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That’ll teach her

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Mary Wild 'I will not cook dogs to death'

Mary Wild (on left) enters court

Here in south western Ontario, we’re in the middle of a blistering heat wave.  My dogs barely want to go outside long enough to pee, and I’ve stopped taking Bunny to work with me, for the time being (I worry about what might happen if I broke down at the side of the road, and had to wait overly long for assistance).

At just about this time last year, professional dog show handler Mary Wild decided that, rather than bring her eight show dog charges inside her air conditioned house for the night, she’d leave them in her van. Mary Wild lives in St. Louis, Missori, and if there’s one thing that I do know it’s that the hottest heat wave in Ontario can’t compare with the average summer day temperature in Missouri.

Mary Wild apparently didn’t get that memo, because she woke up the next day to find all eight dogs either dead or at death’s door from extreme heat exhaustion.  I don’t imagine she was too surprised, because testimony at her trial indicated she didn’t do a whole lot to try to keep them cool.

From the St. Louis Dispatch newspaper:

Aubrey Richardson, 17, testified that she had worked as Wild’s assistant, helping her groom, walk and otherwise care for the dogs. She had accompanied Wild to a dog show in Iowa City on June 20 and 21.

Richardson said that when they returned to Wild’s home late on the night of June 21, Wild said they would leave the dogs in the van because the garage was too hot. The normal routine when they were at Wild’s home in the first block of Kroeck Drive in Arnold was that the dogs stayed in crates in the garage.

Wild put six fans inside the van but shut the sliding van door that would normally be cracked open when dogs are left inside. Wild only rolled down a passenger side window enough to fit through the extension cord that powered the fans, Richardson said.

Richardson stayed at Wild’s house and said that when she went to check on the dogs in the morning, it felt “like opening an oven” when she opened the van’s sliding door, even though the fans were still running.

Her show dog, a Dalmatian named Sky, was one of the dogs that died. She cried when she testified about holding his body.

Wild and Richardson, as well as Wild’s mother, tried to revive the dogs for about 40 minutes before taking them to a vet, Richardson said.

She testified that she was shaken when she heard Wild and her mother talking on the ride to the vet’s office “about how much they were going to lose,” Richardson said.

So, what kind of punishment do you actually get for roasting your client’s dogs to death? Jail time? Big fines? Locked in your own van overnight with a fan for company and no windows rolled down?

Not even close.

If you’re a handler in Missouri, you get probation, some community service – and you have to write an essay saying how sorry you are and how it’s probably not a great idea to leave dogs locked in a hot car.

Seriously.

From the Dispatch:

The dog handler who left eight show dogs inside a hot van, causing seven of them to die, was sentenced Thursday to two years’ probation.

Mary Wild also must serve 80 hours of community service at the Jefferson County animal control center, as well as write a 750-word essay on how heat affects dogs and what she should have done to care for them properly.

Well, shit – that will obviously teach her. This is actually a stiffer sentence than was being predicted – we’d heard she was going to have to write “I will not cook dogs to death” on the court room chalkboard 500 times.

In other news, convicted murderers will now be sent to bed with no supper and no TV time.

The stupid train keeps on rolling…

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Nothing really to add to this. It speaks for itself, and I’m too depressed about the fact that these just seem to keep coming and coming and coming…

From the Eagle Tribune:

Dog left in sun dies, another nearly perishes

By Mark E. Vogler
Staff Writer

LAWRENCE — Police say a 21/2-year-old French bulldog died on a sun-baked balcony and another dog nearly perished because the pets’ owner left them there all day without food or water.

Ryan Colon, 21, of 20 Knox St., was arrested yesterday on animal cruelty charges in a case that appalled the police and firefighters involved in efforts to rescue the dogs after a concerned neighbor called the police.

“This is one of the worst cases of neglect or cruelty of an animal that I’ve seen in my whole career — almost 40 years of police work,” Lawrence police Chief John Romero said.

“Dehydration is a terrible way for an animal to die. It’s amazing that people could do that to any living being. The dogs weren’t beaten but were abused in the way they were left in conditions that killed one and almost killed the second,” the chief said.

The dead dog named Lola had an internal temperature of 108 degrees, according to a veterinarian at the Andover Animal Hospital who examined the corpse. The probable cause of death was listed as hyperthermia or heat exhaustion. The second dog was treated at Pleasant Valley Animal Hospital, where its internal body temperature was measured at 104 degrees.

