Mauling in Texas

Stories like these make me claw at the walls. I want to turn back time and find a way to get to this home and talk to the people that live there before before before the tragedy. Dogs should not be chained sentries. Sorry, responsible chaining people. We know you're out there, but godhelpus, chained dogs in impoverished neighborhoods are so often unstable and children living near them are so often not safe. We know that, but still everyone acts surprised when a chained dog gets loose and a child is hurt or worse.

Remember, Karen taught us well: Function of dog. Function of dog.

For every dedicated dog person scrambling to stop BSL, we need three more out in the neighborhoods, where children live, where dogs are chained and employed as guard dogs - where the next headline is pacing in dusty circles and slowly going insane. Educate, educate, educate.

Vaya con Dios, ángelito.

Breed Ambassador. Literally.

Meet Tigre.

A Mexico-born, scatterbred pit bull who found himself homeless. Sarah, then dog-less and living in Oaxaca, happened to be out on a jog and saw him curled up and lying in the brush by a trail, weak but happy to meet her. Being the animal lover that she is, she brought him to a vet and had him all fixed up.

That was five and a half years ago.

True to form, Tigre's never met a person he didn't fall madly in love with. And, he's dog social to boot, having had to play foster brother to the many stray dogs Sarah brought home and adopted out while in Mexico.

Tigre has traveled to more places than some people. Sarah herself travels often and she never leaves him behind when she moves from place to place. She's flown him home to the midwest, back to Mexico, and over to California for grad school. Now, they're in Washington, D.C., where Sarah's starting her career in the U.S. Foreign Service, getting ready to leave for her first post. When Sarah had to prioritize where she wanted to be posted abroad, she had to carefully research and cross off the places around the world that have banned pit bulls.

I found Tigre when he was about 1 year old. He was extremely emaciated, anemic and tick-ridden. He was so emaciated that the vet couldn't even tell what breed he was. I've learned so much about pit bulls through the years since having Tigre in my life and have confronted so many people's stereotypes (especially in talking with landlords when looking for places to live!) Tigre is one of the many dogs (and one of several pit bulls) that travel with their Foreign Service owners, living in countries around the world. As we prepare to head off to Pakistan, I look forward to more people around the world meeting him and realizing what kind, friendly dogs pit bulls can be.

Safe travels, Sarah and Teeg!

The Biggest Thug of All

A Celebrated Vick Dog Adoption

This Minnesota guy - known on the street as Roo Dog - is one bad-ass mutha thugga. Secret cameras have captured him engaging in gang-related activities involving flying discs with a pit bull named Wallace. His rap sheet is a mile long, and his escapades are well documented.

After learning how deeply entrenched in the thug lifestyle this canine king pin is, it was only natural that we match him up with the biggest thug dog in the country: The notorious Hector Thug. Hector has been called a 'ticking time bomb' - a 'fighting machine' and 'one of the most violent dogs in america.' Certain animal welfare org thugs quake in his presence. Yo!




We're pleased as peaches to announce the official adoption of Hector de Thug to his new Daddy Disk Man -- Roo Dog. Hector has been secreted away to a new location and will be partnering up with Roo and his gal Clara to begin a life of PR excess. We expect the authorities will be keeping a close eye on this gang as they map out their upcoming exploits.

ALL HAIL THE THUGS OF MINNESOTA!!!

Thank yous on Hector's last morning in the bay area:
( a higher res version here. )

Justifying hatred in Lakewood, Ohio

It's a small, densely populated town pushed up against Lake Erie on the north and surrounded by the city of Cleveland. It's mostly white middle class, and it fancies itself a free thinking town that welcomes counterculture and alternative types ... as long as those free thinkers don't own dogs otherwise known as pit bulls.

The city council is scripting out a breed ban and, to justify it, one member rolled out this trash talk in the local paper.

I haven't been able to get through a full reading of this thing without getting sick to my stomach. We have to hope that the "alternative" people of Lakewood wake up and realize how very dangerous their city leaders are.

Boxer Shot
In another part of Ohio, it's news when a boxer mistakenly identified as a pit bull is shot during a routine noise disturbance call. It'll be interesting to see if the city justifies this shooting based on the officer's (mis)perception of breed type.

An Article About Dog-Dog Aggression

Thank yous to Fetch the Paper for inviting us to write about 'lessons learned' with the Vick dogs and dog-dog stuff. This article is in PDF form so you can download it and share it with that special co-worker of yours whose dog aggro fuzzy dog is making you pull your hair out. Grrr. Woof!

Dog vs. Dog

Home Again

Dutch and now Uba have been officially adopted, and Ted and Hector both have promising new applicants.

