Pit bulls struggle to trust after horrific abuse May 15, 2009

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.

Richmond City Jail Employee Arrested, Charged With Dog Fighting, VA April 20, 2009

Source: WRIC.com, April 18, 2009

A city Sheriff’s Deputy is facing dog fighting charges. 22 Pit Bulls were seized from Corporal David Robinson’s home Thursday evening.

Robinson is out on bond and charged with animal cruelty and promoting or engaging in dog fighting.

Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody confirms that the man Henrico police arrested yesterday and charged with animal cruelty and dog fighting, is his employee Corporal David Robinson, who works at the Richmond City jail.

Henrico Police tell us they were all kept inside this fenced in the back yard, either on chains, or in pens.

Investigators say yesterday one or more of the dogs got loose and began fighting other dogs within the fence, one of the dogs was killed and four others were injured.

Today, 8News obtained a copy of the search warrant executed on the deputy’s home.  According to the document, police seized over two dozen items from the home related to dog fighting, including a portable dog ring, a pulling sled and harness, wooden breaker bars, and a bag with medical equipment and drugs.

Authorities also seized a computer, and multiple weapons.

Henrico police tell us the dogs are receiving medical treatment, and being held at the County Shelter as evidence.

But a supervisor says after the court case, the future of these dogs does not look good. He says they are aggressive, biting and holding anything put in front of them.

Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody tells us Corporal Robinson has been with the department for six years and he is disappointed by the arrest.

“He was a model deputy here, I am surprised, but I love animals, I care about animals, if the allegations are true he should get the same thing that Michael Vick or anybody else that abuses animals,” said Sheriff C.T. Woody.

Sheriff Woody also says Robinson has been removed from law enforcement duties at the jail and assigned to administrative duty, pending the outcome of the case.

Dog Freezes to Death, Dumped in A.C. Bay, NJ January 22, 2009

Source: NBCPhiladelphia.com, By Ted Greenberg, Jan 21, 2009

An Atlantic City man was charged Monday with animal cruelty after he dumped the body of a dog in the bay, police said.

A police officer from neighboring Absecon, N.J. found the pit bull wrapped in a trash bag after spotting a gold car leaving the scene just off the White Horse Pike in Atlantic City, authorities said.

Investigators said they believe the dog froze to death before being tossed into the bay.

“It’s awful that they should have to live like this. It’s bad to enough to be hungry, but then to be cold too. It’s not very nice,” said Nancy Beall, the head of the Atlantic County SPCA.

Police said they tracked the gold car to a house in the 400 block of N Maryland Ave. Only NBC 10 cameras were there when officers arrested 25-year-old Tyrell Newmons.

Newmons’ fiancee, Shauna Henry, sobbed as an animal control officer confiscated three pit bull puppies and an adult pit bull from the house.

“It’s not fair,” Henry said. “My dogs never did anything to nobody.”

Henry admitted to NBC 10 News that the deceased dog had been left outside in the yard behind her home.

“He must have died [Sunday] night because he bit my daughter and I put him outside three days ago,” she said. When asked if she wanted the pit bull to die, Henry said, “No, I didn’t. I love animals.”

Investigators said they had doubts about whether the dog had actually attacked anyone.

“Police, health department, no one was ever called on that. I [find that] very hard to believe,” Atlantic City Police Officer Cindy Rongione said.

The seized dogs were taken to the Atlantic County Animal Shelter in Pleasantville, N.J. Officials said they are aggressive and likely will have to be euthanized.

The grim discovery is similar to an unrelated incident three weeks ago in Millville, Cumberland County. There, the bodies of three young pit bulls were also found in garbage bags.

“It’s just getting crazy. Every day now you’re finding dogs in bags — mostly the pit bulls,” Rongione said. “They’re abused the most. They’re misunderstood dogs.”

Humane Society finds dog’s body frozen to ground, IN January 22, 2009

Source: NWI.com, Jan 20, 2009

GARY, IN | The Gary Humane Society is investigating the death of an emaciated pit bull found frozen in a makeshift shelter during last week’s subzero weather, the agency’s director said.

Betty Clayton said she found a 1-year-old, snow-covered male dog frozen to the ground Friday afternoon in the yard of the resident who called to have the dead animal removed.

“This dog was so thin, it should have seen a veterinarian,” Clayton said. “It had a wire pen covered with quarter-inch thin wood boards around it. Common sense says you don’t leave a dog that is 25 pounds underweight out during a night that was 16 below.”

Clayton said state law requires dog owners to provide their animals with proper food, water, shelter and veterinary care when necessary. She said an investigation into the incident was ongoing, but no charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon.

The resident, an unidentified woman, reported the dog had run away the previous night. The owner said she found it the next morning, already dead.

Clayton said she found the dog had been chained to a tree, and there were no foot prints in the snow that would have indicated the dog had left the yard recently. She said the dog appeared emaciated and had no access in its enclosure to food or water.

Possible dogfighting ring discovered, VA January 15, 2009

Source: WWLP.com,  Jan 14, 2009, by Mary Kay Mallonee

HAMPTON, Va. – There are signs of a possible dogfighting operation in Hampton.

