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R.I.P. Excalibur: Despite Protests, Madrid Officials Euthanize Ebola Patient’s Dog

JAN. 25, 2015 UPDATE: Although Excalibur can never be replaced, Teresa and her husband have adopted a new dog, a 6-month-old American Staffordshire Terrier named Alma, from a local rescue center.

Excalibur, the 12-year-old dog belonging to Ebola patient Teresa Romero Ramos of Madrid, was euthanized this morning, according to a New York Times report.

Along with hundreds of thousands of protesters, Ramos’ husband, Javier Limon Romero, had urged officials not to kill the dog, but rather to quarantine him instead.

Yesterday, authorities from Madrid’s regional government stated that “available scientific knowledge indicates there’s a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans,” according to the Associated Press (AP).

However, there have been no documented cases of dogs with Ebola transmitting it to people, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesman Thomas Skinner told the New York Times.

On the Facebook page for animal-welfare group Villa Pepa Protective Association, Romero had requested their help in saving his dog’s life.

“If they are so worried with this issue, I think we can find another type of alternative solutions, such as quarantining the dog and put him under observation like they did with me,” Romero wrote, as translated by Mashable.com. “Or should they sacrifice me as well just in case? But of course, with a dog it’s easier, it doesn’t matter as much.”

A Change.org petition urging the government not to euthanize Excalibur had more than 387,000 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.

“If this woman were to die, the dog which has accompanied them for so many years would be an important emotional support for her husband,” wrote Carmen Sanchez Montañes of Sevilla, Spain, who created the petition. “This is not ‘just’ a dog; for this couple, he is one of the family.”

Protesters and animal-rights activists, many of whom brought their own pets, surrounded the home of Ramos and Romero today, unsuccessfully trying to block officials from entering and euthanizing Excalibur.

Ramos, a nursing assistant, was treating a patient in Madrid when she became the first person outside of West Africa to become infected with Ebola. The virus has claimed the lives of more than 370 health workers in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

“There’s prudence and then there’s, ‘Let’s kill it so we don’t have to think about it,'” wrote Dr. Scott Weese, of the Ontario Veterinary College’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, in the Worms & Germs Blog. “The Spanish response to Ebola in a nursing assistant is a demonstration of the latter.”

Like so many others, Dr. Weese supported quarantining Excalibur.

“Why not take the opportunity to quarantine and test the dog to see if it was infected?” he wrote. “That would be better for the dog, for its owners and for the next time the situation occurs. You can’t answer all the questions with one dog, but you can start to gather information. Euthanasia is the easiest approach and the one that removes all risk, but there are ways to house and monitor a dog for a few weeks with no contact. Since Ebola virus is spread by direct contact with infectious body fluids, it’s containable with good facilities and precautions. To me, that would have been a better approach from many aspects.”

CDC spokesman Skinner told the New York Times the center recommends that Ebola patients with dogs or cats should “’evaluate the animal’s risk of exposure” — seeing if the pet ingested bodily fluids from the patient, such as vomit, feces or blood. If so, the pet should be monitored for 21 days, which is the incubation period for Ebola.

Madrid authorities stated yesterday that Excalibur would be “euthanized in a way to avoid suffering and using bio-security measures that it did not specify. Its body will later be incinerated.”

Photos via Facebook

Spanish Health Officials Plan to Kill Ebola Patient’s Dog

Teresa Romero Ramos, a nursing assistant in Madrid, became infected with Ebola after treating a patient there. As she fights for her life, she and her husband, Javier Limon Romero, who are both in quarantine, have also been fighting for the life of their dog, Excalibur.

Authorities from Madrid’s regional government stated today that “available scientific knowledge indicates there’s a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans,” according to the Associated Press (AP).

What scientific knowledge? Michael San Filippo of the American Veterinary Medical Association told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month that while dogs have tested positive for Ebola, they have shown no symptoms, and there are no documented cases of dogs infecting people with the virus.

A 2005 study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal confirms this.

On the Facebook page for animal-welfare group Villa Pepa Protective Association, Romero had requested their help in saving his dog’s life.

“I want to publicly denounce a man named Zarco, whom I believe is the chief health officer of the Community of Madrid, [who] told me that they have to sacrifice my dog just like that, with no explanation,” Romero wrote, as translated by Mashable.com. “He asked for my consent, which I denied strongly. He said that they will ask for a court order to enter in my house and sacrifice the dog.”

And that’s just what has happened today. The government “had to get a court order for the euthanization over the family’s objections,” the AP reports.

A lot of animal lovers want to know why Excalibur couldn’t be quarantined instead of killed.

