Grrr Archives - Page 11 of 21 - i Still Love Dogs

Sorry, Pittsburgh Dog Lovers: Steelers Sign Michael Vick

If Michael Vick had been a Pit Bull at the Bad Newz Kennels dog-fighting operation he once ran, he likely would have had his head repeatedly smashed to the ground, or be hanged or electrocuted.

But the NFL sure isn’t giving up on this loser!

Vick signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers last night. My condolences to dog lovers in that fine city, who are already making their outrage loud and clear.

“Pittsburghers Against Michael Vick,” a Facebook group started yesterday, already has more than 13,500 members (which almost 5 percent of Pittsburgh’s population).

“Vick is free to do as he pleases both on the football field and off. But one thing he can’t do is absolve himself of his direct participation in horrific and fatal animal torture and abuse,” wrote Wolf Navarro on the group’s page.

“And whether he takes our home team to the Super Bowl or spends the season riding the pine, we’re not obligated to forgive, and it’s essential we don’t forget.”

At a news conference this afternoon after his first practice with the Steelers, Vick said, “You can’t take back what happened in the past. Everybody’s different when they’re 20 than when they’re 35.”

Well, yeah, sure. But most of us didn’t kill dogs with our bare hands when we were 20.

After he was arrested in 2007, Vick pleaded guilty, served 21 months in federal prison, briefly did some work with the Humane Society of the United States (whose president, by the way, didn’t think the surviving dogs could be rehabilitated as pets and recommended they all be euthanized) and then quickly resumed his career with the NFL.

As for how he feels about people generally hating him, Vick told reporters, “I try to stay away from that, because all that does is make you develop mixed emotions about how you feel toward people. I don’t want to be emotionally disturbed right now. I want to be in a great place.”

Poor baby! I bet all those dogs at his Bad Newz Kennels wanted to be in a great place, too. Instead they were trapped in a living hell where, if they lost a fight, Vick himself would hold their heads under water until they drowned, or hang them from trees on his property.

For this reason, Vick will always be a despicable loser in many dog lovers’ opinions, including mine.

But you know who most definitely are not losers? The survivors of Bad Newz Kennels who, despite the mistreatment and horrific torture they endured, were successfully rehabilitated and spent the rest of their lives as “Vicktory dogs.” Many of them became therapy and assistance dogs to help people lead better lives.

Now, that is a great place to be.

Photo via Facebook

Dog Killer Prince Shembo May Rejoin NFL’s Atlanta Falcons

Three months ago, the Atlanta Falcons let linebacker Prince Shembo go after he was slapped with a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals for killing his girlfriend’s dog.

“We are extremely disappointed that one of our players is involved in something like this,” his former team said in a statement at the time.

But now the Falcons are considering bringing Shembo back.

Why the change of heart? According to Darin Gantt’s bluntly-but-appropriately titled story, “Falcons to discuss bringing back dog murderer Prince Shembo,” on NBCSports.com, Shembo was able to plead his way out of the felony charge on Aug. 6.

His killing of the dog was reduced to a misdemeanor, for which he paid a fine.

So, with that irksome felony charge as dead as the little dog, Shembo “cleared league waivers and is currently a free agent,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

And it looks like Shembo may soon have his old job back.

“I’m sure that we will [consider re-signing him], but general manager Thomas [Dimitroff] and I have not gotten together on that, at this point,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn told the Atlanta Journal Constitution yesterday.

The fact that Shembo will be subject to the NFL’s personal conduct policy should he rejoin the team might give the Falcons pause, wrote Gantt on NBCSports.com.

“Assuming, of course, the fact that he killed a dog doesn’t do that first.”

260-Pound Shembo Kicked 7-Pound Yorkie

On April 19, Denicia Williams, Shembo’s then-girlfriend, told police she had left Dior, her Yorkshire Terrier, with Shembo. When she returned to Shembo’s apartment, the dog was unresponsive. Dior died a short time later at a local animal hospital.

The next day, Shembo confessed to Williams that he, a 260-pound linebacker, had kicked the 7-pound dog because she was “biting him.”

According to the police report, a necropsy revealed that little Dior had suffered a litany of horrific injuries: a fractured rib; fractured liver; abdominal hemorrhage; thoracic hemorrhage; extensive bruising and hemorrhage in the muscles in her front leg and shoulders; head trauma; hemorrhage and edema in her lungs; hemorrhage between her esophagus and trachea; and hemorrhage in the her left eye.

The cause of the little dog’s death was blunt force trauma. Williams wisely ended her relationship with Shembo.

Other NFL Players Also Face Dog Abuse Charges

Shembo is not the only NFL player who has been charged with felony animal cruelty this year.

Terence Cody, who was dropped from the Baltimore Ravens, is facing felony charges of intentionally torturing and cruelly killing his dog Taz, a Presa Canarios Mastiff. He is also charged with inflicting unnecessary suffering or pain on his dog; not providing his dog with nutritious food in sufficiency quantity; not providing proper drink; not providing proper space; and not providing necessary veterinary care.

