Scared out of their wits and then not

A van load of dogs came in from Montreal yesterday and these two were amongst them. The two were found with their two siblings, who are also here now, living in a small kennel with their mother, a Doberman. The mom was for some reason chained up even though she was in the kennel with them.

They'd spent pretty much their whole lives in those cramped quarters so it's a good thing they were rescued when they were and not a month or two or more later when whatever screwed up behaviours they might have developed would've become more ingrained. As it is, all four pups have got some anxieties to varying degrees and also some nasty bite marks reportedly from the mother who was probably going crazy trying to keep the pups off her as they got older and rowdier.

I took them out for their first real walk today and here's what happened.

This is them on the second floor just outside the adoption room:


This is them in the elevator:


This is them on the the first floor just before the exit:


It took about 10 minutes to get them outside with a lot coaxing and waiting. Both of them would take a few steps then flop down, then take a few steps then flop down.

I know how sad and pathetic they look but the pup in the background with the spread eagle body, gripping the ground like it's going to fall away from beneath him is painfully cute in his insecurity. And I can laugh now knowing he'll come round quick enough once he's given a chance because this is what happened once I got them outside (finally!).

At first, both of them are still anxious.


Then they see another dog and maybe it's just coincidence but it seems to trigger them to start playing with each other:



Curiousity about the outside world gets the better of them and their anxieties mostly disappear. I stop for a moment to adjust their leashes and then they attack!



See? I think they'll do fine.

The other two siblings aren't nearly as anxious. Here's the one who looks most like a Doberman:


I'll take some proper photos of these guys in a few days once they're a bit more relaxed.

For adoption information on these pups and other dogs (and cats and other animals), please visit Toronto Animal Services.

Rescuing and hoarding

I wasn't planning on going but I needed a break so I headed over to Toronto Animal Services. I thought I'd take a look and see if there were any new dogs that needed their photos taken but as it turned out, there hadn't been any new arrivals in a few days. That was a bit of a nice surprise and purely for selfish reasons. Sometimes it's nice to be able to just hang out with the dogs without having any tasks that need to get done.

I headed over to the Shih Tzu room expecting to be greeting by 13 pairs of eyes but instead there were only 2. Turns out 11 of them have already been adopted out and the remaining 2 will be going to the Petsmart Adopt-a-thon this weekend. These two, originally anxious around people dogs, have become happy, barking, jump up and greet everyone dogs. Their transformations are amazing and they will surely be snatched up at the Adopt-a-thon.

These two dogs have come a long way in a very short time. It goes to show just how badly they must have been treated by their previous owner to have been so withdrawn when they first came in. How obvious it is now that they were living in some sort of abusive psychological environment, and that they weren't just born anxious and suspicious of people. They were made anxious and suspicious by people and now that they've been given the slightest amount of nurturing, even in a rather impersonal space like Toronto Animal Services, their true personalities have come out.

The Shih Tzus were originally brought in from a Parkdale apartment a few weeks ago. I recognized the apartment building from a news clip on TV and I'm pretty sure none of the units inside the building would have been big enough to house 13 dogs, even 13 small ones. The person who was looking after them said that they belonged to a recently deceased relative and the situation in the apartment was only temporary.

That may be true but regardless of who owned the Shih Tzus and for how long, the horrible condition they arrived in would indicate a case of hoarding. A loose definition of hoarding would be something along the lines of having too many animals to take care of properly, not acknowledging the fact and, in most cases, "collecting" more. In theory, that would mean that someone who owns even one animal could be a hoarder if he isn't able to take of it properly but generally hoarders have multiple animals, sometimes well into the hundreds.

There have been some interesting television programs on animal hoarding recently and they give some insight into the unhinged mind of a hoarder. "Cat Ladies" is a documentary filmed partially in Toronto and it explores the sometimes hazy line between being an animal rescuer and being an animal hoarder.

In the doc, a certain celeb from the Toronto Humane Society says: I think a cat hoarder and a cat rescuer are almost one and the same ... I think it is an addiction. Okay, whatever, Einstein. It can sometimes be a slippery slope from one to the other but I don't think the majority of rescuers can be put in the same category as hoarders.

One of the cat ladies interviewed in the doc has a different view: I find it rather amusing that people would call me the crazy cat lady because I don't look at myself that way ... I think I'm a lot more sane than the people that can handle leaving a cat out in the winter to freeze to death or starve to death - now I think that's crazy.

"Cat Ladies" aired on TVO back in September but hopefully, there will be some repeat showings sometime soon.

From a show on A&E appropriately called "Hoarders", there is an episode dealing with a cat hoarder named Shirley: Feeding animals is something I have to do even if you put me in prison.

"Hoarders" is a reality TV show so you can expect a good dose of fix-it-in-an-hour therapy but besides that annoying aspect, it seems to present Shirley in a sympathetic light even though she does live in terrible conditions and the animals under her "care" are highly neglected. The clip is of an upcoming show so I don't know the outcome of Shirley's "therapy".

There's even a professional group dedicated to hoarding, The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium and while I probably wouldn't want to go to any of their conventions, they do have some eye-popping photos ...

