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Miracle dog survives gas chamber |
'It's a miracle
or divine intervention'
Thursday, August 7, 2003 Posted: 1902
GMT ( 3:02 AM HKT)
 ST.
LOUIS, Missouri (AP) --
Cast into a city gas chamber to be euthanized with
other unwanted or unclaimed dogs, it appeared the roughly year-old
Basenji mix had simply run out of luck -- and time...full
story>> |
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| Sgt.
Russell Joyce and Fluffy are reunited at Charleston Air Force
Base. |
 CHARLESTON
AFB, South Carolina (CNN) -- An Iraq-born dog who during the war
leapt to the side of the U.S. military arrived Sunday in his
adoptive country with a new leash on life...full
story>> |
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Death-defying dog has nine lives or more |
 Canine
survives being hit by a car, gunshot wound and deep freeze.
WASHINGTON, April 23 — In an amazing story of canine survival
California-style, a dog named Dosha has shown she has nearly as
many lives as the average cat...full
story >>
|
Board Vote Allows San
Francisco Residents to be Recognized As Animal “Guardians”
By a Vote of 8-3 San Francisco Becomes the 7th U.S. City to Codify
the Term Animal Guardian |
San Francisco, CA...
During its Monday, January 13th meeting, the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors...full
story >>
Animal
Blood Banks to be Inspected Annually
by Jon Osterholm
California Governor Gray Davis recently signed legislation requiring
annual inspections to be conducted at animal blood banks and
facilities in which donor animals are kept...full
story >>
|
CALLING ALL COPS: NEW VIDEO CAN HELP COMBAT ANIMAL ABUSE |
"It is my hope that this is watched by every police department and
sheriff's office in the country," says the ASPCA's Ledy VanKavage of
Animal Abuse: Why Cops Can and Need to Stop It, a
pioneering training videotape recently produced by the St.
Louis-based IN THE LINE OF DUTY...
full story >>
|
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS: THIS NEW PRODUCT CAN SAVE ANIMAL LIVES |
When the Chicago Police
Department responded to a report of domestic violence last year, the
woman who made the call asked the officers not to come into...full
story >>
Miracle dog survives gas chamber
'It's a miracle
or divine intervention'
Thursday, August 7, 2003 Posted: 1902
GMT ( 3:02 AM HKT)
ST.
LOUIS, Missouri (AP) --
Cast into a city gas chamber to be euthanized with
other unwanted or unclaimed dogs, it appeared the roughly year-old
Basenji mix had simply run out of luck -- and time.
But this canine
had other ideas.
When the death
chamber's door swung open Monday, the dog now dubbed Quentin --
for California's forbidding San Quentin State Prison -- stood very
much alive, his tail and tongue wagging.
Animal-control
supervisor Rosemary Ficken had never seen such a survivor, and she
didn't have the nerve to slam the door shut again.
This 30-pound
animal, she believed, beat the odds and should live on.
"She told me,
'Please, take him. I don't have the heart to put him back in there
and re-gas him,"' said Randy Grim, founder and head of Stray
Rescue of St. Louis, the charitable shelter that took in the dog
before taking the animal's story public.
Quentin's ordeal
was played and replayed Wednesday on local TV stations, drawing
people looking to adopt him.
"To me, it's a
miracle or divine intervention," Grim said. "I can't help but
think he's here to serve a higher purpose. This case blew me away.
This is amazing."
On Wednesday,
Quentin was a little malnourished but "in very good condition,"
Grim said. He was being checked for heartworm and other maladies
by a veterinarian.
"You can tell
he's really digging it," Grim said. "He has a bed, love, food and
water."
|
Sgt.
Russell Joyce and Fluffy are reunited at Charleston Air Force Base.
CHARLESTON
AFB, South Carolina (CNN) -- An Iraq-born dog who during the war leapt
to the side of the U.S. military arrived Sunday in his adoptive
country with a new leash on life.
Fluffy, the hungry
and abused German shepherd who became a U.S. comrade, was flown from
Iraq to Germany and then to Charleston Air Force Base, where he was
reunited with Sgt. Russell Joyce, his former handler.
Showing no jet lag
and appearing unfazed by the cameras and media scrutiny, Fluffy walked
down the steps from the C-130 and, tail wagging, leapt into Joyce's
arms.
Fluffy's journey
began when a U.S. Army Special Forces team that had used dogs as
sentries in Afghanistan requested similar help in northern Iraq from
Joyce, who was in charge of ordering supplies for the 12-man unit.
"I asked the Kurdish
peshmerga if we could have a dog, and they brought us Fluffy," said
Joyce, standing on the tarmac as he awaited the dog's arrival.
Actually, they
brought him Tariq Aziz, named after Iraq's deputy prime minister, but
the name didn't last. "Tariq Aziz was such a long name," Joyce said.