Dwight Jones, a former wide receiver for the New York Jets, was charged in April with felony animal cruelty for letting one of his Pit Bull mixes starve to death.

Although they haven’t yet been charged, brothers Chris and Ma’ake Kemoeatu left their Cane Corso, Zeus, at a Baltimore boarding facility back in November 2014, before they moved back to Hawaii. Nine months later, Zeus is still at the facility, and the brothers haven’t paid the $9,000 (and growing) boarding and vet fees.

Photos: Thomson200; Gwinnett County Police Department

NFL’s Kemoeatu Brothers Allegedly Dumped Their Dog at Kennel

In November 2014, Chris Kemoeatu, a former player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his brother Ma’ake, who played for the Baltimore Ravens, left Zeus, their Cane Corso, at a pet boarding facility in Baltimore.

The brothers were moving to Hawaii and said they would get their dog when they could.

Nine months later, Zeus is still at the Pooches and Purrs facility.

The brothers have neglected to get their dog — and they’ve also neglected to pay his boarding and vet bills, which have added up to more than $9,000.

“[Chris] said he was coming back in about a week or two and then we were going to move forward, and then I didn’t hear from him,” Renee Mason, co-owner of Pooches and Purrs, told WBAL. “Technically, I could have found a home after 10 days, but I’m trying to do the right thing for the dog.”

She said she last spoke to Chris three weeks ago. He asked her not to rehome Zeus, although two people have expressed interest in adopting the 6-year-old dog.

Earlier last year, the Kemoeatu brothers were in the news for a far more compassionate reason: Ma’ake left the Ravens and donated a kidney to Chris, who’d had kidney problems since the age of 13.

Renee told WBAL she was aware of Chris’ medical issues and was trying to be understanding.

“But, I mean, he’s taking advantage, completely,” she said.

Neither Chris or Ma’ake could be reached for comment.

As for Zeus, he’s “a gentle, kind soul, that’s exactly what he is,” Pooches and Purrs co-owner Keith Mason told WBAL.

“We’ve all grown to love him. He’s easy to love.”

Photos via Twitter

Kansas City Cop Adopts Chihuahua He Saved from Hot Car

As the temperature rose to 93 degrees the afternoon of July 25, Jeff O’Rear, an 18-year veteran of the Kansas City Police Department, and his partner, Erik Winter, responded to a call about a dog that had been left inside a car in a shopping center’s parking lot.

They had no trouble locating the car. It was surrounded by a group of people.

“Everybody around us was crying and screaming. They were upset,” O’Rear told the Kansas City Star.

When the police officers saw what the crowd was looking at, they became upset as well.

Inside the car, where the temperature had risen to 140 degrees, was a tiny, 5-month-old Chihuahua mix. He was laying on his back in his kennel, his tongue sticking out.

Surveillance videos showed the dog had been left inside the car, with the windows rolled up, for nearly two hours.

“He was just so close to death at that time — it was a very horrific picture,” O’Rear told the Kansas City Star. “That was so emotional to see that dog, to see that somebody would do that to him for no reason, just neglect.”

Using their batons, O’Rear and Winter smashed the car’s rear window and removed the dog. They rushed him over to the nearby Banfield Animal Hospital inside the shopping center’s PetSmart.

The dog’s internal temperature was 107 degrees (a dog’s normal temperature is 99.5 to 102.5 degrees). His heart rate was a rapid 200 beats per minute, far above the norm of up to 140 beats.

As he was being treated, the little dog’s temperature dropped to 94 degrees and he went into shock. But just 24 hours later, the dog was eating, drinking and on his way to a full recovery.

According to KCTV, four other dogs were rescued from hot cars that same day — tragically, two did not survive.

Even with the windows cracked open, the temperature inside a car on a warm day can quickly rise. If you see a dog inside a hot car and can’t find the owner, call 911. O’Rear told KCTV that if you break a window to save the dog, you probably won’t be cited, although the owner could slap you with a civil lawsuit.

Last month, Tennessee passed a groundbreaking law that allows anyone to break a car window if an animal is suffering inside, without being punished for their good deed. Hopefully other states will do the same.

The Chihuahua’s owners, a married couple from Carrollton, Mo., was cited with a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.

He’ll Live the ‘Life of a King’

On Wednesday, O’Rear surprised his daughters when he took them to KC Pet Project’s Zona Rosa shelter to meet their new family member: the Chihuahua he’d saved. The pup’s original owners had signed him over to O’Rear.

“The family, including grandparents, uncles and aunts, representatives from Banfield Pet Hospital at PetSmart who helped stabilize him after they pulled him from the car, the partner of the police officer, and many members of the local media were present for the fun surprise and the happy adoption,” KC Pet Project wrote on its Facebook page.

The O’Rear family has not yet named their lucky dog. “He is like a puppy, and he gets wound up,” his new dog dad told the Kansas City Star. “He likes to nap, and when he wakes up, he likes to go full speed.”

