CA: Assailant attacks, kills Orange County woman's schnauzer

Assailant attacks, kills Orange County woman's schnauzer

December 30, 2009 |  1:56 pm

A 26-year-old San Clemente man killed a dog today, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said, then ran naked through a tennis club where he poured hot water on himself.

Deputies responded around 6:15 a.m. to several reports of a woman screaming at the intersection of Calle Del Cerro and Calle Venezia, where a man had grabbed a woman’s mini schnauzer and beat, choked and slammed the dog into the sidewalk, said Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Walsh.

Minutes later, deputies received a separate call that a man was running naked at the Rancho San Clemente Tennis Club at 111 Avenida Vista Montana.  Arriving deputies found the man lying on ground and took him  into custody, Walsh said.

The man, identified by sheriff's officials as Bayron Reyes Lopez, was taken to a hospital.

The owner of the miniature schnauzer later identified Lopez as her attacker, Walsh said. After being treated, Lopez was taken to county jail in Santa Ana and booked on suspicion of animal cruelty and other charges.
-- Ruben Vives

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/12/assailant-attacks-kills-orange-county-womans-mini-schnauzer-dog-.html

CA: More California Chihuahuas to be transported out of state for adoption in response to shelter glut

More California Chihuahuas to be transported out of state for adoption in response to shelter glut

December 30, 2009 |  1:42 pm

A local organization plans to transport 35 Chihuahuas  to new adoptive homes in Colorado this week. It's an increasingly popular solution to the overabundance of Chihuahuas in California animal shelters.

SpcaLA, a private rescue organization that operates adoption centers in Long Beach and Hawthorne, is the latest group to move adoptable Chihuahuas to other parts of the country where there are fewer small dogs to be found in animal shelters. 

Actress Katharine Heigl's foundation recently arranged the transport of nearly 70 Chihuahuas to a New Hampshire humane society, which found new homes for each of them almost immediately.  SpcaLA was able to afford to move the dogs thanks to a private donor, Leslie Capin, who recently won $1 million in Paw Nation's Cutest Dog Competition and decided to use the money to help pets in need.  Pet Airways, the animals-only airline that launched earlier this year, offered a discounted fare.  Their flight is scheduled to depart Thursday morning from Hawthorne Municipal Airport. A Denver-based rescue organization will arrange for them to be adopted in Colorado, where shelters are crammed with larger dogs but few small ones are available for adoption. 

Proponents of the plan to transport Chihuahuas to other states argue that doing so is a way of killing two birds with one stone.  "By moving the supply to the demand, we are negating the need for purchasing from an unscrupulous backyard breeder or puppy mill and reducing the current population of Chihuahuas" in California shelters, spcaLA President Madeline Bernstein explained. 

But some fear that dogs adopted in far-off states will not have a similar safety net to those adopted from local rescue organizations -- which typically provide ongoing support to new pet owners and will take back a previously adopted animal if things don't work out.  But Chihuahua-transport supporters believe that, by working with reputable rescue groups in the states to which the dogs are sent, they can ensure that adopters have knowledgeable local advisers to turn to if they need help with their new pets.

According to Kathy Davis, interim general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services, the city's municipal animal shelters take in more than 300 Chihuahuas each month.  Shelters in the San Francisco Bay Area report similar numbers, with many in the rescue community placing at least part of the blame for the number of owner-surrendered Chihuahuas on pop culture.  "We call it the Paris Hilton syndrome," Deb Campbell, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco animal care and control department, said in an interview with The Times' Maria L. La Ganga. 

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Source:  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/12/more-california-chihuahuas-to-be-transported-out-of-state-for-adoption-in-response-to-shelter-glut.html
Photo: Kenya, a male Chihuahua available for adoption through spcaLA.  Credit: spcaLA

AZ: Sheriff: 4 arrested in 3 separate animal abuse cases

Sheriff: 4 arrested in 3 separate animal abuse cases
Reported by: Deborah Stocks
Email: dstocks@abc15.com
Last Update: 5:20 pm

MESA, AZ -- Authorities say four people in Maricopa County have been arrested on charges of animal cruelty and neglect.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says the arrests were made in three separate cases after detectives received information from separate sources.

