Hurricane Pets - Pets are finding happy endings, Shuma isn't so lucky (excellent read)

ABC ^ | September 27, 2005 5:01am | NeYama Duncan

[Former Military Chick]

South Carolina - A group of Lowcountry Animal Lovers is back from New Orleans with 25 furry survivors in need of a home.

The Humane Net Team is made up of volunteers from several Lowcountry Rescue Organizations.

The group spent 9 days in New Orleans rescuing animals left behind and distributing a truck load of supplies.

"We handed out food and crates, towels and they're begging for more. They don't have anything left, nothing. We brought 25 animals back that we rescued out of houses were people couldn't take them with them," says Barbara Bryant of the Humane Net Team.

If you'd like to become a new pet owner, contact Joy Davis with Lowcountry Animal Rescue at 821-3175.

Though many hurricane pets are finding a happy ending others are not.

A Hurricane Katrina Evacuee had to flee his Mississippi home but the shelters would not allow one of his family members to enter, Shuma, the family dog.

The family had no choice but to choose the shelter over their pet, and took Shuma to an animal shelter in Independence.

John Wyrick is trying to start a new life in Missouri but he may have to do it without Shuma.

That's because a woman who volunteered to take in the German Shepherd has refused to give it back.

Wyrick has a serious back injury that limits his abilities.

He raised and trained Shuma to help him with his daily routine.

A volunteer convinced Wyrick to sign the dog over to her for the time being.

But just weeks later, Lynn Nevills refuses to give the Shuma back saying her family is now attached to the dog and Wyrick should get a new one.

Local, Kansas City, residents have tried to help the Wyricks get Shuma back but Nevills refuses to negotiate.

[Goodgirlinred]

I will tell you one thing, no car is worth a hair on the head of Harm (Lt. Cmdr. Harmon Rabb). He is smart as can be. Yes, he ate my great room furniture and a couch in the apartment when he was a puppy. However, now he does no damage. He also realized that this guy I was going out with was a rat (first and only date) and pinned him against the wall in the foyer. Like an idiot I put Harm outside when the guy said he was afraid of him. I was almost date raped. I will never date a man that Harm does not approve of first. Actually, since my husband died, I have not met a man I like or respect as much as Harm!!!

[Goodgirlinred]

All breeders should be inspected periodically. The ones who do not run "puppy mills" have nothing to fear. However, the puppy mills will be shut down and a lot of misery will be stopped for the animals that they "use."

Personally, I believe that a crossbred dog has the best of both parents and is a better dog as far as personality than a lot of thoroughbreds.

[Goodgirlinred]

Oh, and the only thing Lab about Harm are his ears. The rest is all Malamute/Husky. He hates water, loves snow, and I have to keep the house cold at all times for him to be comfortable. My baby does not howl at the moon, either.

[MarkL]

People get dogs all the time, without the first clue as to what the dog's skill sets are. They expect a bulldog to act like Lassie, and when he doesn't, they blame it on the fact that he's "Dumb".

Exactly! Bulldogs are designed to be couch potatos, though they can surprise you with amazing bursts of speed when they think that there's a treat for them somewhere, or they might get to go for a ride in the car! They're really stubborn and quite smart, and if you don't watch out, you'll realize that you're being trained by your Bully! Here's my buddy, Jack!

It's hard to believe that they were originally bred as bull-baiters, but over the years they've had the agressiveness bred out of them. Something that surprises a lot of people is that the tough looking "Bully" is seen as something of an old woman's dog in Great Britain!

Mark

[GovernmentShrinker]

There is strict regulation in the form of AKC registration and recordkeeping.

Hardly. The AKC makes a bundle of money selling phony papers to all kinds of breeders, including puppy mill operators. Al that's required to get AKC papers is to be the owner of record per AKC of a female dog (even if the dog died years ago, or you've never even seen the dog, but paid the owner of record to transfer the papers to you) and mail in forms claiming she had a litter of X number of male and female puppies, and the father was registered dog X -- and remember to enclose the check.

One Pennsylvania puppy mill was shut down by the state Dept. of Agriculture for all sorts of horrific violations. A few months later, the AKC was right back to selling huge numbers of papers to the mill, which had illegally resumed operations at the same address, only the "breeder" listed was now the husband of the offender -- same last name.

While failing to police itself, and the breeders who financially support it, the AKC has energetically opposed legislation which would make it easier to crack down on puppy mill operators.

[Darnright]

>All breeders should be inspected periodically.<

By whom? The government? Do you have the first clue what USDA wants out of a "breeding facility"?

USDA kennels must be separate from the residence, with separate sewer systems, separate kitchens and the dogs must be housed in pens of a certain size. They may not be housed in the residence. Sorry Phydeaux, off the bed with you! Good Girl has decreed it to be so!

