02-06-10 -- Charged with Trespass when Aiding Freezing & Starving Dogs
Dogs Deserve Better

February 6, 2010, Altoona, PA — Dog advocate Tamira Ci Thayne, founder and CEO of Dogs Deserve Better, a non-profit working solely on behalf of chained and penned dogs, spent the coldest night of the year sleepless despite being snug and warm in her bed.

The faces of dogs chained out in single-digit temperatures and sub-zero windchills haunted her, and she worried if these dogs would survive the night in their inadequate houses, many of which contained not even the single insulating element that could well save their lives: straw.

Determined to help local dogs, she rose early and, with another DDB volunteer, took straw, food, and water to some of the worse cases.

At 1492 Dulancey Drive in Lilly, Pennsylvania, Thayne spotted two skinny dogs with inadequate shelter, minimal straw, no food, and no water. She knocked on the door, and when no one answered she left a Dogs Deserve Better calendar and stuffed the doghouses with straw to save the dogs from immediate danger of death by freezing. She gave the dogs each a bone, food, and water. They shivered nonstop while they ate in the -11 degree wind chill.

The boxer mix had very short fur, a too-large doghouse with an opening as large as the dog, and every rib and bone in her back stood out starkly as she tried to decide whether to eat or run into her house for what little warmth it offered.

Current Pennsylvania law dictates that dogs must have access to"sustenance, drink, and sanitary shelter which will protect the animal against inclement weather and preserve the animal's body heat and keep it dry." Thayne knew the law was being broken, so she returned three days later to speak to the caretaker on behalf of the dogs.

Again, no one answered the door. She left a brochure and a note saying the doghouses were not meeting legal requirements, including her phone number in case they wanted help or to release the dogs to rescue.

As she gave the dogs treats and a pat on the head, a woman came out screaming at her to get off the property. She immediately left.

Two days later she received a call from a Pennsylvania State Police officer saying she was being charged with Summary Defiant Trespass. Under Pennsylvania law 18 Pa.C.S.A.§3503(b), a person commits the crime of defiant trespass if he or she comes onto or stays on your property AFTER being told to stay away.

However, Thayne had only been told to leave the property once, which she immediately did. She has not returned. She was informed by the State Trooper that the dog caretaker claimed she had told Thayne to leave twice. Thayne rebutted this statement, but the officer said it was her word against the owner's.

Thayne has a witness—the volunteer from the first day—who will testify in court that: 1. Although Thayne made a good-faith attempt to speak to the caretaker before taking action on behalf of the dogs, no one indeed answered the door, and 2. No one EVER asked them to leave the property on Sunday, January 3, 2010.

Thayne's report to the Cambria County Humane Officer brought no relief of the dogs' suffering. He had the guardians fix one of the doghouse openings, but never charged them with cruelty for inadequate housing, the underweight condition of the dogs, the lack of food and water, or leaving the dogs to freeze in sub-zero wind chills.

Thayne will be in district court on Main Street in Portage, Pennsylvania, at 9:30 a.m. on February 16, 2010 to defend against the bogus charges. She will be bringing photo and video evidence, and well as eye-witness testimony.

Thayne is asking all Pennsylvania residents to stand against this form of abuse by joining the coalition to Unchain Pennsylvania Dogs. The coalition seeks to pass HB1254, a bill setting time limits on chaining, and creating better conditions for Pennsylvania's dogs. Sign up today at Unchainpadogs.com.

Please visit the website at DogsDeserveBetter.org to learn more about dog chaining, the reasons it is cruel to dogs and dangerous to humans, and to find a local area representative.

If you are outraged and wish to express your concerns, while at the same time making a difference, come to the hearing in support of Tamira Thayne. Call the following number (Cambria Humane Society 814.535.6116) and express your disgust.

No dog deserves to be chained outside in -11 temperatures...and NO one who dares to leave their warm and cozy homes to help them survive should have to pay the price for doing so.

