pet connection

The incidence of dogs being stolen has gone up 49% in the past year. The American Kennel Club’s data leads to the obvious question: why? NPR‘s story suggests it has something to do with a continuing rocky economy.

“We believe the increase is due to economic times,” Lisa Peterson, a spokesperson for the nonprofit group, which has been tracking pet theft for several years, tells Weekend Edition Saturday guest host Jacki Lyden.

“You have people who want pets … but can’t afford to purchase them or pay the adoption fees, so we find that they’re just taking them for themselves or to give them as gifts,” she says. “But then on the other hand, you have the criminal element that steals dogs and tries to sell them to unsuspecting buyers.”

Peterson says the top two ways dogs are being stolen are during home invasions and out of parked cars. She cites a case in Florida where criminals took a 55-inch television set and also Boo-Boo, the Yorkshire terrier, with all of his belongings.

Large-screen televisions can be replaced. Best friends can’t. The article discusses steps pet owners can take the safeguard their pets, including microchipping.

Cats behind bars: Inmates at a jail in Nebraska have new friends: cats. Excellent stress reducer. HuffPo‘s got the story, with an accompanying video report.

Thoughts on Pacifica: Outstanding post by BadRap, one of the most consistently thoughtful pet blogs out there.

New therapy reaps benefits: A pit bull in Reading, Penn. had his paws burned by spending hours on a black roof top on a roasting hot day, but thanks to a first-of-its-kind treatment, his ruined paw pads can be repaired. The groundbreaking therapy is based on stem cell research. Details at the Reading Eagle.

Veterinary client ethics: Your veterinarian explains that an upcoming procedure entails risks of complications. All you hear is blah blah blah procedure blah blah blah surgical blah chance of improvement.  When complications arise, do you have a right to yell at your veterinarian that the treatment wasn’t perfect? Pet Connection’s BFF Dr. Patty Khuly weighs in.

Picture of the week comes from our favorite photographer of all things horse: Sarah Andrew, the wonderful presence behind Rock and Racehorses.

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Photo credit: microchip, latimes.

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Presenter: Stacy Coleman, Exec Director, Animal Farm Foundation

When we breed label a dog we are making behavioral predications. But, we’re virtually always wrong….

What’s a Pit Bull? Descriptions vary across the board. When we look at a dog, we’re guessing, but 75% of the breed label predictions in shelters are wrong.

There is no behavior that’s unique to one kind of dog. – Aimee Sadler, Longmont Humane Society, CA

The well-known myths and generalizations abound….terriers, dog-aggressive, high pain threshold, enormous prey drive, will do anything to please.

Cropped ears are a fashion statement (or an attempt at one). Scars happen for a multitude of reasons. Making an assumption on a dog based on scars provides no useful information. Dogs are individuals.

Policies and practices

You will be successful and fulfill your mission and manage risk when you:

Observe the dog, document observations, disclose known facts, stick to the facts, transfer ownership to the new owner.

There are lots of discriminatory policies –

If you have special restrictions on PB adopters, screening processes, mandatory training just for PB’s, special screening process, you are being counterproductive and harming your mission.

Have your cutest, best behaved and friendliest PB work up front as the greeter.

Teach your PB’s cute little parlor tricks: high five, pray, etc.  Don’t give away free lunches, keep them busy, exercise their minds. Find good energy outlets.

Best marketing practices:

Happiness sells, sadness repels. Emphasize the human-canine bond. Take photos at dog level, not from overhead. Happy dogs are just plain cuter.

Have the PB pose with the white fluffies and the goldens. Include local landmarks and popular spots. Picture dogs already living in the community. Use costumes and props. They work (even if you think they’re absurd).

Stop naming your dogs Tank. Give them cute names – ICarly, Hanna Montana

Get yourself a video flip or good quality camera. Use it liberally.

