Leo, Former Vick Dog, Featured on CBS

Our Pack’s Leo, the former Vick dog who is now a therapy dog, was featured on KPIX, the local CBS station, last night. Thanks to Len Ramirez for the great interview and footage of Leo at work! Watch the video here:


http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/category/watch-listen/video-on-demand/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5129010&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Dog DNA to Help ID Abusers

You may remember that Our Pack worked with the Humane Society of Missouri last year on the dog fighting raid mentioned in this article from the NY Times. Several of the dogs were brought home to Our Pack with the help of our friend Gale Frey from MuttsnStuff. She is quoted in the article:

Effort Uses Dogs’ DNA to Track Their Abusers
By MALCOLM GAY
Published: June 25, 2010

ST. LOUIS — Scientists and animal rights advocates have enlisted DNA evidence to do for man’s best friend what the judicial system has long done for human crime victims. They have created the country’s first dog-fighting DNA database, which they say will help criminal investigators piece together an abused animal’s history by establishing ties among breeders, owners, pit operators and the animals themselves.

Called the Canine Codis, or Combined DNA Index System, the database is similar to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s digital archive containing the DNA profiles of criminal offenders. Scientists say that by swabbing the inner cheek of a dog, they will be able to determine whether the animal comes from one of several known dog-fighting bloodlines.

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/science/27dna.html

Here is a video with photos of some of the dogs from the Missouri bust. Beautiful photography courtesy of Lynn Terry.

To see Our Pack dogs available for adoption, click here.

Lessons From a Wise Old Soul

You might remember Georgia, she came from a dog fighting case out of Georgia. This poor girl has a piece of her lip missing from the trauma she's experience and many scars. However, she's just the best spirited and the most loving girl anyone could ever meet. She just a wise old soul and has taught us so much. We love her so dearly.

Georgia's now also teaching kids. Our Pack's Mike Scott and Tracey Cutler took Georgia to a mentoring program at a local school for 13 year olds. They discussed some of the myths about Pit Bulls. They discussed resonsibility issues surrounding dogs in general. If you look in the gallery you'll see one young gentleman learning positive reinforcement training with Georgia. The kids had tons of wonderful questions about Georgia and dogs as a whole.

Georgia showed the kids how to be forgiving and what unconditional love is. The kids loved how friendly and cuddly she was and of course she soaked up the kid stuff like a sponge.

Our hope with this school program is that it will prevent future animal abuse
by letting the dogs teach the kids that they are loving and sentient creatures and it's up to humans to care for them. Georgia taught the kids this in her own soft, loving, special way.....thanks Georgia!



Marthina McClay, CPDT Animal Behavior College Mentor Trainer
Certified Tester/Observer for Therapy Dogs, Inc.
AKC Certified CGC Evaluator
www.ourpack.org
www.dogtrainingforpeople.com

Increased Penalties for Dog Fighting in California

In this article there has been an increase in the penalties for watching a dog fight.

Stella from the large Missouri dog fighting raid seen in this pic fabulously blending in with the pack wants to know what your views are on these new penalties.
Do you think someone should spend time in jail or be fined for watching a dog fight?

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14088943

Thoughtful and Happy New Year

This year brought a lot of work with Pit Bulls for us now that so many orgs are giving dogs from dog fighting abuse raids a chance at life. The world has had a chance to see what these wonderful dogs are all about being on such visible platforms. These dogs were always wonderful though and most of us doing Pit Bull rescue, education or canine behavioral counsling of some sort knew this way before the high profile cases in the last two years.

A new day has come for Pit Bulls and there really is so much to appreciate and be happy about. Our dogs have shown us courage, unconditional love and a humanity that they themselves did not receive. I think if I could just maintain the same attitude that they have I would probably get a lot more done!

Our dogs are now more and more being judged as individuals as they should be and there's so much to look forward to ringing in the new year. There's more work to do but in my opinion often focusing on what's positive and right begets more positivity and rightness while doing the tough work. The dogs show us everyday their positive attitudes in the worst ever situations.

