Congrats to Sacchi

Congratulations to Sacchi for finding her new home this weekend. After 5 months in foster care, our little three legged girl has found a place to call her own. Complete with an American Bulldog brother and a little girl to love.

21 dogs seized at North Richmond home | Richmond Times-Dispatch

21 dogs seized at North Richmond home | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Skye is gone

Sadly, Skye had a seizure and passed away tonight. She was 10 weeks old/10lbs and had been doing so well. The vet thought that her initial hydro diagnosis may have been a mistake. She was active and happy in her last few weeks. The trouble with backyard breeders is that they don't care who gets hurt in their quest for money.  She deserved much better than the few weeks of life she got.

An Adoptable Dog Profile - Sacchi

Sacchi (aka SOX) is our sweet little three legged puppy. She didn't start out on three, but four. She was found injured in Petersburg VA and her leg was too badly broken to be saved. It had to be amputated when she was three and a half months old.  She's now 7 months old as of 1/25/10 and about 35 lbs. She's 17.5-18" at the top of her shoulder and very petite in bone structure. She will not weigh more than 40 lbs.  She has a pretty face.

What a wonderful little wiggle monster. Her tail is always going and with only one back leg, she kind of pivots like crazy.  She's such a happy girl!  She's getting comfortable in her own skin and adjusting to a body with only three legs. It doesn't seem to bother her at all or slow her down.  She can be a little clumsy in snow or on ice or rushing down stairs.   She is very people focused and accepts correction well. She's submissive with people but leans a little on the dominant side with other dogs.  She interacts well with both males and females (dogs) provided they are appropriate and polite. She doesn't like to be crowded or pawed at by other dogs - it may push her off balance and on the defensive. She seems to get along better with older dogs or those dogs that are less interested boisterous play.  She seems to have a moderate exercise requirement - one nice walk a day is just about all she needs.  She loves to cuddle with her foster brother Riley and snuggle in a cuddler bed together.

She cat tests as "Okay".  Her original cat test was done with a cat that was unfamiliar with dogs and she will chase a cat that is afraid and runs.  When her cat testing was done (dogsitting for several hours in a home with dog sensitized cats) with adult cats who are familiar with dogs - she did great.  She appears to be little afraid of the cats and not quite sure what to do with them. She appears curious but not so curious as to risk getting close.  When the cat makes eye contact, she turns her head to look the other way.  Expresses interest from across the room but not up close, this may change with age or as she becomes more comfortable exploring what they are.  A home with young cats/kittens that wrestle and dash around may be too stimulating unless she received further training.  She could certainly live in a home with a cat that was used to the presence of dogs but perhaps not the best choice for a home with a cat with no dog experience.  She's very treat focused so additional cat training should be fairly easy.

The only problems she experiences with other dogs are when meeting rude dogs. She does not appreciate unfamiliar dogs that crowd her or rush her, putting their paws on her back, trying to hump - she will not put up with that - as no dog should have to to be honest. So, going to the dogpark is not recommended (but it is not recommended with many dogs). She will not start trouble but she will not allow herself to be picked on or bullied by another dog.

The only thing quirky to notice with her is that she does not appear to be sensitized to "suburban" noises. People banging their trash seems to startle her and she is fascinated by the squirrels. But she's grown up during the winter and there hasn't been much opportunity for "city noises" in her socialization as of yet.

Anyone with access to Facebook can look up a photo album on ASCPBR's facebook page. There are also other video links.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Annabelles-Second-Chance/115240381202

She dreams on four legs which is funny, her stump will twitch and run right along with the other one. She's one sweet little puppy and would make a great pet.  We will place her in a home with a dog appropriate cat and/or a male dog or as a single pet.

Animal Planet

Animal Planet Investigates: Dog Fighting

Attention, animal lovers! Tune in to Animal Planet on Monday, January 25, at 10:00 P.M. (ET/PT) for the world premiere of a documentary about organized dog fighting. In this special edition of Animal Planet Investigates, two undercover agents take you deep inside the disturbing subculture of dog fighting's hardcore criminals and their four-legged victims. Using undercover and investigative footage, the show examines specific cases in Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Michigan and New York to demonstrate the diversity and depravity of this cruel blood sport.

Two of the ASPCA's experts in animal cruelty, Dr. Melinda Merck and Dr. Randall Lockwood, who were instrumental in the conviction of a certain high profile dog fighter—NFL quarterback Michael Vick—are also featured in the show. Dr. Merck joined the ASPCA in 2007 as a forensic veterinarian, and now serves as Senior Director of Veterinary Forensics in Anti-Cruelty. She frequently testifies as a forensic veterinary expert for animal cruelty cases across the country. Dr. Lockwood is currently Senior Vice President of ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Field Services. For more than 25 years, he has worked with humane societies and law-enforcement agencies, serving as an expert on the interactions between people and animals. He has testified in numerous trials involving cruelty to animals, including dog fighting, child abuse, domestic violence and homicide.