Make business cards for your dogs! It’s easy, you can do it on a computer. Give the dog a vest, with business cards in the pocket. Take your most adoptable PB’s to a parade, dressed up in a cute outfit. Market them…with business cards! Promote shamelessly.

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Dr. Loretta Mayer needed to study human diseases in mice, so she was working on a drug that could induce menopause in her test subjects. What she found may have a broader and more important application. She appears to have hit on a medication that could create reliable, non-surgical sterilization in female dogs. From the Arizona Republic:

One of Mayer’s greatest hopes for the sterilization drug is to reduce animal euthanasia in Arizona, where shelters are overflowing and thousands of dogs and cats are put down every year.

Maricopa County ranks second only to Los Angeles County in pet overpopulation, according to Bretta Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Humane Society.

This past year, 94,889 animals entered Valley shelters. The Arizona Humane Society performed nearly 20,600 surgical sterilizations on cats, dogs and rabbits, costing nearly $2 million.

There is still a long way to go before the Food and Drug Administration approves the medication for broad use, but if it comes to pass, the nature of spay/neuter discussions could be fundamentally altered forever.

Worrying rise in parvo has economic roots: Veterinary clinics are reporting an increase in parvovirus, even though it’s easily controlled with an effective vaccine. The instinctive reaction is that the spread of parvo shouldn’t happen, until you think about one reason it is: more and more pet owners are choosing not to take their pets to the veterinarian because of the prolonged economic hard times. Shots are therefore not being administered, and so the deadly incidence is increasing. You can read more at the South Bend Tribune.

Africa’s Dog Whisperer’s dog attacks little girl: If I’m telling you about someone being attacked by a dog, there’s a deeper story. James Lech touts himself as Africa’s #1 dog expert. He calls himself Africa’s “Dog’s Whisperer.” While he was having lunch in a Johannesburg mall, he was accompanied by his Rottweiler. Lech claimed the dog was a service dog. That makes the video accompanying this story from the Times Live so much more disturbing. The Rottie attacked an injured a four year-old girl who was walking by the table. Although Lech claimed the dog was accidentally stepped on, the video indicates otherwise. There’s the background. Now, please read this outstanding response from my friend Nancy Freedman-Smith.

Challenging the veterinary status quo: It’s hard to go against the grain in a respected profession with experts in an established specialty.  That’s why it’s well worth reading this post by Pet Connection’s BFF Dr. Patty Khuly, from her “Fully Vetted” blog. More importantly, be sure not to miss the comment thread that follows.

Lethal heat: Over the past two weeks, triple digit temperatures have blanketed the United States. It’s been brutal for people…and we don’t have fur coats. Imagine what it’s been like for pets. From the Stamford Patch:

Animal Control Officer Chris Martel says that the smart thing to do is to leave the dog at home, even if you don’t have air conditioning. Leave plenty of water, and put on a fan if you have one.

“It can get over 100 degrees in a car in minutes in the summer,” Martel says.

If she sees a dog in a car in a dangerous situation, Martel says, she will not hesitate to issue a summons for cruelty.

If she can’t find the owner of the car, and the dog is suffering, she is allowed by law to break the windows of the car and get the dog out. She can also have a warrant issued for the arrest of the owner of the car, and she says she will not hesitate to do so if the situation calls for it.

If you see a dog – or any animal – locked in a car in a situation that you think is dangerous, you can ramp up your courage and seek out the owner of the vehicle and explain why he or she should get the dog home.

Blog post of the week comes from our friend Heather Houlahan at Raised By Wolves: “Not your stick.”

Video of the week: The kitten is named Visa. The Pitt Bull is named Spike. They fight like, well, cats and dogs. But in a good way. Thanks to Phyllis DeGioia for the tip.

Picture of the week comes to us from my pal Maria Goodavage at Dogster. A Dogster reader named Laura Hickman sent in this picture of an English Bulldog named Elliott. He was the lucky recipient of a cool new bed when neighbors emptied their cooler in an Ohio driveway on a roasting hot day.

