IN: Police chase ends with dog biting suspect

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Police chase ends with dog biting suspect

Wednesday, December 23, 2009


A Columbus man led police on a short chase in a stolen pickup truck early Wednesday before crashing into a garage less than a block from his home, police said.  Columbus police dog Blitz bit a resistant Billy Bowker, 36, of 1812 Newton St., while nabbing Bowker after the chase, according to Columbus Police Department.

CPD Patrolman Toby Combest spotted Bowker driving a Ford F-350 pickup truck with a registration violation at 4:41 a.m. Wednesday near 16th and Franklin streets. When Combest attempted to pull Bowker over, Bowker allegedly sped away.  The chase weaved through the neighborhood, ending when Bowker collided with a garage at 1727 Newton St. and overturned the large pickup truck, CPD Lt. Joe Richardson said.   Bowker ran off, and Combest, Blitz and the dog's handler, Patrolman Jimmy Myers, searched the area. When they found Bowker, he refused to give up until Blitz bit him, police said. Bowker was treated for the dog bite at Columbus Regional Hospital and has been released.

He has been charged preliminarily with two counts of resisting law enforcement, being a habitual traffic violator for life, possession of stolen property and leaving the scene of an accident.  Bowker is being held at Bartholomew County Jail. 


Source

NATL: Michael Vick wins Baltimore Courage award

NATL: Michael Vick wins Baltimore Courage award

Philadelphia Eagles have chosen Michael Vick to win a prestigious award given to the player with the best "commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage."

Vick was recently released from jail where he served time for his role in a dog-fighting ring.

The Baltimore-based Ed Block Courage Award is given to a player on all 32 teams. It is named for a former Baltimore Colts trainer who was an advocate for abused children. Vick will be honored with other recipients of the award at a ceremony in Baltimore in March.

Pictured is one of the scarred dogs rescued from Vick's Virginia dog-fighting kennel.

===============
Source

=======================
More on this story from ProFootballTalk


=======================


The Victory Dogs at Best Friends - read their stories HERE

OR: 117 cats rescued from Madras home; 30 to 40 remain

117 cats rescued from Madras home; 30 to 40 remain

Posted: Dec 22, 2009 05:47 PM

Last Updated: Dec 22, 2009 10:03 PM

Video Gallery <1> Groups rescue 117 cats at Madras home (12/22) 3: 00

Madras woman asked for help when her cat-rescue effort grew too overwhelming - to close to 150 cats on and around house (LARGER PHOTOS BELOW)

So many cats needed to be rounded up, it took several agencies to handle them all

Bend, Redmond animal shelters, cat rescue team worked together to remove, check out rescued cats

Also on KTVZ.com About 100 cats rescued from Madras home

Possibly largest case of its kind ever in region
By Kelsey Watts, KTVZ.COM
Another major animal rescue took place on the High Desert Tuesday, as 117 cats were removed from a Madras woman's home.
"Every bedroom had cages full of cats - there were some out on the back porch, they were in cupboards - we were finding them everywhere," said Karen Szymanski, with the Humane Society of Central Oregon.
It's one of, if not the biggest cat rescue in Central Oregon history.
More than 150 cats were all living in the home, but because of a lack of space at local rescues, only 117 were rescued Tuesday, many of them living in cages, in feces, and with litter boxes that hadn't been changed in a long time.
The remaining 30-40 should be taken in the next two weeks or so, as space becomes available.
Some of those removed from local shelters and organizations were as young as four weeks old. All of the animals appear to have upper respiratory problems, and rescuers say it's cleanliness and the spread of disease that worries them most.
Officials are not naming the Madras woman who owns them, or identifying where she lives, due to her cooperation with the effort. But they do say she has a non-profit status to care for rescued cats - but with this many, she was simply overwhelmed, and asked for help.
"Overflowing litter boxes, cages - I mean, there were cats in every corner of the house," Szymanski said. "I mean, it was bad, but I think it could have been worse."
Now, a lot of medical care is in order, costing local agencies around $50-$100 per cat.
"It's going to be an expensive road from here," Szymanski said. "They're all getting vaccinated, they're all getting tested for leukemia and FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus). Those that are not spayed and neutered will be, and most of them are going to need a series of antibiotics."
Because the woman voluntarily gave them up, she likely won't face charges, and will be allowed to keep 10-15 as house cats. However, officials promise she will be closely monitored to ensure this doesn't happen again.
It's the latest chapter in a long series of animal rescues, in Central Oregon and statewide.
The Oregon Humane Society is still overwhelmed from the nearly 200 total dogs rescued from Harney and Tillamook counties in separate rescue efforts just two weeks ago.
Many of those animals have also crowded local shelters, and now, finding space and money to care for these cats is a challenge.
"All of the cats are sick, and many are dehydrated," Szymanski said. "And some of these cats are going to be on the long road to recovery, so it's just a matter of finding people to take care of them."
The good news: All of the cats appear to be in relatively good health, and rescuers don't think any of them will have to be put down.
Jefferson County Animal Control only handles dogs, and says the sickest cats will go to an adoption center in the Portland area.
However, most of them will stay right here in Central Oregon.
The Humane Society of Central Oregon in Bend, the Humane Society of Redmond each took about 30 cats, and the Cat Rescue, Adoption & Foster Team or "CRAFT" nearly 50 of them, and now all are in desperate need of short-term foster families, or preferably permanent adoptions.
If you can't add a cat to your family this holiday season, they're also in desperate need of supplies, and monetary donations to cover their medical expenses.
Check the associated article for the news releases issued by those agencies on Tuesday's adoption, along with their contact information.