“It would be much easier to isolate or quarantine the dog just as they have the victim’s husband,” wrote Carmen Sanchez Montañes of Sevilla, Spain, who created a Change.org petition that had more than 71,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.

“If this woman were to die, the dog which has accompanied them for so many years would be an important emotional support for her husband. This is not ‘just’ a dog; for this couple, he is one of the family.”

Ramos was the first person outside of West Africa to become infected with Ebola, which has claimed the lives of more than 370 health workers in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

“Or should they sacrifice me as well just in case? But of course, with a dog it’s easier, it doesn’t matter as much.”

According to the AP, authorities stated that Excalibur will be “euthanized in a way to avoid suffering and using bio-security measures that it did not specify. Its body will later be incinerated.”

Photos via Facebook

For the Second Time, Kohl’s Is Caught Selling Raccoon Dog Fur as ‘Faux’

UPDATE: Late yesterday, Kohl’s released a statement apologizing for selling the parka. “Kohl’s standard vendor terms require that all merchandise must be free of any real animal fur unless expressly authorized in writing by Kohl’s,” the company said. “No such authorization was given here. Once aware that the product was made with real fur, Kohl’s immediately removed the product from our website.” The stores will accept returns of the parkas “no questions asked,” but the statement didn’t mention if the purchase price would be fully refunded.

Twice within a year, the Kohl’s department store chain has been caught selling items with “faux” fur trimming that is actually made from raccoon dogs.

In 2013, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) busted Kohl’s for selling handbags whose trim was not “faux rabbit fur,” as the store advertised, but real raccoon dog fur.

“When our supporters called the company to urge a fur-free policy, Kohl’s chose instead to play games by changing its customer relations phone number and taking down its customer service web page, making it nearly impossible for people to voice their opinion,” wrote HSUS President Wayne Pacelle on his blog today.

In June of this year, the HSUS tested a men’s parka sold by Kohl’s. The “faux” fur on the collar turned out to be from raccoon dogs.

By selling real fur as “faux,” Kohl’s is breaking two federal laws. In online advertisements for fur products, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Fur Products Labeling Act requires retailers to provide the type of animal killed and the country in which it was killed. Another law, the FTC Act, prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” in commerce.

Kohl’s has not commented on this most recent discovery, but it is no longer selling the parka.

Unfortunately, Kohl’s is not the only retailer guilty of selling real fur as fake — and the FTC isn’t helping matters any.

“Last year, the FTC, the U.S. government agency charged with protecting consumers from deception, decided it would continue to use a bogus fur trade name — Asiatic raccoon — for raccoon dogs, a step that exacerbated consumer confusion and deception in the marketplace,” Pacelle wrote.

To make these fur products, millions of raccoon dogs, a member of the dog family, are raised in inhumane conditions in China and then skinned alive. It costs less to sell their pelts than to manufacture fake fur.

If you want to make sure a “faux” fur item is really fake, the HSUS recommends you do the following:

Check the base of the fur for skin or fabric. If you see threadwork from which the hairs emerge, it’s probably fake.
Check the tips of the fur for tapering. Fake fur generally doesn’t come to a a fine point, as the real deal does.
If you already own the item, remove a few of the hairs and burn them. Real fur smells like human hair when it’s burned.

Here’s a list of retailers, designers and brands that don’t use real fur. To urge Kohl’s to adopt a fur-free policy, call the company at 855-564-5705 and sign this HSUS online petition.

Photo via The Humane Society of the United States

Michigan Cops in Big Trouble Over Stray Dog Prank

Some officers with the Ferndale Police Department in Michigan are doggone heelarious!

…At least they think so.

When a stray dog (he looks like a Puggle, a Pug/Beagle mix) was brought into the police station, the dispatcher on duty expressed interest in adopting him. But then he changed his mind, according to WDIV.

So, instead of handing the dog over to animal control as they are supposed to do, a lieutenant and two police officers got the wacky idea to go all “Jackass” on the dispatcher. Emphasis on jackass.

In the middle of the night, one of the officers — who was on duty at the time — drove the dog to a house in Southfield, about five miles from Ferndale, where he thought the dispatcher was staying. Using a rope, he tied the dog to the door and left him there.

And here comes the really knee-slappin’ part: It wasn’t the right house! And the homeowner thought someone was trying to break in, so he called the Southfield Police Department!

The Ferndale Police Department was not amused. “There’s no excuse for the behavior that happened. There’s no excuse for their conduct whatsoever,” Lt. William Wilson told WDIV. “It’s infantile. It’s grade schoolish, middle-schoolish at best.”

Police Chief Timothy D. Collins said “severe disciplinary action” will be taken very soon against the three officers.

