Tag: dog abuse

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

Burned Chihuahua Adopted by Family of Burn Survivor

Rescuers were horrified when they discovered a Chihuahua puppy dumped behind an Antioch, Calif., animal shelter March 30.

Someone had tortured the tiny dog, leaving severe chemical burns on his ears and along his belly.

Because of this abuse, his ears had to be surgically removed. Thanks to donations, the animal rescue group Umbrella of Hope covered the cost of his medical expenses, which amounted to about $5,000.

Along with the physical trauma, the puppy, who was given the name Fireman, also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“He had a lot of strings attached,” Kristy Keusch, who fostered Fireman for four months as he recovered from surgery, told the Contra Costa Times.

Fireman hated leashes and being hugged. He would nip anyone who touched his head or neck.

“He punctured me a few times,” Keusch told the Times.

Although Umbrella of Hope received thousands of requests to adopt Fireman, the rescue figured he would do best in a forever home with a burn survivor — someone who would understand the pain the dog was going through.

That someone turned out to be 12-year-old Chloe Levenson-Cupp. When she was a baby, scalding tea was accidentally spilled on her, resulting in second- and third-degree burns that required seven surgeries. Through Umbrella of Hope and local TV station KTVU, Shriners Hospital for Children helped Chloe and her family connect with Keusch and Fireman.

Last week, 6-month-old Fireman (aka Buddy) became an official member of the Levenson-Cupp family.

“Normally, in the human world, you don’t meet burn survivors,” Chloe told KTVU. “And then meeting a dog like me is even more special.”

Fireman is already letting Chloe touch his head, but he still runs away from a leash. Chloe takes him to the pet store in a doggie stroller.

“He’s my baby — he’s definitely my baby,” Chloe told the Contra Costa Times.

Fido Alert – East Contra Costa County is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of the person who tortured Fireman. Anyone with information is asked to call Antioch Animal Services at 925-779-6989.

Back in April, another “pawfect” match was made when the family of 3-year-old Sapphyre Johnson, who is missing toes and fingers due to a birth defect, adopted Lt. Dan, a white German Shepherd puppy born without a right front paw.

Photo via Twitter

Why the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest Has Become Downright Ugly

On the last Friday of June every year, a pup wins the dubious “World’s Ugliest Dog” title at a contest held during the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif.

The contest organizers insist it’s all in good fun. “We celebrate the spirit and imperfections that make these dogs loveable and adoptable,” said Sarah Cummings, the contest’s CEO, in a press release.

The pet parents who enter the contest are proud of their dogs, “despite missing fur, crossed eyes, duck waddles or mismatched ears,” according to the press release. (The dogs, that is, not the pet parents.)

To qualify for the contest, dogs must have paperwork from veterinarians assuring they are healthy. A vet is also on site during the contest to check each of the contenders.

Until last year, the majority of the winners were Chinese Crested Dogs or elderly, toothless Chihuahuas. However, it’s very interesting that as of this year, the rules no longer state that dogs must be “naturally ugly.”

Perhaps that’s because the 2014 winner, Peanut, looked much different when he was born. As a puppy, Peanut was abused by his owner and suffered horrific burns in a fire.

“He doesn’t have lips anymore,” Holly Chandler, who rescued Peanut from a shelter where he’d languished for nine months, told KPIX 5 last year.

“His eyelids are also gone and he can’t close his eyes, so therefore his eyes water. The tears drain into his nose, so he has nice little snot bubbles because of it. So it’s great, that adds to his character.”

Just imagine the uproar if a two-legged burn victim won the title of “World’s Ugliest Human.”

Chandler said she entered Peanut in the contest to raise awareness for animal rescue. That’s a noble reason, but there’s got to be a better way to do this than making fun of — er, celebrating — a dog’s looks, especially when those looks are the result of abuse.

Why not a World’s Sassiest Dog contest? Or how about World’s Happiest Dog? Now, that’s a competition I would fully support.

Photo via sonoma-marinfair.org

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