Dog fighting is now banned throughout the United States—in fact, it is a felony in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Those convicted of federal animal fighting charges face up to five years in prison. For more information about dog fighting, please visit ASPCA.org, and don't forget to tune in to Animal Planet on Monday night!

PIT BOSS : Programs : Animal Planet : Discovery Press Web

PIT BOSS : Programs : Animal Planet : Discovery Press Web

Memorable Shorty quote: "If we can save one pit bull, that's good, but if we can save one person from breeding pit bulls, that's even better."

Congratulations Leo

Congratulations Leo on getting a new home. We know you will be successful in your new life. A sweet dog deserving of a fresh start.

Angus - RIP

Very sad to hear that Angus, a former ASC alum has passed away from heart disease brought on by an enlarged heart. He had five wonderful years with his adoptive dad Corey in North Eastern NC. Thank you for providing this dog with a second chance. Rest in Peace sweet boy.

Looking back over 2009

2009 has come and gone, another year in pit bull rescue. Though there seem to be more and more people who are becoming sympathetic with the true victims, adoptions are slow. This breed has not seen the light at the end of the tunnel. That doesn't seem to stop the backyard breeders from creating more and more and MORE litters. Pit bulls are still one of the most popular breeds and the most abused dogs. Please take a break for the sake of the dogs! In this economy, everyone is trying to save money and make money and the people using the dogs are getting worse. The surplus just dropped at the shelter for the city or county to dispose of. People are having to tighten their belts and it is sadly the dogs that are the first to go. Instead of trying to find a lower cost dog food and cut corners to keep their pets, people are just getting giving up. Knowing that there are not enough homes, most of these pets don't get a second chance.

Don't breed or buy, rescue a shelter dog. There is no shortage of puppies, American Bullies, Merle pit mixes or blue dogs in the shelter. On any given day you can walk into a shelter and find the purebred pit bull of your choice.

A special THANK YOU goes out to those who still took time to donate and consider rescue in this economy. The dogs thank you and we thank you. Your generosity means a great deal. Without your support we would not have been able to save Sunshine or Brianna's leg or treat Frank's laundry list of medical questions or amputate Sacchi's leg so she could have a second chance at life. What a year! a hairless dog, two broken legs, two amputations (Sacchi's still searching for a home), another blind puppy (Skye is still for adoption) and a senior (Brutus, who needs a nice retirement). Consider making 2010 a wonderful year for a rescued bully.

To all of you who have helped this year in any way, THANK YOU for all that you have done for the dogs. We couldn't do it with out you. Thank you donors, adopters, foster homes and those who just have a kind word.

Taking some time away to recharge

ASC is no longer accepting dogs into it's adoption program, our resources are too limited, we may re-open in the middle of 2010 but right now our responsibility remains to adopt out our current available dogs and we will not be taking in any more. We have no additional foster homes and the few that we have are too strained to continue. If we can find additional foster homes and people who want to help out, we can continue but right now we are too far strained to be able to take on more dogs.

HOTLINE for Puppy Mills

The hotline, 1-877-MILL-TIP, is available to anyone with information of a possible crime involving puppy mills – but particularly welcomes information from those with "insider" knowledge, or from law enforcement officials who might be aware of such operations.

All I want for Christmas!

Sacchi has healed up nicely and just needs a home for the holidays. She is all better, sutures out, off antibiotics and learning to co-habitate with other dogs without being afraid of them. She snuggles with her foster brother in a dog bed. She is a low key puppy who would prefer to lay around and snuggle. She deserves a home for the holidays and has asked Santa for a family for Christmas. She says Thank YOU to Marti for donating so that her leg could come off and she get a second chance. She says a leg is a small price to pay to keep her life.

Stella

Stella's a good girl. She's a sweet adult dog who got down on her luck and homeless in Wilson NC and managed to make things swing in her favor until she got to a rescue. She has been spayed, fully vetted, including crate training, housebreaking and microchipped. She is heartworm negative and on prevention. She's about two years old and between 45-50 lbs.

She is good with other dogs, loves to play and mingle with other doggie pals. She likes to wrestle hard but if another dog doesn't want to, she's willing to back off and go do something else. She would like a home with a playmate that can keep up with her or an owner who would be willing to socialize her with other dogs (provided the other dogs are well mannered and friendly). She gets along with cats but sometimes likes to give them "the eye" when they rush by in the middle of play.

She doesn't like her crate but she's become crate trained and accepts it with grace and goes in when asked. She would prefer to be inside in a crate during the day than outside alone in the backyard. In fact she doesn't want to be outside alone at all and will sit as close to the glass peering in hoping to get to come inside. She goes right to her crate to sleep at night in her foster home but would really like to have a doggie bed beside the bed of her new owner.

