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.

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.

Another Missouri Raid Dog Comes Home to Our Pack

Remember this photo of the dogs being taken from the yard during the large Missouri dog fighting raid? This girl you see here is being carried out to safety.

Here's Tracey Cutler when she was on site where the Missouri bust dogs have been staying. With her is Stella, beautiful Stella. Celebrate her arrival with us, she's a good girl.

We're so happy to see so many of these wonderful dogs getting out and into rescue.....look for updates on Stella.

Thanks to HSMO and Gale at Mutts-n-Stuff for their assistance in helping us get our wonderful girl!

Can Former Fight Dogs Be Friends?

At one time, Leo, the former Michael Vick dog, was grouped in with dogs that were called the "most dangerous dogs in America" Here he is with another "dangerous" dog, Belinda from the Humane Society of Missouri fight bust. Can they be friends? You decide:

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

Our Pack welcomes Belinda!

Humane Society of Missouri Releases Another Fight Bust Dog to Our Pack

Our Pack has had the pleasure of working with Humane Society of Missouri for the second time here recently. Our girl Zoe, who's now a therapy dog (seen here in this pic with her wonderfull person who addoped her) came from the Stoddard County MO raid in 2007. She's well and happpy because the good folks at HSMO gave these dogs a chance at a new life.

Well, this weekend we will be getting our second dog, Belinda, who from the HSMO fight bust, the largest dog fighting raid in US history. I just want to thank the HSMO from the bottom of my heart, along with Tracey Cutler and the Our Pack crew, for all that they've done for these wonderful dogs. We've included a video of Debbie Hill and Tim Rickey talking about the dogs they've helped. These are truly amazing people. We thank you and our dogs thank you!! This video made me cry!

You can see the video here:
http://video.ap.org/?f=AP&pid=tRL6Lc3vYrnPjT3R2CCU7gCiRkfznQeL

Or visit our Facebook page to view it here:
http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Our-Pack-Inc/151810632362?ref=mf

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

Missouri Fight Bust Dogs Up for Adoption

The Humane Society of Missouri is trying to spread the word that, following the biggest dog-fighting ring bust in U.S. history this summer, some of more than 500 pit bulls rescued in the raid are now up for adoption. More than 100 puppies were born after they were confiscated .

As you all know, Jakob, pictured here, has already been released to Our Pack's care. Vice President of Operations Debbie Hill says 19 of the dogs have been adopted out, and as the court awards custody of more of them to the Humane Society, more homes will be sought. Sadly, she says, some had to be euthanized. Hill says adopting these dogs out spreads a message about an illegal industry most people don’t know is so prevalent. She says it’s amazing how after being so mistreated, the dogs are so people-friendly. Some, like Jakob, are even finding a new purpose in life as therapy dogs.

For more information on the rescue operation and to help, click here.

Read the rest of the article here.

See videos and pictures of Jakob on our Facebook page.

Fay Released to Mutts-n-Stuff

We've received news that Fay, one of the dogs taken from the Missouri dog fighting bust, will be going to Mutts-n-Stuff. Better yet, she'll be the new spokesgirl for Phoenix House, a place where dogs from these abuse cases can go to decompress, get training and socialization, and find new homes. Gale Frey, founder of Mutts-n-Stuff, has plans to start Phoenix House right away. Congrats to Gale and Fay. Here's to a bright future for both!

Our Pack crew

Tackle Vick Campaign

In the rescue world, feelings are obviously still running high over Michael Vick's return to the NFL.

With the Oakland Raiders scheduled to play Philadelphia on October 18th, Concerned Dog Owners of California has kicked off a potentially controversial campaign to help Oakland area shelters this weekend. According to the CDOC web site, the rescue group will give 5 bags of food to Oakland shelters for every time Vick is tackled during the game. CDOC is encouraging people to donate to the campaign, and says it will match the First $1500 pledged.

What do you think about the campaign? We want to get readers' thoughts this time instead of just stating our opinion.

Update on Miss Georgia From Georgia

Georgia from Georgia.

Georgia is a wonderful girl who first came to us from a fight bust in Georgia.

Since then, she's been making a career out of being given lots of love, good routine structure and some fabulous beach fun by her new person, Noelle.


