We got the good news from Best Friends Animal Society about the Las Vegas Summit.
Here it is:
Animal Welfare Groups Announce New Collaboration to Save Pit Bulls
Best Friends Animal Society and The Humane Society of the United States announced that a summit meeting held this week in Las Vegas to discuss the disposition of dogs seized from dogfighting operations has led to a coalition of groups working together to help the canine victims of organized violence.
Among the outcomes of the meeting:
• The HSUS has a new policy of recommending that all dogs seized from fighting operations be professionally evaluated, according to agreed upon standards, to determine whether they are suitable candidates for adoption. Dogs deemed suitable for placement should be offered as appropriate to adopters or to approved rescue organizations. The HSUS will update its law enforcement training manual and other materials to reflect this change in policy.
• The groups agree that all dogs should be treated as individuals, and they are the true victims of this organized crime. They also agree to support law enforcement and animal control agencies when decisions must be made regarding the dogs deemed unsuitable for adoption and in cases when rescue organizations and adopters are unable, within a reasonable timeframe, to accept dogs from such raids that have been offered for adoption.
• The organizations will form a working group to develop future protocols for cooperation in addressing the needs of dogs seized in raids, such as how to assist with the housing of fighting dogs, how to conduct professional evaluations, and how to screen potential adopters.
The summit meeting was convened to address the matter of dogs seized as a result of cruelty investigations, particularly due to the increase in HSUS-led enforcement actions against dogfighters.
Participants at the meeting included Best Friends Animal Society, The Humane Society of the United States, BAD RAP, ASPCA, National Animal Control Association, Maddie’s Fund, Nevada Humane Society, and Spartanburg Humane Society.
And now because it's Easter Weekend - Here's a little video to remind everyone to kiss your pit bulls
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YES!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThere IS a bully goD!
:) Angie
Any idea why at least one of the groups included doesn't adopt pits out?
ReplyDeleteWhich group?
ReplyDeleteThe outcome of this summit is really great news! Just so you know - no one has to remind me to kiss my Pit Bull!
ReplyDeleteMaria! Ha! I'm sure this is the case with your pooch. SHE reminds you all the time!
ReplyDeleteCUTE.
Marthina
Spartanburg doesn't have a single pit bull listed on their website. With so many people shut out of the meeting, it seems strange they were included. What expertise did they bring?
ReplyDeleteInteresting points. Both of them. Not sure.
ReplyDeleteI think many of us have these same questions. This is not meant to be a negative about any of the groups that were invited, but how was that decision made? Everything I read prior to the meeting stated it would be a meeting between the HSUS and "Major Stakeholders"??? How was that decided? There are so many people who have done and continue to do so much for the breed and they don't seem to be represented.
ReplyDeleteWinograd this AM, interesting perspective:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nathanwinograd.com/?page_id=166
The whole issue of who was invited makes me itchy. BF and BR are 2 groups, with frankly limited experience with pit bulls, that are making themselves into the czars of pit bull rescue and cutting out the people and groups that have been doing it for much much longer. What they have that the other groups/individuals don't is mostly PR and self promotion skills (which is by no means to deny their very real accomplishments in saving dogs and promoting positive messages). Through these skills, they have filled a niche and they do deserve credit for doing what others didn't have those skills/resources/timing for. But shame on them both for being so controlling and self-aggrandizing.
There is no reason that reps of PBRC, RPB, OP and many of the other long-term pit bull rescuers couldn't have been invited to this meeting.
It's just one of the many traps that HSUS has set.
oh, here's some great detective work on one of those "major stakeholders" who was invited.... short version: another HSUS pit bull killer.
ReplyDeletehttp://yesbiscuit.blogspot.com/2009/04/spartanburg-humane-society-and-new-hsus.html
Awww...cute video!
ReplyDeleteWish I had a nickel for every pit bull kiss I've gotten over the years.
I'd be a millionaire by now!!!
We are cautiously optimistic about this - only time will tell how this will affect the future of Pit Bulls. To be continued.....
ReplyDeleteCautiously optimistic is the term here. I don't want to not have hope. How can you do rescue and not have hope that things and people can change? Why bother then?
ReplyDeleteI'm happy some baby steps have been taken. At least this is being discussed. BUT.....back to hoping again that it all works out for the dogs in the end.