"I was joking around and said, 'You know what, I'm calling him
Fluffy.'"
Soon, so was everyone
else.
"It rolls off your
tongue pretty easy, and he responded to it."
The dog's
original name, Tariq Aziz, was dropped in favor of the equally
un-German-shepherdish "Fluffy."
|
 |
Not only did the
dog's name change, but so did his fortunes. "He was a little light,
pretty thin, and he had some scars on him," Joyce recalled.
"Everybody chipped in
and took care of him, and got him back to health. In about two weeks,
he was pretty spunky and really out there moving."
Fluffy returned the
favor, adding to the unit's sense of security, Joyce said. "Having a
person on roving patrol is a great thing, but adding the sense of
smell and the sense of a hearing that a dog has -- that we do not have
-- really
heightened the sense of awareness to early detection."
When the unit
concluded its work in Iraq and returned to its base at Fort Bragg,
North Carolina, Fluffy was left in Iraq -- military policies prevent
the return of unauthorized "items" to the United States.
Fluffy's fate was
uncertain for a while, and Joyce was told the dog could be kept by
military personnel in Iraq, but only for a short time, a Pentagon
official said.
After the serviceman
returned home May 11, Joyce sent e-mails about his attempts to get the
dog to the United States, and the story was told on a Web site
dedicated to war dogs.
|
|
Joyce: "We
definitely went through a lot over there together."
|
"He means a lot to
me; we definitely went through a lot over there together," Joyce said.
The e-mails hit a
chord. "We received so much support from so many different ...
Americans," Joyce said. "When it reached the Pentagon and
congressional level, we again received more support," he said, citing
Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Dole of North
Carolina.
Because Special
Forces units do not require dogs, Fluffy will be deemed "military
surplus" and offered up for adoption, an official at Fort Bragg said.
Fluffy is technically U.S. government property because he was trained
by military personnel.
Once the proper
paperwork is complete, he will be officially up for adoption. A law
passed by Congress in November 2000 allows retired military working
dogs to be adopted by their handlers or by law enforcement agencies.
But Joyce said there
was no question about who would be the adoptive father. "Fluffy's
going into retirement as soon as he gets here; I'm adopting him," he
said a few minutes before the dog's plane touched down.
First stop: a
veterinarian.
Joyce predicted his
charge would not suffer culture shock. "It'll be new to him, but every
time we moved somewhere and he went with us, he always seemed to
respond pretty well to new surroundings."
-- CNN Pentagon
producer Mike Mount contributed to this report
top ^^
Death-defying dog has nine lives or more
Canine survives being hit by a car, gunshot wound and
deep freeze.
WASHINGTON, April 23 — In an amazing story of canine survival
California-style, a dog named Dosha has shown she has nearly as many
lives as the average cat.
DOSHA WAS HIT by a car near her
owner’s home on April 15. Next, a police officer shot her in the
head to put her out of her misery. Then, presumed dead, she was put
in a freezer at an animal control center.
Two hours later, when a veterinarian opened the door to the
freezer, she was shocked to find Dosha, a 10-month-old of mixed
breeding, standing upright in a plastic orange bag — the equivalent
of a human body bag. Appearing on national television Wednesday,
Dosha seemed in fine spirits apart from the gunshot wound to her
head and other injuries sustained from being hit by the car.
“When she first came in we called her miracle girl because we
couldn’t believe what she had gone through and was still with us,”
said veterinarian Deborah Sally on NBC’s “Today” show.
“She’s doing amazingly well,” added Sally, who said the dog
had suffered from hypothermia after being put in the fridge.
The police chief in Clearlake, Calif., defended the officer
who shot Dosha. Police Chief Bob Chalk says the officer did nothing
wrong when he shot the dog in the head last week. He says the dog
had been hit by a car and was in pain.
Police say the dog’s owner may be cited for letting her pet
run free. The case remains under investigation by police and Animal
Control.
Want to help Dosha?
Clearlake Animal Welfare Society 707-994-3499
top ^^
Board Vote Allows San
Francisco Residents to be Recognized As Animal “Guardians”
By a Vote of 8-3 San Francisco Becomes the 7th U.S. City to Codify the
Term Animal Guardian
San Francisco, CA...
During its Monday, January 13th meeting, the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors voted 8-3 to approve a measure introduced by Board
President Matt Gonzalez which amends City and County codes to
recognize individuals as the “owner or guardian” of their animal
companions rather than solely the “owner.” The vote makes San
Francisco the seventh city in the nation to codify animal guardian
language, joining West Hollywood and Berkeley, CA; Boulder, CO;
Sherwood, AR; Amherst, MA; Menomonee Falls, WI; and the state of
Rhode Island in setting this important
precedent.