Note from NPPMWatch:  When PA humane officers are sworn in, they promise to uphold the state's cruelty code.  Humane officers who DO NOT enforce the law are doing a disservice to animals across the commonwealth and should be removed from their positions.


02-03-10 -- Vet From Vick Case Serves as Witness in "Gothic Kittens" Trial
By:  Andrew Staub, The Times Tribune

WILKES-BARRE - Holly Crawford pierced the ears and necks of cats, bobbed their tails and sold "gothic kittens" online - acts that amount to torture, forensic veterinarian Dr. Melinda Merck said as the prosecution's lead witness in a rare type of animal cruelty trial that began Tuesday.

Dr. Merck's testimony highlighted the first day of a trial in which Luzerne County Deputy District Attorney David Pedri said in his opening statement that Ms. Crawford maimed and inflicted pain upon three black kittens because "she thought it was neat" to sell gothic kittens on eBay. He used for support Dr. Merck's testimony that the practice caused "excruciating pain."

Ms. Crawford's attorneys scoffed at the idea, citing veterinarian Donald Sankey's testimony the felines were in "pretty good health" when he treated them Dec. 17, 2008, and that Dr. Merck never examined the cats.

"I don't know how they're going to prove that, because nobody can speak for a cat," defense attorney John Pike said. "It's all speculation."

But armed with its star witness, Dr. Merck, the prosecution spent a full day of the case first brought to authorities by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals trying to show what the kittens felt when their ears and necks were pierced. Testimony dealt with the pain authorities said they endured when bands were tied so tightly around their tails it caused them to fall off.

Dr. Merck, who has earned national acclaim for her work on NFL quarterback Michael Vick's dog-fighting case, said piercing the kittens' necks produced a feeling of submission that would linger with the silver metal jewelry. Mother cats pick up their young from the scruff of the neck, she said, because pressure on the sensitive nerves there leads to submissive action.

"No matter what they tried, they could not escape from this," Dr. Merck said. "It would make them feel as if they were constantly being bitten."

Dr. Merck has spent almost 22 years as a veterinarian, 17 specifically treating cats. She's never seen pierced ears in cats, she said, and knows of about six tail-docking procedures. Those were done for medical, not aesthetic, reasons, she said.

Though humane officer Carol Morrison said she saw redness near the piercing sites, there was no sign of infection, according to Dr. Sankey's medical report. The kittens had normal temperatures and were bright, alert and responsive, Dr. Sankey testified.

Prosecutors called five witnesses and delved into new areas of animal cruelty law before resting their case Tuesday afternoon. Pennsylvania's animal cruelty law forbids animal fighting and curtails the amount the time animals spend in labor, but says nothing about treatment as specific as piercing cats' ears or docking their tails.

That has complicated matters for both sides as prosecutors and defense attorneys wrangle over whether this case constitutes animal cruelty and work to define the crime for the jury.

The case began in winter 2008 when authorities acted on a tip from PETA about an eBay advertisement for "gothic kittens." Ms. Morrison on Dec. 17, 2008, took five kittens from Ms. Crawford's home at 71 Dobson Road, Ross Twp., charging her with cruelty to animals. Three kittens had pierced ears; one's tail had been docked, and one had a band around its tail, which was later amputated.

Ms. Crawford sat quietly in the courtroom Tuesday, taking notes or turning to speak briefly with family during breaks. "God, I'm so tired," she told her mother when testimony finished.

The trial continues this morning.


02-03-10 -- Police Investigate Alleged Dogfighting Site in N. Phila
By:  Peter Mucha, Philadelphia Inquirer

Seven pit bulls - including one dead - and a possible "bait" cat were confiscated from a rowhouse allegedly used for dogfighting in North Philadelphia early yesterday, officials said.

Police were led to the location while investigating a shooting a few blocks away.

