Friday, March 20, 2015

Friday Frankenmauler Roundup: Neighbors from Hell, Mutant Mayhem, & Pit Grifters


     I couldn't think of a title for this edition of the Frankenmauler Roundup.  "Same Shit, Different Day Edition" is accurate--the pit bull crowd is nothing if not consistent--but it lacks the pizzazz I think is necessary to describe these stories of mayhem, narcissism, antisocial behavior, and Jerry Springer buffoonery.  Nor does same shit, different day describe the experiences of the victims.   It certainly wasn't same shit, different day for them.  I am confident that the victims will remember their encounters with these pit bulls and nutters for the rest of their lives (if they lived to tell the tale).

       Instead, it's the "Neighbors from Hell, Mutant Mayhem, & Pit Grifters Edition"  Discursive, but accurate.

     In La Pine, Oregon, a 27 year old mare had to be euthanized after being attacked in a fenced yard by two loose pit bulls, BAILEY (female) and BULLY (male).  The horse's owner, Richard Beck, fired a warning shot, but BULLY kept attacking, so Beck shot him.  BAILEY fled to her nearby home.  The dogs' owner, Tony Maxwell, surrendered BAILEY to animal control and was cited on two counts each of:  animal nuisance and killing, wounding, or injuring livestock.


     In Deltona, FL  Shirley Farina, age 70, suffered injuries while trying to protect her two Yorkies, Casper and Cali, from being mauled to death in their own back yard.  Farina heard her dogs screaming outside and found them being attacked by two pit bulls belonging to her neighbor.  The pit bulls entered her yard by digging under the shared fence.  Farina managed get them off of one of her dogs, but then the pit bulls focused the other Yorkie.  She scooped up the little dog to shield it, at which point the pit bulls started to bite her arms.  She screamed for help and was aided by a neighbor, Jeff Lamey.
     
             "At first I thought it was a child screaming and then I heard a second scream and it was a scream of terror," Lamey said.  "I grabbed two big rocks, jumped the fence, ran over and landed two good shots that broke them loose."  The pit bulls stopped their attack and Farina brought her wounded pets inside to help them.

Casper and Cali RIP

            Farina suffered multiple bites to her hard, arm, and neck.  Casper and Cali did not survive their injuries.  Says Farina: "I've had them since they were babies and they were the love of my life."
 
            The mutants belonged to Farina's neighbor, DEMETRIA BREWER, 24
Neighbor of the Year Demetria Brewer

         Sheriff's Deputies confronted BREWER.  She refused to give them her name or date of birth and yelled at her boyfriend not answer questions, either.  BREWER was arrested on the charge of resisting an officer without violence and booked into the Volusia County Jail.  Her pit bulls were taken by animal control to be put down.

           
 Meanwhile, across the pond in Dover UK, Karen McDonald is still mourning the untimely loss of her dog Petal.  On Feb 17, the springer spaniel was out for her morning walk with McDonald when they had the bad luck of running into drug abuser and bad actor TROY SMITH and his pit bull SPIKE.

          Says McDonald: "I saw this dog come rushing towards us.  It went round the back of Petal and started biting her leg.  I couldn't do anything.  I stood there screaming for help.  I didn't know if the dog would go for me.  It was absolutely terrifying."

            SMITH eventually got SPIKE to release the little dog.  Concerned strangers rendered aid and Petal was rushed to the animal hospital.  The vet recommended that Petal be put down.

           SMITH and SPIKE were later apprehended by authorities in Market Square.  Rather than cooperate and make the inevitable consequences as painless as possible, both of them decided to continue being stupid violent assholes.  SPIKE (later described by kennel workers as "the most undesirable dog (we) had ever had") bit a PCSO on the thigh before being contained.  SMITH, an admitted long-term heroin user, was arrested and bit the finger of a police officer at the police station.  He also lied that he was HIV positive.

howdy, neighbor!

         SMITH, 42, pleaded guilty to assault, affray, violent behavior at a police station and owning a dog dangerously out of control.  On March 17 he was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court.  SPIKE was dirt napped the day after the attack.

     
    Two people-pleasing nanny dogs went on a rampage in San Mateo back on January 21 (it's old news, but I couldn't resist...your humble correspondent found the story by googling "pit bull rampage").