Madras woman was running non-profit to care for cats, but
became overwhelmed (Jefferson County Animal Control photos)

Shelters, rescuers report most of rescued cats are friendly,
adoptable soon
 
 Every corner of Madras home had cats in it, rescuers say


=====================================
Source

OH: Girl recovering from severe dog bite

OH: Girl recovering from severe dog bite

CHICAGO HEIGHTS (STNG) -- Sticking out through the tip of Girthamarie Gary's middle finger is a metal pin. Doctors inserted the pin, which travels the length of her entire finger, so that her finger will have a structure until the bone heals and the tissue inside her finger is able to grow back the right way.

The 15-year-old sophomore at Bloom High School has had the pin in her finger ever since a dog tore into her hand at 10 a.m. Nov. 21 at the corner of Lincoln Highway and Edgewood Avenue.

Catina Jones, 37, 1520 Edgewood Ave., was subsequently given a ticket for not having a city license for her dog, which is still around.

The day she was bit, Girthamarie was traveling from her home in the 400 block of Hickory Street to the Chicago Heights Public Library, 25 W. 15th St., she said.  She was walking with her little sister on a sidewalk along Lincoln Highway when she ran into Jones, who was walking her dog on a leash on the sidewalk.

Girthamarie said that when she walked past the dog, it bit her leg and hand. The attack lasted about five minutes. "It was horrible," she said. "The hand was bleeding and I couldn't feel anything."

When dog removed its teeth from her hand, she saw that the animal had bitten the tip off of her ring finger and left her middle finger hanging "by some tissue and some bone."

Following the bite, Girthamarie said the dog owner got frightened and ran off with her pooch, leaving the girl bleeding on the sidewalk.  "I hope they get the lady because she ran off and left her," Girthamarie's mother, Diane Beattie-Gary said. "She could have bled to death, she's just a kid."

Paramedics were called to the scene and she was transferred to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights and then to Munster Hospital in Indiana. She got hand surgery at the University of Chicago hospital and was released Nov. 25, she said.

Aside from having the pin sticking out of her finger, she has to wash her wounds every day, coat them in anti-bacterial cream and insulate her hand in a brown, gauzy wrap.  Most of the time she cannot feel the pin sticking out her hand - unless she accidentally bangs it against something else.

"When you bump it, there's an intense burning pain," she said, adding that the finger hurts when it gets exposed to cold weather.  Otherwise, her finger lacks all feeling. Girthamarie said the wrapped-up hand is an embarrassment and it keeps her from playing volleyball with her friends among other activities she used to enjoy.

In light of the attack, Girthamarie and her mom said they have contacted an attorney and plan to sue Jones for medical expenses.  Beattie-Gary also said she hoped the dog would be put down and that more charges would be filed against Jones.

On Wednesday, Jones denied that she or any of her family members were walking the dog Nov. 21. She said her two-year-old pit bull Star, which she keeps in her basement, is a gentle animal that would not maim another human.  "I have no clue who this person was," she said about the victim. "I have a big yard and a park across from my street. Why the hell would I walk my dog on Route 30?"

Furthermore, she said she learned about the biting for the first time when police contacted her, and that she has bought a city license for her dog after receiving her ticket.

Source: http://www.wbbm780.com/Girl-recovering-from-severe-dog-bite/5963121

CA: Smuggling puts puppies in peril

Smuggling puts puppies in peril
By Matthew Margolis
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009 5:09 p.m. MST

Drugs aren't the only things being smuggled into the States from Mexico. Monday evening, border patrol officials in San Diego County stopped Raul Jimenez Gonzalez at the Tecate Port of Entry and, while discussing a bottle of tequila, saw something move in his back seat.

