Could you please limit posts to this thread to include email address, postal address and names of relevant contacts.

This thread has been set aside for forum members and others to access names and contact details for letters of complaint or support.

Could you please add any contact details you feel are relevant to B.S.L, if you are going to post a link to a website please please also include relevant contact details in your post as website content can change or be moved around.

Please keep it simple and to the point, please do not start any debates etc in this area.

If you have any questions regarding addresses etc please P.M the member. Members could you please edit your posts if contact details alter.

Cheers

Hi all

as we all know, responsible dog owners are ambassadors or diplomats for their dogs and their breeds.

Personally, I don't want to have anything to do with protecting the APBT for some low-life thug.

The APBT is worth protecting in its own right, not for its sometimes questionable owners "my dog's tough; he could eat your dog mate"

The sad thing is that the APBT will only "eat your dog" because the dipshit owner wanted it to, and APBTs do what their sometimes dipshit owners want them to.

If the APBT's owner wanted it to be an incomparable search and rescue dog, that is what the APBT would be. Just ask here: http://www.forpitssake.org/sar.html

If the APBT's owner wanted it to be an incomparable therapy/companion dog to attend nursing homes, that is what the APBT would be. Just ask here: http://www.forpitssake.org/therapy.html

If the APBT's owner wanted it to be the best drug detection sniffer dog ever, that is what the APBT would be. Just ask here : http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/ar...s/popsicle.html

If the APBT's owner wanted it to be an incomparable drug dealers protection dog, that is what the APBT would be. Don't ask.

Who shapes these dogs to be the best of the best?

Humans.

Who shapes these dogs to be the worst of the worst?

Humans.

What is the commonality here?

Humans.

Therefore, what is the problem with APBTs?

Humans.

Not the dogs; they are the least of the problem.

mugen

Formed in late 2001

Actions:

Submissions to proposed legislative changes- Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia (2001 –2006 and ongoing)

Website and EDBA forums

EDBA stickers –privately funded

Presentation to the National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare at the April 2003 meeting held in Canberra – privately funded

Freedom of Information request to Queensland Government on submissions received on proposed legislative changes (2001) – privately funded

Freedom of Information request to Queensland Government on breed identification training (2002) – privately funded

FOI request resulting in clarification of copyright position related to use and publication of breed photos in Queensland Government’s Breed Identification Guidelines. Outcome was withdrawal of guidelines (2003)

Subsequent withdrawal of Victorian Government breed identification guidelines (2004)

Subsequent Australia wide recall and hardcopy destruction – Queensland Government Breed Identification Guidelines (2005)

Attendance by EDBA representatives at the 2003, 2004 and 2005 Urban Animal Management (UAM) Conferences (EDBA funded). A review paper titled “Does Breed Specific Legislation reduce dog aggression on humans and other animals?” was presented at the 2003 UAM conference and subsequently published in the conference proceedings.

Gold Coast Pet Expo 2003, Queensland – EDBA funded

Dogs Life Yearbook 2003

Court transcripts- privately and EDBA funded

Assistance (including monetary) with court cases primarily in Queensland where Councils are removing innocent pets and issuing destruction orders. To name some cases Leader, Joh, Ollie, Bella, Rusty 1 and II, Jock, Jenson and Sharki.

Holroyd Petfest 2004, NSW

Nillumbik Pet Expo 2004, Victoria

Dogs Life Yearbook 2004

EDBA booklet Issue 1 – EDBA funded

Penrith Pet Expo 2005, NSW

Talk and display/stand RNSWCC Cambridge, Newcastle NSW BSL/Tail docking meeting, July 2005

Display/stand NSW August 2005

Display/stand Erskine Park RNSWCC Dog Show, NSW September 2005

Central Coast Pet Expo October 2005, NSW

Meeting with NSW Minister Hickey opposing introduction of BSL

Nillumbik Pet Expo 2005, Victoria

Petitions – NSW and WA

Orange Pet Expo, March 2006

Numerous personally funded postage and phone calls to politicians, councils and authorities, travel by members personally funded for court cases interstate, or whatever, to visit pollies etc, and LOTS of flyers, privately funded purchase of Bull Breed history video, media releases, publications National Dog, Dogs Life, Fully Bully, Our Dogs (UK) letters, etc etc etc…..and last but not least moral support.

To be continued….

As many of you are aware EDBA has put together a book titled " Introduction to The Endangered Dog Breeds Association of Australia"

This is a 50 page book of A4 size full of very useful & informative information, mainly related to Breed Specific Legislation & would be a must have for all dog owners. You never know, your chosen breed could be next on the hit list.

A copy of the book is available to EDBA members free of charge. Extra copies are also available at the following prices.

EDBA members: $5ea plus postage

Non Members: $6ea plus postage

EDBA members will receive a discount of 10% for orders of 5 or more.
and Non-members will receive a discount of 5% for orders of 5 or more.