She loves chew toys, filled bones, knuckle bones (sterliized the best) and any pigs ear, bully sticks she can get. She can dismantle a black kong into pieces and put a hurting on the "pit bull tough" black nyla bone. She prefers the "natural" chews but will take anything that's shaped like a bone or filled with a treat. Loves "beggin bacon" treats. She's a smart girl, eager to please and food motivated. She would enjoy a positive training class with a new owner. She walks
nicely on leash and only needs a gentle reminder not to pull. She's a very soft submissive dog and verbal correction is all that is needed to modify behavior.

She would like a couple of walks a day or some romp time with a doggie pal. She has moderate exercise needs for a young bully but if she doesn't get some exercise time she may nibble on her bed while you are gone during the day.

She's a snuggler and a needy girl, always ready to get and give affection and would prefer curling up in a lap to eating any day. She is a bit of a chicken and avoids scary things if she can but is happy to meet new people every day. She is all wiggles and waggs when she makes a new friend.

THANK YOU

Thank you to those who have taken time to donate this year, your generosity means a great deal. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and the dogs thank you. Without your support we would not have been able to save those dogs with serious medical problems this year:
Frank, Sunshine, Brianna, and Sacchi

Foster homes desperately needed

They are desperately needed all of the time but in today's economy, there are even more homeless dogs and more dogs being turned out every day. We are such a small program that we are unable to help as many as we would like without many qualified foster homes. If you would like to foster a dog, we would be happy to find you a dog that matches your home to make fostering as easy as possible.

Halloween can be scary for pets

http://www.petsinneed.org/articles/Halloween.html
Halloween is a favorite holiday for many children and adults, but it is a holiday that can be frightening and dangerous for your companion animals. By taking a few precautions in advance, you can assure that Halloween will be enjoyable and safe for everyone.

Brisa photos

Photos of Brisa now using her leg completely - she's doing great!!

Change to the website

ASC has changed it's website to a new design. Well, not really a new design, just a clean up on the old webpage. It includes a new blog that is part of the site now and will be incorporated soon. This blogger may or may not go away, it just remains to be seen how difficult it will be to maintain two.

Visit us and give your comments : )

www.ascpbr.com

Updates

Cami was adopted today, a sweet little pit bull mixed puppy was adopted to a home in Greenville NC. Scooter continues to grow up, he's a sweet little hound mix found on the side of a highway in Eastern NC. We continue to hope to find an all breed rescue that will take him into their adoption program. Until then, he makes a good companion for Trinity but he really deserves the additional exposure provided by an all breed resource. Any ideas are appreciated.

The cow pups continue to grow and need foster care. We currently only have one in a foster home with Benny. The other three are still with their original rescuer and though we have paid for all of their vet care (they are fully vetted), we have no place to put them. Their mother is also up for adoption and looking for a foster home.

Rex moved to a foster home in Richmond VA this week as his Harrisonburg VA foster home was having some dog issues. Rex is a great boy and does well with other dogs but unfortunately, he's so large and "male" despite being neutered sometimes that creates masculinity issues for other male dogs : (

Ringo passed his CGC the first weekend of September and will most likely be adopted by his foster home.

Brisa (formerly Brianna) is doing well in her new home and is continuing Swim Therapy. She has her next visit on Thursday and hopefully we will be able to post some pictures.

Does HE deserve a Second Chance?

Does Michael Vick deserve a second chance?  This is a very hot topic with just about everyone stepping in to voice their opinion and I will add one more to the fray. As far as the law is concerned, he has paid his debt to society.   He served 23 months in jail for federal racketeering.  He plead not guilty on animal cruelty and that was washed away in a plea agreement.  So, no, I don’t think he recognizes or feels sorry for killing those dogs.  He is sorry he threw away his career; he is sorry he got caught and he is sorry that he was found guilty. Let’s not forget how vigorously he blamed others for what happened and for leading him astray while declaring his innocence.  One would think from reading the letter to the judge and listening to his constant denials the he had no ability to think for himself. No ability to understand right from wrong or know that he was breaking the law and not only that, he was causing willful and cruel destruction of life.

Michael Vick was one of the highest paid players in the NFL and he threw it all away. He was the golden boy with a golden life and when he was caught, he lied and denied for as long as he could until the evidence piling up became overwhelming and all of his co conspirators turned on him.

After mere months in jail, he has been reinstated to the NFL and has found a a team to support him.  While he should be employable as I hope all people can find gainful employment, returning him without penalty to a multimillion dollar career where he serves as a role model for young children is a mistake. A horrible and tragic mistake. He is not role model material and while there are quite a few criminals and miscreants in the NFL, it is disappointing none the less.