Mesa residents Terrance Carrol, 54, and Debi Carrol, 41, were arrested on four counts of animal cruelty. Detectives made the arrests with the help of Alta Vista Animal Hospital, according to authorities.

Also arrested was Gila Bend resident Jeannetta Berry and Mesa resident Jorge Gonzales. Their ages were not released by officials.

Berry and Gonzales were also arrested on animal cruelty charges Tuesday.

Source: http://www.abc15.com/content/news/southeastvalley/mesa/story/Sheriff-4-arrested-in-3-separate-animal-abuse/k12Wf0z1VUWUfueiCXfftg.cspx

MD: Maryland one of the best states to be an animal abuser

Maryland one of the best states to be an animal abuser
December 29, 2009
Posted by Jill Rosen at 10:12AM

There are a lot of year-end wrap up lists out there, but this one has to be among the bleakest. The Animal Legal Defense Fund compiled its list of the states where it's not so bad to be an animal abuser, the places where the cruelty laws don't have teeth and an abuser might not be prosecuted.

The states are: Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, and North Dakota. The organization points to Kentucky as the single worst state in the nation for animal protection laws.

Maryland, by the way, is on the bottom tier. That's pretty bad. Pretty embarrassing, actually.

The report states: Why are these five states in the dog house when it comes to getting tough on animal abuse? The legislative weaknesses seen in the states at the bottom of the animal protection barrel include severely restricted or absent felony animal cruelty provisions, inadequate animal fighting provisions, and lack of restrictions on the future ownership of animals for those convicted of cruelty to animals.

Source: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/mutts/blog/2009/12/the_best_states_to_be_an_anima.html

UK: Police Return Dog to Owner

UK: Police Return Dog to Owner

Pharr resident  Jhovanna Vesga reported her 7 month old English Bulldog puppy Chad missing on 12/17 and police returned him to her just 2 days later after saving him from a suspected dog fighting ring.

Chad is microchipped and registered with HelpmefindMYPET, a national pet recovery service with an 87% success rate in reuniting lost or stolen pets with their rightful owners. Helpmefindmypet provided Vesga with lost pet alert flyers and sent out an alert in a 50 mile radius of her home. A resident who received a flyer called and told her they knew who had her dog. She was offering a $1000 reward but the good Samaritan declined it, saying that he had kids himself.

Vesga confronted the person that was suspected of having the dog, and he denied it. She then contacted the police who approached the suspect and were able to get the puppy from him. Police returned Chad to Vesga on 12/19.

The puppy had infected bite wounds on his neck and it appears that the person that stole him may have been using him as a bait in an illegal dog fighting ring. Vesga said that the person who had him also had several other pit bull-type dogs present. Chad’s vet expects him to make a full recovery.

Vesga’s husband William is currently serving in Iraq and is relieved that his children’s dog is home safe for the holidays.

Source: http://www.themonitor.com/articles/return-33949-dog-owner.html

CO: Pit Bull Attacks Dad, Daughter In Douglas County

Pit Bull Attacks Dad, Daughter In Douglas County
Dec 29, 2009 12:47 pm US/Mountain
Reporting: Brooke Rogers

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The Douglas County Sheriff's Department says charges will be filed against the owner of a pit bull that attacked two people over the weekend.

A woman and her father were attacked near Roxborough Park.  The attack happened Sunday morning when the daughter was walking a friend's dog on Ponderosa Trail near her parents' home. The pit bull attacked the dog and then bit her and her father.

"The daughter initially fended off the first dog attack," Deputy Attila Denes said. "She then called her father to help load the animal into a vehicle to take to the vet. At that point the pitbull resumed its attack and bit both of them."

The pit bull is now being quarantined at the Buddy Center in Castle Rock.  The daughter suffered a broken finger. Her father has puncture wounds.

