Dangerous Dog Toys

Today's post is about saving a dog in a different kind of way. A friend sent me link to a blog this morning called The Chai Story. It's a story about a dog who was horribly injured from a poorly designed dog toy made by a company called Four Paws. The story is so terribly sad, but it needs to be publicized so that every dog owner knows NOT to let their dog play with the "pimple ball with bell" toy. It is extremely dangerous.

In addition, the company apparently had been contacted about the design problem several years ago when another dog was actually put down because his injuries from this ball were so severe. The company claimed they would recall and redesign the product and yet failed to do so until recently. They need to be held accountable for their negligence. You can email them at hbirk@fourpaws.com to voice your concern and displeasure. The email works--I just used it!

Pit Bulls

In the years that I've volunteered at the Lawrence Humane Society, I've met many wonderful Pit Bull Terriers. It's so hard to find suitable families for these sweet dogs, so they end up waiting at the shelter forever. Good families often don't understand the breed and just aren't interested, while other families are interested, but for all the wrong reasons. Dogs like Lazarus have such a rough time because their breed has been so maligned in the news over the past few years. Good girls like Pipa, Brindy and Mary Jane are paying the price because of the actions of terrible breeders and terrible owners. The good news is that people in rescue groups like BAD RAP in the San Francisco area and Mid-America Bully Breed Rescue here in our area are working hard to save these terrific dogs!

Several months ago I read a great article about Pit Bulls and their plight. It's a long one, but definitely a good read that will open your eyes to the worlds of dogfighting and subsequent dog rescue. The article is specifically about a group of Pit Bulls who were rescued from Michael Vick's property last year and all of the terrific people who are giving them a second chance at a joyful, comfortable life. It's a sad, sad, sad story with a happy ending. When you have a few minutes, check out the story and the slideshow of all the wonderful dogs waiting for new homes.

Picture of the Week

There are so many topics I've wanted to blog about lately, but for lack of more time, tonight I'm just going to post great pictures of the most unique dog at the shelter right now. Mary Jane is a Sharpei/Pit Bull mix, and she is absolutely adorable!





Like many Pits, Mary Jane is super intense and energetic, but she's easy to exercise because she just loves to retrieve! She is very friendly and extremely photogenic. I had so many great pictures of her it was difficult to choose which ones to use!

Impulse Adoptions

We all know about those impulse buys in the check-out line at the store. We see something we totally didn't need or plan to purchase, but it just looks so good or fun or helpful we decide to buy it anyway. The same phenomenon can occur with animal adoptions. Dogs can be so adorable and appealing when seen at adoption events or in the newspaper, they often tug at people's heartstrings and end up with a new home.

While impulse adoptions are great for moving dogs quickly in the short term, they aren't always the best long term situation. People who haven't prepared for bringing a new pet into their home often aren't prepared for the amount work having a new member of the family will be. Week after week at the shelter we see dogs returned when the adoptive family discovers that adopting a dog or puppy is a lot more work than they anticipated.

A couple of weeks ago at the shelter, there were what seemed to be a record number of impulse adoptions. An article was printed in Friday's paper about 49 dogs who were confiscated from a puppy mill in north central Kansas and brought to the Lawrence Humane Society by the Kansas Animal Health Department. On Saturday, people came out to the shelter in droves to look specifically at those 49 dogs. Volunteers who were there that day said there were people lined up to get into the building and visitors packing the aisles in the adoption areas. People were applying to adopt dogs they had seen through the bars of their kennels but had never met. By the end of the day, the staff had received 56 applications for those 49 dogs.

While it's wonderful that the community came out in full force to help these neglected and abused animals, I have to admit it made me really sad. I felt so terrible for all the dogs who've been at the shelter for months and months but had no one looking at them for lack of an interesting back story or a purebred heritage. Where were all of these people who were supposedly wanting to adopt on all the other weekends of the year? Do they not realize that there are hundreds of dogs every month who are just as worthy of a loving home as the puppy mill dogs?

The good news is, even though people were really there to see the recent state rescues, the other dogs at the shelter definitely received more exposure because of the exceptionally large crowds. Adoptions of the "regular" residents seemed to be up a little last week as well. Hopefully all of those adopted last week won't be replaced this week by people returning their impulse adoptions!

Picture of the Day

Last night I loaded all of the weekend's pictures onto Petfinder, and I just had to share some wonderful shots of one dog in particular. Benny was definitely one of the most photogenic dogs I've seen in the 10 years I've been volunteering at the Lawrence Humane Society. These were just 3 of the 5 or 6 great pictures I took of this dog--and it certainly wasn't because of my photography skills! Benny was just very good at posing and loved smiling for the camera!




One funny thing about this adorable puppy is that Benny is a girl! Her name was given to her by her previous family, who turned her in to the shelter without any explanation. They kept her in a pen in the backyard and had only owned her for a few months, which made me wonder if they actually knew she was a girl!

Benny is a super sweet and super smart little girl who will make a great pet for any active family without cats. She already knows how to sit, shake and retrieve--and she's only about 9 months old!