Cost of postage within Australia for 1 copy is $1.45
2 - 3 copies $2.45

Anyone orders over 3 would need to email info@edba.org.au to obtain the price of postage.

Money raised from the sale of this book, goes toward helping to cover printing costs & will enable us to do a further print run.

Books can be ordered through info@edba.org.au
Don’t forget to advise us of the following details
Quantity required
Name
Address
Member no. (if applicable)
Method of payment: Direct deposit, Cheque, Money order or internet banking,
Date of deposit/transaction (Direct Dep or Internet banking)

Please forward payment by Cheque, Money order to:
349 Transmitter Rd
WOOROOLIN QLD 4608

or alternatively

you can deposit into our account please note that if you choose this option PLEASE make sure that your name is put onto the payment so that we know where the money has come from.

Commonwealth Bank - BSB 063 855
Acc# 1012 3203
Account Name : Endangered Dog Breeds Association

Don’t forget

If ordering more than 3 please confirm postal costs before making payment.

To join please follow the following instructions:

Go to www.edba.org.au (if this link doesn't work please cut and paste into your web browser)

Click on the "join Us" icon at the top right of the page ( just a little left of the Australian flag)

Click the "Yes" you agree button and fill in the form that appears. (provided you agree)

Your details remain privet and WILL NOT BE GIVEN to any one.


Please send your money orders to:


349 Transmitter Rd
WOOROOLIN QLD
4608


Thank-you
EDBA

Assault,or BSL?

In many respects there is no difference. You did all the right things , abided by the rules, yet someone took by force something they had no right to.

Somehow you feel guilty, like you should have done more. Struggled or screamed.
Maybe you did, but no one heard.,or could help.

Now it’s too late,.you want to forget

Help us to help others

We need your stories of you and your pet.. The pet that was taken from you..
You have phoned, and cried on our shoulders.

We need you to write with times and dates, circumstances and photos.


Please email, PM or snail mail your story and photos to
PO Box 679
Cockatoo Vic 3781

Can anyone pm who is involved with Pittbulls or rehomeing them etc.

Please let me know how I can send some money to renew my membership, I can't seem to find it.

Hi Folks,

Just wondering if anyone knows where I can lay my hands on some videos or DVD'S on BSL that can be shown at Pet Expo's. or other suitable venues.

If you know of someone who has them for sale or hire, could you please let me know.

Many thanks
Scorpio

Kerry Dougherty's latest Pit Bull article:

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story...02505&ran=42668

It's been a busy week for pit bulls in the area

The Virginian-Pilot
© April 4, 2006

If we can't ban pit bulls - and we can't in Virginia, not yet, anyway - maybe we should require owners of these dogs to put bars on their windows.

That way, out-of-control pit bulls will have a harder time breaking loose to terrorize our neighborhoods. It might also spare us from seeing any more headlines such as this one, in Sunday's Pilot:

"Pit bull leaps from window to bite Beach postman."

Of course, as we learned back in 2001, a determined pit bull will often find its own way out of the house.

Five years ago a pit bull got through a partially open garage door to attack an 11-year-old Beach girl who was playing basketball outside. Apparently, something about a kid throwing a ball turned this family pet into a bloodthirsty monster.

But wait, I'm being judgmental. Once again, I'm assuming the worst about dogs whose lineage can be traced to canines that were bred to bait bulls.

There's nothing inherently nasty about pit bulls, insist their owners. They're no more ferocious than your average French poodle. The problem is bad breeders, bad owners and bad press.

It's the media's fault, they say. Reporters love to write about pit bulls that kill or maul people. Other breeds bite, the owners argue. Other dogs kill. Write about them for a change.

They're partly correct. Any breed of dog will bite. But few kill with any regularity.

Incidentally, I've heard the legend of the Pomeranian that once killed someone somewhere. Pit bull owners never tire of telling me about it. Please. One vicious Pomeranian doesn't change the fact that the No. 1 canine killer of people in this country last year was the pit bull.

Two Virginians died from dog attacks in 2005, a toddler in Suffolk and an 82-year-old woman in Spotsylvania. Both were mauled by pit bulls or pit-bull mixes.

Why not ban the breed? Because the mere mention of such a move makes pit bull lovers apoplectic.

I only bring this up - again - because it's been a busy week for pit bulls in Hampton Roads. Last Monday a marauding pit bull in Norfolk attacked a 7-year-old miniature dachshund, the beloved pet of the vice mayor.

Daun Hester and "Tootsie" were taking a morning stroll when, according to The Pilot's Harry Minium, a pit bull suddenly grabbed the little dog by the neck. Luckily, Tootsie survived.

Hester told me Monday that encountering that vicious pit bull was "the worst experience of my life."

This from a cancer survivor.

The Pilot reported last week that Hester vowed that "the next time she walks Tootsie, she will do so with some protection."

She was serious. The vice mayor told me she now carries a baseball bat when she walks the streets of Norfolk with her dog.