The dogs over at the Vick Dog Blog are typing away (hard to do with those fat paw pads). I think everyone is realizing that this summer will be bringing that most magical gift for most of the dogs: Home.

'Home is not where you live, but where they understand you.'

Not Thugs

A Shots Fair client with his beautiful little pit bull girl, yesterday in Richmond, CA.




Richmond is a struggling city on the bay with a rep for high crime. It's also the former home of a convicted drug dealer whose dogs severely mauled a little boy in 2001. After attending a Public Safety Commission meeting in '01, we promised the city that we'd return to help, but it's taken us a LONG time to honor that promise. Refreshed with new resources (Thank you supporters!) we finally got our butts up to Richmond to begin looking at best ways to help the dog owners that live there. Of course , it's impossible to know what a community needs without getting to know it first. These fairs give us a great opp to meet our neighbors and learn about their issues and challenges.

Despite biases some might hold about inner city dog owners, the fair's attendees were 1) not thugs 2) not dog fighters 3) not "too poor to properly care for their dogs" 4) not opposed to spay/neuter.

On the contrary - as is so often the case - they are 1) typically under-served by veterinarians (area vets were horrifically reluctant to help us with low cost spay/neuter vouchers) 2) they tend to have an adversarial relationship with animal control due to the heavy law enforcement focus of this agency, 3) they have no local humane orgs to look to for responsible ownership guidance, (the nearest humane org is miles away and caters to middle class adopters) 4) they're unable to access positive/motivational training resources (Note: Personal protection trainers fill this training void - Yikes!) --- however 5) these Richmond dog owners - pit bull owners especially - were extremely grateful to receive support, information, collars/leashes and free spay/neuter vouchers. We even recruited some new volunteers for our Oakland Animal Services project. Nice.



Shots Fair organizer BR diehard Kim Ramirez gives a blue pup owner some insights on dealing with skin issues and dog-dog management.

All in a day's work. On 6/08/08:

188 dogs served.
42 dogs - Approx 23% - appeared to be pit bull or pit mix.
18 of the 42 pit bulls were under six months old.
40 dogs attending were already altered.
148 dogs not altered (mostly CHIHUAHUAS!)
20 pit bull owners received free spay/neuter vouchers.
Dozens of ragged collars and leashes were exchanged for properly fitted equipment

How hard was that? We hope other dog-centric groups join us in reaching out to their local communities. If you're struggling with BSL concerns and would like info on how to set up a Shots Fair, please let us know!

Ban LIFTED. Dank u wel, Netherlands!

From the AP: Big News

Dutch government to lift
25(?) year ban on pit bulls

The Dutch government says it will lift a long-standing ban on pit bulls because it did not lead to any decrease in bite incidents.

Agriculture Minister Gerda Verburg has informed parliament of the decision, which follows the advice of a commission of experts appointed to review the policy.

Instead, the country will focus on enforcing local leashing laws and owner education programs.

Spokesman Koen Geelink said Monday the ministry hopes to have a new policy in place by year-end, in which dogs that have displayed aggression will be tested by an expert.

The country banned the breeding and possession of pit bulls in 1993, after three children were killed by the dogs.

*******

And how much do we love this? The sfgate is running a photo of Teddles (Vick dog) alongside this good news. Hubba hubba!

Angry White Chick Thug

Watch out! Hell hath no fury like a white chick whose pups are dissed by Ingrid. This girl is flexin! Better keep her incognito....

Nurse thug with 2 pit mixes
and a mortgage!

Yo, yo grad school gangstas,
I'm a bad rappin' fool.
I adopt and rescue pitties
'cause it makes me look cool!

Educated, white, upper middle-class,
drive a station wagon - don't you give me no sass!
Married, got a job, pay my taxes on time,
Yet I choose these gangsta dogs, 'cuz their love is sublime.

Sweet, smart, athletic, and funny to boot;
watching playful pit bull antics is a real hoot!
Friendly and inquisitive, they always keep me guessin.'
Each moment spent with happy pitties I consider a blessin.'

So back the hell off, you punk-ass PETA prick!
Your idea of 'helping' my kind just makes me sick.
You spew your rhetoric of enlightened humanity,
but all you really wanna do is take my dogs from me!

Right now my pittie girls are nappin', curled up in my bed,
and somehow you want everyone to believe they'd be better off dead?
Well, I got news for you homie - know this to be true:
If you try messin' wit' my girlies, I'm comin' after you.

Windy and the pittie grrrls

Fo-Rilla!

If it's nice, it must be 'bait,' right?

Um, NO.