Sadly we will have to wait until there is another bust (and we know there will be) to see if there are changes. I hope will all my heart there will be.
ReplyDeleteAs YesBiscuit points out, there are ALREADY fightbust dogs that would benefit from a communication from HSUS:
ReplyDeletehttp://yesbiscuit.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-hsus-policy-getting-to-know-you.html
It would be very easy for HSUS to convince the skeptics, just by doing ANYTHING to help those dogs.
Or any other actual living pit bulls, for that matter.
We need to pull resources together to help the dogs and get busy helping them asap. Whether anyone else is on board or adhering to a policy, we need to work, work, work to help the dogs more than ever.
ReplyDeleteI think all the points made are important and in my opinion valid but it's really going to come down to actual resources to help the dogs. The HSUS's policy just leaves the door more open for this by sticking to this. Believe me, I'm very cautious about this too as there seems to be some questions that need to be answered.
Now, if the many resources/rescues can get in there to help the dogs........
Rescue groups coming together to work as a team, pool knowledge and expertise, and help as many dogs as possible should now be the focus. APBT people have been clamoring for a chance for fight bust dogs for years. Now we have some room to move in and actually save some of these dogs. And it is time to act! HSUS is not the REAL issue. They will still be HSUS, doing what they do. The real issue is how well will APBT rescues be able to come together and work as one cohesive unit to help more Pit Bull victims!
ReplyDeleteI think that things will get worked out more and more as they go along because a door has been opened. I takes time for things to get solidified and in working order. Big change doesn't happen just overnight.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter if any group is doing this or that in this situation. Yes, it's good to be cautious but the door has been opened publicly and that's good thing for us and the dogs. There's opportunity for us to help now more than ever. Let's take it!
I also think that BF and BR have had quite a bit of experience with Pit Bulls, especially in the Vick case. In my opinion what all of us are missing is extensive year after year after year experience in working with and living with many, many bust dogs on an on going continual basis as most of the time these dogs were never kept alive long enough before. I do think there are groups that have had more experience with them than others. Having said that, I have found that in my experience even in comparing different busts these dogs really are individual dogs with individual needs. A bust dog isn't much different than a backyard dog from Los Gatos. Or a shelter dog that was returned by his owner because he scrapped with a Lab. As I've said before I've seen dogs in local shelters with issues, I've seen bust dogs with no issues or maybe they did have issues that were easily managed or were due to their environment only and therefore resolved easily. I've had shelter that were difficult to work with as there issues didn't resolve as easily. If you've had experience with Pit Bulls, well,good, that's what the Pit Bull bust dog is, he's a Pit Bull....with his own individual needs.
The groups should and I hope will continue to grow in this effort as that's what it's really going to take is a lot of resources. I'm not talking money, I'm talking people, foster homes, training for basic manners etc. It won't happen successfully with one our two orgs anyway and I think that's been seen already.
The groups should and I hope will continue to grow in this effort as that's what it's really going to take is a lot of resources. I'm not talking money, I'm talking people, foster homes, training for basic manners etc. It won't happen successfully with one our two orgs anyway and I think that's been seen already.That's the bottom line right there. People, it all comes down to people putting their money where their mouth is.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in an email to Marthina just this morning... Ed Faron's dogs for example... over 100 dogs killed and THOUSANDS of people cried for a change. You'd think that with the supposed support shown in that outrage, every one of those dogs would have had a place to go had they been given a chance. In reality tho, very few of them would have been saved because the people who cried for the change, the chance, aren't there where it really counts because most everyone thinks "someone else will do it".
We can use this new policy as a chance to open peoples eyes if we want to... which I do. Call me unprofessional if you will... but I think this can be a wake up call to the entire pit bull advocate community. This CAN be an opportunity to educate folks on what rescue is all about. They see us out there with our adoptable dogs and they see us fighting for their lives, they see us going to bat for them to be able to keep their own dogs, and they pat us on the back. What so many people seem to fail to understand is that - without their help, all of this push for change means nothing. We got the change... now what are YOU going to help us do with it?
I don't dare discount the thank you's we get from folks who think we're doing a good job. However, I would like to see more people - the ones who talk about doing something - actually get involved and become a part of the change they want to see in the lives of these dogs. Actions speak so much louder than words.