Without laws to keep certain breeds off our streets, perhaps all of us who own small dogs, cats or kids should grab a Louisville Slugger before going outside. The Postal Service ought to issue them to letter carriers, too.

According to The Pilot, police say Saturday's attack on the mailman was interrupted when a bystander fired a gun at the dog. Police were called. When the animal turned on them, they "opened fire with a shotgun, but again the dog eluded injury." It retreated into the house.

The owner of the dog faces minor charges.

If the governor signs a dangerous-dog bill that passed the General Assembly , owners of dogs that launch unprovoked attacks on people or their pets may face far more serious consequences.

Good.

Of course, once a dog attacks, the damage is done.

Bars on windows might help. So would barring the breed.

News researcher Kimberly Kent contributed to this column.

# Reach Kerry at (757) 446-2306 or kerry.dougherty@cox.net.


A good reply from Lois Flynne, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita, Cognitive Science, SFSU
Retired to Virginia, 1999 (expatriot Aussie)


Dear Ms Dougherty:
Why are you making such a ferocious fuss about a tragic event that is rarer than being struck by lightening. Certainly, children are a million times more at risk from their parents, other relatives, family friends, the medical profession, etc., than they are from the family dog, their own, or a neighbours. Why are you so fiercely focusing on the canine de jour which, even if obliterated from the face of the earth as you would prefer, would soon be replaced by whatever dog breed appealed, for the same nefarious reasons, to the same irresponsible and/or vicious human beings who should never be allowed to own any dog, period. An NRA type Project Exile for the dog owners who cause the problems would have a very salutory effect. You need also to consider how the media has been a complicit co-conspirator in these tragedies.. The media's constant headline portrayal of the pit bull as the meanest, macho-ist, muscle dog that any strutting teen, gangbanger, cranksta, or Columbine style high schooler, or inept and ignorant, fear-filled homeowner looking for protection could wish for, has played a strong role in creating the killer pitbull hysteria and the consequent killer market for them. It is not the dogs. Nice folk have perfectly nice and delightful pitbulls that are not allowed to rampage round the neighbourhoods, or be brutalised to hate and attack. I have two well trained rottweilers whose favorite playmate is this little ShiTzu. They love little dogs because they have been brought up to play nice. Their biggest danger to people is that they like people so much they are always trying to kidnap them. They like all brands of human beings. However, I do not let them run. I am very much in favor of leash laws.. Any rancher will tell you that when city folk move to the country with Fifi or Fido, and let them run loose, those refined Fifis and Fidos meet up with other nice Freddies and FrouFous and in no time they have formed a pack, wheeee, chasing and pulling down anything that moves, farmers' livestock, wild life, or the paper boy on his bike, or the neighbour taking a walk or working in her yard...
Again educated, responsible dog owners are the key. There is a very useful book just out that should be on every journalist's book shelf, and in every politician's,and public official's desk.. It is called:
"Dogs Bite, But Balloons and Slippers are More Dangerous"
by Janis Bradley, who displays a very sophisticated understanding of research methodology and statistical analysis to go with her impeccable dog training credentials.
She offers well researched and reasoned coverage of all aspects of the so-called "Dog bite problem", from insurance to the law..
Try it.

Dog Lost
by Ingrid Lee
(Chicken House, £4.99)

A pit bull terrier called Cash is cast as a kind of Lassie figure. Er, yes, I did say pit bull. Cash is carelessly given to Mackenzie by his drunken father, and just as carelessly discarded when the motherless boy and the dog have forged a tender bond.

There follows a kind of Incredible Journey, during which Cash rescues an old lady from a burning house and befriends a young girl who throws sandwiches to the dog from a train on her way back from kidney dialysis. Oh and then Cash stops the train from crashing into a car on the line before saving a drowning Bad Boy.

And the girl has a kidney transplant and ends up with the hospital worker who turns out to be Mackenzie's long-lost brother. Which just leaves the Nice Policeman to get together with the Concerned and Lovely Teacher. So you see, a cuddly pit bull is the most credible thing in the book. Sentimental 8-11 year-olds will lap it up.

I couldn't resist and just had to post this link for you!!

http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,228...39-3462,00.html

Hi all,

I'm investigating where a pitbull terier might be able to be relocated to from Qld - there are still some shires that will accept a dog under permit conditions. Any suggestions?

2008 04 17 Tucson Weekly

Pit bulls and other 'bully breeds' don't deserve all the persecution
By WALT NETT

One day while my friend was walking her black pit bill, Jeb, a woman walked up and said, "What a beautiful Lab! Is it OK if I pet him?"
My friend said that it would be OK, adding: "By the way, he's not a Lab. He's a pit bull."

At the phrase "pit bull," the woman's arm halted in mid-reach; her smile morphed into a grimace, and she scurried away--another victim of society's pigeonholing of certain dog breeds as unpredictable beasts that would just as soon lick your hand as rip your arm off at the shoulder.