By looking at her, you can tell she didn't start out with the best life, but now she's flourishing under the best care of all. Here she is sunbathing on the beach. She seems so appreciative of all that she has now and most of all we appreciate what she brings to us. Georgia is a wonderful soul!

Thanks to Noelle for all your good work with Georgia.

Update from Missouri

Hello everyone! This is Smiley King Elvis in Missouri to fill you in on the happenings at the bunker. My mom, Gale, came home and had me in stitches. Tracey with Our Pack is here in St. Louis, and she and mom were instant friends. That is Tracey's picture at the left. Talk about two peas in a pod...I cannot wait to meet Tracey, too!

Tracey spent her first day in awe of the bunker. I cannot say much because of the gag order, but I can tell you they had a blast and enjoyed the day. She was warmly received and put instantly to work cleaning kennels and hugging dogs. Tracey was in heaven and in her element - behaviorist dreamland.

My mom met Tracey, and you know how loving my mom is, she took Tracey right under her paws (or is it wing for humans?). They had a blast working with the dogs, documenting personalities and sharing wonderful treats with the dogs. It must have been awesome. I am so proud of both of them.

Here is Tracey pictured with her own dog, Missy. Tracey says, "It was a very rewarding day on location in Missouri working with the bust dogs. I love the people at the Humane Society Missouri. HSMO will welcome volunteers who will clean, and give hugs and kisses."

Our Pack Traveling to Missouri to Help in Fight Bust Case

Our Pack's Tracey Cutler is traveling to the Humane Society of Missouri this week to help out with the dogs from the recent fight bust case. She will be there until October 3rd. The Our Pack team has been assisting with rescue efforts as well, and we are so very glad to have a chance to help these dogs.

There is a gag order in place as the dogs await the results of forfeiture proceedings, so we can't give specifics on any dogs until we get the go-ahead from HSMO. We are very aware how important it is both to HSMO's effort and for the dogs themselves not to jump the gun and to respect the legal process, so we are awaiting the results of the proceedings. These are completely separate from the guilty criminal verdicts that were announced yesterday. Tracey will keep us updated on what we're allowed to share, so stayed tuned.

What we can say is that Our Pack will be taking some dogs from this case, and we just can't wait to work with them in our program. There will be training, structure, good positive leadership and lots of cuddles and love for the dogs. Meanwhile my dogs are waiting, sunning themselves. Wish the MO dogs good luck!

Congrats to our Friends at Mutts-n-Stuff!

A big shout-out to our friends at Mutts-n-Stuff, who announced today that they are building a new halfway house, called Phoenix House, that will provide safe haven for dogs rescued in fight bust cases. The facility is named for Phoenix, a a dog previously rescued my Mutts-n-Stuff, and is being built on land donated by a previous adopter. It will serve as a halfway house for dogs rescued in fight busts after they are released from their court cases.

The dogs in the cases are held as evidence until they are no longer needed by the courts, then they're released, often with no where to go. Suitable foster homes aren't always immediately available, and the dogs often require time to learn basic manners.

Our Pack is partnering with Mutts-n-Stuff on the HSMO fight bust case. Gale Frey, dear friend and founder of the rescue group, has been one of the people working with HSMO to help care for the dogs. Congratulations Gale!

Get the details about Phoenix House here:

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=185028

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

Why Help Fight Bust Dogs?

Recently a good friend asked why our resources are going to help out of state fight bust dogs when local dogs die?
I struggle with these same issues, believe me, we all do.
I don't know if there is a satisfactory explanation why it's important to help these out of state dogs other than by showing that these dogs, these victims of fight busts can be given the opportunity to become a part of a family, maybe it will help the local dogs by showing that these can be great pets. That is the key...in the past they were not even given the opportunity to be evaluated. I guess in a bizarre way we have the Vick case to thank for that. Because of the success of the Vick dogs, because rescues stepped up to take them and give them a chance at a new life this other group of dogs are now being given that same chance and if these dogs can be given the chance, why can't those dogs that make their way to shelters be given the chance.
Sadly foster homes are at a premium for everyone, difficult
choices all around and certainly no easy answers.

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

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.

