But Tyler the Gordon Setter’s curiosity nearly cost him his life when it took him into the path of a train.

Struck at 80mph, he sustained multiple injuries, the most serious of which was a smashed pelvis which had separated from his spine.

His owners, Leanne and Andy Hill, feared he would have to be put down.

Incredibly, three years later, after £14,000 of treatment including three operations and swimming lessons, the five-year-old is back on his paws.

Only half the medical costs were paid by insurance, but the Hills think their pet was worth every penny.

‘It’s an absolute miracle he survived,’ said Mrs Hill, 42, a housewife from Waltham Abbey, Essex.

‘When a railway worker said he had been hit we were told we may never even find his remains. He is a wonderful dog and he has been through so much to get to this stage.

‘It has been hard work for all of us but it is amazing to see him back to his old self and running around again.’

Tyler and his sister Billie, were being walked by Mr Hill’s sister when the accident happened at Cheshunt station, Hertfordshire, in May 2007.

Mrs Hill, whose husband is a project manager, added: ‘They had always been quite mischievous and did sometimes wander off. But we’d never had any problems.

‘That morning we were resting at home after a holiday when we suddenly got a phone call at 7am from the station master saying he had Billie in his office but our other dog had been hit.

‘Andy raced to the station and was told he probably wouldn’t find Tyler but he walked up and down the line and suddenly spotted him on the sidings.’

Tyler was conscious but unable to move. The couple were told he probably survived because the Stansted Express train was going so fast that the bow wave of high pressure air at the front effectively cushioned him.

Tyler spent five days in intensive care before he was transferred to another vet’s in Hendon for an operation to screw his pelvis back on to his spine.

A few days later he had another operation to fix his left leg which was badly broken, followed by a third procedure to pin broken toes on his other leg.

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It is hard to watch another’s dog being  in that condition. The owner of the dogs taken there must really be heartless. Only consolation is they are not made to fight until they die. It is surprising to find that a crowd has actually gathered to watch this dog fight. It is nothing but cruel to make these poor animals fight for no reason.

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Without enough money to build a proper shelter for 1,600 abandoned pooches, the humane organization So Ama, or “Just Love,” keeps the animals chained to an array of about 1,000 small dog houses that look like the Brazilian slums made famous by movies such as “City of God.”

“We started out with the naivete of wanting to change the world, and the project just kept getting bigger, so unfortunately this is all we have to offer them,” said Natasha Oselame, head of marketing for the organization.

She laments that the dogs — along with some 200 cats — have to live in such conditions.

Favelas, which are a common sight throughout Brazil’s major cities, are home to millions of urban poor and rural migrants who leave the countryside seeking jobs. Many of the slums are plagued by violence linked to drug trafficking.

Like in human shantytowns, the main challenge facing the dog favela is making ends meet. Oselame says costs, including veterinarian’s fees and 13 tonnes of pet food a month, are far greater than the donations and the roughly $14,000 she receives monthly from the municipal government.

Dog Breeds and Dog Training Guide

Dog Breeds and Dog Training Guide

Breeders sometimes select for physical traits only and do not consider temperament. This increases their chances of producing animals that tend towards dominance or fear aggression. An example would be where breeders select dogs with high-set tails, a feature that goes hand-in-hand with a bold, aggressive temperament. Nevertheless, despite this tendency, the behaviour of the genetically aggressive dog can also be influenced positively or negatively by its environment and experience.

Dominance Aggression

Dominance aggression in dogs is an extreme inappropriate form of aggression that is often directed towards members of a household and occurs because the dogs intend to control the family members.

This was the case with Adam, a three-year-old male Schnauzer whose aggression was directed towards Noel, the 4 year old son of the family, whose life was made particularly difficult as a result.

Adam had reached the point where he would attack the boy an sight. He would wait at the door to Noel’s room ready to confront with him should he come out. Noel had to call out to his family to remove me dog if he wanted to go to another roam in the house. Adam would bark continuously while the boy was out of his room.

Noel had three scars on his legs where Adam had bitten him severely enough to require stitches. Understandably, Noel was quite uncomfortable with the dog. Adam also resented having his collar put on and would snap at anyone who did this when he was not in the mood for it. He growled if asked to move when lying on the sofa and when approached while eating.

