Well, it’s that time of the year again and the Fourth of July is almost upon us. No doubt there will be many celebrations this weekend so I wanted to take the time to pass along some great health and safety tips for your dog from the ASPCA.

Fourth of July Safety Tips

For many people, nothing beats lounging in the backyard on the Fourth of July with good friends and family,including the four-legged members of the household. While it may seem like a great idea to reward Rover with scraps from the grill and bring him along to watch fireworks, in reality some festive foods and products can be potentially hazardous to your pets. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center offers the following tips:

• Never leave alcoholic drinks unattended where pets can reach them. Alcoholic beverages have the potential to poison pets. If ingested, the animal could become very intoxicated and weak, severely depressed or could go into a coma. Death from respiratory failure is also a possibility in severe cases.

• Read more… »

Not a dog video but on a Monday I figure we can all use something to laugh and smile about and this should definitely give you a tickle!!

Boxing Match

Well, it took a ’special’ judge to do it but on Friday, Circuit Judge David Henry issued an arrest warrant for Helena-West Helena’s mayor, James Valley. Judge Henry found reasonable cause to arrest him over accusations that he obstructed the Humane Society of Southeastern Arkansas from caring for the animals.

The complaint, filed by Ruby Burton, director of the area Humane Society, sought Valley’s arrest on misdemeanor charges of animal abandonment, mistreatment and neglect.

This stems from Mayor Valley’s dumping of almost a dozen shelter dogs on June 11, near the St. Francis National Forest.

Since then about half the dogs have been found due to efforts of NAFA, Humane Society volunteers and residents in the Storm Creek Road area and sadly two or three were shot when a resident spotted them on their property.

Found so far are:

• Female Shepherd Mix - NAFA rescued June 14th from a yard on Storm Creek Road
• Young black female - NAFA rescued from campground area - June 18th
• Male Scruffy Black Dog - rescued by Helena Resident and surrendered to NAFA - June 22nd
• Male Pit Brown/White - Rescued by Helena Resident - June 11th
• Male White/Tan Pit - Rescued by Helena Resident at swimming area of St. Francis National Forest - June 17th

Mayor Valley has contended from the start that he’s done nothing wrong and now he says he looks forward to his day in court.

Well, obviously, for a lawyer and a mayor, he doesn’t know his laws too well because according to Arkansas state law, he certainly has done something wrong!

Arkansas State Law

5-62-101. Cruelty to animals

(a) A person commits the offense of cruelty to animals if, except as authorized by law, he knowingly:

(1) Abandons any animal;
(2) Subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment;
(3) Subjects any animal in his custody to cruel neglect; or
(4) Kills or injures any animal belonging to another without legal privilege or consent of the owner.

(b) Cruelty to animals is a Class A misdemeanor.

Well, I would definitely say that dumping almost a dozen dogs certainly constitutes abandonment. amazing that he doesn’t seem to be able to see that.

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In a horrific case of abandonment and starvation, Christine Abrams, left her beautiful 2 year old white German Shepherd, Ella, locked in a crate and just walked away. In January 2008, Abrams left the house and abandoned Ella to her cruel fate of a slow and painful death of starvation.

You can almost imagine Ella, sitting, waiting, hunger and thirst gnawing at her as painfully as the isolation and loneliness. She could see and smell food just a few feet away and pushed her paws through the wire door again and again to try to reach it without success. She must have wondered where her beloved master, Christine was, thinking that every sound was her returning to let her out of this prison. Days passed, her once hopeful eyes glazed with pain and hunger, her body pestered by flies and she weakened. Hope and strength continue to dwindle as Ella’s body begins to feed on itself until there is nothing more to give. Finally, mercifully, Ella’s body and heart give out, the hunger, the thirst, the pain, the loneliness too much for a living creature to take.

In her cruel careless abandonment, this is what Christine Abrams subject Ella, the dog she professed to love so much, to.

In March of 2008, a neighbor, worried that he hadn’t see Abrams or Ella for some time, looked in the house and saw Ella, dead in her crate. The neighbor, Robert Arishon, even more concerned for Abrams safety, called the police. When police arrived and investigated the house, seeing Ella dead locked in her crate, the flies and the smell, even outside, overwhelming, they too feared for Abrams. Worried that Ella was not the only body in the house, the police entered. No Christine, just the body of Ella, a once beautiful German Shepherd, dead and decomposed, just a few feet away from a bag of dog food.

