ASCHAE’s DogBlog will be moving! We have finally completed our transition over to our new servers and ask everyone to update your rss readers to our new location:
http://mountaintopnaturalpets.info/feed/
This move will help us integrate our blog and on-line store.
Visit our store at www.mountaintopnaturalpets.com
Thanks again for your interest in our blog!
Source: KVVX.com, May 12, 2009
WACO- Just two weeks after a puppy mill raid in Elm Mott, a neighbor who didn’t want to be identified woke up Tuesday morning to find a horrific sight. “It is a decomposed, mummified, charred dog that someone placed at the end of our driveway.”
And he said this was anything but a mistake.
“We feel this was a personal attack against us. We’re the ones that made the initial call.”
The initial phone call that led McLennan County Sheriff’s Deputies to remove 78 neglected dogs from James Vanwinkle and Barbara Mitchell ‘s home last Friday. Vanwinkle was arrested for cruelty to animals and is now out on bond. And while this neighbor is not accusing anyone in particular, he said he’s just concerned for his family’s safety.
“If pushed in a corner, I’m going to do whatever is within my power to protect my family and myself.“ The neighbor also said there has been smoke in the area for the past week and a half . He doesn’t know for sure if the charred remains came from there but said it’s awfully coincidental. He’s also filed a report with the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office who’s now investigating the case.
Source: Oxford Press, May 10, 2009
I wish dogs could talk.
My first question to Chachi, the lost, then found dog: “How did you go from living in Florida to being found in Ohio?”
Before he could answer, I’d remind Chachi that Florida is the “Sunshine State” and the sun rarely shines in Ohio. Then I’d hand him a dog treat, pat him on the head, watch his tail wag and wait for his answer.
But Chachi can’t tell us what happened on July 4, 2008, and why he ran out of the front door of a house in Orlando, Fla.
Robert Bartman, 30, of Gainesville, Fla., owned Chachi, but while he was out of town, friends were watching the dog.
Bartman, when contacted at home on Thursday, May 7, said he has “no idea” how his dog — a present from his mother before she died — ended up in Ohio, 825 miles from home.
“When you lose a dog for that long, he’s dead or someone stole him,” Bartman said. “You figure the worst.”
Fast forward to the end of April 2009.
Patricia Ross and her boyfriend Lonnie Mason, who live on Whittier Street off Tytus Avenue in Middletown, were surprised to see an unfamiliar dog walking down their street.
“He just wandered into the garage,” Ross said.
Ross picked up the chihuahua, carried him around the neighborhood, asking anyone if they had lost their dog.
No luck.
Since the dog had no collar, no identification, Ross took him to All About Pet Care, 3410 Tytus Ave.
But Chachi had a microchip, which showed his owner lived in Gainesville, Fla., said Kara Coheen, practice manager at All About Pet Care. When Bartman was notified that Chachi — missing for nearly 10 months — was located in Middletown, there was a pause on the phone.
“Middletown?” he asked.
“Middletown, Ohio,” Coheen said.
Chachi was driven to Dayton International Airport, then flown to Florida. Bartman said Chachi is back home after receiving medical treatments from the veterinarian.
“You could tell he had been on the street for a while,” said Bartman, who added that his dog required dental work.
Bartman said Chachi helped him “get through a lot of hard times” after his mother, Sandra, was killed in an auto accident five years ago.
“It means a lot to have my dog back,” he said.
He mentioned he has spent more than $700 on vet bills, then added: “He’s worth more than that. With that type of love, you can’t let them go.”
Sonia Conde, Bartman’s grandmother, said she prayed for Chachi’s return, and a few days later, the phone rang.
It was All About Pet Care.
“I thank God for finding him,” she said. “It’s the miracle of the year.”
Source: KSPR.com, May 10, 2009
A Missouri toddler, who wandered away from his home last week, has been released from the hospital, just in time for Mother’s Day. Three-year old Joshua Childers was all smiles this weekend as he left the hospital in Crystal City. Doctors say he had hypothermia, scratches and bug bites from his “hike” in the Mark Twain National Forest. They now think the 120-pound family dog helped keep the boy safe and warm.
“One of our initial concerns was how could a 35-pound child could stay alive in forty degree weather in the rain for two nights and three days,” said Steven Crawford, Childer’s doctor. “That may be the answer, and he was telling about being with the dog at night.”