Her loss, and one that marks that lady as another casualty in the "nature vs. nurture" debate over dangerous dog breeds.

My friend has worked hard to ensure that Jeb, who is not far removed from puppyhood, is comfortable around people. If nothing else, he may be a little too comfy with the bipedalian world, viewing strangers as just "people who haven't petted me yet."

It's a tough world in which to be a pit bull or one of its relatives among the "bully class"--Staffordshires, bull mastiffs and other dogs whose breeding speaks of a past when dog fighting was a legal form of entertainment. Their inheritance is a mistaken belief that their DNA includes an inevitable, ticking time bomb that with explodes in gnashing teeth and splatters of blood. In the eyes of some people, the only resolution is to be found in a Russian adage: "The only cure for the hunchback is the grave."

Where once landlords sought to regulate dogs by size and weight, today, leases are written to exclude specific dog breeds, usually targeting "mean" breeds while ignoring smaller breeds whose genetics predispose them to digging or barking excessively.

Homeowners'-insurance carriers have moved in some states to blacklist the so-called "dangerous breeds" as too risky, arguing that a few breeds are responsible for half of the fatal dog maulings in this country every year.

And at the extreme, some communities have taken up breed-specific regulations that place unusual requirements on the owners of certain breeds--primarily pit bulls--like requiring the dog to be muzzled when outside the home, even in the family's yard. Some states have considered breed-specific legislation that also would ban or restrict certain dog breeds because of their reputation.

For example, the Tennessee legislature is considering a ban on "pit-bull-type dogs," purebred or mixed. I'd love to have them meet Zeus, a dog-park regular like Jeb. He's obsessed, but not with fighting. Instead, he's fixated on two things: his football, and finding someone, anyone, to throw it for him. Throw the bomb or throw a screen pass; it's all the same to him. He watches the gate and waits for a fresh arm, and doesn't care if you throw like Daryle Lamonica or Daryl Hannah.

Yep, ban that bad boy.

Around the dog park, the core group of owners chuckles at the memory of three girls--they don't have dogs of their own but come to the park occasionally to play with other people's dogs--scrambling over the fence at the arrival of a Rottweiler who's about the size of an airliner beverage cart. Those of us who know him also know that despite the breeding and size--he probably goes about 160 pounds--he is probably the most docile of the park's regulars.

That's a tribute to his owner, who has one of the strongest "command voices" in the park and rarely has to speak twice to the rotty about misbehaving.

And that's the rub in this debate. There's no argument about nature's role in all this. But in the rush to judgment, there's no accounting for the owner's role in shaping the dog's personality.

It doesn't take a lot of work to turn any dog--bully breed, or anything from a Yorkie to a Great Dane--into a fearsome piece of work. Just mistreat it a while. Ignore it. Withhold anything that seems like affection. Keep it away from other people. Teach it to be afraid, and to attack everything it fears.

When it comes to dogs--even bully breeds--they remind me of something Boys' Town founder Father Flanagan once said: I have yet to find a single one that wants to be bad.


Walt Nett is owned by a 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier named Chester that sometimes wrestles with Jeb the black pit bull.


http://www.tucsonweekly.com

If you need assistance in Victoria because a Council has declared your dog a restricted breed or if a Council is causing you grief with respect to your dog contact us by emailing vic@edba.org.au

We know the Victorian Laws and we know your rights.


Linda

hey guys
im sure most of you dont realise that the tattoo community is also involved with rescuing all breed dogs in australia and mainly pitbulls in america
most of us are looked at like we are freaks, criminals or very shadey characters, but we are also fighting for the same rights you are
here is a world reknown tattoo artist doing his bit for pitbull rescue, in particular a chocolate pitbull called ANNIE OAKLEY

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qpMXUUweMd8

there is also a part 2

Mar 19 2008
by Deborah James,

THE evidence of an animal behaviour expert who has been an expert witness in court cases across the UK was discredited yesterday following a documentary “sting” in which he was apparently caught on hidden cameras changing his opinion.

Dr Roger Mugford, who describes himself as an animal psychologist and has written several books on the subject, is due to give evidence at a Prestatyn hearing involving a dog which savaged two men at a Towyn holiday park.

He was called by the defence, but after watching a 90-minute DVD of a documentary filmed by the Ulster Society for the Protection of Animals (USPA) which was shown on TV in Northern Ireland magistrates upheld a “bad character” application by prosecutor David Mainstone.

Mr Mainstone claimed the footage showed Dr Mugford, who runs a company called The Company of Animals in Surrey, was prepared to tailor his evidence to support a defendant who claimed that his dog was not a pit bull terrier and therefore in danger of being put down under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Dr Mugford was shown agreeing initially that the dog did look like a pit bull but then gradually changing his opinion for his official report.

At one stage he said: “This is less like a pit bull by the minute” and then “He is a classic Staffie”.

He was also heard saying “That’s good for us” and that, said Mr Mainstone, showed that Dr Mugford was clearly biased towards the defence and could not be considered an independent expert.