So I'm going to cuddle up on my couch with my professional snugglers and appreciate the heck out them, give them all a kiss at midnight and look forward to another year of helping the dogs to be seen as what they are. I hope you all do the same!

I think this photo shows thoughtful reflection and appreciation. I'd like to thank one of our friends Christina for sending in this wonderful photo of her son and his "BFF".

Happy New Year!

Rest In Peace Sweet Fay

We are very sad to announce that Fay from the Missouri raid this year has died. She had been undergoing surgeries to correct her mouth where much of her lips had been missing. This had presented a myriad of health issues for Fay.


Fay underwent her second surgery and all went very well. Unfortunately after the surgery she went into cardiac arrest. All appropriate percautions had been taken prior to the surgery by the vet and truly nothing could have prevented this tragic event. There is no blame here, well, except toward the people who used her for dog fighting that ravaged her little body.
Thank you to Gale at MuttsNStuff for your love, care and peace you gave to this beautiful angel. Thank you Dr. Marcy for you love and help you gave this wonderful girl. Thank you to HSMO for giving this sweet dog a chance. She touched the hearts and souls of many and will truly be missed.

Animal abuse such as dogfighting, neglect and needless lack of simply caring for the animals that God made US in charge of needs to stop....now. The obvious evidence of abuse that Fay showed along with her courage in spite of it MUST give us a concept of what real courage and humanity is. It's sadly ironic to me that in this case as with many others it's the animal showing the human how they should be.

Rest in peace beautiful Fay,you will forever be in our hearts




Marthina McClay, CPDT
Animal Behavior College Mentor Trainer
Certified Tester/Observer for Therapy Dogs, Inc.
AKC Certified CGC Evaluator
www.ourpack.org
www.dogtrainingforpeople.com

Michael Vick gets an award???

Interview with Michael Vick here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7309186

Leo

Interview here with Leo - formerly owned by Michael Vick:

Interviewer: Tell us, Leo, what is your life like now after all you've been through?

Leo: Well, I feel loved and I have a job that I feel I was born to do. Before, I didn't have this job or such a feeling of self worth.

Interviewer: Leo, many people feel that you have courage. You won an award called the Animals are Kind to People Award. Do you feel it took courage to achieve this after everything you've been through?

Leo: Yes, I feel that many dogs would have such a tough time living the life I once lived. They wouldn't be able to handle and endure what I have. I did bounce back and I don't hold any grudges against anyone. I'm just simply proud of who and what I am now.

Interviewer: Leo, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. We are proud of you and hope that life just continues to go better for you now that you've achieved so many goals and have gotten back into the swing of things.

Leo: Thanks so much for taking the time and caring enough to interview me.

Beautiful Video of the Missouri Bust Dogs

Here's a wonderful video of the Missouri dogs. One of my favorite photos of all time is of our Stella being cuddled by Gale. Stella.....innocence. Beautiful photography by Lynn Terry.

Teddy Kiriakidis, Ronald Creach, Michael Morgan, Robert Hackman plead guilty to dog fighting

By Mike Garrity

KSDK -- Four eastern Missouri men have been sentenced for federal crimes involving dog fighting.

The convictions resulted from the largest coordinated multistate raids on dog fighting in U.S. history.

Teddy Kiriakidis, 50, of Leasburg, and Ronald Creach, 34, of Leslie, were sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison.

Thirty-eight-year-old Michael Morgan of Hannibal and 56-year-old Robert Hackman of Foley each were sentenced to one year in prison.

Each man pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

Read the full article here.

Welcoming Committiee for Missouri Bust Girl

Here's some of the Our Pack crew giving a warm good morning welcome to Belinda our newest girl from the Missouri raid.

Thank you to Gale from Mutts and Stuff for driving our girl to the airport. She arrived safe and sound!