The family dog is a Great Pyrenees, and doctors say the fluffy dog kept Joshua alive through his 52-hour ordeal.
Source: VictoriaAdvocate.com, May 9, 2009
NORTH BEND, Ore. (AP) — A small airport on the Oregon coast is taking care of its bird problems with a border collie named Filly.
Southwest Oregon Regional Airport sends the dog after the pesky Canada geese that can pose a hazard to aviation.
“She’s chased flocks of geese into the water,” said Bob Hood, the airport’s wildlife manager. “She’s really good at her job and she really likes her job.”
Filly is the third dog — officially called wildlife management canine — that Hood has trained to work at the airport.
Hood and the operations crew had used propane cannons, cracker shells, whistles and horns as scare tactics to shoo away intruders before a commercial flight struck some geese.
“There was damage to the nose of the aircraft. They smashed into the radar dome,” Hood said. “I remember seeing a goose was inside the dome.”
Nobody was hurt, but Hood said it prompted the airport executive director to ask him to look into the U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife management program.
Hood started training with the American Society of Canine Trainers in 1994 and by 1997 had become a certified trainer.
Since then he has trained dogs for the North Bend Police Department and Coos County Search&Rescue, as well as for law enforcement agencies in Florence and in Jackson County.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires most airports to have a wildlife management program in place to be certified for commercial passenger traffic.
Once a year, Hood attends a training seminar given by the USDA, U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife or the FAA. He meets people from all over the country with different types of animals they’re dealing with.
“I met a guy in Florida where there were alligator strikes,” Hood said.
The FAA and USDA have reported that from 1990 to 2003, there have been more than 50,000 aircraft damaged by wildlife strikes, with 124 people injured and eight killed.
Since the airport joined the wildlife management program, the number of wildlife strikes in North Bend dropped from several annually to one or two a year, Hood said.
“The birds are so dangerous to airplanes, you have to do something,” he said.
Source: DailyNews.com, May 9, 2009
After her 15-year-old dachshund was diagnosed with cancer last month, Natt Nevins told friends she couldn’t imagine life without her beloved dog, Nikkie.
“He was her baby. You couldn’t think of Natt without Nikkie,” said Nevins’ longtime friend Betty Brown, whose dachshund, Chester, spent time with the colorful duo on long drives to upstate Woodstock.
Brown was among the dozens of friends – including an army of dachshunds, Shih Tzu’s, Chihuahuas and other small dogs – that gathered at Nevins’ West Village apartment Thursday night to memorialize the well-loved duo.
Nevins, 74, a community activist, dog lover and fixture in the Greenwich Village dog community, died this week, just a few days after suffering a massive stroke. Her darling Nikkie – described by many as a Casanova with “Betty Davis eyes” – survived Nevins by only one day.
The longtime Manhattan resident rescued the long-haired dachshund when he was just a 1-year-old pup, surrendered by a family with kids that burned him and tied cans to his legs.
Saddened friends said their deaths will leave a large void in the dog-centric community, especially the Washington Square Park dog run. Nevins would often hold court in the park, giving advice on everything from where to find a deal on a dog sweater to the best vet care.
“It was one of those wonderful, organic New York friendship groups that was formed around a common interest and in a public place,” said Rags Watkins, an interior designer.
His dachshund, Henry, was among the gaggle of small neighborhood dogs that Nevins regularly cared for in her Washington Place apartment, which doubled as a doggie day-care center.
“Every evening when you’d pick up your dog from Natt’s, you’d run into other folks who’d left their dogs there for the day and gradually you’d become friends,” he said. “She unwittingly became the connector of people.”
Actor Bruce MacVittie described Nevins as the “center of our community.” She also had a positive influence on his 12-year-old daughter, Sophia. Whenever the girl would go to retrieve their dog, Lily, Nevins would let Sophia lay down on the floor and bathe in a sea of dogs and giggles.
“I’m sure that memory will be a seminal one for her and her relationship with animals in general, and dogs in particular,” MacVittie said.
Still, Nevins was much more than a nanny to the dog community.
The former singer and entertainer spent 3-1/2 years in the U.S. Air Force performing for troops during the Korean War.
A retired gerontologist, Nevins was also a founding member of Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE), and the first woman on the board of directors of The Hetrick-Martin Institute, which sets up safe havens for LGBT youth.
Still, despite her many colorful past lives, Nevins most enjoyed working with the dogs.
