animal abuse Archives - Page 3 of 3

Former Baltimore Ravens Player Terrence Cody Indicted on Felony Dog Abuse Charges

MARCH 24, 2016 UPDATE: Terrence Cody was sentenced today to nine months in the Baltimore County Detention Center.

terrence cody nfl killed dog Terrence Cody, who was cut from the Baltimore Ravens last week while he was under investigation by the Baltimore County State’s attorney’s office for animal cruelty, was indicted today on 15 charges, including two felony charges for aggravated cruelty involving his dog.

These are the charges announced by the Baltimore County Police, according to the Baltimore Sun:

Two felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty related to the death of his dog, a Bullmastiff from Spain he bought for $8,000. If convicted, Cody faces a maximum of six years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
Five misdemeanor counts of animal abuse or neglect involving the same dog, punishable by up to 90 days in prison and at most a $5,000 fine.
One misdemeanor illegal possession of an alligator charge and five misdemeanor counts of animal abuse or neglect of the alligator. These charges are punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The remaining misdemeanor charges are drug related.

Further information about the nature of the abuse wasn’t provided. According to Maryland law, aggravated animal cruelty is to “intentionally mutilate, torture, cruelly beat or cruelly kill an animal.”

John Cox, deputy state attorney for Baltimore County, told the Baltimore Sun that Cody was not involved in dog fighting.

Cody’s agent, Peter Schaffer, said last week that Cody’s Bullmastiff had died from worms. He said when the dog became seriously ill, Cody had taken him to a vet.

Schaffer was upset with the Ravens for canning his client. “This young man’s dog has died and the Ravens were so worried about possible ramifications from the league that they took a preemptive strike,” he told the Baltimore Sun. “The fact that the NFL has created such an atmosphere of hysteria that tramples on due process rights, the right of law and common decency is a tremendous problem in our league and our society.”

The “atmosphere of hysteria” is in reference to the NFL’s personal conduct policy, which was toughened up last year after the suspension of another Ravens team member, running back Ray Rice. In that domestic abuse case, an elevator camera captured Rice punching his fiancée in the face, knocking her unconscious. Rice later won his appeal of the suspension and it was overturned. Last week ESPN reported that the NFL Players Association had filed a grievance against the NFL to challenge the new personal conduct policy.

Schaffer insisted that Cody loved his dog. “If the dog was being treated cruelly, why take it to a vet?” he said, according to TribLIVE Sports. “When the dog passed away, Terrence was in tears.”

Cody has not yet been assigned a court date.

Photo via Twitter

Sarah Palin Thinks It’s Fine for Son to Use Dog as ‘Stepping Stone’

JAN. 3, 2015 UPDATE: Sarah Palin finally responded on her Facebook page this afternoon to the outrage over the photos she posted:

“Chill. At least Trig didn’t eat the dog.
Hey, by the way, remember your “Woman of the Year”, Ellen DeGeneres? Did you get all wee-wee’d up when she posted this sweet picture [a child standing on a dog]? Hypocritical, much?
Did you go as crazy when your heroic Man-of-Your-Lifetime, Barack Obama, revealed he actually enjoyed eating dead dog meat?”

Ooh, burn! Her barrage against PETA goes on for a few more paragraphs, then concludes with this:

“Our pets, including Trig’s best buddy Jill Hadassah, are loved, spoiled and cared for more than some people care for their fellow man whose politics may not mesh with nonsensical liberally failed ways or don’t fit your flighty standards. Jill is a precious part of our world. So is Trig.”

So Palin has Jill’s back. Hopefully Trig won’t end up breaking it.

Remember when Sarah Palin famously said the difference between Pit Bulls and hockey moms was “lipstick” — helping fuel the stereotype of the breed as being aggressive? And who, when she was governor of Alaska, supported killing wolves by shooting them from helicopters?

The former vice presidential candidate is once again earning the wrath of animal lovers.

Photos she posted on her Facebook page Thursday show her son, Trig, who has Down syndrome, using the family’s black Lab as a step stool. Which was fine with Palin.

“May 2015 see every stumbling block turned into a stepping stone on the path forward. Trig just reminded me,” Palin wrote in the caption. “He, determined to help wash dishes with an oblivious mama not acknowledging his signs for ‘up!’, found me and a lazy dog blocking his way. He made his stepping stone.”

Cathy Liss, president of the Animal Welfare Institute, also has a child with Down syndrome. In a statement, she said she understands how a relationship between a child with special needs and the family pet can be beneficial to the child.

“That said, it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that the interaction is safe and appropriate for both,” Liss added. “Although perhaps a seemingly innocent post on Facebook by Palin, a child standing on a dog is not safe for either the child or the dog.”

More than 21,000 comments have been made on the Facebook photos.

“Being a parent of a child with special needs (downs syndrome) this is not the proper way to teach a child,” wrote Linda Whitehead.

Many Palin supporters have no problem with the photos, however.

“Get over it liberal tree hugging morons! The dog is fine!” wrote Josh Robinson. “‘Oh that poor dog, animal abuse, etc.’ Give me a break!”

I may be a liberal tree-hugging moron, but I think that even someone who can see Russia from her Alaska home should have enough sense to realize that putting so much pressure on a dog’s back can cause serious injury to his spine.

Palin has not yet commented on the reaction to her photos.