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150 Dogs and Puppies Prepare to Start Their New Life!

In the largest puppy mill raid in TN history, a total of 682 dogs, 25 cats, 23 horses, four parrots and 13 chickens were seized from Pine Bluff Kennels on Ed Lyell Road in Hickman County. Twelve animals were found dead on the property.

The mostly small purebred dogs lived their entire lives stuffed into small cages, many crammed together, no exercise and often very little to eat or drink. Some were found sharing their cages with dead dogs or puppies. The first piece of good news about them since their rescue is that most of them are adoptable!

But that’s all changing now! The dogs have been removed from this life of cruelty and neglect, a life or breeding over and over again until their little bodies are completely used up.

Yesterday, for 150 of the dogs, breeds including poodles sharpies, miniature dobermans and other small dogs, their new life began at the Atlanta Humane Society.

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Sentencing for Admitted Dog Killer, Daniel Charles Haskett, Postponed Again as He Decides to Change his Plea!

Almost two years after the brutal torture and death of Daisy Duke, a sweet lab mix dog in Didbury, Alberta, Canada, justice has been delayed again! Daniel Charles Haskett, 20, who admitted to the brutal torture death of the dog, along with another young man, pleaded guilty in May 2007 to one count of animal cruelty and one count of obstruction of justice for initially lying to police over his involvement in the crime.

The crime, which took place on October 8 2006, is a lesson in cruelty and brutality. Supposedly, Haskett’s 17 year old friend ran over Haskett’s family dog, Daisy Duke. Fearing he would lose his license and get into trouble with Haskett’s mother, they decided to kill the dog, drag her out of town and say that she’d run away.

Daisy was found by passersby after the rope the men had tied around her neck to drag her broke. She had her muzzle taped and all four legs duct taped together, a plastic bag over her head, she’d been beaten with a shovel, tied behind a car and dragged, run over a second time which is how the rope broke, her neck, back and pelvis were broken… all in an attempt to kill her. When she was found, the poor dog was still alive, grievously injured, in unbelievable pain, but still alive, even if just barely. She was euthanized on scene by a veterinarian.

This crime galvanized Canada and brought to the forefront the inadequate and outdated animal cruelty laws. More than 100,000 signature were collected on petition calling on the federal government to strengthen federal animal cruelty laws.

The second young man involved in the crime, who at 17 did not have his name released, pleaded guilty to a charge of animal cruelty, he was given two years’ probation, three months’ house arrest and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service. His sentence shocked and outraged the community but regardless of whether the punishment fit the crime, and there’s no way anyone can say it did, he admitted his guilt and took his punishment. He got it over and done with.

As for Haskett, there have been delays on top of delays and now there’s yet another one! Daniel Charles Haskett has decided to change his plea from guilty to not guilty and wants to face trial.

“I entered a guilty plea because I wanted to receive whatever punishment I was going to get and move on, and to have closure for this portion of my life,” he told defense lawyer Alan Pearse.

“During this episode there has been a continuous amount of harassment against me and my family, including death threats, hate mail, commands to leave the community,” Haskett said.

“I was assaulted and someone fired a bullet at me while I was at home with my mother and I just don’t want to deal with that anymore.”

Oh boo hoo!! Sorry, but it’s pretty hard for me to work up any sympathy for this piece of trash! What a waste of human life! He inflicted incredible torture and suffering on a living, breathing, innocent creature and now want sympathy! Where was his sympathy as he beat, tortured and brutalized Daisy Duke??

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This has got to be one of the most sick, brutal cases of abuse I’ve ever heard!! A NC teen shot and beat a pregnant Rottweiler to death then cut her unborn puppies from her body!!

Wesley Logan White of Glen Dancy Road, Wilkesboro, NC, not even 17, committed this atrocity Monday, the 23rd. He claimed to have shot the dog while it was in his yard but evidence and witnesses tell a different story.

At the intersection of Dillard and Glen Dancy Roads, Deputy Clayton Shumate of the Wilkes Sheriff’s Department and David Wagoner of Dillard Road in Hays, found found large puddles of blood in the grass and blood on the road indicating the dog had been dragged from there to White’s house.

Neighbors said that White shot the dog while it was on Dillard road. The dog wasn’t dead when White dragged her about 45 yards, across the road, beat her to death with a mattock and then removed the dog’s unborn puppies.

