Pit Bulls have gotten a bit of a bad rap lately, so I wanted to post an event that celebrates these dogs.

Pitt Bull Party in Cambier Park

(Naples, FL)–For too long, the pit bull terrier breed has been wrongly maligned and feared. In an effort to educate people and allay their fears about these dogs, The Humane Society Naples presents its second annual A Celebration of the Staffordshire.

Well-behaved pit bulls and other varieties of the breed and their owners will gather on Saturday, October 18th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cambier Park for a two-hour “Pittie Party” of socializing and demonstrating just how wonderful these dogs really are. (Cambier Park is in downtown Naples, just west of City Hall, 375 8th St South.)

The Celebration ends with participants taking their “pits on parade” in a leisurely stroll down 5th Avenue. Owners of well-behaved, socialized American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and pit bull mixes are encouraged to attend this free, educational event and demonstrate to the world how wonderful and loving these breeds are.

All dogs must be leashed, per county and city ordinance.

For more information, contact Patricia Connell, assistant director of development at 239-643-1880 x 18 or by e-mail at patricia@HSNaples.org.

The beauty pictured on the left, is Leo, he was rescued from Michael Vick’s property at the time of his arrest. He’s now a certified therapy dog working in medical facilities. What a great story, read more on Leo’s page.

This is a wonderful, and uplifting,  article on the trials and tribulations that go along with rehabilitating rescued fighting pit bulls.  A number of the dogs seized from Michael Vick’s, former football star, dogfighting camp in 2007 went to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary for rehabilitation.

Vick’s former fight dogs live in a facility within Best Friends called Dogtown, and according to Besmehn nearly all have made major improvements since they arrived, both physically and emotionally.

Tonight you can watch Dogtown,  on the National Geographic Channel, as it follows Cherry and Georgia, two of the surviving pit bulls.

Best Friends was criticized earlier this year when it took in the abused pooches.

“Definitely, there were groups that recommended that these dogs be euthanized, that they can’t be rehabbed,” Besmehn said. “For us, we’ve taken challenging dogs on a regular basis. We feel these dogs, at a minimum, deserve a chance. We’ve seen these dogs are doing really well with a little bit of patience. … They can make progress. It takes time.”

The full article is rather long but very inspiring and worth reading in full.   It shows that these dogs shouldn’t arbitrarily be put down for a choice one human made that sealed their fate.  Humans on the other hand…..

I want to thank Dogster member Renee for bringing us this information. Please keep this number with you at all times, it’s going in my cell phone, because you may potentially save a dog’s life.

This hot line was circulated about a month ago and I put it in my cell phone.

As we speak, some people are getting arrested with 15 dead Pit Bulls chained in their back yard, along with puppies.

Short explanation: A friend of mine called me to tell me her boyfriend, who is a Telephone Man, called her and told her what he saw in a back yard. She then called me. I gave her the DOGFIGHTING HOT LINE and she called…….within an hour’s time the people are getting arrested!

TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE STORY……but I thought you and others would like to know that the hot line worked/works!

DOGFIGHTING HOT LINE

• The Dogfighting Hot Line (1-877-847-4787) is sponsored by the HSUS.

• You can receive an award of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a dogfighter.

• All information is kept confidential; no one will know you’ve called.

The line is answered 24/7.

I recently covered a story, Mayor’s Dogs Killed In House Raid, where Mayor Calvo’s house got raided and his beloved black labs were shot. Not only were his dogs innocent but so was the mayor, the raid turned out to be a horrible mistake. Many dogster readers left comments about alternative ways for the police to handle dogs, during a raid or any police situation, and today I came across an article on just that.

In Omaha, NE the Humane Society is working with the police department to help keep its officers safe around dangerous dogs. New police recruits will be taught how to handle dangerous dogs, to keep both officers and dogs safe.

OPD Officer Rich Kyler was attacked by a pit bull while responding to a car accident near 19th and Lothrop streets on June 13.

“These two fingers were completely in the dog’s mouth,” he said, demonstrating. “A large pit bull came out from under a tree and before I could do anything, it jumped and grabbed hold of my hand.”

Kyler broke free, but the pit bull charged him again. He drew his pistol and shot it.

“The last thing you want to do is shoot an animal, but the dog attacked me,” he said.

