Ohio Puppy Mills

This is a FANTASTIC editorial that appeared in the Sunday, July 14, 2008 issue of The Columbus Dispatch. BRAVO!!!

FOR THE DOGS
Legislators should put end to Ohio's
national reputation as haven for puppy mills

Ohio lawmakers still have time to liberate the state from the shame of being the nation's No. 2 haven for puppy mills, where inbred, sick dogs are forced to produce litter after litter of inbred, sick puppies in miserable conditions.

Why House and Senate members have failed to act on bills to reasonably regulate dog breeding, introduced in each of the past two sessions, is a mystery.

Even an unsolicited letter of support in April from Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel -- one of Ohio's prime celebrity endorsements, surely -- didn't sway them.

The current measures, House Bill 223 and Senate Bill 173, have languished since being introduced in May 2007.

Lawmakers, headed off on a long election-year break, still could pass these bills -- either in a special session before the November election or in the lame-duck session after it.

The proposed law would do nothing to impede anyone from breeding dogs under humane conditions.It certainly would inconvenience those who profit from misery, as they confine dogs in tiny, filthy cages, breeding them over and over, with little rest or veterinary care, and no social interaction with humans.

The law would create a division of the Department of Agriculture that would set minimum standards for living space, food, water, daylight, time out of cages and medical care. The rules would apply to kennels where nine or more dogs are bred per year. Those who buy and sell breeding dogs at auctions and sell them to pet stores would have to be licensed and would be required to keep records of their transactions.

Pet stores either would have to provide a veterinarian's certification for each dog sold, stating it is healthy, or offer customers a 21-day money-back guarantee for dogs that are deemed by the buyer's veterinarian to be diseased or injured.

Some legislators have opposed the bill out of a general dislike of government regulation of business, but such mindless adherence to this principle is harmful to consumers and downright brutal to animals. Beside the moral repugnance of the puppy-mill trade, leaving it essentially unregulated allows unethical breeders -- and there are lots of them -- to foist sick and badly bred puppies onto unsuspecting buyers. That doesn't promote good business in Ohio.

Those who oppose the bill because it would limit the puppy-mill industry that thrives particularly among the Amish in Holmes and Geauga counties should consider that the right to pursue a profit isn't a license to be cruel to animals.

Ohio, with more than 11,000 known breeders, is second only to Missouri in the number of puppy mills. Clearly, the state is tolerating an unsavory business that other states have seen fit to limit.

Ohio lawmakers should muzzle this awful business.

Vick's dogs win hearts, homes

Here is a WONDERFUL article that appeared in the Sunday, July 13, 2008 edition of The Columbus Dispatch. To view the article with photos, please click here.

Vick's dogs win hearts, homes
Half of football star's fighting pit bulls were fit for fostering

By Brigid Schulte
The Washington Post

When football superstar Michael Vick pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to run a dogfighting operation, we knew he had kept about 50 pit bulls on his 15-acre property in rural Virginia. We knew the dogs were chained to car axles near wooden hovels for shelter. And we knew the dogs that didn't fight were beaten, shot, hanged, electrocuted or drowned.

But we didn't know their names. Headlines described the dogs as "menacing." Some animal-rights groups called for the "ticking time bombs" to be euthanized as soon as Vick's case was closed and they were no longer valuable as evidence. That's what typically happens after a dogfighting bust.

Instead, the court gave Vick's dogs a second chance. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson ordered that each dog be evaluated individually, not judged by the stereotype of the breed. And he ordered Vick to pony up close to $1 million to pay for the lifelong care of those that could be saved.

Of the 49 pit bulls animal-behavior experts evaluated, only one was deemed too vicious to warrant saving and was euthanized. (Another was killed because it was sick and in pain.) More than a year after being confiscated from Vick's property, Leo, a tan, muscular pit bull, visits cancer patients as a certified therapy dog in California. Teddles takes orders from a 2-year-old. Gracie is a couch potato in Richmond, Va., who lives with cats and sleeps with four other dogs.

Of the 47 surviving dogs, 25 were placed directly in foster homes, and a handful have been or are being adopted. Twenty-two were deemed potentially aggressive toward other dogs and were sent to an animal sanctuary in Utah. Some, after intensive retraining, are expected to move on to foster care and adoption.

How can this be? Reports of gruesome pit bull maulings make international news. Pit bulls are one of the few canine breeds thought to be so dangerous that they are banned in some places. The answer, says Frank McMillan, a veterinarian who is studying the recovery of some of the Vick dogs, is that we don't know. "We've assumed all pits are the same, and we've never let this many fighting dogs live long enough to find out," he said.