Pit Bull
& Florida Attorney General

Everyone's a Pet Psychic when a dog with scars shows up.
Unfortunately.. strangely.. annoyingly! scarred dogs that happen to be "mild mannered" are still being explained away as bait dogs. This noble savage myth usually comes along with all sorts of tall tales and unsubstantiated embellishments that sucker-reporters publish as fact.

It can cause big problems for adopters who fall into the trap of believing that their 'bait dog' would never-eva argue with another dog, so why waste time on common sense multi-dog management precautions? ........... Ahem.

It also hurts dogs that do show manageable dog aggression by creating a 'good dog' (poor bait dog) vs. 'bad dog' (mean evil fighting dog) stereotype.

Our motto: No evidence (like, the horrible presence of duct tape on a dog's muzzle) and No witnesses adds up to: 'Who Knows?'
Scars don't tell us much. Behavior, temperament & management - They mean everything. Just ask Hector: Nice guy dog-friendly dude and wearer of too many scars. Most likely, not bait.

But hey, let's look on the positive: Rather than call for Florida dog Winston's death, at least somebody decided he'd be good PR for a dog fight tip reward program. (Marketing much? Hey, whatever adds up to more help and better PR for the dogs works for us). And this, out of the big war chest collected from folks who thought they were contributing to a fund to help the Vick dogs.

Progress. In. Teeny. Tiny. Baby. Steps.

Big News

Pit Bull Hall at the East Bay SPCA has CLOSED! Big changes and happy transitions for this ever evolving shelter project.

See our latest Newsletter HERE for details.

Thug Alert!

PETA, take note:
True confessions from pit bull owner Thug Shanda

I'm a thug. Yo! 30 year old woman, BA in English, going on to grad school for literature or law school. I drive a fuel-efficient car. I vote. I raise litters of orphan kittens with the help of my vicious and abused dogs, and on weekends we eat innocent babies and maul Puggles. They have aggressively taken over the house and forced me to buy each of them their own two dog beds (one for each side of the house), raised feeders, custom Paco collars and leads, good food, a water fountain, and hordes of toys. Oh, and I torture them with dog clothes on the rare occasions it gets cold, since I know their naturally plush and insulating bulldog coats are sufficient to keep them warm and that a sweater is just cruel.


Thug dog Ruadh running from the police.


Ruadh and his thug friends had a birthday party for two bottle-raised pups' 1st year. (PeTA won't invite us to the dog parties, so we throw our own!)

Great cake...er, I mean, great bloodbath. (This photo was also in the blood-spattered pages of that fighting dog rag, Bark Magazine.)


Very recently adopted thug dog Frodo. I would have left him outside on a logging chain, but the weather was just too nice so I brought him into the stagnant AC to suffer. Anyway, he's so thug, he breaks chains, which is why he's wearing the cutesy collar.

O the horror.

Introducing, Joker

Blessed brindle beast. Gangsta of Love (aka Thug Dog).

Confess: Are YOU a THUG?

If you got your pit bull from a shelter, you might be one of those - you know - Thug Types. So says PETA.



Pit bull owner Charles Brettell wrote recently to challenge PETA on their position which calls for the death of all sheltered pit bulls. (Compassionate much?) A PETA spokesman explained:

But we must consider that nice families rarely come to a shelter to adopt pit bulls; almost without exception, those who want pit bulls are attracted to the "macho" image of the breed as a living weapon and seek to play up this image by putting the animals in heavy chains, taunting them into aggression, and leaving them outside in all weather extremes in order to "toughen" them. There is no denying that pit bulls are at a higher risk of suffering a horrible fate. - Jeff Haines PETA Spokesman

If you think you might be a thug, please confess. Send us a web-link to your family photo or video...with said pit bull please...and we'll post it here on days when we're too busy home-checking thug adopters to blog.

Also, tell us a little bit about yourself: Are you a thug with a mortgage? a college educated thug? a soccer-mom thug?...any fashion or music preferences?...And we'd love to know what kind of suffering your pet is enduring at home.

Thug Mail

Thanks. We'll have to figure out a way to gather up the pix and share them with our friend Jeff.

Thug Alert!

True Thug Confessions are rolling in. Dangerous Sarah of Baton Rouge LA with dog Wicked Riley writes:

"Over the years we've enjoyed numerous thug-centric activities with Riley, including obedience classes, long walks around our middle-class suburban neighborhood, intense fetch sessions in our backyard, and hours of snuggling on the couch.