There is no ban on pit bulls in Douglas County.

"There is a good possibility some charges will be filed, but at this point that hasn't been determined," said Denes.

The dog that was attacked by the pit bull was treated by a veterinarian and is back home.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Source: http://cbs4denver.com/local/pitbull.attack.father.2.1395738.html

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Douglas Co. pit bull seized after attacks
By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post
Posted: 12/28/2009 04:10:17 PM MST
Updated: 12/28/2009 04:41:53 PM MST

A young pit bull was seized Sunday after it allegedly attacked a dog, a woman and her father in the Roxborough community.  The woman was walking in the 4600 block of Ponderosa Trail when the 8- to 10-month-old pit bull attacked her dog, a Hungarian hunting dog called a vizsla, said Joe Stafford, the field services manager for Douglas County Animal Services.

Stafford said that when the woman and her father intervened and attempted to load the vizsla into a vehicle, the pit bull attacked a second time, biting the woman on the thumb and her father on the hand and forearm.  Stafford said that his officers responded and apprehended the pit bull, which is now in quarantine.  He said that the injuries to the vizsla, the woman and her father were not life-threatening.

Stafford said the owner of the pit bull lives near Roxborough, but is currently out of town.  Stafford said charges will be filed, but just how severe they will be depend on the extent of the injuries inflicted by the pit bull.

He said that pit bulls are not banned in Douglas County and there was no previous history of problems with the pit bull.  Stafford said charges could be petty offenses such as "animal at large" or "failure to control a vicious animal."  A more serious charge could potentially be filed called "unlawful ownership of a dangerous dog."

Stafford said that Douglas County has about 180 dog bite cases a year and that less than 1 percent involve pit bulls. He said dog owners in Douglas County tend to be good owners and pit bulls living there are well-behaved.

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14082331#ixzz0b7lKBEBW

ND: Dog is abandoned - Three-legged dog is left at a local business

Dog is abandoned - Three-legged dog is left at a local business
By Nick Smith
Staff Writer
Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 10:35 AM CST

Employees at a Williston business returned to work after the holiday weekend to be greeted by an unexpected three-legged donation in its drop-off area.  An employee at The Wise Penny thrift store on West Broadway found a German Shorthaired Pointer behind the business Monday morning.

Bev Talian of the Opportunity Foundation and an employee at The Wise Penny said the dog sat in the store's caged-in area where donations are dropped off.  Talian said employee Crystal Davis first spotted the dog shortly after 8 a.m. while opening the store.  Talian isn't sure how long the dog had been there, but said he could have been placed in the cage any time between 5 p.m. on Thursday and 8 a.m. on Monday. "It was very thirsty and very hungry. We went out right away and got food and water for it," said Talian.

Talian said the dog is a male with three legs. Aside from it missing one leg, she said the dog was otherwise in fairly good health.  "Someone obviously took care of it when it lost its leg at some point in the past. It's healed and in good shape," said Talian.

Talian said she was shocked and very disappointed that someone would try to abandon a fairly healthy young dog by leaving it in a drop-off cage for donations.  She added the back area where donations are left isn't heated and the dog was subjected to cold temperatures for however long it was there.

Talian said she and employees at The Wise Penny spent Monday morning trying to warm the dog and feed him. She said they were trying to place calls to the Humane Society and local pet stores to see if anyone could take the dog.  Talian also said they hoped to be able to pass on the dog to a local entity by the end of the day so a new home could be found.  "It's a very good looking dog," said Talian.

This is the second time pets have been left at an area business in recent weeks. A few weeks ago, six puppies were left in a box outside of Williston's Pets N Stuff. Talian added a puppy was left at the thrift store the same day the puppies were left at Pets N Stuff.  She said it's cruel to be abandoning pets in the cold and people should drop them off somewhere safe like a pet store instead of being abandoned overnight.

Copyright © 2009 Williston Herald

Source: http://www.willistonherald.com/articles/2009/12/29/news/doc4b3a2db5a6817575049396.txt