Adam is one of the worst cases of dominance aggression that I have seen. Obviously he represented a definite danger to the family, especially to Noel, so he was put straight onto medication and castration was strongly recommended, although the family elected not to castrate the dog. He was put onto a strict modification programme and was taught to walk in a head collar.

Noel was put in charge of feeding the dog and was to take over exercising him as well. At first. he had to do all of this while the dog was on a head collar and lead, held by another family member. He was also directed to undergo doily training sessions with the dog and a protocol was devised to desensitize Adam to Noel’s movements in and au t of his room.

Progress was slow as the boy was not particularly enamoured with the dog and gave up easily. However, with a lot of family support, progress was made and after six months the situation was more controlled.

Dog Breeds and Dog Training Guide

In this week’s Westword, Jared Jacang Maher investigates whether twenty years of outlawing pit bulls in Denver has made the city safer. (You can also read more about the numbers of dogs killed in “Pit Bull Row”). Here, a photo tour of the city’s “pit bull row,” the home of Denver’s confiscated pit bulls (and the place where thousands have been euthanized over the years). Photos by Anthony Camera. Text by Maher.

In 1989, Denver City Council passed a law banning pit bulls. Any dog suspected of having a majority mix of the breed is impounded at the municipal animal shelter at 678 South Jason Street.

Suspected pit bulls are housed in a special section of the shelter known as “pit bull row.”

Each dog is evaluated by three shelter employees to see if it has the “the majority of the characteristics” of the three pit bull breeds defined in the ordinance: American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the American Pit Bull Terrier.

Since 1992, 5,286 pit bulls have been impounded by the city under the ordinance.

This two-year-old dog, name unknown, has been designated an “illegal pit bull.”

Some pit bulls, such as this three-month-old puppy, are under “police hold” while their owners move through the court system in unrelated cases.

Others, like two-year-old Chato, have been seized from their owners.

Pit bulls can be released if their owners pay impound fees and provide proof that the dog will be relocated out of city limits, which could give dogs like one-year-old Diesel a second chance.

The law prevents shelters in Denver from putting pit bulls up for adoption. So dogs like this one with no identified owner will only be released if staff can find space in shelters outside the city. But such arrangements are rare.

The majority of the pit bulls impounded by the city are euthanized in this room. Under the ban, Denver has put down an estimated 3,497 pit bulls.

From pick up to euthanization, it costs the city roughly $256 per pit bull.

Doug Kelly became director of Denver’s animal control in 2000. He can offer no definitive proof that the pit bull ban works. Still, his agency must enforce what’s written in the ordinance.

Post is from:  westword.com

Dog Breeds and Dog Training Guide

She’s now called Fay, and she’s a heartbreaking first look at the results of a massive dogfighting ring authorities broke up two months ago.

Fay used to live behind a red trailer with an ominous warning — “What you see here, hear here, stays here” — before Humane Society workers and state and federal investigators swooped in on July 8 to rescue the animals.

The 5-year-old American pit bull terrier was just one of 407 dogs — some of which may yet be adopted or euthanized — seized in raids at sites across Missouri and Illinois, the Humane Society says.

About 100 more were seized in raids in six other states — the largest dogfighting raid and rescue in U.S. history. The Humane Society has another 100 puppies born since the raids.

The raids followed an 18-month investigation and resulted in charges against more than two dozen people in Missouri, Illinois and other states. Tim Rickey, director of the Humane Society’s Animal Cruelty Task Force, said more may be charged.

Four of those charged pleaded guilty in federal court in St. Louis on Monday to dogfighting-related charges and agreed to forfeit the dogs, training equipment and any weapons found.

Teddy “Teddy Bogart” Kiriakidis, 50, Michael “Missouri Mike” Morgan, 38, Robert Hackman, 56, and Ronald Creach, 34, all pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to violate federal animal fighting laws. They joined Jack Ruppel, 35, who pleaded guilty Sept. 4.

Morgan, Hackman and Ruppel also pleaded guilty to an additional animal fighting charge.