A lot of my time is spent caring for our four dogs (we also claim a chocolate lab, a husky and a shar-pei/possible pit bull mix as members of our family), but I also enjoy reading, jogging, traveling, spending time with family and friends, and volunteering with my local animal rescue organization. I currently work in an administrative position for a large veterinary hospital, but this summer I will be entering a full-time graduate program in Education at Louisiana State University. Next year I hope to start teaching English classes to middle-school students, where the first order of business will be learning the definition of "stereotype."

Watch out Louisiana. That lady is packin' some real Cajun pit bull heat!

Signs, Signs - Everywhere a Sign!

We just came out of Dog Bite Prevention Week, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the news. Kids are getting bit up all over the place. Clearly, families are ignoring the signs. Or maybe the signs read as jibberish?

Family dog with bite history mauls kids in Fremont
Family dog bites again Great quotes from Karen Delise, btw.

Marcie has good bite prevention info on www.Understand-a-bull.com

In the meantime, Let's hear it for Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign...

Hearts never lie.

We did our first official adoption of a Vick dog last Saturday. Little Dutch was grabbed up by none other than BR's ace trainer, Linda Chwistek and her husband Bill. Linda's been looking for an agility dog for ages and when she met Dutch and recognized his courage, drive and natural talent, she told us "I haven't been this excited since I tasted my first candy bar!"



Unfortunately, a specialist noted that Dutch's joints would not be able to endure the stress of the sport, so Linda sadly resigned to let him go so she can continue her search. Until she phoned us that is, to report that she wants him anyway. ha! Dutch made such an impression on these guys - and they meet hundreds of dogs every year - that they couldn't let him go. While Linda is still looking for her agility star, there are plans to give Dutch a different, less strenuous vocation (details to come). The adoption ceremony was captured by a film crew for Animal Planet and will air in August. We'll give a heads up when that happens.

Moral of the Story? Some of the most precious treasures can come from some of the darkest of places. You'll never know unless you look.



On another note, we're all feeling very grateful for a kind donation from the friends of a remarkable San Francisco resident who died last year. Micheal Keenan was a pit bull owner and all around animal lover. He ran into a burning building to save the life of his friend's jack russell terrier and later died from the burns that resulted. A Hero's Story

We were able to use the funds to help transport five AZ bust dogs from Tucson to CA. The dogs narrowly escaped a sad fate. (We're still grieving for the ones we couldn't help).

Coincidentally, one of the dogs transported is a brindle, just like this pup shown with Michael. (Movie: Joker) Much gratitude to Michael for inspiring so many to be heroes through your selfless actions. And thank you to his friends, including Leslie Hayne, for donating to the dogs in Michael's name.

WTF?

There's just no way to present this with any semblance of professional courtesy: PETA's euthanasia rates are out of control. Follow this link to a telling graphic that illustrates just how many pets Ingrid's shelter destroyed last year, compared to their save rate. Slaughter.
These numbers are nuts. How can America be so blind?
Thanks for the heads up, Terrierman via Caveat

Speaking of nuts. An Ohio Senator is looking to go the way of Denver, and is calling for the automatic death of any and ALL dogs that appear to be pit bull. Ohio House Bill 568. We're getting frantic emails from all over the country.

Please holler loudly from your corners. These atrocities are no different from the horrible pet massacres in China, but right here in our so-called heartland.

We came, We saw, We collapsed

Disney World is an odd place to gather round with shelter workers to talk about pit bulls, but it's a Small World after all, so what the hec? - Bring it on. This year's HSUS Expo in Orlando FL was as otherworldly as one can expect. The convention center conveniently blocked any cell phone reception and Internet access, so you're essentially forced to give in to the scene and make nice with the pet stain remover lady who really really really wants you to try her product. Yay trade shows!

Our 'product' hung on banners on our booth walls and I don't mind saying how proud we were to have our dogs flashing their big-fat smiles at everyone who walked by. We shared a 'double wide' with Animal Farm Foundation and never stopped talking with the endless parade of people. I think we dreamt about talking once the lights went out. EVERYone wants to talk about pit bulls -- or, I should say, everyone who actually works with pit bulls wants to talk about pit bulls. The suits tend to steer clear, but it's only a matter of time. You know what they say.

Big thanks to all the people who piled in to hear our presentation. I didn't expect you to cheer when the slide came up showing the Vick dogs in their foster people's arms and I nearly choked up into an ugly-cry when you did. Caught myself tho' - Whew.



Combined with AFF, we gave away pounds and pounds of stuff. Some 200 magnets, 2000 Vick Dog trading cards (thank you Nicole), 500 Pit Bull Placebo books, hundreds of hand-outs, stacks of CDs with our materials, and finally, 500 posters ... Many were signed by Cooper, who drew fans like pit bulls rush to weed wackers.