Most people I know and respect raise their dogs in their homes. The dogs, although bred on occasion, are a part of the people's families.

Be careful what you wish for. With your mindset, the only way to get a purebred would very soon be from a pet store.

And we all want that to happen, now, don't we?

[Salamander]

Excellent points.

Ibizans are ranked low on the "dog intelligence" scale because of their alleged "untrainability".

They are by no means "dumb"; in fact, they're far too smart for their own good.

They were bred to hunt down, kill and retrieve prey -independently- of their handlers and "subservience/obedience" in their case, would be detrimental to their performance as independent hunters.

There are those who've been obedience trained but in general, they're too quick-minded and they become easily bored with the repetition of obedience training.

I'd bet you have experience with dogs who have been 'a step ahead of you' all the time and know the aggravation of trying to train such a critter....;))


One of my Dobermans was like that.

He'd picked up my body language *too* well and I never could get the voice commands out quick enough.
He'd do what I was getting ready to tell him to do before I even got a chance....LOL!

[or the dog was a mind-reader]..;)

[HairOfTheDog]

Dammit GS, think. My point was that the requirements are there for qualifying breedings now... and you are alleging that people will lie and fake them. So I wonder what about your added regulation of dog breeding will do anything but hassle those who are honest. Won't change the behavior of the liars and cheats, I bet.

The value of their product usually will not remain high if they are faking papers with substandard dogs. The proof is in the offspring. The reputation is in the offspring, and their continuation of the traits the breed is known for. That's what 'reputable breeder' means.... that they are invested and active in the sport and promotion and future of their breed, not merely kicking out puppies.

Puppy mills suck. But they aren't the force driving breed fanciers, they are the parasite hanging on it. Kill the parasite, not the host.

[Darnright]

>There are those who've been obedience trained but in general, they're too quick-minded and they become easily bored with the repetition of obedience training.<

Ah, but who needs obedience when you can

LURE COURSE!!!

[Fawn]

If they're worried about losing their purebreds.....maybe they should store some DNA for 10 years or so until the populations die down.

[I'm ALL Right!]

What a witch that woman is! I know very few families that don't consider their pet a member of the family. She SHOULD be arrested and charged.

"Hey! I know I'm just the babysitter, but my family has grown attached to your child. You'll just have to get a new one."

[Darnright]

>If they're worried about losing their purebreds.....maybe they should store some DNA for 10 years or so until the populations die down.<

I have a better idea. Why not put pressure on your local animal control organization to enforce the leash laws? Just enforcing the laws on the books would go a long ways to solving the dog over-population problem.

Not only that, find out if your local Veterinary association is exerting pressure on local government to keep low-cost spay and neuter clinics out of your area. If this is happening (you would be surprised how hard Vets will fight these clinics - they see the clinics as competition), you need to go after the politicos and make them grow a backbone.

If your neighbor gets a puppy for his kids, and let's it run free, offer to help him be a good pet owner. Offer to help him train the dog, and to get it spayed. Be proactive and you'll be surprised at the positive results.

[GovernmentShrinker]

When people talk about "purebred" dogs, they aren't meaning just that it is pure species "dog", i.e. not a dog-wolf hybrid or something like that. My point was that it is impossible to confirm any dog's ancestry beyond the point where you have DNA test results for all the ancestors as well. And this simply doesn't exist beyond a couple of generations, for any dog alive today. A given "purebred" Irish Setter, with AKC papers, certainly has some non-Irish Setter ancestors at some level, and in many cases, AKC-registered dogs actually have other-breed ancestors at the parent or grandparent level. My vet told me about a "purebred" Golden Retriever he treated last year -- due to multiple health problems and state laws, the vet was put in contact directly with the breeder, who assured him that it was a purebred Golden Retriever, just like the papers said. The breeder wouldn't back down when the vet pointed out that the dog had spots all over it, and was obviously not a purebred Golden Retriever (might even have had NO Golden Retriever blood). Most "impurities" aren't that obvious, but most purebred dogs have some "impurities" from a fairly recent generation.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Most of the dogs being sold for $1000+ come from puppy mills. Fake papers don't impair the price, because nearly all the buyers are clueless. My boss bought a Maltese from a "home" breeder, who had a litter in a bedroom, with the alleged mother present -- $1200 as I recall -- no other dogs in sight or mentioned. He and his wife decided a couple of days later that they'd like a second one, and called to ask if there were any left, and were told two were left. They couldn't make it back until the next weekend, and when they arrived, lo and behold, no Maltese in sight, no Maltese puppies, no Maltese mother. But somehow a bunch of Yorkie puppies had appeared. They paid 4 figured for a Yorkie and went home happy -- with 2 puppy mill dogs that had no better health or genes than any pet shop or shelter dog that looked like a Maltese or Yorkies an whose real mothers were no doubt stuck in a tiny dirty cage at a mill, being forced to churn out puppies, and being promptly shot when they were so run down they couldn't make puppies anymore. Selling puppies is a huge, deceptive business, and it thrives on the fact that the AKC and its phony papers exist, and that by definition the average pet buyer has no idea how the industry works or how to tell a puppy mill puppy from one that's been bred responsibly. Most people are easily deceived by acts like the "breeder" my boss bought from. You see an ad, go to a nice suburban home, and are shown a litter of cute puppies and their alleged mother, comfortably ensconced in a luxury dog bed inside the house, and the seller shows you "papers" and tells you the mother is a family pet, and you think these aren't puppy mill dogs. But often they are.