I don’t know many felons (outside of the NFL) that are allowed to return to multimillion dollar careers.  Most individuals who are found guilty of a felony have to spend a long time atoning for their sins.  They become pariah’s in the community.  They find it difficult to pick up where they left off and few people are willing to give a second chance for fear they will fall back into the same old pattern.  That is not inappropriate in this situation.  As far as the law is concerned, he has paid his dues but as far as his moral culpability and his deficiency in character, that requires a lifetime of atoning.  For those who think Michael Vick is being singled out, that is simply not the case. I believe that all thugs, criminals, and drug dealers should be expelled from the NFL.

I watched the interview on 60 minutes and I was not impressed.  He stated his commitment to working with the HSUS and using his influence to stop cruelty.  However, he did not truly accept responsibility for his actions.  His statements were clear.....  "I was disgusted, you know, because of what I let happen to those animals” he said. "I could've put a stop to it. I could've walked away from it. I could've shut the whole operation down."  All the while with a slight smile on his face and compassionless/expressionless eyes.

What Vick does not acknowledge and has never acknowledged, either in his letter to the judge prior to incarceration or his 60 Minutes Interview post release, is how he participated in these crimes.  In both instances he skirts responsibility citing that he should not have let it happen, not that he actively took part.  He didn’t just fund the operation from the sidelines.  He didn’t let it happen as a spectator or silent partner - he was an active participant.  He was physically involved in the electrocution, drowning, beating and hanging of dogs that didn’t make his team.  Electrocution by car battery while drowning in a swimming pool is a cruel and horrible death and does not happen quickly. He stood and watched while his dog struggled to get out of the pool while it was fighting to live. To truly atone for his behavior he needs to acknowledge his participation in these crimes. He needs to take ownership of what he did, he should say to the public that he physically slammed a dog into the ground until it was broken and dead and for that he is truly sorry.  And he should mean it.

I watched this interview more than once hoping that I could come up with some defense for him, hoping that I missed one spark of true emotion or apology but I didn’t. When he was asked when he truly realized what he had done was wrong and Vick responded with:

“The first day I walked into prison and they slammed that door, I knew the magnitude of the decisions that I made..." and, "What I did, being away from my family, letting so many people down, letting myself down, not being out on the football field, being in a prison bed, in a prison bunk, writing letters home. That wasn't my life. That wasn't the way that things were supposed to be."

It is all about him and what he is sorry he lost. Over and over he has acknowledged it was wrong but only in relation to what it took away from him, not the lives that were broken and lost.  He ‘now’ knows it was wrong but we’re not sure he understands why it was wrong.  I am not sure he truly grasps the horror that most people felt when they heard or read about how he and his friends killed dogs with their bare hands.  How much pain and terror those animals must have felt being killed by their owners after suffering abuse at their hands.  We are not sure he grasps that at all or really understands pain and suffering.  A dog’s capacity to love at times seems much greater than ours and their forgiveness is extraordinary.  The animals have probably forgiven him where we continue to debate…

There is one clip in the interview where it shows him speaking to children and encouraging them to love their animals - whatever animals they own. That appears to be the extent of his message.  He does not offer why. He does not offer that we should love and care for them because animals have the ability love and they feel and suffer when we are cruel.  And that life is valuable and should be cherished. That kindness is a gift.

If my opinion were solicited, I provide a resounding “NO”.  The American public does not need this kind of role model.  And as a spokes person for animal cruelty - a louder “NO”.  He does not speak for OUR breed and he should not be considered a positive influence. His decisions were not merely mistakes, they were a series of horrible decisions and a lifestyle of cruelty and suffering.  Six years of running a dog fighting operation  and systematically torturing and killing those dogs that didn’t fight hard enough or die in the pit is not simply a mistake.  A mistake is forgetting to mail a letter, not beating an animal to death. This is not simply one mistake but a long string of horrible decisions that potentially cite an inability to empathize with suffering, a lack of compassion and an outright disdain for life.  We have all read the few pieces of transcripts and evidence that was posted on the internet that explained in detail how the dogs were killed.  Pages and pages of documentation of terrible things that were done and done repeatedly if the dog didn’t die right away.  There is surely more that we were not privy.

He is not capable of spreading a compassionate message. He is not able to explain why we should care for our pets and treat them with kindness because he is not able to understand compassion for animals and kindness.  Certainly not while he himself does not understand and continues to skirt the responsibility of his actions. He has a deficiency in character that can not be fixed and certainly wasn’t fixed by 23 months in prison.  And will not be fixed as he is restored to his former glory without consequence.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi”

**the photo is a dog rescued from an eastern NC animal shelter by Annabelle's Second Chance.  Whatever had befallen him prior to coming to the animal shelter involved a lack of nutrition and a serious altercation with another animal/ dog that broke his leg. He was placed in a new home after healing in 2004.  He was a wonderful example of the breed.