17 thoughts on “Open Thread

  1. We all remember Caitlyn whose muzzle was taped closed …. this woman say; Just kidding, and it worked …. ummmm.
    A woman is drawing the wrath of Facebook for duct taping her dog’s mouth shut and proudly displaying the photo.
    Katie Brown of South Daytona, Florida, posted a photo of her chocolate Labrador with silver duct tape taped all around her muzzle on Friday, with the caption ‘This is what happens when you dont (sic) shut up!!!’
    The photo has since been shared over 45,000 times in 14 hours, and despite plenty of criticism, she refuses to take the photo down, and in fact, defended her actions in the thread.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3337132/This-happens-don-t-shut-Florida-woman-posts-photo-dog-mouth-duct-taped-shut-sparking-wrath-Internet-police-investigation.html

    1. Now there are claims she is in CT, not FL. CT keeps referring people to FL and FL keeps saying she isn’t here. Which to be fair, she doesn’t seem to be.

      1. The woman who posted a photo of a dog with a duct taped muzzle, claiming she did it to stop him from barking, is now the subject of a multi-state search. She was originally identified as “Katie Brown,” but according to Fox News her legal name is Katharine F. Lemansky, and it’s a toss-up on whether she’s in Florida, Connecticut, or somewhere between the two states:
        Story here:
        http://www.examiner.com/article/elusive-woman-who-duct-taped-barking-dog-on-facebook-has-criminal-record

      2. From the Cary PR:

        [I]t’s important to also note that our animal control officers who physically examined both Brown and her littermate found the dogs to be very well cared for, which is why we did not and could not remove them from the owner. The dogs are current on their shots, spayed, and microchipped. They are clean and well-nourished and appear to be comfortable in their surroundings. And there were no signs of injury to Brown’s muzzle, not even detectable hair loss.”

        She named her brown dog Brown.

  2. Here is a case of a vet behaving badly:

    https://m.facebook.com/returnteddynow/?fref=ts

    http://dog-cat-blog.blogspot.com/2015/11/vet-staff-tries-to-change-chip-info-on.html

    Cliff notes: cute and fluffy gets away from owner and is picked up by another woman. She takes Teddy to animal control where they find a chip. They get the owner’s information from the chip company and hand it and the dog back over to this woman.

    This woman has a friend take Teddy into a vet clinic where they also find the chip. They call company who also gives them the owner’s information. That’s not what they are after, the clinic wants to change the information on the chip.

    Realizing that they are trying to steal Teddy they call the owner and tell her what is happening. The clinic refuses to give her the information so she files a police report to get it. Teddy still isn’t home because he “ran away” from the friend. The police claim there isn’t a crime and never even bothered to go to either woman’s house to check for him.

    1. It’s an idea, certainly, and I applaud his motivations. But I think that the biggest reason that cat RTO rates are so low is because of the owners. I see this all too often – “My cat has been gone for a week now and I’m starting to get worried! He always comes back after a couple of days, but now he’s missing! Please help!”

      We had one locally where the unneutered male cat had been missing for THREE WEEKS before the owner “started to get worried” about his whereabouts.

      Keep in mind that for many years, we had a shelter that was gassing cats – often on impound, but keeping the super friendlies alive for up to a week before sticking them in the gas chamber – all while NOT ADVERTISING AT ALL that they had cats to begin with. When asked by the public to post found cats, they “didn’t have time”, etc. I have to wonder how many owned and wanted cats went into that gas chamber simply because no one knew to look for them there or they didn’t “start to get worried” about their cat missing until long after their cat was already dead.

      We’re seeing more “missing cat, reward” notices, which is good – people are beginning to come out of the dark ages about the idea that “he’s a cat, he’ll be FINE”, but we still have a long way to go. Education is key, here. Having a local shelter lead the way in taking lost cats seriously is critical to the process.

  3. More bad behavior amongst rescues. Makes us (rescuers) all look bad and I wish some of these folks would start to be held accountable legally. It begins with someone finding a boston terrier, giving it to a rescue instead of animal control which is the correct thing to do, the gentleman establishing ownership of the dog to the shelters satisfaction and the shelter communicating this to the rescue, the rescue refusing to return the dog, and it gets worse from there. https://dogladyrants.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/update-on-bad-behavior-in-boston-rescue

    1. That was a bit unclear. I meant “giving a stray to animal control is the correct thing to do, not giving a stray to a rescue.” In many places rescues do not have legal standing to take in strays

  4. Good news, for once: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/4887429-181/santa-rosa-man-sentenced-on

    Background: The judge in this case – a truly egregious case of neglect & abuse of a young dog – had earlier signaled that she would likely be reducing the charge. The vet who cared for and adopted Daphne then circulated a petition, & mustered up quite a crowd for a Monday morning to sit in witness of the sentencing. It worked. Mr McKnight likely won’t serve time, but felony convictions carry consequences beyond that.

Leave a Reply