Life with a Bust Dog

As we go forward with the biggest fight bust in history what will happen when a very large number of dogs DO pass their evaluation? Many people will have to step up and do more than just talk the talk. They will need to walk the walk and bring these dogs into their homes and rescue programs. I have no doubt that even within this group there will be a wide variation between the dogs, but I will almost guarantee that with many of them their house manners will be less then stellar.

When Leo first came to live with us I really didn’t know what to expect, I just knew we needed to help. Believe me, he didn’t come all trained to be a Therapy Dog. Of course he came with his awesome people loving personality that's a must in therapy work that can't be trained. But I don’t think he had ever been in a house, with carpeting and furniture and clearly not other dogs. His house manners were deplorable. I even had my moments thinking what the heck did I get myself into??? He spent lots of time in the crate at first getting lots of good yummy treats when the other dogs were around. When he was out he didn’t sit still very long and he really thought that jumping on everyone was what he was supposed to do, after all his name was Bouncer when he came to us. The other dogs weren’t sure what he was all about either and greetings were slow and managed at all times. Interactions were limited and I made sure that all of his encounters were positive. It's funny, dogs aren't like some people, they don't profile or group, they see what's actually there. They just saw a dog.

Sooner than any of us expected his true personality and people connectedness became even more apparent. He quickly flourished with kindness and calmness and positive reinforcement. He loved learning and also much to our surprise, he loved playing with the other dogs. He didn’t always know how to at first, and thankfully my dogs are used to rude, undersocialized foster dogs coming in, and I always managed playtime, but he got it and you could see the joy in his eyes.

Once he settled into life in a home it also became even more apparent that he would make a great therapy dog.( I think these guys are born for this work. Bust dogs seem to be the best at it. )I worked on his leash manners and his greetings and when we took him for his first visit to a local hospital he was like an old pro! The strange noises, big odd-looking equipment, and elevators even a door alarm didn’t seem to faze him. He met people in uniform, people in wheel chairs, kids, staff members even a person laying down and he just seemed to say “Hi, my name is Leo – how can I help?”

Leo isn’t the only bust dog we have worked with, and each one had their own unique personality and challenges. Zoe is confident and full of herself but oddly enough she started out flat on the ground worried about her new world. Within days she came around as wonderfully sassy as they come.

Charlotte wants to cuddle and kiss all the time

and Violet

needs to take her own sweet time adjusting to new situations, not as sassy as Zoe. All of them are successfully living in homes with other dogs as a cherished family member. Zoe and Charlotte are also therapy dogs.

Dogs from these cases can very widely in personality. This is one good reason ALL the dogs from these cases need to be evaluated as separate individuals not items from *a* "case." Even in the SAME case temperaments vary greatly. Remember environment influences a dog's response to it. Most dogs change rapidly and greatly after being put in a good spot. We have absolute proof of this.

The work in these cases is so worth it. Hopefully the dogs in the Missouri bust will get the opportunity to find a new life that they so deserve. It can be done, with hard work and dedication let’s all keep our fingers, toes and paws crossed that they will be given a chance.The lack of resources and real homes to start a new life in is really what can hurt the dogs in the end, not so much an evil witch with a needle. Yes, in some cases this happens. But from what I know of one of the people in charge of this situation at HSMO I don't think this is the case.

I really hope that this does not come off preachy. That's not what I wanted to do. I wanted to just share my experiences with this sort of thing in the hopes of helping anyone reading this and to help more dogs. I know that many people just simply can not take in dogs and that's so understandable. There are other ways to help by donating Kongs, hard toys etc. From what I've heard this is very needed right now to help keep the dogs sane. Gale at Mutts N Stuff has an outlet to donate at muttsnstuff@yahoo.com

I do hope that many, many other wonderful rescues can step up and find space for the deserving dogs in this case when due process is served of course.

It's hard work and with some dogs and it takes time. I certainly don't want to cherry coat anything here either but it's a wonderful feeling to see a bust dog come in to your home and have bad house manners, wonder what things are, maybe even be concerned or shy about what's happening to him with his limited life experience and see him blossom into a wonderful loving friend, a family companion......a great dog that he already had the potential to be in the first place.

Marthina

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