Classic fighting pit bulls, part bulldog and part terrier, were bred to be friendly to people and aggressive with other dogs. Their ability to withstand great pain and keep fighting is a quality prized as "gameness."

But with an explosion in urban street fighting, some pit bulls are being trained to go after animals and people. Evaluators said that when they walked into the kennels where the Vick dogs were being held, they weren't sure what to expect.

"I thought, if we see four or five dogs that we can save, I'll be happy," said Randy Lockwood, an animal behaviorist with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Instead, they found dogs with behaviors that ran the gamut. Some would lick human hands but lunge at other dogs. Some almost immediately went into play mode with other dogs, wagging their tails and crouching down on their front legs in a play bow.

Some of the dogs were scarred. All were sick and malnourished. Once it became clear that the dogs might be allowed to live, evaluators gave them names: Iggy, Zippy, Cherry Garcia, Hazel, Little Red, Uba, Squeaker, Big Fella, Handsome Dan.

"One of the things that struck us immediately was that these dogs were more like the dogs we see rescued from animal-hoarding situations," Lockwood said. "Their main
problem was not aggressiveness but isolation." Loud noises startled them. A light coming on made them jump. All that the dogs seemed to know about people was that they were to be feared.

We don't know what names Vick, who is serving a 23-month prison sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., called most of his dogs. One of the few names that appeared in court papers was Jane, one of the first pit bulls Vick bought in 2001 to start Bad Newz Kennels.

Jane is now called Georgia. Her jaw is crooked, having been broken at least once, and her tongue sticks out. She is covered in scars, and her teeth have all been pulled. By court order, she will live out her days in Dogtown, at the Best Friends Animal Society's 3,700-acre sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. So will Lucas, a tail-wagging, 60-pound dog who evaluators suspect was Vick's grand champion fighter.

They are two of 22 dogs who were deemed worth saving but who showed enough animal aggression that they could be held only in a tightly controlled sanctuary. At Best Friends, McMillan, the veterinarian, has developed an "emotional rehabilitation plan" for each dog and measures how they exhibit such traits as aggression, fear, calmness or friendliness. All but two of the Vick dogs are on "green collar," meaning they are open and friendly to human visitors. The remaining 25 Vick dogs were given to seven animal-rescue organizations, which placed them in experienced foster homes. A number have since passed the American Kennel Club's 10-part Canine Good Citizenship test. Many are being adopted.

Sharon Cornett, a member of the Richmond, Va., Animal League's board, agreed to foster Gracie and is adopting her. "I adore this dog. She is just a love bucket. She loves people and animals unconditionally," Cornett said. She has four other dogs. All of them sleep together at night. "Gracie is not what the public perception has been of a fighting pit bull."

Still, Cornett and other pit-bull rescuers say that they never leave the dogs unsupervised with other animals. And rehabilitating a fighting pit is not for everyone: You have to know what you're doing, they say.

John Goodwin, a dogfighting expert with the Humane Society and a proponent of euthanizing fight dogs, is skeptical of the emerging reports of the Vick dog recoveries. Fighting is in their blood, he said. "The behavior is bred into them," he said. "These groups are not rehabilitating these dogs. They're training them to behave in a more socialized manner. But these pit bulls should never be left alone with other dogs, because you never know when that instinct to fight another dog is going to surface."

Tim Racer, one of the founders of Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit bulls, or BAD RAP, who before taking in 10 Vick dogs had evaluated and retrained 400 pit bulls over the past 10 years, disagrees. Yes, there are pit bulls who have attacked other animals and people. But so have other breeds. And incidents almost always have been traced to negligent or abusive owners, he said.

Racer said it is not surprising that many of the dogs get along so well with other dogs. Just as the urge to fight is in their blood, so, too, is the need to get along. "You have 150 years of man trying to produce an aggressive dog. But you have tens of thousands of years of Mother Nature preceding that," he said. "Dogs are pack animals. They survived because of their pack. … It's hard-wired into their genes that they do no harm to each other."

I Adopted Your Dog Today

I adopted your dog today
The one you left at the pound
The one you had for seven years
and no longer wanted around.

I adopted your dog today
Do you know he's lost weight?
Do you know he's scared and depressed
and has lost all faith?

I adopted your dog today.
he had fleas and a cold,
but don't worry none.
You've unburdened your load.

I adopted your dog today.
Were you having a baby or moving away?
Did you suddenly develop allergies or was
there no reason he couldn't stay?

I adopted your dog today.
he doesn't play or eat much
He's very depressed, but
he will learn again to trust.