UGH!

... on their site and lots of information concerning animal welfare, intervention, disease and legislation.

Okay, so this started out as a post about a relaxing time with the dogs at TAS and it turned into a post about hoarding. I'm getting old and my mind is starting to wander. I'll have to write about Rufus, who is unfortunately still waiting to be adopted, some other time.

Update: I was recently sent a link to a couple of sites that deal specifically with hoarding. Check them out. There's lots of information about the disease:

http://www.animalhoarding.org/

http://animalhoardinginfo.blogspot.com/

Support Cheri DiNovo. Repeal BSL rally at Queen's Park

From the Facebook group, REPEALING BSL in Ontario's Dog Owner's Liability Act:

INFORMATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE ATTENDING THE RALLY ON NOV. 18 FROM 9:30 TO 12 NOON.

Signs are allowed. No signs can be inserted into the ground or hung on monuments.

“Marshalls” will be available if anyone has questions or needs assistance. Look for signs around neck.

If people are bringing their dogs, please remember to bring “doggie bags” for messes.

All DOLA dogs must comply with current restrictions.

The “event” will be on the North West corner of the south lawn by the large statue. THAT is on the left side of the Queens Park building (if one if looking directly at the FRONT DOORS). We will be south of the front steps, on west side of lawn.

PARKING:
No parking is permitted in the Queens Park lot. There is limited street parking on Grosvenor St. People can also park at the University of Toronto. For Green Public parking lots. Please see this link and type in Queens Park.
http://www.facebook.com/l/66347;parking.greenp.com/find-parking/
Button’s, T-Shirts and anything they would be deemed “protest” material is allowed “OUTSIDE” only.

INFORMATION FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SIT IN THE GALLERY DURING BILL PRESENTATION.

It is estimated that Cheri Di Novo will be presenting her private members bill when the house reconvenes around 3 pm.

Gallery entrance is South Basement Level, to the left side of the front doors to Queens Park.

Visitors will need to obtain a Public General Visitor’s Pass upon entering.
There is a coat check available where one can leave their cell phones, camera’s and coats.

No cell phones, camera’s or Protest buttons or materials allowed inside of the Queens Park Building.

No dogs allowed inside the Queens Park building.

While in the gallery no clapping, cheering or vocal outbursts are allowed.

NOTE: There are two restaurants close-by. On the west Corner of University and College there is a Tim Horton’s and a Swiss Chalet. For those who will be staying for the afternoon presentation of Cheri’s bill, one can “hook up” with other supporters at either of these places.

The animal rescuer

From the NY Times, an audio slideshow, Stefanie Rinza: The Animal Rescuer - a nice piece for a Sunday evening.

Cheri DiNovo on Pit Bulls and Breed Specific Legislation

Cheri and Miss Vickie

Here's Cheri DiNovo, MPP for Parkdale-High Park, talking about breed specific legislation and how she's going to introduce a bill to remove it from the Dog Owners' Liability Act. Please excuse the pops and scratches and my humming and hawing. I was originally going to transcribe the interview and you would've been spared the noise but then realized I didn't want to stay up all night hitting play and rewind.

It's more interesting listening to Cheri talk anyway (the sound quality gets a bit better after the first few seconds):


So, if you can make it, please come out in support of this bill on Wednesday, November 18 from 9:30 until noon where there will be a rally in front of Queen's Park.

Update: Cheri also did a radio interview on this. Here's the link: http://www.drmcnasty.com/Chrei-NewsTalk-1010.mp3

Cheri DiNovo is my neighbour and I'm proud of it

I have this thing with coincidences and I don't know if it's just me being attentive to them or if it's like some useless superpower I have. My latest coincidence happened last week while I was returning home and I happened to see a neighbour, who lives four houses away, on the sidewalk with her English Bull Terrier. This neighbour happened to be Cheri DiNovo who is the MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) for my riding and though I knew she lived on the street, I'd never had the opportunity to say hello to her.

So, I stopped and we chatted and I patted her happy pup and then I continued on.

That night, as I was blog surfing, I read on FROGDOG BLOG that a Private Member's Bill is going to be presented at Queen's Park, the provincial legislature, on Wednesday, November 18th between 10am and 11:30 to try to remove the breed specific portions of the Dog Owner's Liability Act. In other words, some brave politician is going to try to get rid of Ontario's anti-Pit Bull law and it turns out that politician is Cheri DiNovo.

How cool is that?

Finally, someone in a real position to help is standing up for the dog owners of Ontario who don't want to see their loved ones arbitrarily plucked out of their hands and killed by local animal control.

I phoned Cheri's office and arranged a short sidewalk interview with her for today. Turns out she knows quite a bit about the issue and I'll be posting up what she has to say about it tomorrow.

More coincidences like this one, please.

Toronto Animal Services Friday Review, Nov. 5

Daisy is such an adorable Jack Russell Terrier. She's a little chubbo who's just waiting to jump into someone's arms.

For adoption information on Daisy and other dogs (and cats and other animals), please visit Toronto Animal Services.