         Shortly after 9:30 AM, police received a call from a "frantic" male who reported being  menaced by two large aggressive pit bulls, each weighing between 55 lbs and 75 lbs.  Police drove to the scene and along the way their radio blew up again: three more people called to report that the dogs were chasing people, including a city sanitation worker.
   
          The first officer to arrive on the scene followed the mutants in his car until they ran into a yard and attacked a landscaper, who used his leaf blower to fend them off. 
nanny was only playing

          The officer tried to distract the pit bulls by blowing his air horn.  It worked: the dogs turned their attention to him and  launched themselves, Cujo-like, against the door.  



           The pit bulls  ran in the direction of a local high school, prompting dispatchers to alert school officials to keep the students inside. Backup officers arrived and the police pursued the dogs, who then charged a woman pushing two children in a stroller.  Again, police distracted the animals with an air horn, but when the dogs changed direction towards a school for disabled children, an officer gave up trying to corner them and rammed them both with his car.
               One ugly mutant died instantly.  The other one decided that the party was OVER and fled for its home, located nearby.  Animal control officers came to the residence and captured the pit bull with the help of its dipshit owner.  While police were at the resident trying to get the dog, they were alerted to ANOTHER woman who'd been bitten by both dogs before the first report.  She suffered puncture wounds to her legs and biceps and was treated at the scene. 
              Police describe the dipshit owner(s) as "cooperative and remorseful," according to a local reporter.  
              I could not discover whether the owner(s) were charged.  Nor could I learn what happened to the surviving pit bull. 

            It was nanny dog mayhem redux in Stockton CA on March 13, when two pit bulls led police on a merry chase in the downtown area after attacking two men and killing a cat.  The first victim suffered bites to his hand.  The second man was attacked near city hall and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment, where he was then released.  
           Police and animal control chased the dogs for several blocks.  When the pit bulls moved towards one officer, the officer fired at one dog named HAZEL, injuring it in the leg.  The pit bulls ran and were taken into custody nearby.



           Meet the owner: pit nutter ROBERT HOUTZ.  HOUTZ came forward to claim his maulers and was allowed to take Hazel to an animal hospital.  
          You can see an interview with Houtz at this link.    Despite considerable evidence to the contrary, Houtz denies that his maulers are vicious: "It's not the breed.  It's the owners and how you train them.  They are not vicious.  I didn't train them that way."  I have no idea how Houtz explains the dead cat and two dog bite victims. Maybe the victims hallucinated their injuries. 
        


      HOUTZ was allowed to take his injured pit bull, HAZEL, to the animal hospital.  Incredibly, Stockton Animal Control returned MONEY, his other dog.  Houtz claims that Money is a service animal.  
       This asshole assumes no personal responsibility whatsoever (and why should he, given that Stockton police say he faces no charges?).  He claims his mutants could not have climbed the fence and that "someone must have let them out."  He claims that his dogs are not vicious, despite the fact that they just attacked two members of the community ("My animals are innocent," he says, on camera).  
        But Houtz's neighbors can rest easy: when Money was returned to Houtz, animal control came by to check that the fences were secure.  They gave Houtz a stern talking to, according to Joe Silva, a police spokesman: "They told him what the consequences would be if the dogs got out again."  
         I got into more trouble than Houtz when I failed to return the license plates after selling my car.  


      
 Now, please allow me to introduce DAVID WUICH of Fox River Grove, Illinois.   Wuich was recently featured in his local paper, the Northwest Herald.  Here's his picture:

David Wuich walking CAPONE and WHISKEY(left)
click to enlarge
        Hmmm, what's wrong with that, you wonder!  Just a guy walking his dogs! Those pit bulls might be bad news waiting to happen, but maybe Wuich is a decent person, you know, the naive variety of pit nutter. 

        Nope.  DAVID WUICH is not just bad news waiting to happen.  
        He's already happened.  To multiple people.  More than once.  

       In 2007, Cristina Orton and her lab, Sammy, were the victim of a home invasion. (Readers of Craven Desires will know that home invasion attacks are a pit bull hallmark: unlike other dogs, these ugly maulers actually go inside the homes of strangers looking for prey.  It's fucking heinous, is what it is).   It was like a scene from a horror movie: she was putting groceries away when a pit bull broke through her patio screen and attacked Sammy.  Sammy survived, with 22 staples in his head and dozens of stitches. 