Authorities executed a search warrant at 2:30 a.m. in the 2200 block of North Delhi Street. A woman, Shelly Lowry, 36, who lives at the house, was arrested and charged with felony cruelty to animals.

An arrest warrant was issued for a man implicated in a nearby shooting who might have been running the alleged dogfighting operation. Police declined to release his name.

"The area where the fighting ring was found was covered in blood," said George Bengal, director of law enforcement for the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Police found the house while searching for a shooting suspect, said Lt. Frank Vanore. A 47-year-old man had been shot inside a Chinese takeout at 2054 N. Franklin St. at 12:40 a.m.

The victim, shot in the hip and leg, provided identifying information that led police to the Delhi Street. Vanore said of the suspected gunman: "We don't know if he's linked to this house."

The animals were taken to PSPCA headquarters, 350 E. Erie Ave., to be evaluated. One dog required surgery for injuries apparently suffered in a recent fight.

The cat had no major wounds but could have faced a horrible fate.

"It would not be uncommon for a cat to be used as a training process as bait," said Nicole Wilson, law enforcement case manager for the PSPCA.

Cats usually die during such training, she said.

The animals will not be available for adoption until they have recovered from their injuries, are no longer needed as evidence, and have been determined to pose no threat to new owners, Wilson said.

The investigation could lead to additional arrests and rescues.


02-02-10 -- Slumcat Millionaires
By:  Andrea Hanratty, The Temple News

At 9 o’clock on the bitter winter mornings in North Philadelphia, as students, staff and faculty hustle from the train to the warm buildings on Main Campus, little wet noses peak out from under Philadelphia Housing Authority buildings, awaiting their morning meals.

These noses belong to a dozen or more cats that have taken up residency underneath public housing near campus.

They are easy to miss. They keep their distance from the traffic of the morning rush. But there are two voices that can draw them out. The first belongs to recent Temple grad and current Web master for the College of Engineering Alanna Burke.

“That one we named Bunny,” Burke said, pointing to a small, gray spotted cat behind a fence. “His back legs don’t move independently from one another. I think he was born that way.”

Soon after, Terri Martin, director of recruitment at the College of Engineering, arrived dressed for a day at the office but carrying a tote full of cat food.

“They are starting to recognize my voice,” she said.

As she called them, popping open several cans of wet food, they began to venture out.

The first to arrive was aptly named Bunny, hopping awkwardly to the fresh food from behind the gate. Soon, a few other felines ventured slowly from under a rusty broken grate that leads to a crawl space.

“It’s getting to be an expensive habit,” Martin said. “I go through 10 to 12 cans a day.”

Martin feeds the cats once in the mornings and once in the evenings on her way to and from the train. She has been doing so for more than two years. She’s even been known to make the trip on the weekends to ensure that the cats are getting their meals.

“The funny thing is, I wasn’t really a cat person,” she explained. “But it just breaks my heart.”

Both Martin and Burke said they realize feeding the cats is not the solution.

“I think people see the cats here and think, ‘This is a good place to dump my cat. At least he’ll be with other cats,’” Burke said. “But I have seen my fair share of cats get hit by cars.”

She recounted picking up a badly injured and bloody cat off the road recently.

“He didn’t survive,” she said.

The weather, living conditions and lack of food and water pose a danger to the felines.

Though they are unsure about the feral ones or others born on the street, Martin and Burke said many of the cats are adoptable.

“Most of them seem friendly and have probably been dumped here,” Burke said.

“There are dozens of Temple cats that we are taking constantly to the clinics to be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, put into foster homes and adopted out,” Kathy Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Community Cats Council, said.

In Philadelphia, generally 59 to 69 percent of stray, feral and abandoned cats can be adopted, Jordan said. These numbers inspired Burke to organize efforts to rescue these cats.

“I have pulled a couple of cats out of this area, and I just got frustrated,” Burke said. “I saw another pregnant cat out there, and I thought, ‘We have to trap her, so why not trap them all?’”

