The Nutters Being Nutters and Also Being Criminals

There is an update to the Joy Braunstein story - a third person has been charged with harassment: HEATHER LYNNE VALLONE.  And Braunstein offered more details about her purchase of a collie puppy from a reputable breeder.  She said the puppy was for one of her children who has special needs and that she carefully researched her choice of both breed and breeder to get an appropriate pet for her child as each and every responsible parent ought to do.  Eric Heyl, the columnist who wrote the update, observed that judging from the harassment she received, you would have thought she had drowned a puppy, not responsibly bought one.

First, some happy news:

 Cindy Marabito was fired from her examiner post for lying.  Well, not technically for lying because she’s been doing that for years, but for being an idiot after she got caught lying.  At one point, Marabito was making quite a pretty penny from her Examiner articles.  Another nutter is the one who nailed her, too.   Her entire oeuvre has been removed from the Examiner site.  Her defense is that no one should criticize her for lying because she’s saving animals.  Fun read!

Click here and here to read about another enormous Marabito lie that she didn’t get fired for:

And now for some mixed news:

Western Pensylvania Humane Society hired a new director, Joy Braunstein, who had implemented more stringent screening protocols as a public safety measure and more dogs were being euthanized because of it.  That made about a third of the staff stomp off in a huff or get fired.  Then Braunstein bought a collie puppy from a reputable breeder (she had several rescue dogs and horses at her home).  This made nutters lose their shit.  They started a change.org petition to get her fired.  Braunstein received a boatload of terrifying threats from the nutters.  WPHS put her on administrative leave for her safety.  Then Braunstein decided to resign from the position because of fears for the safety of her family.

Police charged two nutters with harrassment.  Both Diane Bandy and Tara Vybiral have been called out for nuttiness before.

Fyi the Michael A. Fuoco mentioned in the Bandy article is married to super nutter Linda Wilson Fuoco who was pals with Leah Purcell of Spindletop Refuge.

And then there’s news of nutters behaving badly in Illinois.

Dear Sirs: rethink pit bulls!

"As a former law enforcement officer and ACO, I place a great deal of value on public safety. Based on my extensive experience with pit bulls, I came to recognize as clearly evident that these dogs were unique, in that they all seemed to share certain problematic personality traits and behaviors, and a very dangerous degree of instability." Beth Clifton

Watch the video HERE.

Read the article HERE.

Those naughty pit bulls

"When they were good, they were delightful; when they were bad, they were deadly."

Pit Bulls and Amputees

The Truth About Bouviers Des Flandres and Pit Bull Awareness Month

We've all seen the hype and push to sell pit bulls to just anyone this month with Pit Bull Week, Pit Bull Awareness Day, and Pit Bull Awareness Month.  And we’ve all seen at least one of the hundreds of articles entitled “The Truth about Pit Bulls” or “Pit Bull Myths” telling us that pit bulls have an undeserved bad reputation and make great pets for just about anyone and please go get one today.

Other breed clubs have the equivalent of "The Truth About Pit Bulls" information pages. But, while "Truth About Pit Bulls" pages are created to encourage just anyone to impulsively buy a pit bull by distorting history, making false claims and just plain lying, Truth pages written about other breeds serve to protect the breed from being abused in the hands of those same kinds of impulsive, low-information, naive potential owners.

Bouvier des Flanders

Ronald Reagan's Bouvier, Lucky

The grandma of Truth pieces is "Don't Buy a Bouvier" by Pam Green (1992), perhaps written after the Bouvier des Flanders breed jumped slightly in popularity after people saw Ronald Reagan with his Bouvier, Lucky. As the title indicates, it was written to warn off impulsive, uncommitted potential owners from buying Bouviers thus preventing Bouviers from being abused, neglected and prematurely killed. There are 9 Bouviers listed for adoption in North America on Petfinder. Though Bouviers are a large, dominant, protective breed that have been used for police work, Clifton's "Dog Attack Deaths and Maimings" report lists zero Bouviers killing or maiming a person in North America as of 2014.

The breed is strong, can be aggressive and potentially dangerous in the wrong hands. But the breed is rare and few dogs end up in shelters, so it presents virtually zero threat to public safety and Bouviers can live long and happy lives in the hands of committed and responsible owners. That is called breed stewardship.  Stewards and protectors of a breed do not want their dogs to become popular or to pawn their dogs off on just anyone by lying about the characteristics of the breed because that gets people injured or killed and hurts the dogs, too.

BAD DOG TALK

The gold star of breed stewardship and advocacy goes to the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America. Their Truth page pulls absolutely no punches. They push back hard against the increased public awareness and potential impulse buyers that followed Eddy's (Frasier TV show) and Wishbone's appearances on TV. They carefully explain how a dog actor gives a very misleading impression of the real Jack Russell Terrier's temperament.  They even made a logo with the slogan:  

Contrast that with this pit bull pushing craziness:

Here’s a sample of other breed clubs that have adapted or been inspired by “Don’t Buy a Bouvier”

Don’t Buy a Chinook

Don’t Buy an English Springer Spaniel

Don’t Buy a Saint Bernard
Don't Buy a Beauceron

Facts About Akitas

Top Ten Reasons Not to get a Labrador Retriever

10 Reasons You Do NOT Want a German Shepherd Dog

Is the Leonberger for You?

Should You Own a Golden?

Shiba Inu Temperament What's Good , What's Bad

Do I Really Want a Border Collie?

Contrast that with the pit bull pushers and the myths and lies they perpetuate to sell pit bulls to any and everyone with disasterous results when they should be screaming to the rafters for Mandatory Spay and Neuter and demand that pit bull ownership be regulated:

The truth about pit bulls: 6 myths dispelled

THE TRUTH ABOUT PIT BULLS - Victoria Stillwell

The Truth About Pit Bulls - Nat Geo Wild -  dead link

10 Reasons Why Pit Bulls Rule - Petfinder

6 Reasons Pit Bulls Make Great Pets

Pit Bulls' surprising past: Nanny Dogs

Pit Bulls are Noble, Loving, Loyal, Playful - Ed Boks - dead link

Pit Bulls Are Wonderful Family Pets - dead link

The Truth About Pit bulls - Pasado's Safe Haven  - dead link

We Were Wrong About Pit Bulls. Learn the Truth - Best Friends - dead link

The Truth About Pit Bulls - Chicago Pet News Examiner  - dead link

The Truth About Pit Bulls: A war hero, a movie star and the pet of two presidents - dead link

Update from a 2011 post

Scorched Earth, the Politics of Pit Bulls: A Facebook post that deserves to be seen.

Scorched Earth, the Politics of Pit Bulls: A Facebook post that deserves to be seen.: This comment turned up on Facebook this morning.  These are not my words but I urge you to read them to understand the fury pit bull owners turn on the victims of their bred-for-blood-sport dogs. Thank you to the author of this comment but I will not share her name in an effort to protect her from the vile rage of pit bull owners.

Pit Bull Crisis Prompts Support Groups to Declare October 24th National Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day

Pit bull victim groups launch national advocacy website NationalPitBullVictimAwarenessDay.org to raise awareness of the social and financial costs of pit bull attacks. The initiative, sponsored by Daxton's Friends for Canine Education and Awareness, seeks to call attention to the scope and severity of this urgent public safety issue. #NationalPitBullVictimAwarenessDay

 

 

The National Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day website lists more than 50 organizations and advocacy groups from across the continent whose purpose is to alert the public to the pit bull crisis. 

"wild spouting of dog statistics"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ6HvjJisMA

The above video is art imitating life. The video below is why

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OtqZo1bDmo