Special programming note: Next week, the news wrap will be preempted by special Pet Connection coverage of NoKill 2011. We’ll be live-blogging next weekend from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., bringing you conference sessions by luminaries in the No Kill movement. The presenters will include Nathan Winograd, Ryan Clinton, and our very own Christie Keith. Stay tuned all next weekend!

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Image credit: Dr. Loretta Mayer, azcentral.com. Elliott, dogster.

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Imagine, if you will, that you’re at a major airport (as I was a couple times last week), and you’re about to pass through security. Which is the better and safer option: the full body scanner, or a properly-trained dog? Last week, that very question was the subject of a noisy, contentious Congressional hearing.  From CNN.com,

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, led the dog caucus, arguing that canines are cheaper and less invasive than body scanners. Dogs are exceptional at sensing explosives, do not require software upgrades, don’t depreciate with use and might even be able to detect bombs implanted under a person’s skin.
“The single best way to find a bomb-making device or bomb-making materials is the canine,” Chaffetz said.

And dogs are widely accepted by the public, he said.

“Who doesn’t like dogs?” chimed in Inspector William Parker, head of Amtrak’s K-9 unit.

Canines are missing one thing that body scanners have, Chaffetz said. Lobbyists.

“That’s what the problem is,” Chaffetz said. “If you look at those lobbyists who pushed through those machines, they should be ashamed of themselves, because there is a better way to do this and it’s with the canines.”

Transportation Security Administration Assistant Administrator John Sammon promised to look into feasible (and potentially more intelligent) alternatives to the scanners we endure today.

Oakland Zoo’s new veterinary hospital: In the past, any time the well-regarded Oakland Zoo needed veterinary care for its animals, they had to be shipped more than an hour north, to the world-class hospital at the University of California, Davis. Now, according to SFGate, Oakland will have their own facility.

The Oakland Zoo broke ground Wednesday on a state-of-the-art veterinary hospital to treat its 600 animals and help train veterinary students. When completed next summer, it will be the largest zoo veterinary hospital in Northern California, second statewide only to the hospital at the San Diego Zoo.

“This is a tremendous step up for us,” said the zoo’s director, Dr. Joel Parrott. “It’s the beginning of a new era for the zoo.”

It won’t come cheap. The hospital will cost $10.8 million, but it will be able to handle everything from the zoo’s smallest amphibians to their largest mammals.

The latest from Joplin: Our own Phyllis DeGioia reports for VIN News on the ongoing progress being made in Joplin, Missouri’s recovery from May 22′s devastating tornado.

Veterinary clinics are not quite back to life-as-usual, but they’re well on their way.

Dr. Jim Christman’s Parkview Animal Hospital is operating out of a trailer in the clinic’s parking lot. Early reports that the clinic would close permanently were erroneous; the clinic will re-open in mid-August.

“The entire inside was destroyed and the back wall and runs were torn apart, but as far as the structural part, it was okay. We had to replace bricks on the front,” said Rachel Schwartz, a receptionist at Parkview. “All of our boarders were okay. We lost some clients; we had several that passed away.”

Dr. Ben Leavens of Main Street Pet Care also lost a few clients to the tornado, though he has no tally of how many among his 15,000 patients were affected.

Work on his 10,000-square-foot clinic and 5,000 square-feet parking structure isn’t quite done – the roof was lost and water damage was extensive, and the HVAC system destroyed – but the business has been open since July 5. “We’re extra busy now that we’re open,” Leavens said. “All areas are up and running.” That includes grooming, boarding and day-care services.

In a little less than two months, Joplin has made tremendous progress.

News from north of the border: I was in Toronto all last week, and I brought back two great stories. One, sent in by reader Anne Ahiers, tells us about a blog you should read, called I Want a Pound Dog. Additionally, I found a refreshing column by Amberly McAteer in Toronto’s Globe and Mail about the heartwarming surprise of finding the right shelter pet.

