In what appeared to be a particularly heinous act of animal cruelty, a dead dog was found near the shore of a Marina del Rey, Calif., beach March 16 with its collar wrapped around the handle of a shovel that had been inserted deep into the sand. The poor pup had seemingly been left there to slowly drown as the tide came in.
A couple days later, what was described as a decapitated dog was found in Ballona Creek, not far from Marina del Rey.
PETA and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors offered a total of $20,000 in reward money for whoever committed these horrible acts. Fears arose that a serial dog killer was on the loose in the area.
But the decapitated dog turned out to be a bloated raccoon, whose head was still attached.
And today the Los Angeles Times reports that the dog found on the beach had actually been killed by a car, not by drowning.
Last night a homeless man showed up at the Marina del Rey police station, asking about his missing dead dog, Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry Ramage told the Times.
The man said after the dog was hit by a car, he took the body to the beach to wash it in the ocean, because he wanted to have it stuffed. He attached the collar to the shovel handle so the dog’s body wouldn’t float away while he left to get some of his belongings.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” Ramage told the Times. Yep.
Meanwhile, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk doesn’t want this case closed. “It’s possible that this dog’s death was a tragic accident, but a necropsy will show whether this dog drowned or was hit by a car,” she said in a statement.
The homeless man’s story, however, seems weird enough to be true. In either case, rest in peace, poor pup.
Way back in the early 1960s when Dr. Seuss (aka Theodore Geisel) was writing “What Pet Should I Get?” — which was finally published in July 2015, 22 years after his wife, Audrey, discovered the manuscript in his office — most people bought their pets from stores.
In the book, the brother and sister from the Dr. Seuss’ “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” go shopping at a pet store.
A lot has changed in over 50 years. As people became more aware of the horrible conditions in puppy mills, from which most stores obtain their pets for sale, the mantra, “Adopt, don’t shop,” became popular. People began going to animal shelters instead of stores to find new family members.
Many cities, including Los Angeles, outlawed the sale of pets from stores. Nowadays, most of the dogs and cats in the businesses that still exist are from local shelters.
To address this change, an addendum has been added to “What Pet Should I Get?” by its publisher, Random House Children’s Books. The note advises readers to adopt pets from a shelter rather than buy them from a store.
However, the new addendum does not discourage having exotic animals as pets, such as the monkeys and large birds featured in the book. This doesn’t sit well with Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“There should have been a disclaimer that said wild birds do not make good pets, they do not belong in cages,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “If you want to adopt, choose a rabbit or a puppy at a shelter and leave exotics and wildlife alone.”
I agree with Newkirk that parents and teachers reading the book with kids should be “careful to use it as a learning exercise and a teaching exercise.”
‘How Much Is That Doggie in the Window’ Also Got an Update
Just like “What Pet Should I Get?”, Patti Page’s 1952 novelty hit, “How Much That Doggie in the Window?” was about buying a pet from a store.
Page, an animal lover, re-recorded the song in 2009.
“When I recorded that song more than 50 years ago, ‘doggie in the window’ seemed like a sweet and harmless message, and everyone thought the corner pet store was just a place to see sweet and adorable puppies,” she said in a video for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
“And now the puppies in pet stores may still be adorable, but most of them come from puppy mills. So I’ve changed my tune.”
The new version of her hit was retitled, “Do You See That Doggie in the Shelter?” It included these revised lyrics:
“Do you see that doggie in the shelter?
The one with the take-me-home eyes?
If you give him your love and attention
He will be your best friend for life.”
Page, who passed away in 2013, donated the rights to the new song to the HSUS.
For three years, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium has used siblings Major and Zeta — who are Australian Cattle Dogs — to herd its elephants. It’s the only zoo in the Northern Hemisphere that uses dogs in such a capacity.
The herding dogs are a safety measure for its elephant handlers, Tracy Gray told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last November.
“These relationships can be thought of in terms of traditional shepherding practices,” she said. “In this case, our primary elephant keeper represents the shepherd; the elephants represent the flock; and the Australian Cattle Dogs assist the shepherd.”
The dogs are apparently keeping the elephant handlers safe, but what about the safety of the dogs, and the stress they cause to the elephants?
“Video footage shows elephants displaying obvious signs of distress, including flapping their ears and trumpeting, as they’re chased and apparently nipped by dogs at the command of zoo staff,” stated People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in an October 2014 press release. “In addition to the obvious stress that this causes the elephants, the dogs are in danger of being accidentally stepped on and killed or purposely attacked and thrown in the air by the agitated elephants.”
CBS Pittsburgh — which recorded the video PETA referred to — reported in May 2014 that Major and Zeta were trained “to handle massive elephants. They charge and nip at the elephants’ feet and trunks. The elephants have such respect for the dogs that even if they hear a handler say the name Major or Zeta, they take notice.”
Using the dogs as elephant herders is also against Pennsylvania state laws, which prohibit dogs from pursuing wildlife.