        The "Avon calling!" pit bull was named SHADY, and he was owned by a young pit nutter named DAVID WUICH.

         Wuich put Shady to sleep after he couldn't find a rescue to take the dog (a miracle!).  

        David Wuich is a bad neighbor with an extensive criminal record.  He has been committing crimes his entire adult life and he is not mellowing with age: his most recent charges are FELONY assault and harassment. 

   
Traffic Violations: think DUI, not speeding ticket






           Multiple DUI, restraining order, and domestic violence.  A battering stalker with neck tattoos.  And, of course, PIT BULLS.  
David Wuich gives the nutter salute on Facebook

David Wuich gives the nutter salute on TWITTER

    David Wuich's MySpace has many photos of his pit bulls, past and present.  There are at least 6 different pit bulls there.  I saved all the photos...here are just a few:







"My tattoo.  I just love pit bulls!" he writes

      Lest anyone think that this pit nutter is not a well-rounded individual, I present an example of David Wuich's ARTWORK:
He drew it himself!
    We can explore his other interests on his Pintrest account.  Let's see what he's pinned!

     Well, he likes this glass guitar bong!

Glass Guitar Bong
 David Wuich thinks this is a great recipe for snack food at the "Stonerbowl"...uh, I mean Superbowl.  Wuich gives these "stuffed stoned jalapeno poppers" 2 thumbs up!
David likes these for superbowl

David Wuich covets this key.  "I want one!" he writes
     David works as a kennel manager at an animal hospital.



NEXT UP:  Another day, another shelter-adopted pit bull goes canine IED on its new family!

    Adopted pibble DON lasted fewer than 72 hours in his loving new home in Northeast Philadelphia.  He attacked Nicole Keppol, 33, and both of her children, an 11 year old boy and a 10 year old girl.  The mother and daughter were treated at the hospital and released.  The son needs reconstructive surgery.

     How did this happen?  Did Keppol and family just go to the pound to get a dog, and bad luck had them pick the worst of the lot? Where did DON come from?

     DON was enrolled in the Pen Pal Program at the Philadelphia Animal Care and Control Team Shelter ("ACCT").   The Pen Pal program's mission strikes me as counterintuitive (but, then, I'm not a pit nutter): they prioritize the adoption of dogs languishing in the shelter system.  The dogs that nobody wants to adopt, in other words.  The dogs that have been passed over or deliberately rejected in the past by potential adopters.
   
        The dogs in the Pen Pals Program are overwhelmingly pit bulls...and, what's more, they are the unpopular pit bulls. 

        This is how the Pen Pals Program describes it on their website: 

"These “long term homeless visitors” are overlooked for a variety of reasons such as the appearance of being depressed, or exhibiting anxiety that can be off-putting to potential adoptive families. Many are mixed blends of dogs that look like pit bull terriers that suffer from myths and stereotypes that betray their true loving individual personalities! The ACCT Life Saving Department’s Pen Pal Program aims to improve the quality of life for these dogs and prioritize their adoption."

      Who funds the Pen Pals Program?  BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY!!!       Click the link to read the entire blowjob of an article on the Best Friends website.  

 The Pen Pal Program dogs get "life skills coaching" and "enrichment activities" and doggie makeovers.  They are photographed with cute new collars.  A volunteer writes up a persuasive, appealing new bio for the dog, which is then aggressively marketed to potential adoptive families.

        Let's look at what the Pen Pal Program did for it's star graduate DON:
      "I'm a really good boy!  I have a killer smile!" sure you are, DON, sure you are


 
"Come to see me for yourself, and bring the whole family!"


     Check out DON's GLAMOR SHOTS! Pen Pals gave him a whole album.

   Soon, DON was adopted.  Here's his photo on his happy day.



  Here's DON in his loving new home, before the attack: "He's a happy dog and we are lucky to have him as part of our family," writes victim Nicole Keppol.  "Don is doing wonderfully."