The agents lifted a blanket and discovered 15 mixed-breed miniature poodles. All cute as the dickens. All sick as a dog. Most of the pups have parvovirus, which can be fatal — and could have been prevented.  According to reports, Jimenez Gonzalez told officers he was taking the puppies to Los Angeles to be sold as Christmas presents. This isn't the first time he's played Santa Claus. He was accused of smuggling 27 Christmas puppies in 2006 and 11 in 2007. Ho, ho, ho.

Yes, Virginia, 'tis the season for puppy smugglers, puppy mills and pet stores.

The enormous demand for Christmas puppies baffles me. For most households, the season is louder, busier and more stressful than any other time of year: people coming and going, travel plans to arrange and accommodate, parties to host and attend. Not to mention an abundance of poisonous plants and shiny glass objects that are largely absent from the house the rest of the year. And outside — where you and your young pup will be spending a lot of time — it's cold, gray, icy and snowing. None of this is conducive to the warm, stable environment a new puppy needs.

But when considered against the harsh realities of puppy trafficking and puppy mills, the demand for Christmas pups is more than perplexing. It's reckless.

San Diego Department of Animal Services Director Dawn Danielson commented on the market for smuggled puppies during the holiday season, saying, "Unfortunately, most of these puppies are sick. So the buyer ends up spending a great deal of money trying to save the puppy's life, usually without success."

This is the reality for many pet-store and puppy-mill dogs and cats. The products of careless breeding with little to no regard for genetics, they spend their first eight weeks in bleak, unsanitary and often inhumane environments. And the people who buy them — either from pet stores or irresponsible brokers — wonder what went wrong when puppy gets sick.

Compound all of this with the fact that shelters and rescues are filled to capacity. Between the recession and the housing bust, humane societies and animal services are struggling more than ever to stay afloat and accommodate the influx of abandoned pets.

But let me offer this one suggestion for those who are on the fence. The perfect Christmas gift for the person — especially a little person — who is dying to get a dog is a gift box filled with books about breeds, DVDs on training, and a leash, a collar, a blanket and a few toys for the pup you'll begin looking for after the holidays. Wrapped in a big red bow, of course.

Woof!

Dog trainer Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis is co-author of 18 books about dogs, a behaviorist, a popular radio and television guest, and host of the PBS series "WOOF! It's a Dog's Life!"


Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705353676/Smuggling-puts-puppies-in-peril.html

============================

"Christmas" Puppies Rescued From Smuggler at Border

KTLA News

4:16 AM PST, December 16, 2009

 

Related links

• Puppies Rescued from Smuggler at Border Video

SAN DIEGO -- Fifteen puppies were discovered by customs officers after a smuggler tried to bring them into the U.S. at the Tecate Port of Entry.  The 2-month-old puppies, all described as mixed breed miniature poodles, were immediately taken to an emergency veterinary hospital by Animal Control officers with the County Department of Animal Services.

The majority of the puppies have been diagnosed with parvo and will be receiving intensive care provided by County Animal Services or an adoption partner.

The alleged smuggler, Raul Jimenez Gonzalez, claimed a bottle of tequila at the border, but CBP officers observed movement in the back seat of the vehicle. The puppies were found hidden in the back seat under a blanket Monday evening.  Jimenez admitted to the officers that he was taking the puppies to Los Angeles to sell as Christmas presents. Animal Services had previously rescued 27 puppies in 2006 and 11 in 2007 after smuggling attempts involving Jimenez.  The Department of Animal Services is working with Customs and Border Protection to determine what, if any, criminal charges can be filed against Jimenez.

"With the holidays approaching, there is a demand for puppies and this demand results in puppies being smuggled across the border into the U.S.," said Dawn Danielson, Director of Animal Services. "Unfortunately, most of these puppies are sick, so the unsuspecting buyer ends up spending a great deal of money trying to save the puppy's life, usually without success."

The Department of Animal Services encourages people to visit their local animal shelters or contact a rescue group to adopt a pet during the holidays.

For more information on adoptions at any of the three County Animal Shelters, or to view photos of available animals, please visit

http://www.sddac.com/adoptions.asp.

For a list of approved rescue groups, please visit http://www.sddac.com/docs/rescuegroups.pdf.

Copyright © 2009, KTLA-TV, Los Angeles

CA: Two-legged dog gives hope to disabled vets

Two-legged dog gives hope to disabled vets
Faith was born without front legs, now visits thousands of solidiers a year
AP Photo/Anthony M. Tortoriello
updated 2:32 p.m. PT, Wed., Dec . 16, 2009

LOS ANGELES - For several years, Jude Stringfellow and her Lab-chow mix have toured the country with a simple message: Faith walks. 

Born without front legs to a junkyard dog around Christmas 2002, Faith the puppy was rejected and abused by her mother. She was rescued by Rueben Stringfellow, now an Army E-4 specialist, who had been asked to bury other puppies in the litter.

"Can we fix her?," Stringfellow, then 17, asked his mom. "No, but maybe we can help her," she said.

