Animal Cops

[livius drusus]

I spend most of the time looking away with my hand over my mouth, but I find myself inexorably drawn to this show: the stories, to the animals themselves, and to the incredible people who do this incredibly hard job.

For anyone who might not know what the hell I'm talking about, it's a show (http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/animalcops/animalcops.html) on Animal Planet which follows Human Society and SPCA investigators on their calls. I don't think I need to tell you how horrendous some of those calls are. Animal collectors with 250 cats literally living in every possible space including in the walls, ducts, oven, etc, a dog with 2 pounds of towing chain embedded into his neck, a horse 300 pounds underweight with abscesses in every hoof alive for no discernible reason, and so on.

As horrific as every episode inevitably is, most of the stories end well, with the animal treated and in a good home. The investigators are really something: compassionate, strong - both physically and emotionally - dedicated, indomitable when bringing animal torturers to justice but without the burning acid of hatred I couldn't help but bring to the job. Well, on camera anyway.

Point being, the program showcases the best and worst of humanity, and even when I have to watch through my fingers. Does anyone else fear to look and yet cannot turn away?

[LadyShea]

Yep, guilty. I watch it all the time, and I bawl* almost every time. They do try to show the stories with a somewhat happy ending at least. The people really impress me....not all cities have dedicated and compassionate people in animal control, but on that show I have seen many a person whose hand I want to shake.

* The man who's neighbors reported his emaciated Dalmation....turned out she was sent home to die from an illness and the thinness was a symptom. He cooked and cut up chicken and beef for her and loved her so much. I was shredded watching that

[livius drusus]

I missed that episode, Shea, but I know I would have been bawling too. Here (http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/animalcops/houston/meet.html) are some interviews with the Houston investigators; here (http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/animalcops/meet.html) are the Detroit investigators (including my favorite badass: Debby). Such fine people.

[beyelzu]

I have watched the show but I cant really watch it for long.


I may despise most people*, but animals particularly dogs and cats dont deserve that kind of treatment it really bothers me.

actually reading Ladyshea's description of the dalmation bothered me








*to quote myself,

I believe absolutely in the potential for greatness in all human beings, I also think most people basically suck.

[livius drusus]

I know how you feel, bey. One of the most successful aspects of the show, however, is how even-handed the investigators are wrt the animal owners; you can see that in the interviews I linked to above, too.

A lot of the people responsible for what seems like obvious, monstruous neglect are just astoundingly ignorant, or in a circumstances beyond their control, like the dalmation owner. One of the dog collectors, for instance, was a lonely old lady who was not exactly playing with a full deck and really thought she was saving them by taking them into her home to live in utter squalor.

A lot of people have a misconception that if you bring an ailing pet to the Humane Society, they'll kill it on the spot, so they resist seeking care for an animal or giving up one (or 10 or 50) they are not capable of caring for thinking that at least with them the animal will survive. Hell, even I had no idea they'd go to such lengths to help a sick animal before I saw the show. I basically thought they ran shelters.

The vicious assholes get prosecuted if it's at all possible; the nutters and poor people have their pets placed in a good home. The show's emotional impact is a big part of how educational it is. My hope (and I suspect I'm not alone) is that people on the wrong path but with an actual human heart will see the program and know there's help out there for them.

Maybe the torturers will think twice too, but somehow I doubt that. :storm:

[Scotty]

Guilty. I watch the show when I can, but usually it is on right before we go to bed, and my wife gets upset watching the show just before sleeping, so she can't sleep, thus, I don't watch it as often as I would like.

On a funny note, my wife and her friend are taking riding lessons, and the horse her friend was on was very overweight, and it was a horse that was rescued, and I said, "What was that, a reverse rescue?" Too many of those episodes watched I guess :)

-Scott

[SharonDee]

I love that show but I don't get to watch it when Hubster is awake. He can't stand to see those poor animals suffer, happy outcome or no.

Fortunately for me, Hubster takes a lot of naps so I do get to watch it now and then. The one where they pulled 250 cats out of the nasty house... poor babies. :deepsigh:

[freemonkey]

I love that show but I don't get to watch it when Hubster is awake. He can't stand to see those poor animals suffer, happy outcome or no.
Same here. I haven't seen the show in months, it was on on Sunday afternoons last winter, but they've moved it around and I haven't seen it since.

[lisarea]

I know how you feel, bey. One of the most successful aspects of the show, however, is how even-handed the investigators are wrt the animal owners; you can see that in the interviews I linked to above, too.