 That incident was just one of many which led the OPD to come up with a solution to help officers deal with these kinds of dangerous situations. Currently the program is only given to new police recruits, administrators said, but hopefully will expand to include all officers.

The Nebraska Humane Society has already provided aggressive dog training and equipment to Omaha’s emergency response unit.

“We provided a catch pole for the ERU to use and they’ve successfully used it,” said Mark Langan of the Omaha Police Department.

I realize this is just a start, but at least it’s a first step.  I hope this program expands to cover all police departments across the country  and will include all officers, not just new recruits.  An ounce of prevention may be the cure to stop what happened to Mayor Calvo’s beautiful black labs from happening again.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Of course for most of us, our heroes share our homes, couches and sometimes the bed. No, I’m not talking about our significant others but our fuzzy loveballs.

For six abandoned kittens, they’ve just found their hero…and whaddya know, he’s an abandoned mutt himself.

On Monday, six orange tabby kittens were rescued because of the keen senses of Angel, a boxer/pit bull mix, who was recently surrendered to the Nevada Humane Society.

Frank Gomez and his 9-year-old stepson, Joel Fontes, have been regular volunteers at Nevada Humane Society this summer. The pair were volunteering on Monday, walking their favorite dog. Angel, a 2-year-old dog that came to the Humane Society’s shelter after her owners moved without taking her along.

I just have to say to all the volunteers and shelter workers out there that are helping to make this a better world for animals, my hats off to you! You are truly special people!

Gomez assumed it was Angel’s inquisitive personality at play and didn’t take it seriously. But Angel refused to give up and Gomez discovered six 3-week-old orange tabby kittens in a box where they were abandoned.

Humane society staff were summoned, but not before one of the kittens escaped from the box. After returning to the scene, Angel led Gomez to the lost kitten, who picked her up and handed her over to safety.

The story is both heartwarming and tragic. I just can’t understand why some people think animals are throwaway items. Have they never looked a dog in the eyes and seen the spirit within? The willingness to please? The joy of being a part of a family? It’s the same with our feline friends. I don’t get it.

Angel is one of many dogs available for adoption at the Nevada Humane Society. So, if you’re inclined to own a dog hero and would like to adopt Angel call 856-2000 or e-mail info@nevadahumanesociety.org.

The kittens are available too!!

I was reading the news this morning when I came across this article about the RNL Bio Company in South Korea.

A woman in California paid $54,000 to RNL Bio to have her Pit Bull, Booger cloned.  Originally, the company was going to charge $162,000 but they came down in price to celebrate their first commercial deal for a dog.

This is a miracle,” said Bernann McKinney from Hollywood in California, hugging five clones of Booger at Seoul National University’s veterinary school today.

RNL Bio, the company that arranged the re-creation of Booger through his refrigerated ear tissue, hailed the event as the world’s first commercial cloning of a pet dog.

McKinney  stated “They are perfectly the same as their daddy. I am in heaven here. I am a happy person”.  She went on to recall an experience from years ago where Booger had saved her life by chasing off a mastiff who had attacked her.

There is no doubt in my mind how much McKinney loved Booger and that is why she chose to clone him.  However, the whole idea of cloning does bring up some very serious questions in my mind.  The first being, why would anyone name their dog Booger?  Second, what assurances do we have that we won’t be faced with a Pet Semetary situation?  And finally, with the thousands of homeless dogs that are out there in desperate need of homes,  what would happen to them if people just stopped adopting and chose to clone?  I realize the price of cloning is very expensive and unaffordable to most,  but it does make you think about the question.

But lest ye think that the cloning stops at our best friends…

“For my next project, I will consider cloning camels for rich people in the Middle East,” he said.

Hmmm…grandpa’s getting kind of old.  I wonder…

Pit Bull Leo, rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring, now brings happiness to a cancer ward and probationary center.

Despite his training as a killer, Leo is a sweetheart as he visits his friends on the ward.

“He is wonderful, and all the patients love Leo,” said Paula Reed, the facility’s oncology director. “They really love his eyes and gentleness.”

I remember crying over the poor dogs who were seized from Vick’s property with a terrible past and little hope for a future after the story broke. Hearing about their rehabilitation makes my heart feel full. Thank you to all the rescuers who gave these unfortunate souls a second chance.

Read the full story here: Beaten-down dog from Vick case has his day.