The dog has a feline playmate — a cat who O’Rear helped rescue from a sewer five years ago.

Last week, O’Rear and his fellow officers received the Compassionate Police Department Award from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It’s a sure bet this is just the first of many accolades that will be coming their way.

“I want to make sure that he lives pretty much a life of a king for the rest of his life because of what he went through,” O’Rear told KCTV. “I think we’ll be able to provide that.”

Photos via Facebook; Facebook

Monkeys Riding Dogs? Cruel, Not Cute

“The Banana Derby has always been a popular feature within the Fair Industry,” says the front page of the Banana Derby website. “You can’t go wrong spicing up your Fair or Festival with the Banana Derby. America’s Favorite Monkey Jockeys are always Media and Sponsor Friendly, and the Unique nature of the Banana Derby always provides Publicity!”

It’s true that these races, in which capuchin monkeys dressed as jockeys ride atop dogs, are indeed popular. Elephants in circuses and killer whales in theme parks used to be popular, too. But their acceptance by the public has declined as people have become aware of the harm done to these performing animals. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey announced earlier this year it will stop using elephants in its shows by 2018. Attendance at SeaWorld theme parks has plummeted since the disturbing documentary “Blackfish” was released in 2013.

People are starting to realize that elephants don’t naturally do handstands and killer whales don’t naturally jump through hoops.

But when will people realize that monkeys don’t naturally ride dogs? When the Banana Derby opened at the Lake County Fair in Illinois today, the bleachers were packed with more than 800 spectators.

“I think it’s fun. I think it’s clever,” Michele Longhini, a counselor with the Good Times summer camp, told a Chicago Tribune reporter.

What Longhini may not realize is that, unlike the name of her camp, the Banana Derby provides few good times for its participants. Those cute little capuchin monkeys are chained to the dogs, and struggle to stay upright as they run. Those cute little jockey costumes must get hot and itchy in the middle of summer. Capuchin monkeys naturally belong in trees, not on dogs’ backs and in cramped cages.

That’s right — USDA inspectors have previously found two instances in which Banana Derby’s promoter, Philip Dolci, kept the monkeys in a cage that was smaller than the minimum required size. In another instance, a dog was not securely restrained when being transported, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Dolci insists he takes good care of the animals.

“If I was doing something wrong, the people of Lake County wouldn’t have brought their kids back for six years to see us,” he told UPI. “They say, ‘We see the monkey every year.’ They know the monkey’s name. It’s insanity, really.”

I agree with that last sentence.

Board Members and Animal Experts Don’t Think Monkey Jockeys Are Cute

Two months ago, 16 of the 21 Lake County board members signed a letter opposing the Banana Derby at the county fair.

“We do not feel that paying a vendor to chain monkeys to the backs of dogs, rescue or otherwise, is the kind of attraction that the Lake County Fair should be endorsing,” wrote county board member Sandra Hart in the letter to Jon Brodzik, Jr., president of the Lake County Fair Board.

Also voicing opposition to having the Banana Derby at the Lake County Fair: the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Chicago zoo associations, animal welfare groups and more than 3,500 petition signers.

Hart told CBS Chicago she feels the Banana Derby “diminishes the value of these animals. When you dress them up in little jockey outfits, and have them running around a ring like that, it kind of exploits those animals.”

The Chicago Zoological Association also sent a letter to the fair board. “The use of primates in this show has serious welfare consequences for the monkeys, poses public health and safety concerns, and may even have consequences for primate conservation,” the association wrote, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Despite these protests from people who know better, the Banana Derby was not cancelled. And for the first time ever, nearby DuPage County will host the Banana Derby at its fair next month.

Also Not Cute: ‘Cowboy Monkeys’

The Banana Derby is not the only company making a profit by exploiting these animals. “Cowboy” capuchin monkeys riding Border Collies make frequent appearances at rodeos and sporting events.

“Although marketed as an ‘amusement’ act, many people find this show offensive and upsetting as they recognize that it is undoubtedly frightening and harmful to the helpless monkeys who may suffer psychological distress and risk serious physical injuries,” writes the HSUS in its fact sheet, “‘Cowboy Monkey’ Acts Are Abusive to Primates.”

Tim Lepard, whose monkeys and dogs perform under the name “Team Ghost Riders,” has been repeatedly cited by the USDA for violating the minimum standards of the federal Animal Welfare Act. According to the HSUS, these citations include “keeping animals in unsanitary conditions, failure to provide adequate crowd management and safety barriers, inadequate shelter, improper food storage, failure to dispose of expired deworming and heartworm preventative medications, and repeatedly being unavailable for animal welfare inspections.”

Nevertheless, last month USA TODAY’s For the Win called the appearance of Team Ghost Riders at a minor league game “the best promotion in baseball.”

Really, USA TODAY?

What do you think — is the Banana Derby and its ilk cute or cruel? Please leave a comment below.

Photos via YouTube; YouTube