With the guilty pleas, all of those indicted in the eastern half of Missouri have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. The men charged in Illinois, western Missouri and other states have pleaded not guilty and await trial.

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The remains of four dogs were discovered in Lower Hartshay, near Ripley, on 18 August. Two owners said their dogs had been sent by vets for cremation and one family was sent ashes. Peak Pet Cremations, the firm to which vets sent the two dogs with confirmed identities, has not commented.

Linda Brown, from Hucknall in Nottingham, made the decision to have her brown border collie Bournville put down after he was diagnosed with cancer in early August. (see pic). “We requested and paid for a sole, rather than mass, cremation and said we wanted the ashes back. We got an urn with ashes a few days later.”

But shortly afterwards the RSPCA rang to say Bournville had been found in a field and had been traced through his microchip. “We had to identify him, which was very distressing. He had been in a field for a good few days in the weather, so his fur was matted up and there were bits and pieces on him. “It was disbelief at the beginning because we thought we had his ashes, and then that turned into hurt, shock and anger.”

Mrs Brown´s vets said they had terminated their contract with a company called Peak Pet Cremations, based in Heage.

It now appears that a 34-year old woman has been arrested for alleged fraud and the The Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria (APPCC) have made the following statement:

Given the news of the recent arrest the APPCC feels reassured that the authorities are taking this case seriously and the families involved can take some solace from the hope that those responsible for this atrocity will be appropriately punished.

Dog Breeds and Dog Training Guide

The puppy suffered a broken front paw in the fall and was taken by animal control for medical treatment. It will most likely be available for adoption soon.

Merritt and Grant were both arrested and charged with animal cruelty. They’ll be in court in October.

This is yet another case of domestic violence and animal abuse going hand in hand, an innocent victim paying the price. When you think about it, it could have just as easily been a child who was the victim. So for those of you who say “it was just a dog,” yes, in this case it was, but what about next time, or what about if there was a child there, who would have been the victim then? This is yet another reason why animal abuse needs to be prosecuted vigorously!!

The correlations between animal abuse and domestic and child abuse are well known and documented. Very often in cases of familial abuse, you also find animal abuse. This needs to be taken seriously. I don’t know how often this has to be pointed out for it to get through the thick skulls of those in law enforcement and our judicial system!! Animal abuse is not a joke or a game, it is often a precursor or in addition to violence against people. People who don’t think twice about hurting the most innocent and voiceless members of our society also often won’t think twice about hurting others, especially when they find out there is practically no punishment for their cruel behavior!

Dog Breeds and Dog Training Guide

Tubbs said, “They’re just, they’re amazing and to have this happen is just absolutely devastating.”

Over the weekend her two dogs were found shot and killed in Berne. Police say a shotgun was used. Tubbs had let her dogs out Saturday afternoon like she normally does, but this time they never returned. It was Monday morning when sheriff’s deputies arrived at her door saying they’d found the dogs.

Tubbs said the officers told her, “It was really awful the way they were left.”

The dogs were actually found on a trail at the Partridge Run Wildlife area, which is a few miles from Tubbs’ home.

Tubbs said, “I’m either thinking, they lurred them into a vehicle, drove them there and shot them or shot them somewhere else and dumped them there.”

Tubbs believes the person or persons who did this probably lived nearby but the question that still lingers, is why?

She said Mocha and Rocky were the sweetest dogs, who were friendly with her neighbors.

Sheriff’s deputies have been canvassing the neighborhood. The only evidence they have is from the bullets, which may not provide much evidence at all.

Albany County Undersheriff Craig Apple said, “If somebody did this out of a pure violent act, you know they pay the price for it.”

Tubbs said, “Why they would go after someone’s pets like this is very disturbing.”

Tubbs’ hopes someone comes forward. In the meantime she’s mounring the loss of two dogs who were and will always be part of the family.

Wildlife pathologist Ward Stone is performing a necropsy on the two dogs. Results could take a week.

Even if this was an accident, anyone with any information at all is urged to call the Albany County Sheriff’s Department at 765-5979

Dog Breeds and Dog Training Guide