Also, in this article I wanted to correct the fact that Jakob is living with Anna Morey Seekamp, an Our Pack volunteer and trainer. He is going to be fostered by her until he's adopted. She and I will be working together on his therapy training. In the article it states that Jakob is living with me. Easy to misunderstand being that Leo lives with me. Happy Endings
Thank you Anna for all your good work!!

Marthina

Rehabilitated

I get asked this question all the time. "Can dogs that have been abused by humans that fight them really be rehabilitated?" Hmmmm, well, I don't think the word is rehabilitated, I think it's more like we put the dogs that have been abused by humans in fighting rings in an environment where they can now go back to what they previously were or could have been without the abuse. In other words, the animal abusers put the dogs in a position to be defensive. It's not that there is a desire to fight in the dogs but a feeling of being threathened and a need to defend themselves. So any compulsion to defend themselves is due to having been put in a life threatening situation over and over and over. This is not a desire to fight. Having to have to do something for survival is different than a desire to do it for the fun of it. Humans are very different people during a war vs when they are at home comfortably watching TV for instance.

Humans make the dogs by setting up an environment that either places the dog in a winning-by-good-behavior position or he sets up an environment that places him in a "winning"-by-bad-behavior position. We allow the dog to go back to what he would naturally be in an environment that is condusive to survival on his terms.

Yes, they do have their own core temperaments and yes, genetics plays a role but that's actually another discussion apart from this one.

I'm not talking about just taking a dog from a raid and plunking him down somewhere where no one has a clue either. I'm talking about taking a dog and placing him in an environment where he learns that all is well and there's good leadership and wonderful things happen when he does the right thing. Again, he becomes what he already would have been if he wasn't threatened and forced to do and be something else.

Sometimes dogs are too damaged from abuse and they get "stuck". Then it's difficult to help them and that is something we always have to face. This is why it is so important to just assess first on an individual basis. Maybe some dogs aren't going to do well with dogs coming from these situations. However, as a trainer of all breeds I've seen this happen with many, many breeds up through maturity coming from many different situations.

So here we have Jakob who came from the largest dog fighting raid in US history. On his intake report it said that he did have scars but we don't let that be the brunt of our assessment. We go futher and see how he is with other dogs. We started out working with my dogs.

To sum it up we did long crate intros, walking side by side, meeting through a gate and in general just went slow with my dogs. This sends the message that these dogs here are cool. No one's going to do anything scary here.

The first dog to meet Jakob on leash with no barrier was Dexter. Jakob was, uh,hum, you know like, "uh, what are we going to do now?" Of course Dex knew what to do right away as he could see that Jakob was unsure of what he was suppose to be doing. He's met dogs that have been abused before many times and could see the lack of confidence that Jakob had in his own skills.

Jakob was willing to please and to listen to us. He was actually even willing to do whatever it was Dexter wanted as well. So when he could see that Dexter was not going to do anything but just some good ole fashioned canine fun stuff he was a bit lost but willing to go along or at least try.

When there was some interaction Jakob had no clue as to what to do at first. It was like his arsenal of doggie play behaviors was simply empty. Dexter continued to show him what to do and Jakob started to get the idea. I cheat at this for sure. My dogs do most of the work!

After this initial interaction with Dexter Jakob went to Tinkerbell's house for fostering. Tinkerbell has been there, done that. She was in big trouble at the shelter a few years ago because she was loud and very rude on a leash around other dogs. So we got her out of the shelter and we started to work with her.......well, obviously she's now helping other dogs that are in similar situations she's been in.

Tinkerbell has shown Jakob how to do a play bow, a little flip in the air that's quite catchy for any dog trying to get attention and to respect the anti-humping laws! This is all with his foster person's help.

Now that Jakob's a bit more grooved into the rules and regs of canine play (of course this is still very controlled and monitored by Anna his foster person) he's allowed to go a step further and even play a bit of tug with Tinkerbell. The game has rules and is very controlled by Anna, i.e. the dogs release the tug when she says to and they can have it back when she says they can. Fun and safe!

