Category: Grrr

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

Would You Buy Food from a Company Whose CEO Abused a Puppy?

FEB. 23, 2015 UPDATE: Des Hague pleaded guilty today to one count of animal cruelty.

If you purchase a hot dog at the brand-new Levi’s Stadium after it opens next month in San Francisco — or buy food at hundreds of other venues — you’ll be putting money in the pocket of Centerplate catering company’s CEO Des Hague, who was caught on surveillance camera late last month kicking a Doberman puppy in an elevator.

Hague can be seen repeatedly kicking the puppy’s stomach and then choking her — he yanks up her leash so she’s suspended in the air. The video was taken July 27 at the upscale Private Residences at Hotel Georgia in Vancouver.

When BC SPCA investigators tracked down Hague in one of the condos, they found the puppy, named Sade, in a urine-soaked crate, with food and water bowls beyond her reach. When Sade was removed from the crate, she was skittish and appeared to have been physically abused.

“The dog was removed from the owner,” Mary Moriarty, BC SPCA chief prevention and enforcement officer, told Global News.

But Hague, a friend of the puppy’s owner, is not yet facing any animal cruelty charges, although they have been recommended by the BC SPCA.

Hague also remains the CEO of Centerplate.

“Centerplate does not condone the mistreatment of animals, and since learning about the situation late Friday night, have reached out to local authorities to better understand the facts and circumstances related to the incident,” the company said in a statement. “As this is an ongoing review, we cannot comment further at this time.”

Hague released a contrite statement yesterday through his attorney, claiming the incident was “completely and utterly out of character. I am ashamed and deeply embarrassed … a minor frustration with a friend’s pet caused me to lose control of my emotional response.”

Crisis management expert Steve Paskoff told Fortune what a lot of us are probably thinking: “My immediate reaction to this news was, this is a guy who will kick and drag a friend’s dog — what else is there to say about him? And if he treats defenseless dogs this way, how is he treating people?”

So far, no venues — including Denver’s Mile High Stadium, San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium and the Los Angeles Zoo — have cancelled their Centerplate contracts.

“The 49ers organization condemns the abuse of animals and was disturbed to learn of the recent news regarding Des Hague,” it wrote in a statement sent to Fortune. “We believe his actions are not reflective of the efforts and service provided by the hundreds of Centerplate employees working to present our fans with a tremendous experience at Levi’s Stadium.”

In the meantime, stadium guests have started boycotting Centerplate. At BC Palace in Vancouver Sunday, Canadian Football League fans told the media they would not be purchasing any food, and that Hague should be fired immediately.

Hague conveniently deleted his Twitter account, but animal lovers are using the hashtag #DesHague to condemn the puppy-kicking CEO.

You can contact Centerplate via email at info@centerplate.com.

If you’re still planning to buy food from a venue that uses Centerplate (here are all their North American partners), I highly recommend that you watch this surveillance video first.

The Ice Bucket Challenge Going to the Dogs is Just Plain Cold

We’ve all seen them by now — videos of celebrities and civilians getting a bucketful of ice water dumped on their heads to raise awareness of ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease). The dumpee then nominates someone else to go through the same ordeal — hence the name “Ice Bucket Challenge.”

But in what TIME refers to as a “cutesy turn,” dogs — including Sutter Brown, the Corgi belonging to California Gov. Jerry Brown — are now being subjected to having ice water dumped on their heads.

What’s so cute about that? The dogs have no idea what’s going on, and most of them look downright miserable in the videos.

Jennifer Fearing, deputy director of the Humane Society of the United States and a friend of Sutter’s, told Carla Hall of the Los Angeles Times that she doesn’t think the dog dunkings are cruel.

“I wish people would worry more about serious animal abuse issues,” she said. “Would you like a list? It’s unfortunately long.”

If humans want to participate in this insanely popular fad, fine. Overnight Wednesday, $6.1 million was donated to the ALS Association, which has raised $31.5 million in just one month. That’s 16 times more than the association raised in July and August 2013.

But please, people, even if it’s not considered abuse, don’t subject your dogs or other pets to an ice dunking. Just go ahead and donate the money to the ALS Association — or perhaps to your favorite animal shelter or rescue group — instead.

Sorry, Sutter Brown.

Photo via Facebook

Physician Faces Cruelty Charges for Leaving 9 Dogs in His Car While He Worked

The heat index rose to 90 degrees outside Charles A. Bickerstaff’s SUV Monday. Inside the vehicle were the South Carolina physician’s nine Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, who’d been left without food, water — or even a window cracked slightly open — while Bickerstaff went to work at a hospital.

When Bickerstaff returned to his car three hours later and found the dogs unresponsive, he took them to Mt. Pleasant Animal Hospital to be examined.

The dogs weren’t just unresponsive — they were dead, and rigor mortis had set in. They showed symptoms of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), a condition that causes clots to form and block the flow of blood to vital organs.

When Bickerstaff — who didn’t tell anyone his name — left the hospital, the staff notified police. It was apparent the dogs “succumbed to their injuries as a result of ill treatment,” according to an affidavit.

“This is a medical doctor. This is not acceptable,” said the woman who called 911, reports WCIV. “He had asked, ‘So, leaving the windows open is not adequate?’ No. Not when they’re in kennels and they have full coats, and you have them two by two in each kennel.”

Police were able to track down Bickerstaff, who admitted he had left his nine dogs, whose ages ranged from 5 months to 9 years, inside his vehicle in the hospital’s parking lot.

In even mildly warm weather, the interior of a car can become like an oven — whether or not the windows are left slightly open.

“The temperature inside of a car during spring and summer, and early fall, in South Carolina will rise so much that, for a dog, seconds can cost them their life,” Dr. Sarah Boyd, of the Charleston Animal Society, told WCIV.

For example, when it’s 75 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can rise to 100 degrees in only 10 minutes.

Bickerstaff’s attorney, Bill Thrower, told The Post and Courier that the gastroenterologist got sidetracked with an emergency at the hospital, and couldn’t attend to his dogs, who he thought would be safe in the car.

“This was a tragedy that he feels as bad as anybody about,” Thrower said.

Bickerstaff has been charged with nine counts of cruelty, and his bond has been set at $90,000. Each count could result in up to five years in prison, with a minimum sentence of 180 days.

Joe Elmore, CEO of the Charleston Animal Society, told The Post and Courier that if Bickerstaff is found guilty, “we believe the maximum penalty should be applied by the judge in this case.”

Photo credit: Hugh Macdonald

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