Colon could face up to five years in state prison if convicted. He was due to be arraigned in Lawrence District Court today. He told Officer Kevin Schiavone that he had put the dogs on the balcony of his apartment at 2 a.m. before leaving for work on Wednesday.

Oh, and let’s not forget the part where he was breeding these dogs. Oh, of course he was. If we didn’t have idiots like this, where would the next generation of baked and broiled dogs come from? But, hey – just one litter, according to his brother:

This story is absolute Bull! My brother was good to his dogs he took very good care of them. The story mentions that they were outside since 2 am thats crap. And it says that he has had multiple litters with these dogs he has only had one litter.

Awesome..

Stupid people own cats, too

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I was becoming convinced that stupid people just tend to naturally gravitate towards dogs, but it seems they own cats as well.

From http://www.wauwatosanow.com:

Kitten Left in Trunk of Car at Mall

An alert patron called police after hearing a kitten meowing from the trunk of a car in the Mayfair Mall parking lot, 2500 N. Mayfair Road, at 3:48 p.m. Saturday.

According to police:

The man said he was worried about the cat’s safety due to the hot and humid weather. He told police he was appalled that someone would neglectfully leave an animal locked in a vehicle.

About 45 minutes after the officer’s arrival, the vehicle’s owner and a man returned to the vehicle and confirmed that there was a new kitten in the trunk.

A litter box, food bowl and water dish also were in the trunk.

The 20-year-old owner of the kitten intended to leave it in the trunk until after 5 p.m., when her work day was completed, because she could not bring the kitten into the mall.

The 45-year-old man told police that he had bought the kitten for her earlier in the day and thought leaving it in the trunk was acceptable.

The man was irate and demanded the officer show him which law he broke.

The officer informed them the incident would be reviewed by the city attorney for possible animal neglect charges.

I love that part – “The man was irate“. I can just picture the ranting that took place:

“Why can’t I leave a tiny kitten in a car? Cats like warm places, right? And what’s warmer than a car trunk on a sweltering July day?”

God, that’s why I could never be a cop – I’d just be ‘accidentally’ tasering people like that all of the time.

“Hey, what’s wrong with leaving my seven dogs locked in my car? I left the windows ro… ”

TzzzzzaaaaP!

“Officer, did you just taser the crap out of that woman mid sentence?”

“Yeah, so? People like being tasered, don’t they? And look, I left her a bottle of water.”

God, I wish summer would end soon, just so I can stop reading about dead dogs in cars.

Newsflash redux: People more stupid than previously thought possible

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Remember the Frenchie who died from heat exhaustion after her owner left her in the car at the mall?

At the time, I wasn’t sure I could conceive of a stupider (and more cruel) way to have killed your dog than because of a mall shopping emergency, but it’s good to know that people are setting that stupid bar even higher every day. Turns out that scented candle withdrawal wasn’t the real reason why they just had to leave her in the car on a sweltering July day.

From the Daily News Tribune –

WATERTOWN —

Two Waltham residents will be charged with animal cruelty after their dog died of massive heat trauma from being left inside a car outside the Watertown Mall.

According to Watertown police, a 39-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman who shared ownership of the dog will be summonsed to Waltham District Court. No date has been set yet.

On July 16 at 12:42 p.m., police responded to a call from Main Street at Church Street with reports of an injured dog.

Upon arrival the couple 3-year-old female French bulldog appeared “limp and unconscious” with no signs of trauma. The couple told police they left the dog unattended in their car for close to a half hour while inside the Watertown Mall at the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

The couple reportedly told police that they took the dog with them to prevent her from peeing inside their home.

“They didn’t want to leave it alone,” said Lt. Detective Michael Lawn.

Honestly, have people never heard of crates? They are these magical inventions that have been around for eons. And yes, I know that Frenchies possibly one of the most frustrating dogs alive when it comes to housebreaking. I’ve seen skilled trainers reducing to quivering bundles of nerves after a run in with a French Bulldog and a Persian rug, but holy cow, the options other than roasting your dog to death in car are almost legion. Wee wee pads, puppy diapers, crating, tile floors… or just re home the poor thing to someone willing to deal with it.

There’s just no excuse for this, none at all.The only consolation is that it looks like they will be facing charges after all –

O’Reilly said causing an animal to be subjected to unnecessary cruelty or suffering is a felony in Massachusetts, and is punishable by imprisonment for up to two and a half years and a fine of $2,500.