Tortoise news: Good news/bad news stories in the hard shell world, courtesy of SchnauzerFan. First the good news: a reunion in Iowa that will make you smile. Sadly, we must bid a sad farewell to Methuselah (pictured at right, circa 1954), who passed away at one hundred thirty years of age.

“I’ve known Methuselah since I was around 3 years old, so losing him is like losing an old, good friend,” said John Brockelsby, director of public relations at Reptile Gardens. “I had a lot of daily contact with him so having to say goodbye was very sad.”

By the way, the boy riding Methuselah in the picture is Mr. Brockelsby, when he was probably around three years old.

News of the weird: Once more, I must warn you the following story is not from The Onion. It was sent to me by Susan Fox, who tirelessly scours news tickers for the strangest, most head-shaking tidbits she can find, then generously forwards them to me so I can share them with you. This story is hard to stomach and even more difficult to believe (do check out the dog’s name), but I have to have faith that SFGate didn’t make it up. Nobody’s that demented.

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Photo credit: Bomb-sniffing dog, cnn.com. John Brockelsby and Methuselah, RapidCityJournal.com

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I haven’t been in Michigan four weeks yet, and already there’s a huge PR mess at the Michigan Humane Society, with two board members resigning in protest over the high kill rate at the organization’s three shelters, and its leadership’s unwillingness to do anything about it.

Society vice-president Mike Robbins whined that it’s not the shelter’s fault; he claims that 60 percent of the dogs and cats that come their doors are “unadoptable.” He also said, “A lot of what we do is not popular…. A lot of things you do because they have to be done.”

Gee, you’d think these folks would get a new line.  That one’s getting really old.

Apparently the fact that all over the entire nation — coast to coast; north, east, south, and west; rich or poor; urban or rural — other communities find that only 10 percent or less of the pets they take in are not able to be saved has no bearing at all on Michigan, because as states go, Michigan is the speshulest speshul snowflake of all.

One of the reasons people like Robbins often claim they cannot save nearly all their community’s dogs is that way too many of them are, or seem to be, or could be if you squinted your eyes just right, pit bulls. And as everyone knows, pit bulls are vicious evil monsters who would  just as soon tear out your throat as eat a nice raw steak liberally sprinkled with gunpowder.

At least, that’s what Michigan state representative Tim Bledsoe (D-Grosse Pointe) seems to believe, based on the idiotic law he proposed last week, Michigan House Bill No. 4714. (It was, thank dog, killed in committee today.)

Of course, what every region that has a lot of pit bulls dying in their so-called “shelters” needs, including Metro Detroit, is not a pit bull ban, but a full-on pit bull image rehab and adoption effort.

These dogs need the myths about them busted. They need people to realize that every pit bull is an individual dog and deserves to be individually assessed.

Pit bulls, and dogs who resemble them, can very often be adopted out as safely as any other dog. This becomes possible on a large scale when the ground in the community has been softened with PR, outreach and marketing efforts.

Like dogs of all breeds, some pit bulls and pit bull-esque dogs need some rehab before they go to their new homes. And others may need only very specialized placement or sanctuary or, in a few cases, to be killed to relieve their suffering or protect humans and other animals.

But the bottom line is they need individual evaluation, not to be judged en masse as if they had some sort of horrific Borg-like hive mind and then summarily executed to protect the public from their evilness.

And how the hell do you put programs like that in place if it’s against the law to own a pit bull? A law like this would have meant that not only would all the pit bulls currently in Michigan’s shelters be killed instead of adopted, but so would all the pit bulls currently snoozing at their owners’ feet, as well as all of them wandering the streets of Detroit starving to death, their only hope the determined efforts of rescue groups hoping to save them.

So here I am, my two biggest issues in big-screen play within a month of my arrival in the state. Why do these things happen to me????

Photo: Buckley, a vicious monster who must be banned to protect the phosphorescent stuffed toy snakes of Michigan. Courtesy of MJ Murphy.

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