Posted on 12/10/2009 8:43:52 PM PST by JoeProBono
Steve Markwell is a brave man. At his sanctuary in Washington, he takes in the worst of the worst that have been turned away by all other shelters -- pit bulls, guard dogs, face-biters and cat-killers.
There have always been good dogs and bad dogs.
The good dogs come when you call, romp happily with the children and stay off the sofa. The bad dogs chase after cars, trample the flower beds and pass wind under the coffee table. Then there are the really bad dogs -- the cat killers, face biters and snarling, drooling wretches so mean even their owners want them shot.
Those are Steve Markwell's kind of dogs. "When people create these monsters, I think it's people's responsibility to take care of them. Not to just kill everything because it's inconvenient," said Markwell, who operates a sanctuary for canine ne'er-do-wells in the Olympic Peninsula rain forest.....
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Steve Markwell is shown with Snaps, a rehabilitated dog which had attacked two women south of Seattle.
Steve Markwell, founder of Olympic Animal Sanctuary in Forks, Wash., plays with Abby who he found at a California truck stop, where animal control officers had spent two weeks unsuccessfully trying to catch her. Markwell made her one of his first rescues. (Kim Murphy / Los Angeles Times)
Cat killers!?
what wrong with those? I gots me one a them.
All your pitbull are belong to us
Good read, thanks.
Poor dog has got rain catchers on his head!
Enjoyed the read. Thanks!
How do you know if they are rehabilitated?
Just because they are behaving right now doesn’t mean they won’t snap tomorrow.
Just like people. How do you know?
Read the article. This guy KNOWS they can snap at anytime. He’s willing to take the risk, and gets bit a lot.
I did read the article. I am just musing on the impossibility of knowing with a reasonable certainty that a dog, or a person, won’t snap again.
If the dog snaps at a muscular 6’2” trained and ready man, it will probably be ok. But most of us aren’t in his condition or state of readiness.
Knowing a dog can be dangerous is the key to not getting seriously injured by one. Nearly all the maulings we read about are accompanied by claims from the owner that the dog “never did anything like this before” and was always “sweet and gentle”, etc. Translation: they were sure the dog wasn’t dangerous.
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