And they seemed to adore her. At the memorial, Sonnie, a Chihuahua, wore a white T-shirt that best summed up the sentiment.
It read, “I Love Natt.”
Source: BostonHerald.com, May 11, 2009
One month after officials rescued two badly mauled pit bulls from a Dorchester dog-fighting dungeon, the Animal Rescue League of Boston is struggling to rehabilitate one of the traumatized canines, an anxiety-stricken puppy named Raven.
“He doesn’t know how to sit or how to play – he doesn’t know how to be a dog,” said veterinarian and licensed dog trainer Amy Marder, Director of the Center for Shelter Dogs at the rescue league. “He’s pretty damaged.”
Estimated to be eight months old, Raven’s handsome gray coat is ravaged by bite marks. He suffers from a jaw injury and a heart murmur – but those were the least of his problems when authorities removed him from what they described as a “filthy, blood- and urine-soaked” cage in a pitch-black basement on April 11.
“He had very severe infections which brought him close to death,” Marder said of Raven.
The other surviving pitbull, Sidney, is recovering at a dog sanctuary outside Boston. While Sidney is expected to make a full mental recovery, Raven is highly anxious and undergoing the equivalent of pooch psychotherapy. The first step, Marder said, is basic behavior training.
“We have to start slowly,” she said, “because if he doesn’t understand what you’re trying to say, it could actually make things worse.”
Authorities expect to charge a 36-year-old suspect, whose apartment was host to the torture chamber where cops found a 10-by-20-foot dog-fighting ring made of blood-spattered plywood, a blood-soaked, sharpened probing stick and the remains of a dead dog, police said.
On Thursday, Raven bolted into a room at the animal rescue league, his tail lowered with anxiety as he zipped aimlessly from one corner of the room to another. He barely acknowledged the presence of three women. But when a man entered the room he looked up, signaling that his captor was probably male, Marder said.
“He doesn’t have the ability to form normal relationships with humans,” she said.
Marder threw a stuffed animal and Raven didn’t react. A child-sized doll was so scary that even the lure of food wouldn’t bring him closer.
“He probably has never seen children in his life,” Marder said. “His life was bowls of food and fighting. What a life.”
There was, however, some progress: after strategically dangling Raven’s favorite dog treat before him, he finally sat on command.
“What a good boy,” Marder said.
Source: Heraldnet.com, May 8, 2009
GOLD BAR — Prosecutors filed a half-dozen felony animal cruelty charges Thursday against a Gold Bar-area couple believed to be linked to a multimillion-dollar puppy mill.
Jason and Serenna Larsen, both 37, were charged in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies and animal control officers on Jan. 16 raided a home outside of Gold Bar and rescued about 160 dogs. Many of the animals were covered with urine and feces.
The conditions were “noxious, overwhelming and utterly disgusting,” according to court papers. The fetid air made some officers ill, burned their eyes and caused breathing problems.
Dead puppies were found in a freezer and a mummified husk of dog, likely a beagle or basset hound, was found in an outbuilding, documents said.
A veterinarian diagnosed several medical problems among the rescued dogs, including dental, cardiovascular, skin, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal and neurological problems.
Investigators say the Larsens lived in the house filled with mistreated dogs. The Larsens said they lived elsewhere.
The investigation expanded to a Mount Vernon-area kennel, where 450 dogs were seized. A Snohomish kennel, Wags ‘n’ Wiggles, operated by Renee Roske, also is under investigation by the sheriff’s office.
Jason Larsen has said the dogs in Gold Bar belonged to Roske. He said Roske told him that keeping the dogs as he did broke no laws. Roske has denied owning the dogs. She hasn’t been charged in connection with the operation. Snohomish County has revoked Roske’s kennel license.
The sheriff’s investigation into Roske and her business continues.
The Larsens are scheduled to be arraigned on May 15.
Source: WacoTrib.com, May 7, 2009
Thursday, May 07, 2009
The 78 dogs taken from what have been described as cramped, foul conditions at an alleged puppy mill in Elm Mott are suffering from health, behavioral and emotional issues, said Karen Froehlich, director of the Waco Humane Society.
Some face the backs of their cages and won’t turn to look at the staff, who have been caring for them since they were taken in a raid Friday on a home at 1209 Oak Knoll Lane. Others are so poorly behaved, the staff haven’t even been able to get close enough to bathe them. And still others spend countless hours just pacing in their new cages.