Lara Smith, defending, objected to the DVD being shown, stating that she had not had enough time to consider its contents, and that it was virtually all hearsay.

She told the court that Dr Mugford had lodged a formal complaint about the TV programme and was considering legal action.

But the trial of John McGowan began after magistrates upheld the application. Chairman Andrew Pritchard said Dr Mugford would be able to respond to the claims when giving evidence.

McGowan, 22, of Bradville Road, Aintree, Liverpool, is accused of possessing a prohibited dangerous dog – a “pit bull-type” – at Winkups’ Holiday Park on June 17, 2007.

Mr Mainstone said that in the early hours of that morning two men, Robert and Gary Cupitt, were seen taunting the dog, called Duke, and a Staffordshire terrier called Duchess, trying to hit them with metal ashtrays.

McGowan had both dogs on leads but Duke broke free and bit both men before being restrained. Gary Cupitt fractured his finger and Robert Cupitt suffered deep lacerations to his chest and thighs. Both were taken to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.

PC Jill Tumilty, a dog handler with Merseyside Police, told the court that she had been on special courses to identify dangerous dogs and help tackle the problem of anti-social use of dogs in Liverpool.

She said that Duke met a “substantial number” of the criteria set down by the American Dog Breeders’ Association for a pit bull-type dog, and that was enough for it to be classified as prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Cross-examined by Miss Smith, she agreed that she had not taken all the measurements and that in some respects Duke did not meet the standards required, but she insisted that enough of the criteria were met. The case continues.


http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wale...r-fire-in-court

New York Times
March 16, 2008

With More News of Abuse a Harder Search for Homes for Pit Bulls
By JULI S. CHARKES


A CACOPHONY of yelps, howls and barks greeted early morning visitors to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Westchester last week. Almost 70 dogs are housed at the shelter here, said Shannon Laukhuf, the executive director, but one stood out.

His subdued behavior was markedly different from his noisy neighbors’. Hovering near the bars of his crate, he watched as Ms. Laukhuf offered a hand in greeting, then moved forward to offer a few friendly licks, revealing a red gash on the top of his nose.

“Look, here on his back, you can see a lot more of the area where he was bitten,” Ms. Laukhuf said, pointing to a cluster of sores on the hind quarters of the emaciated-looking dog that she and her staff call Tres, the Spanish word for three.

Tres is one of 15 dogs rescued this month from what the police said was an illegal pit bull fighting club in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers. He and four others are being held here; the remaining 10 were taken to the Yonkers animal shelter, the police said.

The police discovered the dogs, sequestered in the garage, in deplorable living conditions, while conducting a drug raid at the suburban residence. Many of the dogs had wounds and were malnourished, said Lt. Diane Hessler of the Yonkers Police.

“The conditions were pretty gruesome,” she said.

Surrounding paraphernalia indicated that the dogs were being used for illegal activity, said Kenneth Ross, chief of the Humane Law Enforcement Division of the S.P.C.A. of Westchester, who was called to the scene by the police. That included a treadmill typically used to run dogs to the point of exhaustion as training, along with syringes and medications that indicate the use of steroids and other illegal substances.

“There are certain things used in animal fighting that we would typically see,” Mr. Ross said. “When they want to train them for fighting, they inject them with steroids, and because they don’t take the dogs to a vet, where they could be reported, they do their own work on the dogs so they’re going to have antibiotics, bandages — the same things that would be used in a veterinary practice to medicate the dogs who are scarred, cut and bloodied.”

The police charged Peter Byrne, 25, and Anthony Gonzalez, 24, with drug possession and dog fighting, both felonies, Lieutenant Hessler said.

The local S.P.C.A.’s enforcement division investigates suspected animal cruelty under the state law. The organization receives 50 to 80 calls a week, of which about a third are for abuse or cruelty to animals, Mr. Ross said. That can include pit bull fighting, which flared into national prominence last year when Michael Vick, a National Football League quarterback, was charged in a dog-fighting venture.

Dog fighting has been a persistent problem, Mr. Ross said, but greater public awareness has led to more arrests rather than just finding discarded animals.

Two months ago, Mr. Ross assisted the police in their discovery of two pit bulls dumped in a garbage container on Yonkers Avenue. The survivor, named Oscar, was taken to Briarcliff and has undergone a profound transformation, Ms. Laukhuf said.

Last summer, the police in Mount Vernon rescued a pit bull terrier found on the streets, his injuries suggesting he had been involved in illegal dog fighting, Mr. Ross said. This dog, named Floyd, is also doing well.

Cases like these exacerbate an already difficult challenge of finding adoptive homes for pit bull breeds, said Deborah Proos, an employee at the Central Westchester Humane Society’s shelter in Elmsford. The name does not refer to just one breed, but at least three, including the American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier and the Staffordshire bull terrier.

“Any combination of a breed that will fight and that is mixed with any other type of dog could be considered pit,” she said.