SHELTERS!

Some stuff for you: Our new posters are online in case you need some positive imagery and healthy messaging for your cinder block walls. If you aren't a shelter, buy one or two anyway and have them delivered to your favorite ACO. We aren't marking these up, so hopefully they'll be affordable enough to get some mileage out there. ---> Getyer POSTERS

And finally, this little post-expo article was a good reminder why Mickey's madness is worth enduring. We look forward to next year (in Vegas - Woot!) and some more of that crazy non-stop talk.

It's Working

Something VERY exciting has been going on in Berkeley in recent months. It's so exciting that we've been afraid to talk for fear of jinxing it. That is, empty kennels ... lots and lots of empty kennels in the city shelter.

Ten years ago, the 60 runs at open-admission Berkeley Animal Care Services were depressingly full, sometimes doubled up, and staff was forced to euthanize for space...up to 600 dogs a year. But in 2007, the number of dog euthanasias was down 90%, with only 50 dogs put to sleep. Check it: BACS Stats

Our girl Sally was set to be euthanized in BACS due to lack of space, way back when. You-know-who actually inspired us to start BAD RAP.

Since last summer, the number of dogs coming in to BACS has dropped so much that almost one half of the runs are now consistently EMPTY. Last week, an all time low with 34 empty runs. It's almost too quiet in there! What's going on? We have to credit a combination of efforts: Successful Marketing of Shelter Dogs, Owner Education including Free Training, Volunteerism, Rescue and Voluntary Spay/Neuter Programs.

In short: The shelter staff and the local community kicked ass to make some changes.

We're really proud to be part of the these changes. Every week, dog owners pour into our Berkeley classes to learn how to be good stewards for their dogs and volunteers train unowned shelter dogs (pit bulls and their mixes are the most over-represented breed in BACS). It's extremely gratifying to see dogs that were once ill-mannered and a wee bit out of control turn into well behaved canine good citizens thanks to the help of the diehards who keep trucking in every week, some from over an hour away. It gets even better when the shelter dogs' new adopters show up to learn the drill.

This month, 25 new dog owners started BR's Beginning Class, and our Drop In class is at an all time high with up to 25 volunteer handlers and new adopters working the dogs together. (Over 400 people are on our waiting list trying to get in - EEK!) To keep up with the demand, we've called in reinforcements, and now the talented Linda Chwistek and Donyale Hoye (Photo) are giving up even more of their Saturdays to help train the new influx of people. It's going to be a busy summer!



So, there. It's out: Voluntary spay/neuter works, and Community Partnerships will save the world. At least, that's the plan. Here's more info: Cooperation & Compassion, Not Compulsion.

Congrats to Kate O'Connor and the staff at Berkeley Animal Care Services. With unwavering tenacity - not to mention a lot of class - you've shown everyone how to make it work. Well done.

What's Tuffer than Love?

We're slamming away behind the scenes to get things ready for our presentation at the HSUS expo next week (Next week? Ack!), meanwhile all but one of the dogs from the AZ raid have arrived and are getting settled in. So blogging goes back burner for now.

But this video just stopped me in my tracks. Thanks to Jane for sending it ... True grit people like Craig and his dog are the best inspiration.

The Trouble with Hector

It shouldn't be that hard: Bring former Vick dog to shelter yard for quick photo session with dog loving, NFL player and Oakland shelter volunteer, Jarrod Cooper. Nice park-like setting, few dogs milling around. No biggie. Perfect lighting. Quick snap - we should be out of there.

Except it's Hector, who - we forgot - turns into a moosh-ball whenever he's held. Like, rag-doll-limp-noodle-ain't-got-no-bones-in-me kinda thing. Jellyfish. We love you Hector, but, please. We're on a time table here, baby...Work with me. Cooper was more than patient with shot after shot after shot after shot. Here are just some of the way too many ridiculous out takes.

Hellooooooo Hector?...Are you awake?



What loose dogs?

Zen Game Dog.

Yeah. You're a working dog. Right.

And finally! -- He opened his eyes. Here's the FINAL PRODUCT.

Cooper will be at our booth at the HSUS Animal Care Expo next week and promised to autograph a few posters. The connection? A new collaborative project to bring positive change to pets in Oakland. We were hoping to get Hector busy with paw print signatures for this run, but we wouldn't want to keep him awake.

Heads up: Caveat has a good opinion piece on an opinion piece from a Utah shelter. My favorite new term for media praddle: "Camp fire tales for the weak of mind" Thanks Caveat, I may have to steal that. Ticking Time Bomb or Trusted Friend