“These dogs have not been cared for in a loving home,” Froehlich said.
As of Wednesday, no arrests had been made in connection with the alleged puppy mill, said Randy Plemons, chief deputy with the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office. A custody hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. Friday in Justice of the Peace Kristi DeCluitt’s court.
A warrant filed Friday in district court refers to an investigation of allegations of animal cruelty by the owners of the house in which the dogs were taken, James Van Winkle, 66, and his wife, Barbara Mitchell, 58. Reached at their Elm Mott home Monday, Mitchell said the couple had hired several caretakers to look after the dogs because both she and her husband were unable to take care of the animals because of health problems.
Mitchell said she and her husband had placed an ad on Craigslist.org two days before the raid asking for someone to take the dogs.
Reached on his cell phone Wednesday, Van Winkle referred all questions to the couple’s lawyer, whom he said they hired Tuesday. The lawyer, Tom Ragland, declined to comment.
The couple had at least 150 dogs on their property, most of which were Great Pyrenees, rat terriers and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Of those, 78 — including about a dozen rat terrier puppies — were deemed most in need of removal from the conditions, which Plemons described as “deplorable” and one of the worst cases of animal cruelty the county has seen.
Plemons said up to five dogs were kept in cages meant for rabbits. In the cages, feces accumulated up to 6 inches high. Nearby was wet, moldy food.
Deputies also found a 55-gallon barrel full of dead dogs and another full of dead goats. Also on the property was a dirt mound with goat legs sticking out the top.
State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, said he spent part of his day Wednesday speaking with Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, who wrote a bill that would require breeders with more than 11 unneutered female animals to submit to licensing, annual inspections, background checks and penalties as high as $5,000 per animal for violations.
“We need to go after the bad actors,” said Anderson, who is a veterinarian. “But we need to craft the bill so we don’t put good folks out of business.
“It’s important to have good legislation. That’s a terrible situation out there (in Elm Mott). Terrible. These folks say they had health problems and couldn’t care for the pets, but that doesn’t justify that kind of extreme neglect.”
The bill has not yet made it to the House floor for discussion and a vote.
Karomy Harmel, president of the Central Texas chapter of the Texas Humane Legislation Network, said the bill, written as is, will not hurt breeders.
“These are just minimum care standards,” Harmel said. “Clean water. An appropriate amount of food. Minimum standards that should be common sense to any breeder.
“And it also protects the consumers. Because if the consumers aren’t happy with the dogs, they end up in our local shelters, where it’s the taxpayers’ job to take care of them.”
Kim Johnson, a local dog breeder, said she is opposed to the bill because animal cruelty is already against the law.
“I’m just not for big government,” she said. “There are states I won’t even ship to because they require microchipping, and I’m against it. It’s like, ‘Leave us alone.’ ”
Carrie Kuehl, director of Waco’s Animal Birth Control Clinic, said clinics like hers are set up to prevent these sorts of cases of alleged animal cruelty.
“It can be frustrating to see irresponsible breeding of any degree while the area animal organizations work so hard to proactively improve the animals’ lives in our community,” Kuehl said. “Every litter or, in the case of puppy mills, multiple litters reduce the good community effects of responsible owners spaying and neutering their pets.”
Until DeCluitt decides custody, the dogs are being kept at the Waco Humane Society. Froehlich said she has been consulting with rescue groups statewide that specialize in treating animals taken from such conditions.
“Every dog needs a chance,” she said. “There have been small improvements since Friday. Some would not even pick up their heads, and now they’re coming to the gates. They’re learning to trust people.
“Emotionally, this has been very difficult on the staff here. We are in this business because we love animals. We’re doing everything we can.”
Source: Chinanews.com, May 7, 2009
A Texas puppy, who went missing eight years ago, has surprised her owner with unexpected arrival.
Dancer is all grown up now and she no longer recognizes her name and instead responds to the name “Fern”.
Owner Alison Murphy of Austin isn’t sure where Dancer has been but says obedience school is the next stop for her newly recovered pet.
According to reports the dog was left last week at the Humane Society in New Braunfels, about 45 miles away Humane Society in New Braunfels. A musician in New Braunfels found the dog running around his neighborhood and took her home. He kept her a few days, and then went to the Humane Society to see if the dog had a microchip, and perhaps, an owner.
She had both, though she hadn’t seen her owners in eight years.
“She looks the same,” Murphy said. “She’s just a little more gray.”