If you’re in the Massachusetts area, rest assured that I will be blogging the shit out of this story, and nagging you all to go to court and heckle these dog murdering scumbags into next week.

Newsflash: Frenchies + Hot Car = Bad Idea!

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Holy smokes, sometimes I despair for the human race, what with all the dumbness out there, just floating around.

How can there be anyone left who doesn’t know that you don’t leave dogs in the car when it’s hot – and especially not French Bulldogs (or any other flat faced breed)!

Heat stroke can kill any dog, fast, but dogs left in cars are at particular risk.

From the HSUS comes this explanation of exponential temerpatures inside of vehicles –

On a warm, sunny day windows collect light, trapping heat inside the vehicle, and pushing the temperature inside to dangerous levels. On an 85-degree Fahrenheit day, for example, the temperature inside a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102 degrees within ten minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees. At 110 degrees, pets are in danger of heatstroke. On hot and humid days, the temperature in a car parked in direct sunlight can rise more than 30 degrees per minute, and quickly become lethal.

A recent study by the Stanford University School of Medicine showed that temperatures inside cars can rise dramatically even on mild days. With outside temperatures as low as 72 degrees, researchers found that a car’s interior temperature can heat up by an average of 40 degrees within an hour, with 80% of that increase in the first 30 minutes. A cracked window provides little relief from this oven effect. The Stanford researchers found that a cracked window had an insignificant effect on both the rate of heating and the final temperature after an hour.

Imagine the effect, in even mildly hot weather, on breeds like French Bulldogs that have impaired ability to regulate their body temperature. A brachycephalic dog’s inefficient breathing apparatus makes it less efficient at self cooling, all of which is a fancy way of saying “Frenchies, Pugs and Bulldogs can overheat really fast – faster than you’d believe. Faster than a German Shepherd, or any other dog breed”.

You’d think anyone who has even the most vague reading comprehension would have gotten the message by now that dogs in hot cars is a bad idea, but apparently not.

Here’s the British Columbia owner who had his Frenchie stolen after it was left in a parked car in 85 degree heat –

A Vancouver man is pleading for his dog’s safe return after it went missing from his housekeeper’s car last Sunday in Crescent Beach.

Andrew Knott, who has a real estate office in South Surrey, was away over the weekend, so his housekeeper and her friend took his French bulldog, Churchill, out for a morning walk.

They stopped to get breakfast at a restaurant and left Churchill in the parking lot with the car window partially opened. When they returned about a half hour later, they found the car door open and two-year-old Churchill nowhere in sight.

“I have no children of my own,” Knott told the Peace Arch News. “He’s kind of like a son to me.”

The housekeeper said she reported the dog stolen to Surrey RCMP and left word at the SPCA.

However, Janice Levers, branch manager of the Surrey SPCA, said this week that rather than Churchill being stolen, it could be that someone thought they were rescuing the dog by freeing him from a hot car.

Temperatures in White Rock reached 25.9 C Sunday.

“I certainly would be suspicious,” Levers said of Churchill’s disappearance. “The dog should not have been left in the car on a hot day.”

From the Peace Arch News

I don’t blame the owner in this case. It’s not his fault his housekeeper is a moron – but I don’t really blame the person who liberated the dog, either. I think the car door left wide open was a clear message – “Hey dummy, I took your dog before it died”. Point taken – now let’s just hope the dog makes it home.

Leaving your own dog in a car, however, deserves a special hot corner of hell.

A French bulldog died of heat exhaustion after it was left in a stifling parked car for a half hour outside the Watertown Mall Thursday afternoon, the Watertown Tab & Press reported.

According to the online newspaper, Watertown police were called to the parking lot around 12:42 p.m. and found the unconscious dog inside the car.

The 3-year-old French bulldog was taken to the Watertown Animal Hospital but doctors were unable to save it.

Police are investigating and it’s unknown whether the owner will be cited or charged in the incident.

From WBZTV

Not sure if the owner will be charged? What’s not to be sure about?

And.. what the hell do you need at a mall so badly that you’re willing to condemn your dog to one of the most painful deaths I can imagine? Out of scented candles? Big sale at the Gap?

You jerk. You ignorant, stupid, evil, banal, mall shopping, dog killing jerk. I don’t have any sympathy for you, I don’t ‘understand that people make mistakes’, and I hope you’re banned from ever owning another dog.

Better still, I hope they ban you from ever shopping at another mall, since that’s probably the punishment you’d find most painful.

References: Go here to read our article on preventing heat stroke, and on what to do if it happens