Well, yeah, usually.

One that really stuck in my craw was a Miami episode--I'm pretty sure it was Miami because they have fucked up laws in Miami--where some poor guy's dogs got out. At least one of them was clearly an American Bulldog, just like our little baby, and the "investigator" deemed it a (banned) pit bull and the guy had to fucking MOVE TO ANOTHER COUNTY so they wouldn't KILL his dog. The whole thing just compounds the ludicrousness of fucking breed bans, which make me want to punch people even when they're accurately applied, by letting some fat-necked asswipe capriciously deem an obviously NOT pit bull as one, then force the guy to move. (The dog didn't even do anything egregious. As I recall, he got out and ran around the neighborhood being a big happy dog for an hour or so.) I need to just fly to Miami and kick that fat-neck motherfucker's ass once and for all.

Which is not why I really shouldn't watch those shows. Why is: They just make me want to go get more dogs, and I can't. Sluggo was a rescue. They found him wandering down the road one day, then he was adopted by some fucktards who BROUGHT HIM BACK because they said he was aggressive (turned out they had never seen a play bow before), and because he couldn't be housetrained. (Which I managed in two fucking weeks because I am such a trained professional. Oh, wait. Either a trained professional, or else some dumb fuck don't know nothing and just politely informed the dog that the house was not for pooping in. I forget which.) And whenever I watch that show, I want to go bring more dogs home. Because I believe that dogs should live in houses, sleep on comfy beds with pillows and blankets, sit on couches, eat home-cooked meals, have their own toyboxes, and have a say in matters of household finances and such. But I guess these policies managed to negate any self-esteem damage Sluggo suffered from being a double-reject, as he is now the Center of the Universe. He refuses to allow any form of affection to pass by without getting into the middle of it. Like you can't kiss some guy's pointy little bald head when he's sitting in a chair without it serving as an open invitation for Sluggo to climb all 95# of himself up onto the guy's lap so he can get a piece of that action. I would pity any other dog that had to try to fit into that sickassed dynamic.

It's so wrong, so not fair to see people chaining their dogs up, leaving them outside all day, not fucking FEEDING THEM, and treating them like fucking lawn ornaments. I just want to fix it, and I can't.

It makes my solar plexus get all hot and angry.

I really should stop watching those shows.

Dammit.

[LadyShea]

lisarea, your household arrangement with regard to large dogs is somehow...familiar to me...like I live at your house. Wonder why? ;)

[lisarea]

lisarea, your household arrangement with regard to large dogs is somehow...familiar to me...like I live at your house. Wonder why? ;)

This is one of those things where my ISP is going to call me and say, "Stay calm, walk out the front door right now. The police are waiting. The posts are coming from...INSIDE YOUR HOUSE!"

Isn't it?

Have you read the book Smarter Than You Think? I got it a while back, and loved it because the guy basically said what I've always thought myself. Like he talks about how much you enjoy coming inside on a cold day and having a bowl of hot soup, and asks you to consider how your dog, with his heightened sense of smell and taste, might prefer that to a bowl of cold, dry kibble.

Notably, I think it was the day after I brought Sluggo home, I made a pot of vegetable soup, and when I gave him his bowl, he just looked at me like I was crazy, and I had to tell him it was really for him about a hundred times, because he'd eat a little, then look up at me like I was going to hit him. He still does that sometimes, even, like he still can't believe his good fortune.

It is just so easy to make a dog happy, I don't understand why everyone doesn't do it.

[livius drusus]

One that really stuck in my craw was a Miami episode--I'm pretty sure it was Miami because they have fucked up laws in Miami--where some poor guy's dogs got out. At least one of them was clearly an American Bulldog, just like our little baby, and the "investigator" deemed it a (banned) pit bull and the guy had to fucking MOVE TO ANOTHER COUNTY so they wouldn't KILL his dog.

That is seriously fucked up. They can just tell the dude to move or die right there on the spot? Breed bans are stupid enough, but how is it possible that enforcement is based on somebody's ability to call the breed at a glance? What horseshit.

In Georgia they'll kill ferrets for a bite. Even though rabies vaccinations are required by law, the law does not consider the vaccine thoroughly-enough tested on ferrets, so if one of them bites someone (and they can be nippy little buggers), they have to test them for rabies vaccine or no vaccine. As it happens, that test involves decapitation.

Nobody gets near my ferrets unless I'm holding them, and nobody gets to play with them, period.