So please join us in congratulating Jakob on getting back to life and most of all back to who he really is! See picture of the "real" Jakob!

Note: This is one account of one dog in one situation. All assessments are going to be different for different dogs. Additionally, all dogs depending on outcome of assessment will require individual protocols.

Marthina McClay, CPDT

Chris Rock to Lose Pryor Role Over Dog-Fighting Comments?

From contactmusic.com: The animal-loving widow of RICHARD PRYOR banned CHRIS ROCK from portraying the late comedy icon on the big screen after he made a joke about dog fighting, according to reports.

Richard Pryor/AP photo

The Head of State star was among the frontrunners to land the main role in a new Pryor biopic, but he allegedly lost the part after jokingly defending shamed American football star Michael Vick, who recently served time for running an illegal dog-fighting ring.

During a recent appearance on U.S. TV's The Jay Leno Show, Rock said, "What the hell did Michael Vick do? Pitbulls ain't (sic) even real dogs! Dogs have never been good to black people!"

The quip offended Pryor's wife Jennifer, who serves as the director of animal rescue group Pryor's Planet, and she made sure Rock's throwaway comments cost him the movie job.

Read the article here.

Jakob, Already Moving Forward

Check out the great photo of Jakob, the former fight bust dog, with cruelty investigator Kyle Held at the Humane Society of Missouri yesterday. The photo, by AP photographer Jeff Roberson, ran in the Missourian.

Click here to see it full size.

Jakob
Photo by AP Photo/ Jeff Roberson

Guilty! 4 Brought to Justice in HSMO Bust

We want to congratulate the Humane Society of Missouri for today's news of four guilty pleas in its recent fight bust case!

For a look at these poor creatures, you can see photos on HSMO's web site here:

http://member.hsmo.org/site/PhotoAlbumUser?view=UserPhotoDetail&PhotoID=26475&position=1&AlbumID=6969

Or watch the video from the raid here:

According to a press release issued by HSMO today, four eastern Missouri men, Robert Hackman of Foley, Teddy Kiriakidis of Leasburg, Ronald Creech of Leslie and Michael Morgan of Hannibal pled guilty today in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to charges connected to the dog fighting raid, the largest fight bust in U.S. history. Another man arrested in connection with the raid, Jack Ruppel of Eldon, pled guilty to charges on September 4 in federal court in Jefferson City.

Our Pack is working with local St. Louis recue group Mutts-n-Stuff to follow the progress of the dogs, whose fate will be decided by the federal courts in forfeiture proceedings separate from the criminal cases.

Read the full press release here: http://member.hsmo.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Federal_dog_fighting_case_press_release_9_14

Missouri Bust Update

I assume you all have heard about the biggest dog fighting bust in US history on July 8th by our friends at Humane Society of Missouri. Over four hundred of my brothers and sisters have been rescued from the horrid life of dog fighting. I am so happy that my friends at HSMO have freed my brothers and sisters but what happens now?

Right now they are in a secret bunker safe from the bad people. The dogs have to be held for at least 40 days until the court hearing.
I, Smiley King the dog you see in the pic above with my special Pooh Bear, went through this process myself and it was scary at first being in a new place but my friends at HSMO made me feel at home right away. In the meantime, my brothers and sisters from this bust are experiencing their first toys, peanut butter, friendly hugs and kisses from humans, and fresh bedding. I wish I could talk to them to let them know their lives made a major change for the good and they will never have to fight again.

My foster mom, Gale Frey who founded MuttsNStuff is on the move to find foster homes for the dogs. She's also been on site helping the MO dogs. I've been in touch with my sister Zoe, who went to Our Pack from the same 2007 Stoddard County Mo bust that I came from. After arriving at Our Pack she went to school to become a therapist. Zoe's been asking Our Pack to ask for foster homes too.
Well heck, Zoe got adopted into an awesome home, they have toys, Kongs, balls and all the stuff that makes life wonderful! I know this is possible for all my buds out here too! Everyone should have a Pooh Bear, very comforting.