Ms. Laukhuf stressed that breed does not indicate aggressive behavior. Although they are bred to be fighting dogs, pit bulls are extremely intelligent and take behavioral cues from how they are handled, she said, holding her hand out for Tres to sniff.

Beginning next week, he and the four other rescued dogs will begin behavioral training.

“These are not bad dogs,” she said. “We find that even the most severely abused animals will respond to the right kind of care and approach.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/nyregion...amp;oref=slogin



S.P.C.A. definitely sound better than Hugely Worthless and co.

If their motto is " All creatures great and small" they at least appear to live up to it.

New York Times
March 16th 2008

Mending a ‘Broken’ Child? Try a Dog or a Horse
By JOSEPH BERGER

PETER CHAIKO was adopted as a 9-year-old from an orphanage in Siberia, and when he arrived in Hastings-on-Hudson he was a terror, scratching his teachers and kicking the principal in the leg. His father, Theodore Chaiko, uses the term “oppositional” to describe Peter’s behavior, but from several vivid accounts, that appears to be a euphemism.

The Hastings schools had the good sense to pair Peter with an upbeat Russian immigrant and tutor, Alexander Davis, who had the good sense to ply him with Russian songs and fairy tales and to notice on nature walks that there were creatures Peter could relate to — animals.

Mr. Davis arranged to have Peter placed in the Green Chimneys School here, a cross between a school, a farm and a zoo. Besides an Old McDonald menagerie, it has an emu named Nova, two bald eagles, miniature horses, vultures and an Andean condor. Like Dottie, a rotund Yorkshire pig that had been kept in a Bronx apartment, many animals were rescued from deplorable circumstances or because they had been hurt.

In other words, they have a lot in common with Peter, who wound up in an orphanage because of birth parents who, according to what Peter has confided to his family and school officials, combated the drabness of their lives with vodka and abandoned him to the streets.

“I found a broken, miserable kid,” said Mr. Davis, whom Peter calls Uncle Sasha. “He couldn’t understand why they brought him to America.”

Peter, now a slender 12-year-old, seems to be thriving in this soil, making human friends and forming attachments to Buddy the chestnut horse and Marley the golden mutt. He plays baseball, builds birdhouses and, when he goes home to the Chaikos on weekends, whips up a tasty salad. He has won over the staff at Green Chimneys with a shy smile and twinkling blue eyes, and his English is so fluent he gave an oral report recently on the A.S.P.C.A.

“Some people don’t treat animals nicely, and that makes me feel very upset,” Peter declared.

Green Chimneys’ philosophy has played no small part in his turnaround. It was founded 60 years ago with the notion that mixing troubled children with animals would teach them lessons of affection, discipline and responsibility. The founder and éminence grise is Samuel B. Ross Jr., 79, who as an only child of the house physician of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan found consolation in dogs, turtles and goldfish. In college, he decided he wanted to start a school “where children would be surrounded by animals.”

“I didn’t understand it as a therapy, but we figured out it was also good therapy,” he said, a leprechaunish smile glinting below gold-white hair. “A lot of children are frightened by relationships with adults or peers, and a relationship with an animal is a steppingstone. They learn that if they treat animals fairly, the animals will respond with love and devotion, and we think that will help them fit in with their families and school.”

The nonprofit special education school has a budget of $35 million and a staff of 360 that takes care of 180 children. Tuition, ranging from $100,000 a year for residential students to $30,000 for day students, is paid by public schools and social service agencies.

Peter is too young for one of the school’s signal programs, in which students prepare golden retrievers to become four-legged assistants to people confined in wheelchairs. With rewards of food and approving shouts of “Yeh!” the students train the dogs to turn on a light switch, get food out of the refrigerator and take off their masters’ shoes.

In one pithy remark, Thomas, an introspective 13-year-old absorbed with his retriever Fred, suggested some of the mistrust the children come in feeling toward bipeds like us.

“All the dogs I ever met are nice to me,” he said.

(The school does not fully identify any of its students, but Peter’s parents cooperated in this article.)

Sara, 15, a tall girl who assists Dale Picard of East Coast Assistance Dogs, came to Green Chimneys as a rambunctious foster child. As a result of working with the dogs, she said, “it snapped in my head that I needed to behave.”

After five years at the school, she said, she reads two books a day, is learning photography, cheerleads for the basketball team and finally lets people savor her talent for singing.

Sounding just a bit as if she were channeling an inner social worker, Sara said: “I accomplished something most people in life never accomplish. I changed my life.”

In addition to classes in reading, mathematics and history, Peter Chaiko and the other students learn lessons in animal behavior from “farm teachers” like Brian Field — for example, how the oil on ducks’ feathers allows them to shake off water.

It helps that Mr. Field makes class fun, asking Tommy the sheep whether he voted for Clinton or Obama. Tommy’s response was “Baaaaah.”

The other day, Peter was out in the horse corral, whispering to Buddy.