It's so wrong, so not fair to see people chaining their dogs up, leaving them outside all day, not fucking FEEDING THEM, and treating them like fucking lawn ornaments. I just want to fix it, and I can't.

It makes my solar plexus get all hot and angry.

I really should stop watching those shows.

Dammit.

Testify, sister. It's everything I can do not to go on an adoption spree after watching that show.

[lisarea]

That is seriously fucked up. They can just tell the dude to move or die right there on the spot? Breed bans are stupid enough, but how is it possible that enforcement is based on somebody's ability to call the breed at a glance? What horseshit.

Well, there's no genetic test or anything, so yeah. They just eyeball the dogs, and most breed legislation has some kind of wording about dogs with "the majority of characteristics" of a banned breed also being banned. If you felt like it, I guess you could argue that four legs, a tail, fur, etc., would be a 'majority of characteristics.' It's unconstitutionally vague, even though stupid judges don't recognize that yet.

Some fuckheads in our city tried to outlaw pit bulls recently, and they're just fucking insane. This one woman got up and talked about how pit bulls have 'locking jaws' (lie) and some amazing number of pounds per inch (lie), and could--I shit you not--jump over six-foot fences in a single bound (good god, they're built like cinderblocks: LIE). Serious. She made them sound like the chupacabra or something. Also no lie: She played the 9-11 card. No shit. It went something like, "After 9-11 and everything, it's not right that I should be TERRORIZED in my own backyard."

On the bright side, the city council meeting in question was SRO, and probably fifty people spoke against the ban for every one who spoke for it. Lots of pictures of pits and similar breeds with babies sleeping on them and shit like that. Several people who'd been attacked by Labs and other "family friendly" pets, and lots and lots of ass-kicking statistics.

YAY for us! I walked around in crazy love with this stupid little city for a very long time after that.


In Georgia they'll kill ferrets for a bite. Even though rabies vaccinations are required by law, the law does not consider the vaccine thoroughly-enough tested on ferrets, so if one of them bites someone (and they can be nippy little buggers), they have to test them for rabies vaccine or no vaccine. As it happens, that test involves decapitation.

Holy fuck. Just: Holy motherfucking fuck.

Now I have to go find out what our ferret laws are. Because that's fucking insane.

[Godless Dave]

Obviously the law should be that morons aren't allowed to own dogs, but morons are even harder to define under the law than dog breeds.

And we're not allowed to neuter morons.

[JoeP]

1. What has four legs and one arm? A happy pitbull.

2. Do you guys mind me inserting flip and marginally-relevant comments in serious threads like this? It's just how I think. Or do I need to start a thread for "JoeP's ever-multiplying one-line comments"?

[LadyShea]

Well, there's no genetic test or anything, so yeah. They just eyeball the dogs, and most breed legislation has some kind of wording about dogs with "the majority of characteristics" of a banned breed also being banned. If you felt like it, I guess you could argue that four legs, a tail, fur, etc., would be a 'majority of characteristics.' It's unconstitutionally vague, even though stupid judges don't recognize that yet.

I think you and I discussed this before. The fact is most people cannot accurately identify more than a few purebred breeds and mutts can come out looking like anything. I remember a friend pointing in fear and saying "That pit bull is coming right at us" and here comes a purebred brindle boxer :doh: Anyway, the whole Molosser group is open to banning because they have big heads or some shit..

Some fuckheads in our city tried to outlaw pit bulls recently, and they're just fucking insane. This one woman got up and talked about how pit bulls have 'locking jaws' (lie) and some amazing number of pounds per inch (lie), and could--I shit you not--jump over six-foot fences in a single bound (good god, they're built like cinderblocks: LIE). Serious. She made them sound like the chupacabra or something. Also no lie: She played the 9-11 card. No shit. It went something like, "After 9-11 and everything, it's not right that I should be TERRORIZED in my own backyard."

On the bright side, the city council meeting in question was SRO, and probably fifty people spoke against the ban for every one who spoke for it. Lots of pictures of pits and similar breeds with babies sleeping on them and shit like that. Several people who'd been attacked by Labs and other "family friendly" pets, and lots and lots of ass-kicking statistics.

Jeezus people are fucked up. I am glad your whole town didn't succumb to the idiocy and actually stood up to the stupid ban proposal



Holy fuck. Just: Holy motherfucking fuck.

Now I have to go find out what our ferret laws are. Because that's fucking insane.

Colorado required shots, but I don't remember any bite laws like Georgia has! I know when i tried to take my ferrets to California (I didn't know they were banned at the time), they threatened to snap their necks in front of my face.

