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Humane Society offers reward in animal cruelty case

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Another Pit Bull has been involved in an animal cruelty case. This one, in Pennsylvania, involves someone dumping a dead Pit Bull alongside a Hampden Township walking trail. The dog has injuries which are apparently ‘consistent with dog fighting’.

Story here, on the PennLive website –

The Humane Society of Harrisburg is seeking a “person of interest” related to a dead pit bull found December 24 on a walking trail along the Conodoguniet Creek in Hampden Township.

A jogger contacted the Humane Society after media reports about the incident and claimed he saw the man who dumped the badly injured dog. The dog had sustained broken legs and feet, a crushed trachea and lacerations on its legs — injuries consistent with dog-fighting, according to the Humane Society. It was wrapped in a blue vest that appeared to have been used as a gurney, according to the Humane Society.

The jogger described the person of interest as a white male, 6’2″ to 6’4″, medium-length blondish-red hair and round glasses. The jogger said the person had at least five other dogs with him, including a yellow Labrador Retriever.

CompSketch.jpg

The Humane Society of Harrisburg Area is seeking this man, described by a jogger who claims to have witnessed him dumping a dead pit bull on a walking trail along the Conodoguinet Creek on December 24 in Hampden Township.

The accompanying sketch of the possible culprit has been released.

A later story states that the “Humane Society of the United States” is offering a $2,500 reward for tips leading to the “identification, arrest and  conviction” of those responsible for the dog’s death.

The phone number, however, is still that of the Humane Society of Harrisburg, so I’m not really sure who it is that’s offering the reward. I suppose it doesn’t really matter, so long as the scumbag gets caught, but it would be nice to make sure the correct group is getting credit for having offered it.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Humane Society at 717-564-3320, ext. 104.

Handler Responsible for Dog Deaths Charged with Cruelty

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The St. Louis area professional handler responsible for the deaths of seven high priced show dogs has been charged with animal cruelty.

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THS – Ruining No Kill for the Rest of Us

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Gravely ill cat suffers in cage at the Toronto Humane Society

Gravely ill cat suffers in cage at the Toronto Humane Society

I’ve spent a lot of years defending the Toronto Humane Society against the nasty rumors that have been flying around. I was a volunteer dog walker there for a long time, and made some great friends, both four footed and two footed. It seems, however, that things aren’t just as bad I’ve been hearing – they’re actually much, much worse.

THS has long been a pioneer of No Kill, but the news report in the Globe and Mail spells out just what THS has been willing to sacrifice to be able to make that claim. Animals left to suffer and die, alone and in pain. Elderly dogs forced to endure pointless surgeries and painful recoveries, only to die in agony. Kittens and cats who scream and writhe in death throes, with no one there to alleviate their suffering. All of the myriad tortures that opponents of No Kill have always claimed would occur, and all taking place in Canada’s largest and best funded private shelter.

Toronto Humane Society has lost the right to include the word ‘humane’ in their name, through greed and negligence and sheer stubbornness. THS President Tim Trow has, in the (as always) dead accurate words of One Bark at a Time, “become like an animal hoarder with a multi-million budget”.

What the animals are going through at THS is unconscionable, and unforgivable. From the Globe and Mail article:

On May 11, barely five months after a leg amputation that removed a cancerous limb, Bobik’s foster mother brought him in for care at the THS.

The incision from his leg amputation re-opened, his breathing was laboured, saliva dripped from his mouth and there was blood in his stool.

On the afternoon of May 12, after bleeding from his anus for two days, Bobik died.

Most shelters would have put Bobik down, said two veterinarians, as the cancer in his leg was likely to spread, and learning to walk on three legs can be difficult for an arthritic dog with hip dysplasia. Indeed, internal records show that many animals admitted to the THS die slow deaths rather being euthanized.

The cats are suffering, too.

A note written by a staff member or volunteer on the medical chart of a cat, Animal ID A127495, admitted last fall, reads: “Died Oct 19 3:15 am. Gasped and jerked and cried last breaths, because there was no one in shelter to euthanize or treat. This is not humane”

Everything that every single detractor of No Kill has ever claimed will happen if a shelter attempts No Kill has been happening at Toronto Humane Society. They’re a dirty stain on the reputation of No Kill, the ugly step sister to the good shelters who kill for kindness when it becomes the only humane thing left to offer the animals who come in their doors. No Kill is tainted by their affiliation, and brought low by their greed and lies.

Shame on the THS. Shame on Tim Trow.

Man Who Hacked Puppy's Ears Gets Lesson in Karma

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In 2007, Ontario residents and dog lovers world wide were shocked and appalled at the story of AK, a mixed breed puppy found mutilated and whimpering on a Windsor apartment balcony. AK’s ‘owner’ had hacked off the puppy’s ears off in an attempt to make him look more ‘menacing’.

A loop hole in Ontario’s notoriously lax animal cruelty laws would have allowed the owner to get his dog back during the investigation had he not willingly surrendered it to the Windsor Humane Society, leading a province wide outcry for reforms to the laws and maximum allowable sentences.

