But it gets even worse, one minute after they rehired him, they put him on paid leave “while they evaluate his employment status.”

Gary Tate, former deputy dog warden at the Stark County Pound in Canton, OH, was dismissed from his position last year after being accused of animal abuse. Seems he had a habit of using a snare pole to drag dogs by their necks, then using the pole’s noose to lift the dogs to second-tier cages, causing the dogs to hang by their necks. Hmmmm…. nice guy.

Now after a lot of legal wrangling, the county was forced to rehire him and also pay him all the back wages after an arbitrator ruled that Tate should not have been fired because the abuse accusations were “insufficient to justify anything more than some minor discipline.”

Wow, maybe that arbitrator should try the end of the pole that the dogs had to suffer being dangled from! Of course Tate says he wasn’t abusing the dogs, just using the pole to keep himself safe from them. Bet there are lots of really vicious dogs there! Funny, the 30+ volunteers that go in there every day never have to use a pole for protection and have no problems with the dogs. Perhaps the volunteers could demonstrate the proper handling of the dogs?

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We got us another big, bad man here! Timothy Ray Loftis, 21, of Bessemer City, NC, stomped a tiny 8 week old Chihuahua puppy to death after it urinated in the house. Oh yeah, he’s a tough guy alright!

Loftis’ girlfriend, Crystal Williams had gotten the puppy for her 1 1/2 year old daughter, they named it Tequilla. It was so tiny it could fit in the palm of a person’s hand

On Thursday, Williams went running to her mother saying that Loftis had killed the tiny puppy. Williams’ mother, Sherry Thomas confronted Loftis.

“I said ‘Timmy, why would you do something like that? You knew she loved that dog,’” Thomas said.

“Its eyeball was hanging from its head,” Thomas said. “That was just really cruel.”

Gaston County Police charged Loftis, 21, of the 600 block of South 12th Street, with felony cruelty to animals Thursday.

“Upon arrival, I spoke to the defendant, who said, ‘Is this about that dog. Yeah, I killed the SOB,’” wrote officer J.T. Lubert in his warrant affidavit.

Loftis did not use the abbreviation in talking with Lubert, according to the arrest warrant.

“While en route to the jail, the defendant stated, ‘Goin to jail, and I didn’t even kill no dog.’”

After this the defendant reportedly stated, “‘Ain’t this some s—. I been to jail three times for assault on a female and now I’m goin for killing a dog,’” according to Lubert’s warrant affidavit.

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Junior Horton, owner of Horton’s Pups, faced 14 counts of animal cruelty and 25 counts of neglect stemming from an investigation from last November when more than 1000 dogs were found at his property. The charges accused Horton of depriving dogs of necessary food, drink, shelter or emergency veterinary treatment, and of failing to adequately house, feed, water, exercise or care for animals in his possession. He was also charged with one count of not having a proper license. Over 700 dogs were eventually seized and adopted into new homes.

The good news is that he was found guilty of all the charges. The bad news, on the other hand, is that he will not be facing any jail time and most of the fines were actually suspended and worst of all, he is allowed to continue to run his commercial breeding business, ie. puppy mill!! More ’slap on the wrist’ justice!!

After more than three hours of testimony, General District Court Judge Edward Turner made his ruling on the 40 charges Horton faced: 14 for animal cruelty, 25 for animal neglect and one for failure to obtain a dog license.

“I find Mr. Horton guilty of all counts,” Turner said. “The question is, ‘What do we do with it?’ “

Turner suspended 12 years of jail time for the misdemeanors and suspended much of the fines associated with the criminal charges. For the 14 counts of cruelty, he suspended $2,250 of each of the $2,500 fines. For the 25 counts of neglect, he suspended $450 of each of the $500 fines. He imposed the mandated $25 fine for the charge of failing to obtain a dog license. The total for all fines amounted to $4,750. The judge also directed the court to determine a cost of veterinary services provided when hundreds of Horton’s dogs were taken from his business following the sting. He said Horton will be responsible for making restitution.