[Socratoad]

I have not had a TV for approx. three years but I certainly am familiar with these horror stories as I have been one of the people animal rescue and humane societies having been bringing injured , tortured and grossly malnourished creatures to fore many years. My humble hovel more resembles a small zoo than a home. Alas age and poor health have caught up with me and this year I have had to say no to all but the tiniest of creatures.

PS: I am enraged at just how little value the courts place on animal life. Sure the sick bastards are prosecuted, but the fines and punishments are so small as to be ludicrous

[livius drusus]

Oh, wow, Socratoad. You foster recovering animals? I have such huge respect for that. May I ask what kinds of tiny animals are currently staying at Hotel Toad?

[LadyShea]

Jeez socratoad, just when I think I couldn't like you any MORE, you come up with some other amazing thing for me to admire. I hope you found that work more fulfilling than heartbreaking for your sake.

[Socratoad]

Guinea pigs, hedgehogs, rabbits, chinchillas, turtles, frogs , toads (of course), a descented skunk, a weasel, a flying squirrel, two bats, several birds, including a wood duck with one wing shot off. I know I am forgetting a couple, but that will give you a snapshot.

Oh yes, before I forget BB (Baby Bear) a woodchuck who is my favourite of all though I do my best not to have favourites. BB is out wandering about with his loved one as he has for the last two summers, however if nothing has happened to him he will show up at the patio door as soon as the weather gets much colder. He is completely housebroken. I saved him five years ago when he was a tiny baby and I caught a neighbour trying to kick the tiny guy to death. It took over two years to nurse him back to health. I even brought him back to life several times by applying mouth to mouth resuscitation. So I guess you can see why I love him so.

He loves to tease the cats and dog.

[livius drusus]

It just doesn't get much cooler than that.

[seebs]

A friend of mine set a trap once for "some animal". What they caught looked very much like a badger. They talked to Animal Control. Apparently, it was not a badger. See, badgers are endangered. If you catch a badger, even by accident, you are in a great deal of trouble.

But if you bring that very large woodchuck by, the Animal Control people would be happy to take it to a wildlife preserve where it can hang out with other woodchucks that look a lot like badgers.

[Socratoad]

Funny story Seebs, but I really do not see how anyone could have mistaken a woodchuck for a badger. :eek:

[livius drusus]

For you, Socratoad.

:chinch: :guinpig: :prairiedog: :ferret2: :otter: :weasel: :badger: :bat: :skunk: :seaturt: :flyingsquirrel:

[Socratoad]

For you, Socratoad.

:chinch: :guinpig: :prairiedog: :ferret2: :otter: :weasel: :badger: :bat: :skunk: :seaturt: :flyingsquirrel:

Oh jeez thank you so very much Liv. :thankyou: That really has made my day. There's BB, Ginny Pig and the rest of the family :yup:

Latest creature update: Early this morning two sweet young, but rather down-at-heels looking sisters arrived at my door bearing a three foot iguana :chameleon: with a couple of dog bites on him/her. They were crying as they begged me to give their pet a home because their father said he was going to kill this miniature dragon if they did not "get rid of it". So yer old Toad comforted the girls, gave them some treats, agreed to give "Smiley" a home, and promised them they could visit green monster anytime.

Oh when will I ever learn, when will I ever learn :notes2:

But of course I really don't wanna learn. :woohoo:

[livius drusus]

Oh jeez thank you so very much Liv. :thankyou: That really has made my day. There's BB, Ginny Pig and the rest of the family :yup:

It was entirely my pleasure. I'm so glad you like them. :)

Latest creature update: Early this morning two sweet young, but rather down-at-heels looking sisters arrived at my door bearing a three foot iguana :chameleon: with a couple of dog bites on him/her. They were crying as they begged me to give their pet a home because their father said he was going to kill this miniature dragon if they did not "get rid of it".

I swear I will never understand some people. What kind of daddy would threaten his girls' pet with death? I sometimes think I must have been the luckiest girl in the world just to have been treated with love and appreciation. Of course, at the time I was a bit unclear on that; I thought my dad's insistence on one pet at a time was downright brutal. :cryhome:

So yer old Toad comforted the girls, gave them some treats, agreed to give "Smiley" a home, and promised them they could visit green monster anytime.

You named him Smiley? Really? That's just wonderful. :bgirl: What about his injuries? Can you care for them yourself or will you have to take him to the vet?