Photo via Facebook

White House Fence Jumper Faces Felony Charges for Assaulting Secret Service Dogs

For the seventh time this year, someone has jumped the fence surrounding the White House. But the latest trespasser, Dominic Adesanya, didn’t get very far yesterday. Secret Service dogs Hurricane and Jordan immediately chased him down.

When the dogs confronted him, Adesanya punched and kicked them — one of them severely. So, along with other charges, he is also facing two felony counts for animal assault, thanks to the Federal Law Enforcement Animal Protection Act of 2000. This act makes it a federal felony to kill or inflict serious bodily injury on any federal police dog or horse.

“This person didn’t just illegally enter White House grounds — he attempted to seriously injure two law enforcement animals doing their duty,” Humane Society of the United States President Wayne Pacelle stated today in a press release.

“We support his prosecution under the Federal Law Enforcement Animal Protection Act, and hope that a conviction and prison sentence deters other would-be criminals from hurting dogs or horses doing their work to protect our country.”

After being treated by a veterinarian for minor bruising, Hurricane and Jordan are doing fine. “Both K-9s were cleared for duty by the veterinarian,” Edwin Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman, wrote in an email to the Washington Post.

Like all 25 Secret Service dogs, Hurricane and Jordan are Belgian Malinois. The agency prefers this breed because they are intelligent, strong and obedient, and can run twice as fast as a human. Plus, the agency says on its website, these dogs are more agile and have more energy than German Shepherds, another popular K-9 breed.

According to the @SecretService Twitter account, Hurricane is 6 years old and “enjoys playing with his Kong toy.” Jordan is 5 and “enjoys walks around White House.”

So where were Hurricane, Jordan and other Secret Service dogs last month, when Omar J. Gonzalez jumped the White House fence and made it all the way inside to the East Room?

The dogs were not released during that incident, the Washington Post reports. That decision is part of the review of Department of Homeland Security breakdowns that is currently being conducted by security and operations experts.

The Secret Service started using dogs in 1975. The dogs and their handlers train for 20 weeks at a facility in Maryland. As part of the agency’s Uniformed Division, each dog is trained for a specific skill, such as bomb sniffing.

The only duty of Hurricane, Jordan and other dogs who work on the grounds of the White House is to subdue intruders.

“Once you release the dogs to their objective, there’s not much that can stop them,” former Secret Service Director Ralph Basham told the Washington Post. “Take them down, slam into them. There are certain parts of the body they are trained to attack. They are trained to stop the intruder and give the handler time to respond.”

Photos via Twitter

Therapy Dog Susie, Survivor of Horrific Abuse, is 2014 American Hero Dog

Susie, the Pit Bull/German Shepherd-mix therapy dog who last night received the prestigious honor of being named the American Humane Association 2014 American Hero Dog, had a rotten start in life.

When she was just a 3-month-old puppy in August 2009, her owner’s boyfriend, Lashawn Whitehead, beat her for 15 minutes, doused her with lighter fluid and set her on fire — only because Susie had jumped on the couch where Whitehead’s baby son was resting. Whitehead dumped Susie in a park in Greenboro, N.C., and left there to die.

Despite a broken jaw and teeth, as well as second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body, Susie survived. She was found two weeks later, covered in maggots, and taken in by the Guilford County Animal Shelter. After several months of treatment, Susie found a loving new forever home with Donna and Roy Lawrence.

Donna was extremely fearful of dogs at the time. Less than a year before, she’d been attacked by a neglected, chained Pit Bull. But Susie — herself a Pit mix — helped Donna heal.

“If Susie hadn’t come into my life, I don’t know that I ever would have gotten over the fear,” Donna told TODAY. “I was drawn to her spirit — her love and affection for people when she should hate them, you know? She was living in the moment, not living in the past, happy … I thought, ‘If this puppy can forgive humans, I can forgive dogs.’”

Within a few months, Susie was certified as a therapy dog. She began visiting schools, hospitals and nursing homes, helping other people who, like her dog mom, were recovering from traumatic events.

As for Susie’s abuser, he was turned in by his mother, who’d witnessed the attack, three months later. Whitehead pleaded guilty to burning personal property, which carried a sentence of up to eight months in prison, and to felony animal cruelty. At that time in North Carolina, animal cruelty was considered a misdemeanor and only resulted in probation — no jail time. If the probation was violated, the abuser might face, at most, up to five months in prison.

The outrage over the slap on the wrist given to Whitehead led Lawrence and other animal lovers to campaign for Susie’s Law, sponsored by Sen. Don Vaughan. Susie’s Law increases the penalty for the malicious abuse, torture or killing of an animal to a Class H felony. Anyone found guilty of these crimes can be sent to prison.

Susie’s Law was passed in December 2010. The official copy includes Gov. Bev Perdue’s signature as well as Susie’s paw print. Lawrence founded the non-profit organization Susie’s Hope to continue raising awareness of animal abuse in the U.S. and working to end it.

At the Hero Dog Awards ceremony last night, Susie fittingly received a standing ovation. The purpose of this annual national competition is to recognize dogs who unconditionally help humans. The winners in eight categories were selected from more than 1 million online votes and a judging panel.

The American Humane Association 2014 Hero Dog Awards will air on the Hallmark Channel on Oct. 30 at 8 p.m.

Photos via Facebook; Facebook