Please Crosspost!!!

What’s in the water the North Carolina State Trooper K9 handlers are drinking? Whatever it is, someone needs to cut them off. One handler is already in trouble for horrible abuse of a dog in his care. Now we find out that the more of the folks in the same department may also be dog abusers, all in the name of training.

News flash, NC canine cops, abuse is abuse no matter who does it or what the excuse. If you can’t train a dog without abusing her, you DEFINITELY are in the wrong line of work!

If you want to let the appropriate NC authorities hear your views on this situation, their contact information is at the end of this post.

Thanks to Lynn H. for bringing this terrible case to my attention.

First we find out that a 12-year veteran of the NC Highway Patrol has been videoed repeatedly kicking a roped trainee dog. Then it turns out that the rest of the Canine Unit is also tainted.

Please be aware that this article contains EXTREMELY upsetting information and video. I was sick to my stomach as I put together this post.

This article comes from The News & Observer.

Video of trooper kicking dog released
Jones was fired after 14 years with the patrol.
Dan Kane, Staff Writer

Dog handlers for the State Highway Patrol have stunned dogs with Tasers, swung them by their leashes until they became airborne, and hit them with plastic bottles full of pebbles.
None of that was an issue until a trooper used his cell phone to record a video of a sergeant kicking his police dog repeatedly while it was leashed to a loading dock, its hind legs just touching the ground. The video was made public for the first time Monday, and it shows Sgt. Charles L. Jones kicking Ricoh, 7, a Belgian Malinois, five times, causing the dog to swing as much as two feet under the loading dock.

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Thanks to the Daily Yomiuri Online for this article.

Abandoned dogs set to serve deaf
The Yomiuri Shimbun

A Tokyo-based nonprofit organization will open a facility Friday in Yokohama to train abandoned dogs to become service dogs for the deaf, and use socially isolated young people cocooned at home to become hearing dog trainers.

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Thanks to Eddie Essig for barking in this good news from KDKA.com.

Big Ben Makes Big Donation For Local Police Dogs

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is making a special donation to local police departments to help their canine units.

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Do your furbabies have definite political views? Do they wear those views on their backs? If so check out two recent Lady Bee blogs.

Lady Bee has found the best left and right wing shirts for dogs. No matter which side you and your Dogster favor, these are fun!

Here’s a little from the right side:

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Welcome to Dogster, Hannah!

You may have read about Hannah’s case. She was held by a Georgia canine cop under the pretense that she was being used for police work. Instead, the man was breeding her while barely keeping her alive. Shameful!

But there’s a happy ending here. Hannah was rescued and now lives with a loving family who has let her join Dogster where she has met many caring dogs and cats who want to see her abuser brought to justice.

Dogster Lena Malik barked in this information and wants to encourage us all to sign Hannah’s petition.

Lena Malik wrote:

Dear Joy,

My sweet and brave pup pal Hannah joined
dogster about a month ago.

Unfortunately, she had a tragic start in life but is currently learning how to simply be a beloved family member. Her case is still under investigation and we are getting either the runaround or invalid excuses from authorities. This is concerning because she was involved in unethical breeding purposes (this topic along with puppy mills was recently in the national media thanks to Oprah).

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Thanks so much to CityDog Blog for kindly listing this blog as one of their favorites! How sweet of you! Blushes and big barks to you!

Thanks to the Sunbear Squad for this week’s tip!

Watch out for wildlife that prey on pets, such as owls and coyotes - they are hunting constantly to feed their young. Be protective. Puppies and kittens are particularly vulnerable.

Thanks to the talented Kathy Pippig Harris, furmom to Clementine, for this lovely piece. So true!

Shine Bright

Dogs are like the brightest star, blazing through the darkness of night, and they are like a sun that outshines the day. They burn so intensely, so brightly. And for some, that blaze is for only a short time on this planet. Well, at least they get to spend more time in Heaven if their stay here is not as long as we’d like it to be. In nature there must always be a balance. Perhaps their stay is weighed with the goodness that fills them. It is said one cannot get enough of a good thing–dogs are that good thing to me.

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Here’s an idea to slow down the pet store sales — what about requiring that every pet be microchipped? Then when those pets are found abandoned whoever sold the dog or cat can be charged for the pet’s care.

Thanks to the Sydney Morning Herald for this article.

Alarm at buy now, pay later plan for dogs, cats
Maxine Frith
April 27, 2008

PET stores are offering cats, dogs and other species for sale on payment plans.

Animal rights campaigners say the trend towards buying pets on layby will swell the number being abandoned or consigned to pounds, where there is a high risk that they will have to be put down.

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Are you ready for the next photo in our new weekly pet photo caption contest? Oil up those brain cells and let those captions loose!

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