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The crackdown on animal abuse continues with South Carolina hitting the public right in the face with 10 billboards that will feature an image of a dog with a scarred face and missing an eye and a hotline number for people to call; (888) CRIME-SC.

“The message is, if you see something, say something,” Attorney General Henry McMaster said.

Dogfighting can be associated with crimes including gang violence, drug trafficking, serial killings and child molestation, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.

“If someone will abuse an animal,” Lott said, “they will abuse a human.”

Anyone providing information leading to an arrest and conviction in an animal-fighting case can receive a reward up to $5,000 from the Humane Society of the United States and distributed by CrimeStoppers.

McMaster established a statewide Dogfighting Task Force in 2004, which has made more than 50 arrests, authorities said. More than 300 dogs have been seized.

Dogfighting comes with some severe penalties.

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More and more states are working on legislation to try to regulate the commercial breeding industry which in far too many instances are just houses of horrors, puppy mills, masquerading as reputable breeders.

Louisiana is now working on legislation that would limit the number of dogs that breeders would be allowed to own, instituting a cap at a maximum of 75 dogs. This doesn’t sound like much of a move but when you look at many of the puppy mills, some have hundreds of dogs, often crammed two, three or more to a cage that is barely large enough for one.

No, it’s not the answer. The answer would be to close them all down! But as anyone who is part of the fight against puppy mills knows, it’s not going to happen anytime in the near future but each and every little step in the right direction is something to be lauded.

The bill aims to limit the number of dogs held in abusive puppy mills – mills that churn out thousands of dogs for sale in pet stores and over the internet.

The Humane Society of the United States testified in support of the legislation. The organization says many puppy mill operators deceive consumers into believing the dogs came from reputable breeders.

“Limiting the number of animals at a puppy mill is an important first step to ensure that dogs used for breeding are treated humanely, and also addresses one source of pet overpopulation,” said Julia Breaux , HSUS’ Louisiana state director.

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Joseph Trujillo was a real big, bad man last November when he took his mother-in-law’s little Chihuahua, Chicolin, into an alley and beat it to death with a shovel then tossed its battered and broken body into a trash dumpster.

Chicolin, a five year old stray Chihuahua that Elaine Ulibarri took in when he wandered into her yard was by all accounts a feisty little dog but was well loved as were all the dogs that Ulibarri had.

“He was a little orphan who wandered into my yard,” she tearfully testified. “I took him in. I really miss that little dog.”

On that fateful November 4th, Trujillo, whose wife said didn’t like the little dog, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, took him out to the ally where a neighbor actually saw him bash the dog on the head four or five time.

At the time of Trujillo’s arrest, Eric Bernal, was going to report the incident anonymously but when Trujillo continued to claim he was being falsely accused, Bernel decided he would testify in court.

“I know he’s lying because I watched him do it,” Eric Bernal said. “I actually saw him carrying the dog to back by the scruff of the neck. The dog was yelping or screaming. It was really disturbing.”

Trujillo’s wife Carla testified that he didn’t like the dog, that once when it defecated in the basement of the house they shard with her mother, he took the dog’s feces and mixed it in with food and fed it to the dogs.

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Stories like this and people like this just make me sick! Rather than to try to find any options or talk to the humane society, William Jenkins, 44, of Fort Myers, FL, decided to brutally bludgeon his dog to death because he “couldn’t afford the surrender fee.”

Jenkins actually took the dog to the Gulf Coast Humane Society in Fort Myers but when asked to wait during the intake, he left. The last anyone saw the dog alive, he was in the front seat of Jenkins’ vehicle.

“He was hanging out of the window like a normal dog - tongue waving in the breeze and ears flapping,” said Aimee LaLonde, a shelter employee.

The next thing witnesses saw was Jenkins taking the dog into the wood, just a couple hundred yards down the road from the shelter, where he would have had a chance. When Jenkins game out of the woods, he was alone. He’d beaten the dog to death and buried its body in a shallow grave.