In November, PETA filed a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA). According to the Associated Press, officials with the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service investigated the Pittsburgh Zoo last month. A USDA inspection report dated Jan. 7 and released today by PETA notes that the officials asked an unidentified elephant manager for a demonstration of how the dogs herd the pachyderms.
The report said one of the dogs “showed aggressive behavior, growling and lunging at one elephant and entering its enclosure before being called back by the manager.” The manager told the officials the dogs had previously bitten the elephants doing the course of their work.
Based on these observations and facts, the USDA concluded that, effective immediately, the zoo must handle the elephants in a way that does not create undue stress — in other words, without dogs nipping at their feet.
Pittsburgh Zoo President and CEO Barbara Baker issued a statement today, defending the canine elephant herders.
“The dogs read the behavior of the animals and alert the keepers to any disruption in the heard, preventing potential safety concerns for the staff and elephants,” she stated. “This method of animal management, in the livestock field, is referred to as a low-stress method.”
Baker said the demonstration USDA officials observed was not an example of the dogs’ usual work. “Our elephant manager demonstrated a drill simulating the dog’s response to a keeper being in an extreme and unlikely situation. We showed how valuable the dogs can be should a keeper’s safety be in question.”
She said the zoo is now working with the USDA on a study “that examines a variety of facets regarding the welfare of elephants, including a unique examination of stress.”
Even without Australian Cattle Dogs nipping at their feet, elephants in zoos are already under a lot of mental and physical stress. In the wild, elephants walk up to 30 miles a day. Being forced to live inside a small enclosure — alone or with just one or two other cellmates — makes for some very unhappy elephants. (Just imagine if you had to spend your life walking around in circles in your bathroom.)
Of course, the safest alternative is to release the elephants to a sanctuary — a humane action that, fortunately, is being taken by more and more zoos. But since that’s not likely to happen, a better way to increase the safety of zoo employees would be to follow the lead of more than half of all accredited U.S. zoos, and use what is called protected contact.
Protected contact uses physical barriers to separate employees from elephants, and employs positive reinforcement methods.
The Pittsburgh Zoo currently uses both protected and unprotected contact.
“Both methods use vocal commands, praise and food rewards,” zoo spokewoman Gray said last year. “If an elephant does not want to work with the keeper, the keeper leaves the area. We never punish our elephants for not cooperating.”
To “advance and improve” the care it provides for its elephants, three years ago the Pittsburgh Zoo began using siblings Major and Zeta — who are Australian Cattle Dogs — to herd them. It’s the only zoo in the Northern Hemisphere that uses dogs in such a capacity.
“The primary reason the herding dogs are working with our team is for the safety of our staff,” zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “These relationships can be thought of in terms of traditional shepherding practices. In this case, our primary elephant keeper represents the shepherd; the elephants represent the flock; and the Australian Cattle Dogs assist the shepherd.”
In 2002, a handler at the Pittsburgh Zoo was killed when he fell and a mother elephant pushed her head on his chest. Thirteen years before that, an elephant kicked and broke the leg of another handler when he tried to give her medicine.
It’s all well and good that the staff is being kept safe, but what about the safety of the herding dogs?
“Video footage shows elephants displaying obvious signs of distress, including flapping their ears and trumpeting, as they’re chased and apparently nipped by dogs at the command of zoo staff,” states a press release from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “In addition to the obvious stress that this causes the elephants, the dogs are in danger of being accidentally stepped on and killed or purposely attacked and thrown in the air by the agitated elephants.”
CBS Pittsburgh — which recorded the video PETA is probably referring to — reported back in May that Major and Zeta were trained “to handle massive elephants. They charge and nip at the elephants’ feet and trunks. The elephants have such respect for the dogs that even if they hear a handler say the name Major or Zeta, they take notice.”
Brittany Peet, PETA’s deputy director of captive animal law enforcement, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “It’s not just inhumane, to both the dogs and the elephants, it’s dangerous.”
It is also against Pennsylvania state laws, which prohibit dogs from pursuing wildlife.
PETA has filed a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), which is now investigating the zoo.
Even without Australian Cattle Dogs nipping at their feet, elephants in zoos are already under a lot of mental and physical stress. In the wild, elephants walk up to 30 miles a day. Being forced to live inside a small enclosure — alone or with just one or two other cellmates — makes for some very unhappy elephants. (Just imagine if you had to spend your life walking circles in your bathroom.)
Of course, the safest alternative is to release the elephants to a sanctuary — a humane action that, fortunately, is being taken by more and more zoos. But since that’s not likely to happen, a better way to increase the safety of zoo employees would be to follow the lead of many other zoos, and use what is called protected contact.
Used by more than half of all accredited U.S. zoos, protected contact uses physical barriers to separate employees from elephants, and employs positive reinforcement methods.
Grey told the Post-Gazette that the zoo uses both protected and unprotected contact.
“Both methods use vocal commands, praise and food rewards,” she said. “If an elephant does not want to work with the keeper, the keeper leaves the area. We never punish our elephants for not cooperating.”
A spokeswoman for the USDA told the Post-Gazette the department is looking into the matter and will determine whether the zoo is complying with animal welfare act regulations
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