Burke recently set up a Web site, temple-cats.org, to take donations and share stories and pictures of these cats with the Temple community. She said she hopes to obtain volunteers and donations to help trap the cats and ultimately get them adopted.

Student organization Prompters of Animal Welfare recently met with Burke to plan some events and get involved with her efforts.

“We have a bake sale coming up on Feb. 3,” PAW President Kristina Paulk said. “We are going to donate the proceeds of the sale to the project. We will also be accepting donations.”

Paulk plans to have pictures of the cats and will offer students the opportunity to sponsor specific cats and follow them through the process.

Burke will use the money raised by her site and PAW’s efforts to trap the cats and take them to a low-cost clinic to be spayed and neutered.

Jordan, of the PCCC, said the cost for spay/neutering, vaccinations and flea treatments is $25. The clinic the council runs, also known as “The Cube,” is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Philadelphia headquarters on Erie Avenue.

Liz Williamson, a public relations associate at the PSPCA, said her organization has a certain amount of funding set aside for “The Cube” that allows them to offer this low-cost service.

Most students at Temple seemed to be aware of the cat situation and excited to hear that real efforts were being organized.

Michelle Smith, a junior advertising major, said she sees strays up and down 13th Street near campus. Smith works at the Fairmount Pet Shop, which holds rescued cats for adoption. She said she hopes to help Burke and Martin in their efforts.

“I will talk to my employer about donating food and gift baskets,” she said. “We’ve done it in the past.”

Burke has three cats herself and is currently fostering a pregnant one that she trapped at the colony.

“She could be giving birth at any moment,” she said.

She will be fostering and giving the kittens for adoption with the help of the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society.

Burke said she is concerned because earlier a resident mentioned to her that there might be kittens. Their chances of survival are low in winter weather.

Burke and Martin continue to watch the cats and check on their statuses daily.

“That’s the pregnant one,” Burke said. “We think she has a few months to go.”

Martin pointed out a large white cat in the distance.

“He’s the leader,” she said. “I thought he might be sick, but he’s a big cat, he must be taking care of himself.”

It’s obvious the women know the cats well from feeding them each day.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” said Burke as she looked around the housing project.

This is not an isolated incident. In fact, Brenda Malinics, director of alumni relations at the School of Pharmacy and PCCC member said she has seen cat colonies on the campus of Health Sciences as well. Colonies like these can be found all around the city.

“The problem is that these animals don’t get fixed,” Burke said. “They just keep reproducing. Then you have a whole new generation of cats that can reproduce.”

Just as Burke and Martin were ready to leave for the morning, Burke spotted a group of cats in a courtyard a few feet away. She walked over broken glass, trash and even a forgotten kitty litter scoop to another sharp and rusty broken grate, where two more cats peer out.

“I haven’t seen this one before,” she said. “There must be a few a living in here as well.”

Behind her, a small black cat quietly shivered behind a fence. She stretched to reach it and picked up the small animal.

When she brought the cat close, it was obvious the animal was ill. The cat was covered in dirt and feces and breathing heavily, putting up no fight when Burke reached toward it.

She wrapped the cat close to her.

“I don’t have a crate with me,” she said, cradling the cat. “I will have to sneak him into my office. I can’t just leave him here.”


02-02-10 -- PSPCA's Meeting of the Minds
Will the real Animal Advisory Board please stand up?
By Tara Murtha, Philadelphia Weekly

Philadelphia’s animal advocates have been meeting once a month since last fall, ostensibly to try to fix an animal control plan that’s been unraveling at the seams. To put it kindly, the PSPCA has had a turbulent year since taking over the city's animal control contract last January: CEO turnovers, dramatic board and staff changes as well as sick animals and fudgy statistics first reported by PW last summer.

Meanwhile the “save rate” -- meaning the percentage of animals that are adopted or rescued out of the shelter versus the percentage euthanized -- hit rock bottom in August, when 76 percent of dogs and cats that entered the ACCT (Animal Care and Control Team) building on Hunting Park Avenue were euthanized.