William Jenkins Brutally Killed Dog

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The story of Jeffrey Ely who hit and killed the little 13 lb miniature pincher, Fester, then sued his owners for $1,100 got not only national but international attention and Ely says it also ruined his reputation.

The quickest way to sum up the outcome of the case is that the judge just threw it out!

Judge Gerald Maher heard the case Friday afternoon. Both parties, Jeffrey Ely, the man who hit and killed the little dog, and Daniel Munthe, one of the owners of Fester, the dog who was killed, representing themselves.

Judge Maher said that neither side could prove the other had been negligent so instead of taking the case under advisement he dismissed it.

“You don’t have a legal cause of action,” Maher said. “You never should have been here.”

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Flexpetz has moved to London and it’s getting a chilly reception, to put it mildly. The US based firm that rents dogs on an hourly, daily, weekly basis is finding that, as in many places is the US, their service is not only unpopular, but getting blasted by animal welfare groups, trainers and the public as well.

Targeting the wealthy with not enough time for a full time pet or those who don’t want the inconvenience or responsibility, they rent dogs out at at a cost of £279 for once a week for a month or the equivalent of over $500! In the US the same service is about $150. The reason cited for the astronomical difference in cost the that pet care costs are much higher in the UK.

Right now they have only one dog available for rent, an 18 month old Pomeranian named Gucci who five people will be able to share. They plan on more in the future.

Pippa Woollard, the Flexpetz facilitator, has declined to say where Gucci came from except to say “he was well cared for and lived with a family that had other dogs on the outskirts of London.” In the US, Flexpetz says their dogs are acquired from shelters.

Concerns have been raised that passing a dog from one home to another could prove distressing to the animal, leaving it with no routine.

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This is a story that would have had a horrible ending had the officers on the scene been less understanding, especially in light of all the stories you see of police shooting dogs at the slightest provocation.

Wednesday night off-duty Orange County, FL sheriff’s deputy, Steve Strickland was driving home from dinner in New Smyrna Beach and saw John Pitera, 66, ill on the side of the road. He called 911 then proceeded to try to help the fallen man.

Pitera who was walking his dog Max, has a heart condition and collapsed near the intersection of Merrimac Street and South Riverside Drive.

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Shasta Dawn Parnell, 19, of Medford, OR, has been arrested and jailed on a felony aggravated animal abuse charge after she reportedly threw, squeezed and stomped on a tiny Pomeranian puppy.

After a report of animal abuse, police arrived at Medford Shopping Center, near Biddle Road and Stevens Street to find Parnell squeezing the tiny 3 month old, 2 pound puppy till it couldn’t breathe. She refused the officer’s request to hand him the puppy and threw it about ten feet where it landed on the pavement then fought the officer attempting to arrest her. She’s also charged with resisting arrest.

Witnesses told of how the young woman had been throwing the puppy to the ground, stomping on it and swinging it by its leash.

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Finally after all the hoopla last August with the raid, the dead buried dogs, the malnourished dogs, the drugs and who knows what else, Earl Simmons, also known as DMX was arrested and and booked into jail on seven misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and four felony counts of drug possession, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said.

This comes after an earlier arrest this week on charges of racing on a highway after speed cameras on a Phoenix-area freeway caught him going 114 mph, Arizona Department of Public Safety officers said. He was booked on charges of racing on a highway, reckless driving, two counts of endangerment and three counts of criminal speed and driving on a suspended license.

The 37 year old rapper just can’t get enough of jail it seems. It’s also not the first time he’s faced animal cruelty charges. In 1999 he pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia after police found pipes for smoking crack cocaine, a pistol and 13 pit bulls at his home in Teaneck, N.J. There’s also been weapons charges, parole violations and fraud charges. This guy loves living on the wrong side of the law.

In the August raid, deputies found twelve malnourished pitbulls, three dead dog buried in the yard as well as drugs and guns on the premises. DMX was not present at the time but a man who was supposed to be a caretaker for the dogs said that there wasn’t enough food and he couldn’t afford to take care of them and feed them. He also said that he was going on vacation. A few days later no one was at the premises at all.

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