I adopted your dog today.
And here he will stay.
He's found his forever home
and a warm bed on which to lay.

I adopted your dog today.
And I will give him all that he could need.
Patience, love, security, and understanding.
Hopefully he will forget your selfish deed.

-Author Unknown

Great Letter to Dispatch Editor Regarding Whitehall Pit Bull Ban

This is a really awesome Letter to the Editor that appeared in the Sunday, June 22, 2008 edition of The Columbus Dispatch!

Hooray for Amanda! She really did her homework very well!

Campaign against pit bulls in Whitehall is sorely lacking in facts

I am writing in regard to last Saturday's letter from Whitehall City Councilwoman Jacquelyn K. Thompson, "Pit bulls inspire fear, must be removed from society."

I find it ironic that Thompson has chosen to invoke the names of great men known for their fight against prejudice, discrimination and hatred. Indeed, Thompson is a shining example of what President John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy fought against: those using the guise of betterment of society, when in fact they were simply hiding behind their words to cover ignorance and fear of the unknown, as well as blatant prejudice and discrimination.

I am not a part of a pit-bull lobby, nor do I even own a pit bull. I am amazed that Thompson is blaming her inability to pass a ban on the "pit-bull lobby."

Thompson was unable to pass her ban because, quite simply, the foundation of her proposed ordinance was myth, rhetoric and hysteria. The facts do not support bans as being effective in reducing dog bites and increasing public safety. Here are some facts:

• Just last week the Netherlands repealed a 15-year ban imposed on pit bulls and other breeds because it did not reduce dog bites.

• Aurora, Colo., instituted a pit-bull ban two years ago. Since that time, bite incidents have increased 43 percent.

• A Scottish study, two years after a breed ban was enacted, found overall dog-bite rates were unchanged.

• A study in Aragon, Spain, five years before and five years after the introduction of their Dangerous Animals Act, indicated there was no change in numbers of reported dog bites.

• The United Kingdom banned pit bulls in 1991. A study analyzing dog bites before the ban and after the ban revealed that the Dangerous Dog Act has had no effect whatsoever. Yet the U.K. spent $14 million identifying pit bulls and another $10 million per year in litigation.

• The province of Ontario, Canada, banned pit bulls in 2005, spending $170,000 per year trying to enforce it. The city of Windsor spends an extra $26,000 each year enforcing a pit-bull ban.

• During a 10-year period, Cincinnati spent $160,000 per year trying to enforce a pit-bull ban, which has been ineffective.

• While dog bites were spiking in Lucas County, Ohio -- despite the Ohio and Toledo vicious-dog laws -- the incidence of dog bites has steadily declined in New York City, which does not regulate dogs based on breed. In the absence of a breed-specific law, dog bites have decreased from 30,000 per year in the 1970s to 5,300 in 2001 and then to 3,956 in 2005.

• The Canadian city of Calgary enacted dangerous-dog legislation (similar to the alternative legislation proposed by Whitehall Councilman Bob Bailey) in response to an escalating bite problem. The results were incredible. Calgary saw a 21 percent decline in bite incidents, and aggressive-dog incidents have dropped by 56 percent. And the city's animal-control program pays for itself. Police work with animal-control officers in dangerous situations.

As to the claim of a "pit-bull lobby" bullying the community, city residents speaking out against an unjust proposal is hardly a lobby. Ohioans from nearby communities concerned with unjust legislation is hardly a lobby.

The only bullying I have witnessed was, in fact, perpetrated by Thompson, who consistently targeted and berated Whitehall residents, denigrated and made absurd accusations against other members of City Council and even took pot shots at the mayor. Bullying, Thompson? Here's a mirror.

AMANDA GLEASON
Galloway

Former Vick Dog Now a Therapy Dog

Please take time to check out this brief video. What a wonderful ending for Leo .... and a testimony for all Pit Bulls everywhere.

It has been proven that bait dogs as well as the ones who were trained to fight can most often be rehabilitated when given a second chance. Leo was given his second chance at life ..... now he’s helping cancer patients achieve their second chance.

If you haven’t written your Ohio state representative as yet regarding the Ohio Pit Bull Ban (see my post regarding H.B. 568), please take a few minutes to do so.

DO NOT LET THEM DESTROY THIS WONDERFUL BREED OF DOG.

Thanks for your time.

Introducing Blue: A Rescue Dog Survival Story

[Warning: Graphic images appear below the story.]