But despite the crisis, the mission of the newfound advisory group still isn’t clear yet.

Last August, Health Commissioner Dr. Donald Schwartz and Izzit Melhem, Acting Director of Environmental Health Services who directly oversees the contract, sent out a resume request to leaders on the local animal rights scene. Two months later, Schwartz issued ten formal letters of invitation for recipients to “serve on the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Animal Advisory Committee. The purpose of the committee is to advise the Philadelphia Department of Public Health on animal care and control issues.”

At the first meeting in October, new members agreed to meet once a month. November’s meeting was a promising vision: representatives from nonprofit organizations—including PSPCA CEO Sue Cosby--and city council committed to work together in order to pull Philadelphia’s animal welfare out of medieval times. But as issues like animal licensing—the vast majority of pet owners in Philadelphia don’t bother to license their pets, which means lost revenue and vaccination opportunities—were discussed, the big picture loomed, the elephant in the room.

The big picture is that “save rates”—the bottom line--are low and sinking lower; the PSPCA’s endowment is reportedly shrinking; Philadelphia already woefully underfunds animal control by a long shot; PSPCA’s contract is up for renewal in June, and it’s no secret that the city is strapped for cash. It’s a tough set of circumstances all around, but it’s the reality that needs to be acknowledged and addressed head-on.

After all, what’s the point in discussing making veterinary care more affordable for responsible pet owners, for example, before addressing the fact that the majority of animals born in Philadelphia will be systematically killed by a system unable to prevent their overpopulation to begin with?

To that end, committee members drafted and circulated a “Vision Statement” amongst themselves in December in an effort to get everyone on the same page. But it turns out, they weren’t even reading the same book.

Just prior to the last meeting on January 26, committee members were surprised to discover they were referenced in a lawsuit when they were carbon-copied on a letter from Richard DeMarco of Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg to Dr. Schwartz.

DeMarco sent a letter to Dr. Schwartz that followed up on a lawsuit DeMarco filed on behalf of his client, Lanie Jacobson, last March. In the suit, Jacobson’s complaint was essentially that she wanted to file a waiver to be legally exempt from a local law that limits the number of pets any one person a can own to twelve. DeMarco claims that Jacobson could not file for the waiver because the city did not have the regulations for the waivers in place. Since then, the health department has attempted to enact the regulations but Demarco claims that the regulations were enacted improperly because the Animal Advisory Committee—which didn’t exist though city code has called for it for years--was not involved with the process pursuant to the provisions of the Philadelphia Animal Code.

In DeMarco’s point of view, since the committee is finally established, he’s urging them to address the issue relevant to his client. The letter states, “We are happy to report that our lawsuit was successful in getting the city to deal with the issue, and because of the law suit, your committee has once again been formed and is now active.”

Some committee members were unnerved. Melissa Levy, Executive Director of Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and one of the most vocal committee members sent out an email to the committee and health department: “I am disturbed that we have met as a committee three times, yet there has been no mention of a pending lawsuit, nor even of the fact that there is city code governing and instructing how we are to conduct ourselves,” Levy wrote. “To learn these things from an outside attorney is startling and, frankly, embarrassing.”

That’s when things got even blurrier.

Dr. Schwartz addressed the issue off the top of the next meeting. He explained that the committee formed by the health department last fall is not the same committee DeMarco is referencing. It came as news to the committee members that they weren’t the committee referenced in Philadelphia Code.

Dr. Schwartz apologized for the mix-up and pointed out that if and when the official, mayor-appointed committee convenes—it still doesn’t exist—members of that committee will have to comply with financial disclosures and other politically limiting formalities that do not apply to this committee.

“I don’t know when that group will be formed, if that group will be formed, whether that group needs to be formed in the future,” said Dr. Schwartz.

