not. The dogs are safe and will be evaluated and offered placements as appropriate.

It's too early to think of setting them up with homes, but stay tuned. Maybe this is the spring that you decide to take the plunge and foster a needy pit bull? Wouldn't that be fantastic.





retrofit time

In other news, tomorrow the work crews show up to pour the big bad ass earthquake retrofit footings for the barn. Woot!

Did we ever tell you that we're near the big bad ass Hayward fault line that runs underneath the east bay? Yeah, that one.

We lucked out when a staffy bull owning civil engineer with a heart of gold offered her time gratis to help us figure out how to retrofit the barn, among other tricky brain-teasers. Kelton Finney has been a lifesaver and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure the dogs stay safe during a big shaker. (If you know her, please - buy that woman a beer for helping the dogs!)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah Donna,

So grateful that you guys are there to monitor the situation with these dogs! I guess the good news if there is ever good news in these situations is that maybe, just maybe, this creep will be put away and you'll stop seeing so many of his stock appear in your shelter and other nearby.

Anonymous said...

Thank DOG! As an OAS volunteer and loyal Bad Rap supporter, I have been watching this story unfold all day and wondering how we, as a community would handle it. The comments by the OPD Sgt. in today's paper were quite scary....and I don't accurately represented the philisophy or sentiment of OAS. I just knew that good judgement would prevail here in our own backyard. Can't wait to hear how the volunteer corp at OAS can help...please keep us posted and THANK YOU, THANK YOU! XOXOXO

Anonymous said...

(continued) And thanks for providing another example of how bust dog victims should be treated and evaluated!

Lynn in N. cal

Maureen said...

Thank you so much for the update. I've been on edge all day waiting for news on this dogs. I was so angry to hear the statement the OAS director made yesterday before they were even evaluated. But I knew you'd be right there making sure that right was being done for these fellows.

Please let us know if OAS is in need of additional supplies for this sudden influx.

Anonymous said...

Disheartening to learn Mr. Brown has been at it for 14+ years..

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10950/CA/US/

Just depressing to consider the number of animals who have suffered at his hand.

"Just walk them, play with them.." Oil them, staple them.

Anonymous said...

On a bright spot the dogs are away from this creep and will be given a fair shot...The only thing that bothered me is that KTVU (Channel 2) had a vicious looking Pit or Pit type that looked like it was trying to attack in the picture in the upper righthand corner while they were reporting and for no reason. This wasn't about a dog attack and we wonder why so many are scared of Pits. I hate when the news tries to sway your opinion that way.

Anonymous said...

I was so disappointed to see the following passage in the KTVU.com article about this story:

Unfortunately for the allegedly abused animals, their fate seems inevitable.
"They are under-socialized,” said Sgt. Cronin. “They appear to be dog aggressive, which makes it difficult to put them back out in the community. The likelihood is, frankly, that we will end up having to euthanize all of these dogs."


Sgt. David Cronin is the acting Director for Oakland Animal Services, and I just thought that it was extremely inappropriate for him to suggest that all of these dogs had no chance of being rehabilitated and put into new, loving homes. We all know that this IS a real possibility for some of these dogs, especially the puppies that were found there.

I really hope you guys can get the word out about how we can help these dogs and save them from being put down.

Donna said...

Anon 10:44 - We met with Cronin today and he's changed his message about the dogs since the KTVU story came out. I don't think he realized how much passion Oakland has for pit bulls. The dogs will get a fair shake, just like the other shelter dogs.

Anonymous said...

I saw the news story yesterday and didn't even think about sending BADRAP an email. I already KNEW you wouldn't let those dogs be euth'd without a fair evaluation.

s&b/mty

Dianne said...

Thanks for stepping in. Why can't we get some kind of law enforcement to prevent Brown from doing this again? We see it with the puppy mill owners, reapplying for licenses after they've been busted by HSUS and the county sheriff. Is it big AGRA? I just don't get it. In the cat world, there is a Bengal "breeder" who is a hoarder and has been profiled and busted on Animal Cops and still keeps managing to breed...

Joel said...

I also saw the Channel 2 news report last night, my wife was not happy with the vicious looking dog used in the picture box. That might be the association to a dogfighting ring but does not do any favors to the dogs picked up in the bust, many of whom didn't appear to be a year old. You can imagine the news room prep: "Story on pit bulls at 10, somebody dig up a Getty image"

Anyhow I knew there was no need to alert Bad Rap about this, I'm sure they were contacted before anybody else. Hopefully the close proximity of this bust will encourage a higher rate of fostering for any dogs that are suitable to be adopted.

oakjen said...

Unfortunately there is no law in Califoria to prevent repeat animal abuse offenders from owning animals after a conviction and repeating the cycle. Here is a matrix outlining abuse laws in all 50 states. The bottom line is the law needs to be changed here in California. http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/10950/CA/US/

Jennifer - Oakland

Spiderama said...

If the proposed Senate Bill 1277 passes, it would be the first state criminal registry to mandate that felony convicted animal abusers register their names in a public database including community notifications. http://aldf.org/article.php?id=1274
I see a few loopholes but at least its a start in keeping track of some of these creeps.

~bullymomma~

Maureen said...

Hi Donna - Does this case have any connection to the 12 pit bulls that were seized at the Oakland drug house on Feb 25th? I haven't heard any follow-up on that case. Do you know what is happening with that one?