A growing number of people see
animal “owner” as an outdated term that does not reflect the
human/animal bond that exists in our culture today.
“The San Francisco Supervisors
need to be commended for their foresight and conviction in helping
erase animal abuse and abandonment by using language to exert a
positive influence on the way people view and treat animals,” said
Dr. Elliot Katz, president of In Defense of Animals.
“Being a guardian of an animal
companion signifies a higher level of responsibility, respect and
care for our animal friends. Animals need to be regarded as more
than the material property of an owner. Replacing the term “owner”
with “guardian” is a conceptual move toward recognizing the
importance and needs of animals. The term “owner” denotes an
apathetic relationship to material and inanimate things. The term
“guardian” denotes a positive and mutually beneficial bond between
two living beings, where constant care, attention and affection are
necessary for a thriving relationship. It instills respect for and
appreciation of our companion animals.”
Kelley Filson, Director of
Humane Education for the San Francisco SPCA, added: “In teaching
children about animals, the first most basic concept taught is that
they are not toys or things. When young people understand this,
lessons about kindness, respect and compassion become intuitive. But
once outside the classroom, signs, forms, and people reinforce the
message that animals are things. Use of the term “guardian” keeps us
from sending mixed messages to our children.”
In Defense of
Animals, located in Mill Valley, CA, is a national, animal protection
organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals
by protecting their rights and welfare.
top ^^
LOCAL ANIMAL BLOOD BANKS
 Animal
Blood Banks to be Inspected Annually
by Jon Osterholm
California Governor Gray Davis recently signed legislation requiring
annual inspections to be conducted at animal blood banks and
facilities in which donor animals are kept.
"Animal blood banks and similar establishments should be regulated to
ensure the humane treatment of the animals involved," said Davis.
In order to provide funding for the inspections, the new law
authorizes the California Department of Food and Agriculture to
increase the fee for an animal blood bank license.
The legislation originally had clauses permitting only veterinarians
and veterinary technicians to draw blood and limiting the amount of
time during which an animal could be used as a donor. However,
concerns about increasing the cost of obtaining blood and the possible
euthanization of animals no longer kept as donors prompted lawmakers
to remove both clauses.
Former Butte Humane Society President Nancy Gebert and other animal
welfare activists began lobbying for the law after becoming aware of
animals used as donors being abused.
Animal Blood Bank owner Pat Kaufman stated that she thought the law
might deter pet owners from bringing in their companion animals to
donate because the owners would not want to be subject to annual
inspections of their homes.
There are only four animal blood banks in the United States. Two of
them are in California.
© 2002 Animal News Center, Inc.
http://www.anc.org
top ^^
CALLING ALL COPS: NEW VIDEO CAN HELP COMBAT ANIMAL ABUSE
"It is my hope that this is watched by every police department and
sheriff's office in the country," says the ASPCA's Ledy VanKavage of
Animal Abuse: Why Cops Can and Need to Stop It, a
pioneering training videotape recently produced by the St.
Louis-based IN THE LINE OF DUTY.
The video was created in collaboration with
the ASPCA and police departments in Illinois, Arizona, Boston and
Chicago to help law enforcement agents nationwide recognize and
investigate animal abuse. Through graphic footage that helps
illustrate the severity of these crimes, the film takes officers
step-by-step through an animal crime scene, from collecting evidence
to preparing for the courtroom. "Police officers should treat animal
abuse as seriously as any other violent crime," says VanKavage, the
ASPCA's Midwest Government Affairs and Public Policy Director, who
provides expert commentary in the video.
For more information, or to purchase the
law enforcement training tape, call (800) 462-5232 or visit
In the Line of Duty online.
Adds VanKavage, "If police departments don't have the funds to
purchase the tape, I hope humanitarians will step up to the plate
and purchase it for their local police department."
top ^^
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS: THIS NEW PRODUCT CAN SAVE ANIMAL LIVES
When the Chicago Police Department
responded to a report of domestic violence last year, the woman who
made the call asked the officers not to come into the house because
of her very protective dog. But the officers entered the house and
the canine, believing he was protecting his owner, charged. The dog
was shot and killed, and the woman filed a civil suit against the
Chicago Police Department and was awarded $120,000 after a jury
trial.
"That tragedy might have been avoided had
the responders employed a new product called
Pepperball," says the ASPCA's Ledy
VanKavage, Midwest State Government Affairs and Public Policy
director. Pepperball is a gun that shoots marble-sized pellets of
pepper powder. "It has been used successfully by police departments
from Montana to Ohio to subdue dogs, deer, moose, sheep and bears.
And to date, no mammal has died after being shot with Pepperball."
For more information on this product, law enforcement agencies can
call (877) 887-3773.
top ^^
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