http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING.....index.html

Luisa, great blog post.

I think DJ probably could make her points much more strongly if she didn’t come off so “sour grapes” and peeved off about the whole thing. Just my perception.

Also, while I must raise an eyebrow about a $20K stipend per dog going to Best Friends, I do have to disagree that Best Friends will provide these dogs a “pointless” “warehoused” existence. Certainly it is better for a dog to have their very own person or three, not to mention a couch to lay on and a people-bed to hog at night (if allowed!). And I think that with time and training and socialization, Best Friends would actually have an incentive to adopt some of these dogs out — think of the feel-good “success stories” they could tout on their website! But if a dog’s worst-case scenario is to spend his days comfortably housed, well-fed, nurtured by a dedicated and consistent staff of caretakers, exercised regularly and given frequent supervised interaction with trusted people and other dogs, well, that’s not horribly, awfully, terribly bad. I can think of several worse life-sentences for a dog. Several. Including dogs “owned” by families.

And I don’t necessarily agree that Best Friend’s entire philosophy is all about lifelong sanctuary. I see their sanctuary more as a home of last resort, an alternative to euthanasia for the truly unadoptable, if in fact an animal is deemed to be just that.

Like someone posted above, though, I too would be interested to know a year from now, what the status of these dogs is. Time will tell.

Ya think? ;~)

I have a million-dollar umbrella policy from State Farm. It costs me a whopping $200 or so a year. I don’t know any dog organization that doesn’t have this kind of coverage. Diane Jessup can be a loose cannon at times, and I hope her public venting doesn’t screw up the criminal case. I just posted about this on my blog: http://lassiegethelp.blogspot......-high.html

I’m sorriest of all for Proof and his Lawdogs trainer. Can you imagine what it’d be like for a dog to get probably his/her first positive training and feedback ever, for four glorious weeks, and then get thrown back into a cage? What a crock.

I love Best Friends for what they do best - giving homes to animals that truly have nowhere else to go. But is there some kind of shortage these days that they have to take animals who COULD find homes?

I don’t know - the lawdogs article is just one side of the story. But the “dowry” discussion is a little unnerving…and I don’t know a single dog owner (let alone rescue) who can/would carry $1M liability.

Other than whether one dog went first to BF, Donna, what does she say that is factually incorrect?

In any case, Jessup’s primary points (what you snottily call a “rant”) are that requiring $1 million insurance sends a horrific negative message about the dogs and that “sanctuary” is inapropriate for pit bulls especially those who deserve and qualify for a home (and in the case of one of the dogs sent to her, already had one). And she is suspicious of how that $20k or $5k per dog will be used, as indeed who would not be? It’s a pretty big incentive to ensure the dogs remain in “sanctuary”, which fits into Best Friends’ philosophy. For that matter, why does BadRap need $5k to care for each of the dogs assigned to it?

Everyone who has anything to do with these dogs is ALREADY saying/hinting things about these dogs, which no one is supposed to do. And that INCLUDES reps of Bad Rap. So don’t bring your faux outrage about people talking to this blog.

You’re assuming now that DJ is giving you accurate information. Katie, the dogs are not at BF and they’re certainly not being warehoused. They’re both in CA.

I’m so embarrassed for lawdogs — I can’t imagine what she was thinking when she posted that ridiculous rant. Shooting both feet. And loud enough to make sure fed gov’t officials and law enforcement agencies everywhere can hear the gun blasts.

What could be WORSE for pit bulls than for high profile dogs like this to get into trouble??? Everyone hopes that these Vick dogs prove (again) that dogs seized from dogfighters CAN be good pets and MUST be given the same chance as any others.

The issue is which ones will be allowed to get into homes eventually, and which ones will live their lives out in a sanctuary.
Unless some temperament/health issues turn up during the foster period, the Bad Rap dogs will be adopted out. I don’t know about the record of the other organizations in regard to adopting out pit bulls, but I think their goal is to adopt out, not sanctuary, the Vick dogs.

My assumption is that BF got dogs that were assessed with some bigger needs in terms of socialization and training than those that Bad Rap and the other orgs. got.

BadRap/Donna has no control over what BF does with their dogs, and the record of BF adopting out any dog other than the most mild mannered is not good. Their whole philosophy is geared toward “sanctuary”. They don’t see anything wrong with keeping a dog in a sanctuary for its whole life.

Let’s all gather together here again in 12 months… I’ll put money that 90% of the BF dogs are still at BF.. unless transferred to another rescue. As others have pointed out, their record with the Katrina dogs is not great.

If BF adheres to what I understand the guidelines are, the Vick dogs will NOT be “tourist attractions”. No one is supposed to know which dogs are Vick dogs. Of course, if you go to DogTown at BF and see 20 gamey looking pit bulls, you could probably guess…