“You can understand the confusion. The letter says, ‘Welcome to the animal advisory committee.’ The charter says there will be an animal advisory committee,” said Levy, slowly. “It’s hard not to assume that those things are one and the same and to be told now that this committee isn’t that committee, is a little bit confusing.”

Nan Feyler, lawyer and the heath department’s chief of staff, assured the group that they don’t need to be concerned about the letter, saying essentially it’s irrelevant because they’re not the committee referenced and they wouldn’t be effected even if they were.

“We’ve been in touch, there’s been a long-standing communication as you know, as you can guess,” said Feyler. DeMarco, at press time, said he hasn’t received any response from the health department.

“We merely ask that the health department involve the Animal Advisory Committee in the process of drafting the regulations required of the Philadelphia Code with regard to granting waivers of the 12 cat and dog limit. Involving the Committee in this process is required by the Code, and we believe it will result in a prompt resolution of the litigation,” said DeMarco in an email.

Despite the lawsuit mix-up and general frustration—or perhaps because of it--the committee’s focus may be just about to finally snap into place. The day after the last meeting -- where it was decided the up-until-now “Animal Advisory Committee” would change their name -- Portia Scott Palko, owner of Central Bark Doggie Day Care, sent an email to the group that finally addressed the big picture.

“While I feel that the work planned for our committee is valuable and valid, I think there is a pressing, emergency need for work on what is currently happening in the city and the large numbers of animals killed in our city shelter ... quite frankly I am horrified.”

As of press time, a few members have responded to the email chain. As of press time, a few replies have come in from non-profit reps (though notably not PSPCA or the health department). The suggestions are whether to form a sub-committee of some kind, or keep the same committee but meet separately. If history has anything to teach us here, one look at the last decade (not to mention this past year) of animal control in Philadelphia should tell you that it seems a tough road to dismantle City Hall’s problems with City Hall’s tools.


02-01-10 -- Eagles Say They're Animal-Friendly, With Vick or Not
By Amy Worden, Philadelphia Inquirer

A torrent of bad press and fan outrage over the signing last summer of convicted animal abuser Michael Vick pushed the Philadelphia Eagles into the animal-welfare business.

In September, the team rolled out a sweeping plan to combat dogfighting and animal abuse in Southeastern Pennsylvania with a slew of initiatives promising to "leverage the Eagles' brand" on behalf of animals, as it has with other causes such as breast cancer, literacy, and the environment.

An Eagles Web site was launched to promote the program, called Treating Animals With Kindness (TAWK), and to showcase the work of local shelters and educate pet owners. The team has announced the initial round of grants under its $500,000 initiative to help needy shelters and other humane groups.

Plans to have Eagles players appear at animal-related fund-raisers, issue player-and-his-pet trading cards, and release pet-friendly public service announcements have not yet materialized.

Some animal advocates wonder whether the team will exit the animal-welfare world if Vick - whose future with the team is uncertain - leaves Philadelphia.

"I hope they follow through," said Bill Smith, founder of Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, who launched his own initiative - Sacks for Vick - to channel anger over the Vick signing.

Smith's pledge to give five bags of dog food to shelters in cities where the Eagles were playing every time Vick was sacked generated national attention and seven tons of pet food for shelters in Washington and San Diego. Though Vick, a part-time player, was never sacked, the donations flooded in.

Pamela Browner White, an Eagles senior vice president, said that Vick might have been the catalyst for the animal-awareness program, but that the organization was dedicated to it.

"We wouldn't be in it unless we were committed," she said. "It is one of the pillars of our organization."

The announcement that Vick - who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from running an illegal dogfighting ring - had signed a $1.6 million deal with the Eagles a month after being released from federal custody stunned animal lovers in Philadelphia and beyond.

Angry fans protested; some canceled season tickets and trashed their memorabilia. Others refused to even watch the games on TV.