Rony Salman was ultimately sentenced to three months in jail for the mutilation of AK, but just learned that karma can sometimes quite literally bite us on the ass (or other body part).

As reported in today’s news:

Rony Salman, the Windsor man who earned media attention and jail time for cutting off the ears of A.K. the dog, has had some of his ear chewed off at Windsor Jail — and has been transferred out of town. “He was involved in an altercation at the jail and he had part of his ear bitten off by another inmate,” said Windsor police Insp. Cliff Lovell, noting that the report does not list any further detail on the injury. “I can’t give you the other inmate’s name because there are no charges being laid. There’s no complainant. “But the jail is required to make a report because there was an altercation between a couple of inmates.”

Salman served a paltry portion of his sentence for cruelty, after the judge in the original case, Ontario Court Justice Guy DeMarco, gave Salman two-for-one credit — two days for every one served so far — because he had been in the county jail for more than 45 days awaiting trial. Salman was back in jail this time for charges related to a south Windsor burglary, proving that stupid really is bred in the bone in some people.

The ear-biting incident happened on Remembrance Day, according to the jail report. Salman has since been transferred to Chatham Jail — an old, grey-stone structure topped with razor wire — where he declined on Tuesday to meet with a Star reporter. Salman is serving time for a burglary earlier this year in South Windsor. Previously, Salman was sentenced May 26 to three months after pleading guilty to three counts of animal cruelty, wilfully causing pain to an animal, causing unnecessary pain to a dog by not seeking veterinary attention and failure to provide care for — and wilful neglect of — a domestic animal.

Scot Wortley, a Toronto area criminology professor, speculates that the attack was an example of ‘jail house justice’.

“I don’t know the details of this case. Maybe this guy’s just a Mike Tyson fan,” Wortley said. “But it sounds eerily similar to what was done to the dog, so you would have to explore that possibility. “There’s a code of honour among criminals and they rank people who prey on children, who prey on women, who prey on the defenceless — and maybe a dog, I don’t know — as worse.”

Justice, karma, or simply the divine comedy of retribution – who can say? I do admit to finding it rather ironic that Salman will likely qualify for reconstructive surgery after his attack, while AK will bear the scars of his for life – and yet AK’s sweetness is still intact. Animals really do prove themselves our betters, over and over again. Read the whole story here.

Hunter Shoots Child Cancer Victim's Puppy

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I should point out here that I’m not anti hunting, although it’s not my personal recreational activity of choice. That said, years ago I confronted two hunters walking up our lane way. They had obviously been hunting our posted property without permission. When I confronted them about it, one of them casually pointed his gun at my dog.

Ever since then, it’s taken a lot to convince me that there aren’t an awful lot of assholes out there playing ‘kill bambi’ every fall, and this story hasn’t done a lot to change my mind –

Police are hoping that a B.C. man, suspected of shooting a four-month-old Jack Russell puppy just metres away from its home on Quadra Island Saturday morning, will soon report to police.

“I’m hoping that he will turn himself in,” said Cpl. Craig Peterson of Quadra Island RCMP.

Owner Nick Rose said the dog — called Seymour — was a gift to son Max, to mark the end of three-years of cancer treatment.

“My kids were happy and laughing like they haven’t been in years. My son in particular since before he was diagnosed with cancer I hadn’t heard those kind of giggles and that kid of laughter out of him.”

But all that changed on Saturday morning outside the rose family’s Quadra Island home.

“We had our new puppy with us, and we had a great night just the three boys, and we’re staring our chores and down the road walked two hunters returning from an unsuccessful dear hunt.”

Both of these hunters had shot guns. Not knowing any better, Seymour did what most puppies would do.

“He bounded out in his affable, puppy-like way wagging and simpering and practically peeing himself wanting to say hi.”

But Rose knew the two men from an incident a few years earlier and he knew this was trouble.

Frantic he called Seymour back. But the puppy just followed the pair around a corner and out of sight. That’s when a shot rang out.

“I ran to the end of our driveway and looked around the corner and there was our little puppy, quivering in his death-throws at the side of the road.”

The hunters ran off leaving Nick and his kids in shock along with the rest of the island community. Even police are in disbelief.

“I’m like you, stunned, shocked that a senseless act like this has been carried out,” said Peterson.

Police know the identity of one of the hunters and are hoping they turn themselves in to face possible charges.

“Right now we’re looking at dangerous use or careless use of a firearm as well as endangering an animal, in this case killing a dog.”

For Seymour’s family, charges are taking a back seat to the emotional impact and senselessness of what happened.

From News MSNBC

Can I also point out how completely and utterly pathetic it is that the best our justice system can do to this heartless, soulless asshole is charge him with “careless use of a firearm and ‘endangering’ an animal”? Come on, Canada. It’s time to insist on laws that actually have some teeth. If you hurt an animal, you deserve a lot more than a slap on the wrist.

I’d wouldn’t want to be the Crown Attorney who tells Max Rose and his family that the best justice we could get for their dog was a $500 fine and a weekend in jail. It makes me embarassed of our justice system.