So Rueben turned Faith over to his mother, English professor Jude Stringfellow. At first the family had to carry Faith to keep her off her chest and chin. But with peanut butter and practice, Faith learned to walk on her two hind legs.

Since that day on March 22, 2002, Faith has done the talk show circuit, gone on tour with Ozzy Osbourne and been named an honorary Army sergeant. Jude Stringfellow has become a motivational speaker, written two books about Faith and is working on a third, "Faith Walks."

They get more than 200 letters and e-mails a day, run a Web site and make dozens of appearances every year, including stops at veterans' hospitals across the country to cheer injured soldiers.

That mission is special for Stringfellow, whose son left Iraq in September and is stationed in Alaska. He is scheduled to get out of the Army and head home on Jan. 1.

'Different is beautiful'
For many, Faith brings a powerful message about overcoming adversity. "Faith has shown me that different is beautiful, that it is not the body you are in but the soul that you have," Jill Salomon of Montreal, Canada, wrote on Faith's Web site.

Stringfellow will never forget a woman from New York who happened to see Faith on a street corner. She was depressed and had lost both legs to diabetes.

Faith, who was born without front legs, surprises those walking down Michigan Avenue in Los Angeles.  "She was in her wheelchair and saw us. She was crying. She had seen Faith on television. She just held her and said she wished she had that kind of courage." Stringfellow said. "She told us: 'I was on my way to pick up the gun.' She handed the pawn ticket to a police officer and said she didn't need it anymore."

That sense of hope is especially important for Faith's visits to Army bases. Last weekend she headed to Washington state, where she met with as many as 5,000 soldiers at McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis. Some of the soldiers were headed to war, some were coming back.

"She just walks around barking and laughing and excited to see them all," Jude Stringfellow said. "There is a lot of crying, pointing and surprise. From those who have lost friends or limbs, there can be silence. Some will shake my hand and thank me, some will pat her on the head. There is a lot of quiet, heartfelt, really deep emotion."
  
Faith never fails to bring a smile to a soldier's face, said Patrick Mcghee, general manager at Fort Lewis.

"To see the children interact with Faith is simply priceless," he said.

But Faith's most emotional reunion — with Ruben Stringfellow, who rescued her 7 years ago this Christmas — will have to wait for January. He's already gotten Faith a birthday present: a peanut butter cookie with her name on it.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34450488/ns/health-pet_health/

NJ: Animal cruelty charges lodged against pet owners

NJ: Animal cruelty charges lodged against pet owners

A Belford woman pleaded guilty to 81 counts of failure to provide proper sustenance to her pets last week, according to Chief Victor "Buddy" Amato of the Monmouth County SPCA in Eatontown.

Amato said Marlene D. Sandford was fined $5,000 Dec. 11 in Middletown Municipal Court by Judge Michael Puglisi.

Sandford was charged with 81 counts of animal cruelty on July 23; Amato said MCSPCA law enforcement personnel removed more than 100 dogs from her house. "Several were pregnant. Many dogs died at the shelter," he said.

Sandford also pleaded guilty to seven other charges, including animal abuse, Amato said, and was ordered to pay $7,000, for a total of $12,00 in fines. She will also be subject to unannounced inspections by the MCSPCA and was ordered by the court to comply in a timely manner with all township zoning ordinances regarding kennels.

Amato said most of the dogs recovered were purebred Chihuahuas and that all of the animals removed became the property of the shelter.

Source: http://atlanticville.gmnews.com/news/2009/1224/front_page/017.html

In another case, Amato said a Neptune man was charged with abandoning his dog.

According to Amato, Stephen Wilkerson, of Neptune, came to the Eatontown shelter on Dec. 8 to surrender his female American pit bull.

Amato said he was informed that he would have to make an appointment to do so and that there was a wait of a week. He was also informed that the dog could be surrendered immediately at the Associated Humane Society Shelter on Shafto Road.

According to Amato, Wilkerson left and drove to Old Deal Road in Eatontown, and was seen by a witness allegedly taking the dog into the woods, running back to the car and leaving.

The witness took down the license plate number and called Eatontown police, who intercepted Wilkerson and detained him, Amato said.

MCSPCA Law enforcement personnel and Eatontown police placed him under arrest. Wilkerson was charged with four counts of animal cruelty, one criminal and one civil count for abandonment, and one criminal charge and one civil charge of abuse of a living creature.

According to Amato, the charges carry a minimum of $2,000 in fines. A court date will be set in Eatontown. Amato said the young female pit bull is at the shelter and available for a foster home.

Source: http://atlanticville.gmnews.com/news/2009/1224/front_page/017.htmlhttp://atlanticville.gmnews.com/news/2009/1224/front_page/017.html