Police say necropsies of two female pitbulls found in a dumpster last week, clearly show they were used for dogfighting.

The dogs had severe animal bites all over their bodies, deep puncture wounds on their legs, shoulders, necks and faces. The dogs had also been shot in the head.

“It makes you angry. It really does, ” said Dale Blankenship. He found the dogs, wrapped in bload-soaked carpets, in the dumpster behind the Maaco’s auto body shop on Pembroke Avenue where he works.

“Yeah, they were in bad shape. Bunch of scratches, bunch of gouges, puncture wounds, looked to be malnourished. You could see rib cages and they were basically just covered in blood for the most part,” said Blankenship.

All indications are that someone tossed the dogs in the dumpster very shortly after they were forced to fight and then shot in the head.

“There was probably a good half inch of blood in the bottom of the dumpster. It was just saturated. You’ve got to believe you are not going to ride around to far with a couple of dead dogs in the back of your car that are bleeding all over,” said Blankenship.

Now police are trying to track down the owner of the two pitbulls.

Cpl. Allison Good of the Hampton Police Department told WAVY.com, “They obviously couldn’t take them to the vet, because they’d be exposed for what they’re doing. So they took it upon themselves to shoot these dogs and end their lives and it’s very disturbing.”

Police are also worried that whoever forced the two unfortunate pitbulls to fight, is right now forcing other dogs into bloody matches.

Finding the owner of the two pitbulls will be difficult though, the dogs obviously didn’t have tags, or collars or microchips.

So police are really hoping that anyone who knows something about this case will make an anonymous call to the Crimeline at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

Crime Line callers remain anonymous and never appear in court. If a Crime Line call results in an arrest, the caller is eligible for a reward up to $1,000.00.

Mount Vernon considering ‘dangerous dog’ law, WA October 9, 2008

By ROB PIERCY / KING 5 News

06:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, October 8, 200

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – A few times a week you can find Bill Sauneuf at a Mount Vernon park, playing catch with his German Shepherd “Jester.”

Though Jester is well behaved, Sauneuf worries that changes in the city dog ordinance could force him to buy liability insurance.

“If the law required me to have one, I’d get one, but wouldn’t like it,” he said.

The city is looking at whether to require owners of “dangerous dogs,” dogs that have viciously attacked in the past, to carry $500,000 insurance policies. Owners of so-called “potentially dangerous dogs” would have to carry $250,000 policies.

“Any dog that would be menacing, threatening, chasing other people or other domestic animals, would be an example of behavior of a potentially dangerous dog,” said Jill Boudreau of the Mount Vernon Police Dept.

The city animal control officer is the one who makes the decision and often bases that decision on what witnesses say.

Sauneuf says that’s troublesome for people who own dogs like jester.

“He’s a big dog and somebody could easily be scared by him,” he said.

But Chuck Starkey, whose dog Teddy was nearly another dog’s lunch, thinks some owners should have large insurance policies.

“Just to protect the people who get attacked, because you know they’re going to need some help,” he said.

Saunuef says instead of insurance, a better requirement for dog owners would be education.

“Make them train their dogs, put them through classes and education, treat the problem, educate the dogs, educate the people about their dogs,” he said.

Insurance policies aren’t cheap. One of the best deals we could find online cost $900 a year for $250,000 worth of coverage.

The Mount Vernon City Council is holding a public hearing at 7 tonight on changes to the dog ordinance.

Ordinance Questions Baffle Omaha Dog Owners October 9, 2008

Source: WOWT.comLast Updated: 7:53 PM Oct 8, 2008 Reporter: John Chapman

Omaha’s dangerous dog ordinance takes effect next week and a lot of pet owners are still unsure what it means for them and how it will be enforced.

Lucky is one of many dogs that run and play at Omaha’s dog park at 108th and Maple. But Lucky’s owners and many other dog owners are not really sure how things will change once the recently passed Omaha dog ordinance goes into effect October 16th.

“One of the things I wonder about, how enforceable some of it is,” says Kent Pavelka. Who’s gonna enforce the part about a dog only being out for so many minutes?”

Pavelka is talking about a part of the ordinance that makes it against the law to tether an animal outdoors in excess of 15 minutes at any one time, unless an adult is there to watch it.

Channel 6 News found many dogs in violation on Wednesday if the ordinance was currently in effect. Many of the dogs found tethered outside were watching the house of their owners while they were at work.

“The Humane Society says it’s inhuman,” says Omaha City Councilman Frank Brown. “They’re doing it for a purpose, the dog is watching their house. This is going to be a hardship on those people who use their dogs for watchdogs and they’re taking great care of the dog.”

Steven Davis takes great care of his dog Bango, a 4-month-old pit bull, and is spending a lot of money getting his companion ready for when the ordinance does takes effect.

“I paid $30 to get him microchipped, $40 for his shots. He had to get a parvo shot, rabies shot, distemper.” Davis is working hard to follow the new ordinance, but things will get tougher on Bango when it goes into effect.

Pit bulls won’t be required to be muzzled while outside a fenced yard until January 1st.