I have no interest in putting additional regulations on BREEDING dogs -- there are plenty already and they're rarely enforced. But making it illegal to SELL dogs or cats for money will put an end to the breeding-for-profit business, which is the driver of the overbreeding problem. Most prospective buyers of expensive "purebred" dogs, aren't interested in getting involved in an illegal transaction. As for the handful of breeders who are serious about carefully breeding a small number of dogs of a particular breed, for the sake of a breed tradition, no one should stop them from breeding, but they should be willing (and required) to GIVE the puppies to carefully chosen homes, not sell them. Anybody who really cares about a particular breed of dogs will have at least one or two as pets. When you've already got mama dog, it costs very little to have a litter of puppies and get them their first round of shots. If they're not willing to swallow that expense once every year or two, or they're producing litters more often than that, then they're in it for the money, not for the dogs, and they're part of the problem.

[HairOfTheDog]

You're dreaming. And they aren't even good dreams.

[Darnright]

PT Barnum is one of my favorite people in history. You are right, there are some very gullible people in society.

I can't tell you, how many people I've had say, "I just want a pet". They then go out and buy from a place like this:

http://wizardofclaws.com/index.htm

You want your toes curled? Go to the references page, and look at the well-to-do people, famous people who are considered by some to be role models, who have bought these dogs.

People think, if it costs thousands of dollars (and is dressed in stupid little costumes, I guess) it must be good.

However, I disagree with you that ethical, responsible breeders should give pups away. Do you actually think people value a dog in which they have no investment?? NO animal shelter EVER gives a dog or cat away for free, because they know the person will treat it as garbage.

Do you think only people who are independently wealthy should have the privilege of breeding dogs??? Wealthy people sometimes make good breeders, sometimes they shouldn't be allowed to own a stuffed dog, much less be entrusted with breeding live ones.

Breeding dogs correctly takes money. X-rays for hip dysplasia, exams by certified canine opthamologists, and dog shows (the only place where a breeder can get objective experts to evaluate their breeding programs) are expensive.

It's been said there's money in dogs. Every ethical dog breeder has invested enough of it in the critters, so I guess the saying has merit.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Dog shows are where unhealthy standards for breeds are actively promoted, so I don't buy that responsible breeders have to go to them to get advice -- they'll be advised to breed German Shepherds with defective hips, Pekingese which can barely breathe, and Shar Peis which will be blinded by horrible eye infections if they don't have surgery as puppies to correct the grossly excessive skin that dog show "experts" demand as a condition for awarding ribbons and "champion" titles.

As for the perils of "giving away" dogs, shelters have to adopt out as many animals as possible, as quickly as possible, and therefore just can't do any real checking on the prospective owners. Charging a fee weeds out most of the people looking for pit bull bait and cats to be sold to research labs. But a home breeder seeking homes for one litter of puppies of year can do a lot more, and can require a lot from prospective owners (vet and neighbor references, home inspection by a third party paid for by the prospective dog owner, financial records to prove they can afford basic veterinary care for the dog, etc.). It should be a status symbol to get approved for one of these dogs, not to fork over big bucks for one.

[oceanperch]

I hear ya there!

I sometimes have deliveries other than the usual vendors, had a new mattress del. today and they always ask if the dogs are ferocious, I tell 'em they are territorial and protective of Mama (me).

That usually backs them off from wanting to pet through the gate.

If I have my dogs out with me then I don't mind at all them getting lotsa pats and hugs but don't want them coddled when they are workin'.

So I can encourage or discourage depending on who and the circumstances.

The boyz are my everything only thing that rates higher on this earth is King Vanity.

[No Longer Free State]

You lend an excellent argument for voiding any paperwork he signed as it was under duress.

[krunkygirl]

I just checked your home page looking for pictures of those doggies...you have beautiful dogs and one very fortunate son and a much improved home exterior after the "re-decoration."

Seriously, you are one very dedicated, loving and hard working mother. Bless you.