I heard that after the big bust other abused dogs outside of this case here were surrendered because their enslavers felt the heat of the FBI and HSMO. Since these dogs were owner surrenders they were able to go into rescue. But hudreds of my brothers and sisters are still waiting. Right now, I have a picture of an FBI agent and HSMO Investigator on my dog crate wall. They are my heros.

I will send everyone updates as I know them about the Missouri Bust Dogs. They are safe in a secret place waiting for our a laws to release them to rescue. What a sight it must be having over 400 pits in one place, where I used to be! I'm so lucky to be here, with my bear and my friends. Thank you again HSMO for helping us. Your are my heros.

Thanks for listening,
Smiley King

Another World...and The Folks Who Change It

There is an animal control and shelter in Georgia out in a small neck of the woods called Washington Wilkes County Animal Control & Shelter. Gloria Wheatley and her family, including her granddaughter Amy, and volunteers Bonnie and Del Branch, and their daughter Grace Ann, are at the shelter nearly every day working. They have numerous dog walkers who devote several hours each week to spending time with their dogs. They all have worked hard for many years to change the world for the animals in their community through this shelter.

This girl here they were calling Beauty:




Beauty was taken from a dogfighting bust a while back along with many other dogs. Gloria et al took nine of the dogs in the case, but the grand jury failed to indict. The dogs, of course, were returned to the owner. There was no other choice. Shortly after that, the owner was arrested on drug charges. He still remains in jail to this day.

This was before the 2008 Georgia dogfighting law was enacted. Gloria says, "Since then, law enforcement and the district attorney have been most helpful and intent on doing an excellent job of protecting these animals. We are just a small shelter, with a few devoted people trying to make a difference."

A small shelter that works tirelessly taking dogs to schools to educate children and adults in their community on the humane treatment of animals. They take abused dogs in week after week, watching as they transform from shut-down dogs to outgoing dogs that learn to love life because of all of the good handling and wonderful attention given by this shelter.

The next girl you see here is Peachy. She is from the "new world" in Georgia. She was also taken from a recent dogfighting bust. Peachy's case is still open at the time of this writing, BUT, since Beauty's case, the world has changed for Pit Bulls, and apologies have been made to Gloria and her staff for what they all went through. Peachy and other Pit Bulls like her have a much better chance at a new life now.

Now, in Peachy's case, all are working to convict. This owner surrendered his dogs, so Gloria was able to give both of these beautiful girls to Our Pack. We are waiting to hear the outcome of the case in August, and in the meantime our girls are getting walks, training, and play with children and other dogs.








Beauty will go to schools here to share her wonderful soul with young people and to show them the love that she's capable of giving, regardless of her past. Even though her previous "owners" weren't capable of the same. Here is Beauty playing with her new doggie friend Bullet



Peachy will train for CGC and therapy work.
We will keep you posted on their progress. Check back for updates on these two girls.

Gloria, her family and those devoted volunteers continue to help their community and the animals in it. The circle back is that they are creating another world from their little neck of the woods, not just for our dogs, but the people who grow up there and learn what humanity is and what heart is. When our girls arrived, I could tell immediately that they had the best handling that humans could offer. I could see that Gloria and all there loved these dogs like they were their own. Thank you all for saving the lives of our beautiful new girls and making another world for our dogs. We are so happy to have these dogs in our program! They will give back to you no doubt. Many thanks, Our Pack crew, Our Pack dogs, Peachy and Beauty.