Now the Eagles' relationship with Vick may turn out to be short-lived. The team has a $5 million option for next season on Vick, who saw little playing time this season. Coach Andy Reid has said Donovan McNabb will be back and Vick has indicated that he would like to be a starter, so trading Vick to another team before April's draft of college players seems distinctly possible.

The Eagles say that with their season over, they are ramping up their animal program. They awarded an initial round of grants - each for $50,000 - to the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) for a low-cost spay-neuter facility, to the Humane Society of the United States to launch its anti-dogfighting program in Philadelphia, and to the Humane Society of Berks County for a mobile pet wellness van.

The team is poised to announce a new round of grants soon, White said.

There also are plans to place public service ads on television and on SEPTA buses and to bring pet experts into classrooms.

Melissa Levy, executive director of the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, said the clinic, set to open in Grays Ferry in March, would help reduce the numbers of animals that enter the city's shelter by curbing overpopulation and treating health problems that lead people to surrender their pets.

Some animal-welfare activists said that while they did not agree with the Eagles' decision to sign Vick, the animal-welfare community - which is in a constant struggle to care for unwanted pets with limited funding - should welcome the team's support.

"They approached the situation very genuinely," said Levy. "They wanted to hear about the numbers of animals in shelters and about dogfighting. It's been a good-faith process."

Vick, who is the subject of a 10-episode documentary series that begins tomorrow at 10 p.m. on BET, is not part of the TAWK program. He has instead embarked on what many call a "redemption tour," traveling the country as part of the Humane Society of the United States' campaign to end dogfighting.

Since his arrival in Philadelphia, Vick has made three appearances at area schools and churches to steer youngsters away from dogfighting.

On Tuesday, Vick spoke to about 50 students at West Philadelphia High School.

"He told them about the mess he'd made of his life and encouraged students to stay off the streets and in school," said Sarah Speed, the Humane Society's Pennsylvania director.

How about treating animals with kindness?

"We wish he'd shared more of that," she said.


01-31-10 -- Animal Abuse Warrants Stiff Punishment
By: Daily Times Editorial

Abusing a defenseless animal is one of the most despicable acts a human being can commit. Why people hurt animals is a question for the ages that will probably never be answered.

There’s not enough space on this page to list all the horrific incidents in which cats, dogs and other defenseless animals have been abused.

The latest grisly incidents involving the abuse of defenseless animals in the region occurred last week.

In Chester, the carcasses of two pit bulls were found in two separate houses Thursday afternoon. Authorities said animal cruelty charges would be filed in one of the incidents.

The other incident occurred in Philadelphia Thursday when, according to police, a man poured rubbing alcohol on the family puppy and set it on fire. Fortunately, the 33-year-old man was charged with animal cruelty.

What made the Philadelphia incident so horrifying was that the man set the defenseless puppy on fire in front of his young children. The 5-month-old pit bull was burned so badly, it might lose sight in one eye, according to authorities.

And why did this sorry excuse for a human being set the dog on fire? Because, according to published reports, the dog nipped at the man.

The list of horrible incidents of animal abuse in the county is endless.

The most heinous recent incident involving a cat occurred last October in Chester when “Cuddles” the kitten was allegedly stoned and set on fire by a 19-year-old student at Chichester High School.

The 6-week-old male, brown tabby, which had been rescued from a Chester alley and hospitalized with second-degree burns to its right ear and smoke inhalation, died two days later.

In September of last year, a cat named “Sticky” was found wrapped in duct tape like a mummy in North Philadelphia and left to die. Fortunately, animal control officials found the kitten and after some TLC, it was adopted.

A few days later, a school-bus driver was charged with misdemeanor animal-cruelty counts for tossing kittens out of a bus in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia.

Last August, a kitten found severely injured on Route 352 in Brookhaven after being thrown from a moving vehicle. Fortunately, the cat survived.

