Here are some reasons to smile this Monday.
1. Brave heart Jonny Justice made us all proud by passing the American Temperament Test this past weekend. Not bad, considering the test involves a gun blast and a scary stranger - both of which factored into the dark days of his former life. The ATTS criteria is tough. Evaluators score dogs on their confidence and stability in confrontational situations. Pit bulls still rank as one of the top scoring breeds in the ATTS yearly scores.2. The ASPCA is including happy ending photos of the V-dogs in their online course: Investigating Animal Abuse for Law Enforcement. Valerie S. Sheppard, Director of ASPCA's E-Learning told us that they hope to "illustrate the point that law enforcement officers who investigate dog fighters can truly make the difference in the lives of animals." Yes, ma'am!
3 The American Bar Association (ABA) is looking at the Vick case as an important animal welfare precedent, and a teaching case for up and coming animal law attorneys. Legal proceedings and lessons learned will be presented in a workshop at DePaul University College of Law this coming September 19. In addition to great inside info from Special Master Guardian Rebecca Huss, forensics expert Dr. Melinda Merck and others, Tim and I will be there to discuss the challenges of caring for fight bust victims. We're honored to be included in the event, which will be a bit of a reunion for many of us. Attorneys: Register Now
Way to go Jonny! I'm not surprised, having watched his training class in action, I don't think it will be long before his classmates join him.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good dog - I'll be sure to let Daphne know what she has to look up to.
Becky
Wow !!
ReplyDeleteThe ABA. You guys must be very flattered. That is huge !!!
They are the dogs that changed the world. Their sweet dispositions are typical of any pitbull, except that now people who would never have paid that "mean-looking" dog any attention, are realizing what precious gems they truly are.
ReplyDeleteI walk my petbull through the same neighborhood every day and usually have one or two people stop, smile, say something sweet to her, and get a wet, licky kiss from her in return. I have to assure people that this IS a typical reaction to kindness. The media monster is NOT typical -- that is the result of a moron human screwing up a perfectly fine dog!
Thank you BADRAP for opening the eyes, minds and hearts of the world. I look forward to the day there is a chapter of BADRAP in every state, BSL ceases to exist and our dogs are happy, healthy and safe.