— Marthina

Missouri Bust Dogs Need Help

My name is Zoe. I came from the Stoddard County fight bust in Missouri a couple of years ago. I was lucky enough to find a fantabulous home here in California with a great mom and two lab brothers. Now there has been an even bigger bust and HSMO (Humane Society of Missouri) is housing 400 dogs. It gets really warm there in the summer and they are in desperate need of fans to keep the dogs cool and comfortable while they are being cared for. Before I came to Our Pack to get adopted and become certified as a therapy dog, here is a link to a local rescue MuttsandStuff that helped me when I was in that awful situation and is helping with these dogs too.

Surviving Cancer - Gettng Through The Muck

I recently had a conversation with one of the patients that Leo visited at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Treatment Center in Mountain View. Thank you Ruth for being such an inspiration and an advocate for what these dogs can do.

Here is an excerpt from that conversation:

"Having cancer opened so many doors for me. You get through the muck then you realize what you have and what you can do.

I think surviving cancer is in the same realm as what Leo's (former Michael Vick dog) life was like. Going through the muck and coming out the other side. Leo and I are survivors, getting through what you have to get through and having the courage to go on.

As a former patient at the cancer treatment facility I can say that Leo brings so much joy during treatment. You're going through the treatments in order to survive and your just joyful and uplifted to have him visit you. He's so gentle and sweet. Just petting him takes you out of where you are. He makes me feel so good. He makes people smile and it's just a great feeling.

Thank you Our Pack for taking something out of a negative and putting it into positive, just like I did with cancer."

Ruth Adams
Cancer survivor & Leo's patient


There was a very large bust recently. In the wake of that, I don't want to forget the value, love, good energy and hope that could be buried under that "muck" as Ruth put it. Please pass it along to get help for these victims just as Leo got help and is now helping others.


Humane Society of Missouri has the story about this huge fight bust.

Marthina

We'll See

This was the press release Alabama Fight Bust
Within the article is this statement: "The HSUS, according to its policy, will recommend that dogs seized in these raids be evaluated for adoption suitability."
Now - we all need to step up and help if called on to make sure that if they are evaluated they have a place to go.
hmmmm..

Friends

I haven't written on the blog in a while. I wanted to write about making friends. For me making friends has been about trust, truth and change. It's been about accepting change and being willing to let others see that change.

When I first arrived at my new home I wasn't sure how those people that came over to the house with their microphones, cameras, lighting stuff and those boom mics that look like really cool toys were going to portray me. Were they going to say that this situation was MY fault? It turns out that they didn't. They told the story the way it was. They told the story that said I was the victim. They told the truth. They told the story that says that people are the controllers of things not me...a dog. Obviously I don't drive a car. People have to drive me places so I can go somewhere or be able to have things.

People have put me in situations that were either good or bad. Where I am now, I only get put in situations that are fun, safe and rewarding. I play with my housemates and we have a good time. I get put in the position to have self worth, I have a job as a therapist. I only have to confront things that are easy for me to handle. I get good stuff when I do good things.My life is really wonderful now and I'm very happy. I have made a lot of friends too.

I have met some other dogs in the rescue that I belong to that have come from situations that are just like mine only they didn't have the name Michael Vick over them. But the dogs from these places are much like me even without the name. There's no one to show them the ropes. No one to say, "uh, uh" when you're about to do something that might hurt. No one to say, "gosh, you're handsome and I love you". That has made a huge difference in my life.Those things have made me come alive. I'm so much like these other dogs from abuse cases and they're so much like me, it's just harder for the world to see them because of the names that have "owned" them. Some of these dogs have earned the same heart tag that I wear that says "I'm a Therapy Dog" too.

Now that I've made so many friends I'm hoping that circle of friends and love will expand even bigger so that all could see that there are many like me and they could live a life just like mine if given a chance....no big name....just a good ole dog.

This is me in the pic with my new for sure friend Mara at NBC and my guardian at the clinic where I work. She was kind enough to tell my story, to be my voice and to tell the world the truth. She was kind enough to understand me and look at me for who I am and not anything else. That's a friend. Thank you.


Love,
Leo