Last July in Chester, someone shot an 8-week-old kitten in the eye and neck with a BB gun. The cat survived, but was it necessary for someone to intentionally hurt a little defenseless animal like that? Earlier that month, Darby the cat was found burned and beaten in Darby Borough.

Every day, America falls deeper and deeper into a decay that isn’t likely to get better anytime soon. Why people kill or torture defenseless animals is hard to explain, but unless lawmakers, law enforcement and citizens get more involved and demand stiffer penalties for animal abusers, it isn’t likely to stop anytime soon.


01-30-10 -- City Man Accused of Torching a Puppy
By Sam Wood, Philadelphia Inquirer

A Northeast Philadelphia man who allegedly poured rubbing alcohol over a puppy and set it on fire was arrested yesterday by Pennsylvania SPCA officers and Philadelphia police.

John William Fleet III, 33, was taken into custody at his home on the 1100 block of Sanger Street in the Oxford Circle section and charged with animal cruelty, police said.

The 5-month-old pit bull mix was burned "very badly," said George Bengal, the SPCA's director of law enforcement. Its neck and ears were charred, its whiskers were burned off, and one of its corneas was seared. The animal also had been burned repeatedly with a cigarette, Bengal said.

"It's going to be disfigured, and maybe also blind in one eye," Bengal said.

The incident happened Thursday night inside the home, in front of his two children, a 6-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. "He actually had them hold the dog while he did it," Bengal said.

A counselor at Harding Middle School learned of the incident yesterday morning, then notified the SPCA.

Bengal said authorities believe the suspect became enraged after the dog nipped at the children.

When police and SPCA officers arrived at the house, Fleet would not come to the door, Bengal said. "We had to break in through a second-story window to gain entrance," Bengal said.

Bengal said he found the dog in the basement.

"It was constantly shaking its head because it was in pain," he said. "The burns were hard to see, because the dog is dark brown."

Fleet told investigators the dog was burned accidentally, Bengal said.

The children last night were staying with their mother at another location.

The puppy, which rescuers named Rudy, was being treated last night at the SPCA facility on East Erie Avenue.


01-29-10 -- Fight-Marred Dog Left For Dead On Road
Mixed-Breed Pit Bull Found With Terrible Injuries In Fayette County
By:  The Pittsburgh Channel

VANDERBILT, Pa. -- State police are looking for the owner of a mixed-breed pit bull that was left for dead with dog fighting wounds along a highway in Dunbar Township, Fayette County.

The animal also had its throat slit by someone who apparently wanted to kill the dog before it was found by a woman on Route 201 at about 10 p.m. Wednesday, according to state police near Uniontown.

"I saw a dog that has not been fed, and he was definitely injured," said Terri Martin. "His neck was cut from one side to the next, and I knew he had either been in a fight or somebody had done this to him."

The dog was about 2 to 3 years old. It was taken to Camelot Veterinary Services, where doctors tried but were unable to keep it alive.

Police said the dog's throat and trachea had been crushed and bruised, apparently by another dog. It also had scars from previous bites, perhaps from past dogfights.

"The crushing type of nature to the wound is most likely a dog bite of some sort, but there is a very straight cut across his throat that looks more like a knife wound," veterinarian Dr. Justine Blout said. "So, whether this was a dog that was in a fight and somebody was thinking he'd end his life by cutting his throat, and it didn't work, or what happened, I think it was a two-part injury."

Area shelters said they have experience an increase in strays because people can't afford to keep their animals during tough economic times.

"I'm sure that people think that rather than take them to a shelter, they would rather dump them off somewhere, but, honestly, you're better off taking them to a shelter because bad things like this don't happen to the animals," said Sarha Shively, of Fayette Friends of Animals.

However, they said if there is a positive to any kind of animal abuse, it's increased inquiries into animal adoptions.

"We've been getting wonderful feedback from people about a lot of the animals we've rescued. It really helps us to educate the public that these animals come in every day to us and need our help," said Shively.

The Fayette SPCA will offer a reward for information about the dog.