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When Christina Marie Humphrey, 33, of 508 E. Virginia Ave., Tampa, FL, called 911 to catch Whitney, a female Rottweiler mix, that had gotten loose from her chain and was running around the yard, I’m sure the last thing she expected was to be arrested for animal cruelty.

When police arrived on Wednesday, they found a dog with a gaping, festering wound on her neck, who was severely emaciated. The chain she had been tethered to was very short and there was no shelter unless you counted a scrawny tree.

The officer “smelled the distinct odor of decaying flesh and Whitney had flies buzzing around her neck. She was extremely thin with hip and rib bones protruding.”

Humphry told officers that the dog belonged to her boyfriend who left a month ago. She stayed out of the backyard because of fleas but her “that her 8-year-old son used a broom handle to feed the dog leftovers.” A witness said that he fed the dog occasionally as well but obviously no one was feeding the dog often enough as can be evidence by the picture of poor Whitney.

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In a 17-12 vote on Wednesday, the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee is forwarding the “puppy mill bill,” H.B. 2525, to the House floor.

Voting broke down sharply along party lines; only one Republican voted with the unanimous Democrats for the bill that will make sweeping changes to the commercial dog breeding industry in the “Puppy Mill Capital” of the east.

The sweeping legislation is aimed at stemming abuses by large breeding operations called “puppy mills” by opponents. It is supported by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell but has faced strong opposition from groups who say the measure goes too far.

Pennsylvanians, please continue to contact your legislators, especially Republicans, and let them know that you support H.B. 2525. Don’t stop now! Don’t give up!

CONTINUE TO TAKE ACTION
Please make a brief, polite phone call to urge your Representative to support H.B. 2525. Find your Respesentative HERE.

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Ear infections show up on the list of the top 10 reasons for vet visits for both dogs and cats. Here’s some tips on how to handle some of those those problems.

Ear infections and problems are one of the top reported problems faced by many pet owners. Does your dog or cat shake their head and scratch their ears or rub their ears against the ground or furniture? Do you ever notice a foul smelling, discharge in their ears, black, yellowish or brown in color? Are their ears red and tender? These are all signs of an ear infection or problem in your pets.

A dog or car’s ear canal is L-shaped which causes dirt, moisture, parasites; mites, and wax to be trapped in the canal which can lead to ear infections. Dog which have long, floppy ears tend to be more prone to ear problems due to the lack of air circulation available to the canal. With long haired, floppy eared dogs, you can keep the hair trimmed on the inside of the ear to increase air circulation.

The conventional treatment for most infections is antibiotic and anti-fungal medications. The problem with these treatments is that they treat only the symptoms, not the underlying cause. To successfully conquer the problem, both must be treated. Medications will mask the problem and may actually make it worse in the long-run by creating a chemical imbalance in the ear resulting in long-term problems.

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Do you spoil your dog? See how many of these you answer yes to…

Signs You Spoil Your Dog:
1. You think begging for table scraps is beneath him so you let your dog eat at the table with you.

2. You take him to the supermarket and let him pick out his own dog food.

3. Your family comes home from work or school, looks at the stew on the stove and asks: “Is this people food or dog food?”

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Yesterday’s raid on Pine Bluff Kennels on Ed Lyell Road in Hickman County, TN, is believed to be “largest puppy mill rescue ever conducted in Tennessee” according the the HSUS. A variety of breeds of dogs were rescued from conditions described as “extremely poor,” typical of a ‘puppy mill’.

Many dogs were suffering from obvious illness and injuries such as skin conditions, eye injuries and broken bones. It’s believed that many dogs were never let out of their cages. Many were without waters and there was a build-up of feces. Dead dogs as well as dogs very close to death were found.

“We are looking at about 700 animals right now, maybe more will be added to that count,” said Stephanie Shain, director of the Humane Society’s Stop Puppy Mills campaign. “The conditions are extremely poor. They are typical of a breeding operation like this, what we call a puppy mill.”

Officials and volunteers found about 200 puppies. The rest of the dogs were used for breeding.

Shain said puppy mill dogs typically are sold at prices from $150 to $1,000.

“It is likely that no one who ever purchased a puppy from this operation saw these conditions,” Shain said.

Selling puppies on the Internet allows breeding operations to remain out of sight from potential buyers, Shain said. She estimated that there are more than 10,000 “puppy mills” operating in the U.S.

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