Stolen Dogs Returned in California and Quebec

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Vivienne Scott gets a kiss from her border collie, after the dog was recovered

Vivienne Scott gets a kiss from her border collie, after the dog was recovered

Jennifer of Adamant Bulldogs left this piece of good news in the comments section:

The english bulldogs stolen in California were returned.

The owner was able to get several papers and local TV news outlets to report on the theft, she also blanketed Craigslist, Kijiji and other sites with the story. The goal was to make it to hard for anyone to sell or even give away the dogs

Her doorbell rang and when she opened it the dogs were running around in front of her house, the returner was nowhere to be found.

Don’t know if this tactic will help with the Chicago situation, but it is the second time this seems to have worked for bulldog owners on the wet coast, last year it was a puppy in AZ, and the media coverage saw her left in a hotel drop box in good condition

This reminded me of a similar situation which just occurred in Montreal, Quebec. A truck carrying the canine members of an Ottawa Flyball team was stolen from a parking lot outside of a Jack Astor’s Eatery.

From Yahoo News –

Claire Gordon of Manotick was with three other Ottawa residents eating at Jack Astor’s just west of Montreal off the Hwy. 40 when her black 2004 Chevrolet Silverado was stolen at about 3:30 p.m.

Gordon and her friends had spent the day at Ile-des-Soeurs competing in a flyball tournament, said her friend Pat Nadarajah, 49, of Ottawa.

“They went in for dinner and came back out an hour later and the truck had been stolen,” said Nadarajah.

“Whoever took it obviously didn’t know the dogs were in there because they were in the back of the truck,” said Nadarajah, adding the truck had a cap on the back.

There were two Border Collies, Jack Russell Terrier and a Cattle dog in crates.

“I would imagine horror,” Nadarajah said of Gordon’s reaction. “She had parked pretty close to the entrance so she could try and keep an eye on it. When she came out she couldn’t find the truck.”

As in the case Jennifer mentioned, friends and acquaintances of Gordon instantly sprang into action, getting the news out to mailing lists, on line forums, ad sites and the media. All of this unwanted attention paid off – the dogs were found.

From FWix —

The SPCA received a call just after midnight from someone reporting dogs tied to a fence in the Montreal area. They went to investigate and the happy pooches responded to their names when they were called.

“It’s absolutely amazing what overwhelming support we got from the community. We had calls from Missouri, New Brunswick and even Newfoundland,” Scott said. “We put the word out on Facebook and Twitter with their mugshots and people really tried to help. We owe them for all they did.”

Two things leap out from this incidence – the first is to ALWAYS use the power of social media to get the word out about situations like this.

Dog people, for all their faults, will almost always rally around dogs in need, and they have a pretty powerful grapevine. It might not always work, but the added attention this kind of media coverage can bring will certainly help to make theives decide that maybe it just isn’t worth it to keep the dogs after all.

The second lesson comes from Vivienne Scott, owner of one of the missing dogs –

“We shall never leave our dogs in the car ever again. We thought it would be safe, but we’re never going to do that again.”

A good lesson for all of us to remember – things can happen in an instance, and it’s up to us to try to minimize risk. From now on, I’ll be sucking it up and eating drive through take out, inside the car.

Best New York Times Ad EVER

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Humane Watch ran this ad in the New York Times, illustrating where the HSUS really spends their money

Humane Watch ran this ad in the New York Times, illustrating where the HSUS really spends their money

Thanks to the group Humane Watch, readers of the New York Times will get a graphic look at where the money they donate to the Humane Society of the United States really goes.

From their press release –

CONSUMER GROUP TO NEW YORK TIMES READERS: “SHOULDN’T THE ‘HUMANE SOCIETY’ DO BETTER?”

Only One out of Every 200 Dollars Donated to the Humane Society of the United States Goes to a Pet Shelter

Washington – A full-page ad from the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) appears in today’s New York Times, highlighting the failure of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to devote a significant amount of money to supporting America’s underfunded pet shelters. The ad explains that HSUS shares only 1 dollar out of every 200 dollars it collects with local, hands-on pet shelters. The ad encourages readers to find out more by visiting HumaneWatch.org, CCF’snew watchdog website.

Americans have become familiar with HSUS fundraising ads asking for a $19-per-month commitment that amounts to an annual donation of more than $200. But according to HSUS’s own tax records, donors making that pledge are sending barely $1 to an organization that shelters unwanted pets—the work most Americans think of when they hear the words “Humane Society.”

“HSUS’s cable TV fundraising ads are full of images of dogs and cats in dire need of help,” said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. “HSUS donors should hold the organization to a much higher standard. Instead of spending millions on executive pensions, a bloated legal staff, and PETA-style propaganda campaigns, HSUS’s leaders should put their money where their mouth is.”

Another Stolen Chicago Area Frenchie

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This was just posted via comments:

My little baby was stolen out of my house today – she is 4 months old, a black brindle with a white snipe, her name is Delilah Blue and I am desperate to get her back.

Robber has no eyebrows, pierce earlobes, told me he had 4 puppies,when I went to drop my dog off at my house to go see his puppies, he asked if he could use the bathroom, and somehow unlocked my sliding glass door. When we went to “his house” a few blocks from my house, he went inside a courtyard, called me from a cellphone a few minutes later, and then I rushed home to find my puppy missing, nothing else was taken, and the sliding glass door was open.

Robber has no eyebrows, tattoos on both sides of his neck and a tattoo on his arm that says “Alexii” if anyone knows who this guy is, please reply to my e-mail, I am offering $500 for any information leading to his arrest.

PLEASE HELP ME! I am at 21st & Western area.

Contact Beth Gottlieb
bethgottlieb@msn.com

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If you are in the Chicago area, and can help, please contact Beth. Please forward this to any other Chicago area lists you know of. Re tweets might also be helpful.

Let’s hope she’s home again soon.

Why People Watch Westminster

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Why People Really Watch Westminster Dog Show Graph Jam

Judging at Westminster – Stocky Bodied White Women in Suits

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Hey, it’s really the handlers being judged most of the time, so why not just announce* it that way?

* on that note, what the hell was up with the actual announcing this year? Is turning your mike off between comments really that difficult to figure out? I loved the part where, during best in show judging, he kept muttering that he “couldn’t see” (I assume because they turn the lights way down for it). I kept thinking “someone needs to get him one of those portable wallet lights“. It was like listening to your grandpa trying to give a speech.