“We talk to each other,” he told a visitor eagerly. “He kisses me sometimes.”

And then as an afterthought, he added, quite wisely, “Animals make you feel good.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/nyregion...yregionspecial2


Animals can be just the best medicine.

March 11, 2008 12:00am

Herald Sun

Dog dodges death row
Elissa Hunt

BELOVED pet pooch Capone has been reprieved from doggie death row after a case of mistaken identity.

Dubbed "Pony", he spent 10 months in the pound after being wrongly declared an American pit bull -- a breed that must be put down.

His distraught owner, Paula Nicholson, spent months battling Mornington Peninsula Shire Council in court to save her then six-month-old pet from being destroyed.

Pony was set free last week after an independent panel backed Ms Nicholson's claim that he is not a pit bull but an American staffordshire terrier and bull mastiff cross.

Pony was picked up in Mornington last May by a ranger who deemed the dog was a restricted breed.

He had not attacked anyone but a resident had called the council to complain that he was roaming.

Restricted breeds must be destroyed under the Domestic (Feral and Nuisance) Animals Act.

Ms Nicholson appealed against the ranger's decision to a review panel of three canine experts, bringing an vet to support her claim.

She even produced photos of the dog's parents as evidence of his heritage.

But the vet was not allowed to give evidence and, after examining the dog, two of the reviewers agreed Pony was a pit bull -- because he had hazel eyes, a pink nose and a rough coat.

A Supreme Court injunction spared Pony's life until a hearing in December, when Supreme Court Justice Jack Forrest found the review panel had not given Ms Nicholson a fair hearing.

Branding the review system flawed, he said the panel did not consider any evidence at all -- including DNA -- but instead just checked the dog against a list of characteristics set by the Department of Primary Industries.

Maggie McDonald, who helped Ms Nicholson fight her case, said the pair's reunion was a tearful one.

"He could see her and was trying to kiss her . . . it was very emotional," she said.

Ms McDonald said the court proceedings had taken their toll on Ms Nicholson, who feared she would lose everything trying to free Pony.

She is now considering seeking compensation.



http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...16-2862,00.html

Happy New Year from the States

Which one is the pitbull?

[attachment=114731:findthepitbull.jpg]

Severely neglected dog recovers, ready for adoption Sat

Holly Danks, The Oregonian March 07, 2008 17:54PM

"Lily" has recovered from severe neglect and is available for adoption Saturday HILLSBORO -- A once-neglected pit bull named "Lily" will be available for adoption Saturday now that her former owner has been convicted of failing to give her even minimal care.

Washington County Circuit Judge Keith B. Rogers found Shannon Lee Shelton, 30, guilty of second-degree animal neglect and sentenced her Thursday to two years' probation and 80 hours of community service.

Under Oregon law, Shelton also may not possess a domestic animal for five years. A hearing will be held in the next three months to determine how much money Shelton must pay Washington County and Indigo Rescue for caring for the dog for the past six months.

During her one-day trial, Shelton maintained the dog was not hers and already was in bad shape she found it in Shute Park.

Shannon Lee Shelton When Shelton dropped off the pit bull terrier mixed breed at the Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter on Oct. 9 with the same story, the dog's ribs and backbone showed through her skin, she was missing patches of fur and had burns on her paws and legs from living in a crate in her own urine, said Nadya Martin, Washington County deputy district attorney.

Animal control workers became suspicious when the dog whined and tried to run after Shelton as she left the shelter. Police investigated and Shelton eventually told them the 2-month-old pit bull mix was hers but was too rambunctious and hard to handle, so she kept the puppy locked in a crate.

Lily, short for Lillian, has been under the care of Indigo Rescue since November. According to the group's website, Lily is doing well and gets along with other dogs, although loud voices make her hide. Despite her rough start, Lily is "the biggest cuddle bug" and is a "very sweet and loving girl," Indigo said.

Lily will be available for viewing from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Beaverton PetSmart, Southwest Cedar Hills Boulevard and Walker Road, during an adoption event.





Posted by karstenpdx on 03/07/08 at 10:39PM
Does this woman deserve the public humiliation you've given her? Why do you have to include her mugshots--is this the new version of a scarlet letter?

What you have here is a woman who was irresponsible and who mistreated an animal, but not a torturer. She was decent enough to bring the animal to a shelter rather than letting it die, killing it or abandoning it on a freeway. She got the sentence she deserved. The public shaming is unnecessary.

Shame on the Oregonian for stooping this low.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/20...og_recover.html





Wht's with this karstenpdx?

So it's ok to torture anything that's not human?
Shelton should have been imprisoned, IMO.

After being impounded for almost a year Pony whose owner took the Victorian Governments ID Panel process to the Supreme Court was finally returned to her owner. This panel hearing was held on Wednesday.

The Supreme court ruled that the ID panel be reconvened with different panel members than those that sat on the original panel, when the panel ruled in favour of the Mornington council.