It’s no surprise that people on Facebook are also angered by the prank. “When you tie a dog up, you make him defenseless against other dogs, people, rats, possums, etc.,” wrote one commenter on the WDIV Local 4 / Click On Detroit page. “These officers put this poor dog in danger, not to mention how confused & scared he was. These officers should lose their jobs, for they gave no consideration to a life or the danger they put that dog in. Shame on them.”

Hear, hear. Fortunately, the stray dog was “physically okay,” according to WDIV. He’s staying at the animal control center in Southfield and has not yet been claimed.

“[It was] a huge waste of police resources. Somebody could have gotten hurt,” said WDIV reporter Hank Winchester. “And, at the end of the day, the dog at the center of this entire controversy is still sitting in the pound.”

Photo via Facebook

Pit Bull Hater Fatally Stabs Dog at PetSmart Adoption Event

Hoping she would find a forever home there, volunteers from the Newnan-Coweta Humane Society (NCHS) brought a Pit Bull named Clara to a PetSmart adoption event in Georgia Sunday.

Instead, the volunteers had to make the heartbreaking decision to have Clara euthanized after she was stabbed multiple times by an angered customer in the store.

Clara had broken free from her collar and bitten the ear of Craig Emory Hayes’ Yorkshire Terrier after the little dog growled at her.

Screaming “F–king Pit Bulls” over and over, Hayes pulled out a pocket knife and began plunging it into Clara’s neck, even after she released the Yorkie’s ear.

Horrified PetSmart customers who witnessed the attack described what they saw to the Newnan Times-Herald.

Erin Burr said Hayes had earlier told Clara’s handler, “If you bring that f–king Pit Bull near me, I’m going to stab it.”

Another customer, Kathy Stottlar, said Clara had bolted toward the Yorkie. “It was terrifying,” she said. “[Hayes] yelled, ‘Get the dog off or I will stab him.’ He said it several times.”

Teresa Reeves and her fiance, Mike Wohler, had come to the PetSmart event hoping to adopt a Pit Bull.

Reeves said Clara wasn’t viciously attacking the Yorkie, but nipping some loose skin on its neck. “Clara wasn’t clamped down on the dog,” she told the Times-Herald. Neither dog was moving.

“It could have easily been broken up,” Reeves said. Instead, Hayes started pushing and kicking Clara, “making things worse. The guy was just screaming, ‘F–king Pit Bull, why are you even allowed to have these dogs?’’’

When he began to stab Clara, Reeves tried to protect the dog by wrapping her arms around her.

Wohler was able to put his hands in Clara’s mouth, and a PetSmart employee used citronella spray and an air horn to make her release the Yorkie’s ear.

Still, Hayes continued his furious attack — even as his young son begged him to stop.

“He wasn’t stabbing like he was trying to save his dog. He was stabbing trying to kill this dog,” Reeves said.

With blood flowing from her wounds, Clara lay on the floor of PetSmart, wagging her tail as shocked customers petted her. She and the Yorkie were taken to the pet hospital inside the store.

Sandy Hiser, president of the NCHS, told the Times-Herald that Clara’s wounds were so severe “that if she did pull through, it would have impacted her quality of life.”

Clara had spent half of her life in a Peachtree City, Ga., boarding kennel, according to the Clicks for Clara Facebook page, which was created in January 2013 in an effort to help find her a forever home.

Hiser said the decision to euthanize her was heart-rending. “And the people who made it were the people that loved her and knew her the best.”

The Yorkie whose ear she bit was transferred to an emergency animal hospital, treated for a blood clot and released the next morning.

According to Hiser, a police officer who interviewed Hayes said he had the right to defend his dog. But was it necessary to stab Clara multiple times?

“He straight murdered this dog in front of 30, 40 people,” Wohler told the Times-Herald. “He didn’t like Pit Bulls. This just gave him the excuse he needed.”

Authorities in Coweta County are taking over the case, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Here’s hoping Hayes is charged with animal cruelty – and that he signs up ASAP for some anger-management sessions. Since it sounds like he has never actually been around a Pit Bull, perhaps volunteering with a shelter or rescue would quickly change his hateful view of the breed.

On New Year’s Eve last year, the following status was posted on the Clicks for Clara Facebook page:

“Are we going to make 2014 the year of my home…You bet we are!!! There is absolutely no reason to not adopt me…What are you waiting for???? I’m everything you could want in a companion.”

Rest in peace, Clara. If you were a Golden Retriever or Labrador, you’d probably still be alive to make this the year of your home.

NOV. 6, 2014 UPDATE: The Coweta County grand jury decided this week that no animal cruelty charges will be filed against Craig Emory Hayes, and the case is closed.

Photo via the Clicks for Clara Facebook page