By Katherine Daily
June 3, 2008

The scenario is most likely this... a dog was tossed into a dog fight ring and when he wasn't "good" at it, the "people" (and I use the word loosely - they are living bodies without souls) try to kill the dog. It's common practice. They stabbed him in the neck with a pole type object and took a knife to his head. These were injuries that could not have been inflicted by dogs. The vet confirmed he had hundreds of dog bites on his body, the most severe obviously on his chest.

We rescued this dog on a rainy Saturday in April, he was rushed to the vet hospital. His flesh was literally rotting. He had been laying in a garage, starving, weak from blood loss and infection. If you've ever smelled rotting flesh, you know it. My van smelled for a week. For the first few days the goal was to keep him alive, then once over that hump, the vet began daily treatments to clean the dead tissue, etc. Even in pain, he was as sweet as pie. He let the vet/staff do anything to him and only thumped his scraggly tail, happy for the attention. Five weeks later he looks much better, the hole in his chest growing smaller, little by little. He has had 3 surgeries, the last one yesterday to try to close up the chest wound.

We named him Blue. He is very sweet, takes treats ever so gently, he loves people and other dogs. The vet staff all adore him, he is their favorite patient. Blue is a pit bull and he is wonderful. He is another sad example of what the slimeballs do to these dogs, the most abused, persecuted and misunderstood breed in history. http://www.thetruthaboutpitbulls.com/ So don't believe the media hype about the breed, we have many, many examples of their extreme bias and selective sensationalism. It's the humans who are evil, not the dogs.

Blue will be looking for a home/foster home when he is released from the hospital - so please spread the word to your friends. Thanks!


Day 1, April 26...







3 weeks Later, May 19...

You can still see the hole in his chest 3 weeks later.

5 Weeks later... May 29. Blue's chest wound looks a little better, but is still quite disturbing in person.

A Letter to Representative Yates

The following letter was written by my friend and fellow rescuer Barb McGrady. Also, please take time to read the story of Blue. It is gut wrenching to see what humans do to this breed while our law makers propose legislation that would lead to a Pit Bull Holocaust. As Barb puts it ..... after reading the story of Blue .... "Who is most to be feared, man or the breed of pit bull?"

June 11, 2008

To Representative Yates,

I hope that you aren't planning on running for re-election.

(I am ccing this to Speaker of the House, Rep. John Husted, Rep. Joyce Beaty, and Chairman of State Gov. and Elections Committee, Rep, David Daniels.)

Please read the following story. Feel free to contact the sender, [kdaily AT JonesDay dot com], so that you can contact the veterinarian's office currently attempting to save this innocent dog's life to verify the story's validity.

It is obvious, though, that you are not interested in validation of data, considering the bill you recently submitted to the State Government and Elections Committee. You know, the bill that would demand that dog wardens obtain search warrants and seize
people's beloved pets (pit bulls or dogs who look like pit bulls) SO THEY ALL COULD BE KILLED. The Pit Bull "Holocaust."

Ask yourself after reading the story in its entirety, after looking at the attached photos, "Who is most to be feared, man or the breed of pit bull?"

The bill that you have written and submitted to the State Government and Elections Committee reflects that your judgment on this issue is hideously ignorant, absurdly inept, and quite frankly, alarming. How someone with your blatant narrow-mindedness and total lack of compassion was elected to hold the position of state representative has caused me, as well as thousands of others across the United States, real concern.

We have rescued hundreds of dogs. I can say in all honestly a few have had behavioral issues that we have had to work through. Yes, some have actually displayed mild signs of aggression. But with a little TLC and patience, we have worked through these tendencies with the lab, boxer, terrier, German
shepherd, collie, beagle, and basset mixes as well as purebred breeds that we have rescued. Aggression isn't breed specific, as you seem to believe.

There is ONE breed and one breed only that we have rescued that has never once shown aggression to humans, and that breed is the pit bull. I use a pit bull mix named Brie in my Compassion Education presentations that S.P.A. offers to preschool and grade school children. She is the only dog that we trust 110% around children. Her temperament is solid as steel, and she is one of the most even tempered dogs I have ever met.

Again, if only to break through the dark shroud that is apparently wrapped tightly around your brain, please read the following story. Hopefully a light will go off in your head and the shroud that is distorting your perception of reality will unravel. I am usually not abrasive by nature, but someone like you, holding the position of an Ohio
State Representative, writing a bill ordering all family pit bulls be killed, really scares the hell out of me.

Barbara McGrady, President
S.P.A.
http://www.spaohio.org/

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." ~Mahatma Gandhi

I have posted the Story of Blue as a separate entry. Click HERE to read.