Another dog and her 4 pups that had been seized by Maroondah council late last year for being Restricted breeds had the council declaration overturned on Thursday. The four pups were retuned to their owner yesterday and the mum goes home tomorrow, she is currently recovering at a vets after being desexed.

Two happy families, such good news and a great outcome.

2008 03 03 Adelaide Now Attack dog stolen from pound


SAM RICHES, POLICE REPORTER
March 03, 2008 02:30pm

AN extremely aggressive dog which was impounded after a number of attacks in the northern suburbs was stolen from a dog pound over the weekend.

Police are particularly concerned for public safety given the aggressive nature of the dog and have warned the public not to approach the dog if it is seen.

A photograph taken at the City of Salisbury pound, on Research Rd at Pooraka, was released by police.

Elizabeth police said the dog was stolen some time between 5pm Friday and 11am Saturday.

The Advertiser understands the thief or thieves climbed a 2m-high electric fence, which was still active Saturday.

They then cut through two locks and another fence to get to the dog, a tan and white female American Staffordshire terrier.

No attempt was made to obtain any other animals or disrupt any other enclosures.

A spokeswoman for the dog pound would not comment when asked about the break-in.

The dog had attacked a number of people at Salisbury Park on Thursday, February 28, including biting two police officers who were forced to use capsicum spray to subdue the dog.

It was impounded that day by a council officer and the owner, a 37-year-old man, was arrested and charged with allowing a dog to unlawfully run unrestrained, hindering and resisting police.

The terrier is neither registered or micro-chipped.

Anyone who sights the dog should call for police assistance on 131 444, or if anyone has information on its whereabouts or the break-in, they should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0...20-2682,00.html

'Massive unreporting' of dog bite menace'

By Mike Edmonds
February 20, 2008 02:15am

VICTORIANS are being bitten by dogs at the rate of more than five a day.

But the full extent of dog attacks is likely to be much greater, with many more savagings believed to go unreported and untreated.

In the three financial years to the end of June 2007, 5574 people were treated at hospital for wounds considered to be inflicted by dogs.

Children under 14 represent more than a quarter of all dog bite victims, and another 13 per cent are over 65.

The data has been revealed after a weekend attack on an 11-year-old girl by a pet labrador.

Andrea Dunuwille, 11, was bitten on her face on Sunday afternoon while playing with her aunt's 15-month-old pet.

Her cheek was ripped open and four of her top teeth were knocked out, among other injuries, in the attack.

She will require plastic and orthodontic surgery.

"I was in the back yard because I had finished lunch early and I was kissing her and she attacked," Andrea whispered yesterday.

The dog was put down yesterday afternoon.

Andrea and her younger sister, Joanne, 8, had been living at their aunt's home for three months until a fortnight ago, and had known the labrador all its life, their mother, Chris Dunuwille, said.

"Andrea is her favourite person," Ms Dunuwille said.

"You just don't expect a puppy to attack.

"But there were quite a few marks so there was more than one bite."

The family rushed Andrea to Dandenong Hospital where she immediately went into surgery for three hours.

'Massive unreporting'

The latest dog attack figures have been compiled by Monash University using data from 37 Victorian public hospital emergency departments.

The university found hands were most vulnerable to attack followed by the lower legs, head, face or neck.

Almost 60 per cent of attacks happened in homes.

The figures are believed to hugely understate the actual rate of dog attacks and bite injuries.

They do not include people who do not seek treatment or go to a GP.

Apart from the casualty section at public hospitals, there is no mechanism for dog attacks to be reported to authorities unless victims take action.

Councillor Dick Gross from the Municipal Association of Victoria said no one had accurate data on how many dog attacks took place.

"I would not be surprised if there was massive under-reporting," he said.

"Compulsory reporting by doctors is a really big issue because of confidentiality."

Apart from people treated for bite injuries, more than 2000 others were treated for other injuries relating to dogs, including tripping over the family pooch in the middle of the night.

Dangerous dog list

The number of dogs on the State Government's dangerous dogs list is also growing, with a rise of 20 per cent in the past two months.

At the start of December last year there were 507 dogs on the list, which had swelled to 625 by the end of February.

More than a third of the dogs listed, 235, are American pit bulls, which the Government and councils are trying to eradicate from the list of acceptable family pets.

Another 237 dogs on the list are classified as guard dogs, mainly used in the security industry, 91 are attack dogs trained to bring people to ground and two are listed as "attack-trained" and are believed to be ex-police dogs, retired from the force and in private hands.

However, the director of the Bureau of Animal Welfare, Steven Tate, said yesterday the list was incomplete.

"There's quite a few councils which have no dogs at all within their boundaries, according to the information they've provided to us," he said.

"You could probably drive around most councils and find guard dogs there without signs on fences and things.

"Councils need to get the details on to the registry of what they have in their area.

"There is even a chihuahua on the list, which was declared dangerous years ago and is still listed."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23244894-1243,00.html