Friday mentions

What's Life like for investigation dogs in your shelter? It's a good thing to know because in most, custody dogs fall to bottom-drawer priority and suffer long months of maddening isolation and kennel stress before their fates are determined by the courts. In many cases, the dogs are pit bulls and their jail time is a direct result of bad decisions on some human's part...Victims of idiocy. There's a lot of that going around, unfortunately.




The staff at the busy Tampa-area shelter that I keep blabbing about (Hillsborough County Animal Services) have been losing sleep over their custody dogs for awhile. They traveled to the bay area last year to attend Pit Ed Camp and to learn new ways to keep kenneled dogs happy. The trip included a visit to see Corinne Dowling's Give A Dog A Bone project for fresh inspiration. Less than a year later, they pulled together enough funds and community interest to create a big happy playground just for the dogs waiting out long-term jail sentences.

This may seem pretty basic, but it's actually revolutionary - especially when you consider how dogs like Spyder might've grown up right in the head had her shelter had similar resources. Photos courtesy of Hillsborough County Animal Services

This 30lb sweetie was awarded to the HCAS by the courts and will be going up for adoption. They look for the same qualities that we look for in our BR dogs, so if you're shopping for a new pit bull in the Tampa area, high tail it over to see this munchkin, a female named 'Pheebee.'

Ding Dong the Bill is Dead! Florida's HB101 - the bill that would've permitted BSL in the State of Florida - is dead! Congrats to everyone who worked so hard to bring it down.

High fives to BR volunteer Roxanne Alden and her pit bull Jackson, who were recognized by a local paper (Sonoma Index-Tribune ) for earning their AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate. Roxanne's winning quote in the article, "Jackson is not an exception to the breed norm, he's an example of it." ...Word!

In South Carolina three of eight dogs taken from a fight bust were moved into foster care and have been receiving training in preparation for adoption We just love when shelters buck the system in favor of helping the animals. In Pima AZ, the authorities finally charged the six pit bull owners with dog fighting. Their dogs will be available for qualified rescue groups soon, although with over 100 dogs-in-need, it's certain that only a small number will find help.