Oh when will I ever learn, when will I ever learn :notes2:

But of course I really don't wanna learn. :woohoo:

And that's a good thing. :yup:

[Socratoad]

Yeah really, Smiley. They have this permanent smile-like expression on their faces.

Oh no, no need for a vet. I am a vet, except for official recognition and diploma hanging on the wall.

I really never could have saved the countless creatures I have if I had not learned to be very proficient at caring for wounds, illnesses, difficult deliveries, etc. As it is creatures keep me well below canuck poverty levels. But its the way I have chosen to live :yup:

Yuh know I have raised and cared for everything from cougars to llamas to the tiniest tiniest shrews, however this is my first iguana.

[Socratoad]

I've resurrected this thread rather than start a new one as I have an announcement to make:

Yesterday a guy and his seven year old daughter showed up at my door with a wounded female ruffed grouse rapped up in towel and peering out of a box at me. This little bird had been either hit by a car or shot by a hunter. First they took her to an animal hospital, who only offered to kill the little bird. Luckily they had heard of me through relatives, and so as I type this the little bird is peeking out of a hospital cage at me.

She seems to be doing quite well, although these are early days. I know her leg is broken but will not do anything for now because the shock factor could very well kill her if I handle her to much, such as setting the leg. I hope to be able to set her little leg later today, but for now rest and quiet are what Dr. Toad has ordered.

She has eaten a little and also drank some water.

Now if only I had even 5% as much sucess when trying to help people :(

[livius drusus]

She's the luckiest grouse in the whole wide world. As for your success with people, you know full well that can't be gauged on the spot. We're in it for the long haul,my friend, and I think you do great. :hug:

[Godless Dave]

Guinea pigs, hedgehogs, rabbits, chinchillas, turtles, frogs , toads (of course), a descented skunk, a weasel, a flying squirrel, two bats, several birds, including a wood duck with one wing shot off. I know I am forgetting a couple, but that will give you a snapshot.

Oh yes, before I forget BB (Baby Bear) a woodchuck who is my favourite of all though I do my best not to have favourites. BB is out wandering about with his loved one as he has for the last two summers, however if nothing has happened to him he will show up at the patio door as soon as the weather gets much colder. He is completely housebroken. I saved him five years ago when he was a tiny baby and I caught a neighbour trying to kick the tiny guy to death.
:fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming:

I won't deny that I've killed injured animals before, mostly rodents the family dog got hold of. I doubt I've killed any that had a real chance of being saved, but it's possible. But I've always done it with one quick blow. What kind of asshole kicks an animal to death?

:fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming:

[Socratoad]

Guinea pigs, hedgehogs, rabbits, chinchillas, turtles, frogs , toads (of course), a descented skunk, a weasel, a flying squirrel, two bats, several birds, including a wood duck with one wing shot off. I know I am forgetting a couple, but that will give you a snapshot.

Oh yes, before I forget BB (Baby Bear) a woodchuck who is my favourite of all though I do my best not to have favourites. BB is out wandering about with his loved one as he has for the last two summers, however if nothing has happened to him he will show up at the patio door as soon as the weather gets much colder. He is completely housebroken. I saved him five years ago when he was a tiny baby and I caught a neighbour trying to kick the tiny guy to death.
:fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming:

I won't deny that I've killed injured animals before, mostly rodents the family dog got hold of. I doubt I've killed any that had a real chance of being saved, but it's possible. But I've always done it with one quick blow. What kind of asshole kicks an animal to death?

:fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming: :fuming:

A very sick hate-filled one. Unfortunately its not that uncommon. :(

[Socratoad]

She's the luckiest grouse in the whole wide world. As for your success with people, you know full well that can't be gauged on the spot. We're in it for the long haul,my friend, and I think you do great. :hug:

Hi Liv, thank you, I needed that. The incidents regarding fellow humans have not happened here, but rather on the "other" board.

[Kaonashi]

There are sick bastards out there. All of my neighbors are freaking scared of my dog because he's a Chow. I've had 6 dogs killed or gone missing over the past 3 years because a sick bastard in my neighborhood doesn't like animals. I would love to see people who abuse animals get the same treatment back.

[livius drusus]

Holy crap. You suspect your neighbor has killed/disappeared 6 of your dogs? Does he go after anyone else's pets? I can't even imagine losing so many animals in such a horrible way. That sucks, Kaonashi.

I've heard the bad scuttlebut about Chows, mainly that they're biters. All I know is I saw a black Chow puppy once and he looked like a wee animated afro. Man, was he cute.