Don in happier times

   Here's the news video about the attack.  DON's behind bars:


Nicole Keppol's facebook has been silent about DON since the attack.  I'm with Dawn: I hope it's because her lawyer is telling her to keep quiet.  

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Pit Bull Attack At Villalobos Begets The Blame Game AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Click here to read an angry tirade about pit bull owners and lovers from Tia Torres and get the details on a Villalobos pit bull attack!

Translation for the rambling tirade from Tia

1. Asshole pit owner (you all know how we are) brought her unruly pit bull to dump it at our shelter and while we were arguing with her, the unruly pit bull (you all know how they are) attacked one of our pit bulls which we will call a puppy to garner more sympathy.

2. The tourists that want to see Villalobos are crazy, violent assholes and we don't like them.

3. We don't like you taking pictures of us struggling with our unruly pit bulls.

4. So, we're charging $20 bucks to visit our "tourist attraction" shelter every day except Saturday when you're welcome to wait in line to see a bunch of pit bulls in a rescue.

5. NO PHOTOS OF US TRYING TO HANDLE UNRULY PIT BULLS!

PS - Would love some of those photos, ya'll!!!!

Thursday, March 5, 2015

BAD RAP & Homeless People Working Together Against Public Safety and Animal Welfare

Bad Rap's Donna Reynolds on pit bull owners in poverty (2011):
Selling puppies to keep the lights on and feed the kids. Wouldn't you?… Giving your dog away on craigslist when too many landlords turn you away? What choice do they have? … Sleeping outside on the cold cement because local homeless shelters won't allow pets? You know you'd do the same.
Donna's "Screw-public-safety-AND-animal-welfare-in-the-pursuit-of-being-OPEN-MINDED"* Thanksgiving Blog Post seems to have inspired this nitwit in the Bay area, the home of Bad Rap:

And how about that Rocket Dog Rescue?  Not dire enough - knowing that the pits will starve if Little Miss Nitwit stops feeding them and that a whole slew of little pitties are about to hit the street, they walk away, making a mockery of their own motto.
My question is: after Rocket Dog Rescue walked away from Homeless Man hoping to continue to keep Little Miss Nitwit on the hook (feed the dogs or they'll starve), is she still buying dog food for the entire pit bull family?

Ah, here's the founder of Rocket Dog Rescue.  Turns out SHE'S GOT HOMELESSNESS IN HER FAMILY TREE.  No wonder she sees no problem with ever more starving, homeless pit bulls being born to the streets.  And it probably gives her a special tickle to keep Little Miss Nitwit paying up for an ever increasing number of homeless maulers.  Public Safety and Animal Welfare be damned!


Here's my advice: CALL ANIMAL CONTROL.

*The being open minded crap is simply a cover to legitimize backyard breeders to continue to pump out  more than 2 new pit bulls each and every minute of each and every day of the year and to allow any kind of irresponsible owner to take in as many of these surplus pit bulls as they possibly can so that the cycle can continue because Mr. & Mrs. Donna Reynolds live off the completely artificially perpetuated "plight" of the pit bull.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

the ever calculating LEDY VANKAVAGE

















 
A very important story from CBS21 in the state of Pennsylvania regarding the TRUE costs of the dog bite epidemic in America. You must watch this.














 
Then compare that to LEDY VANKAVAGE'S fictional crunched numbers for the state of Pennsylvania.


















You can read the entire clarion call to the gullible and the spineless at Best Friends.

The state of Pennsylvania declined CBS21's request for an interview but released a statement. I took the liberty of translating the Brazilspeak for my 3 readers.












*I attempted to find the release date for BEST FRIENDS latest greatest propaganda tool, the BSL fiscal impact calculator and it appears to have been released in the spring of 2009, along with the attack on the Pennsylvania lawmakers.



Thank you Animal Uncontrol for bringing this important news story to our attention.

Watch on youtube. Show your support.

CBS21

CBS21


*I have been forced to take copious screenshots and save pdfs whenever I blog about BFAS. The links that I post to BEST FRIENDS have a tendency to disappear. I am flattered really.


Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Alaunte: the Medieval Gripper


Read about the pit bulldog's ancestor at America's Dog. They, too, were known to kill their masters.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

The Problem with Pit Bull Service Dogs

Sue Manning, long-time pit bull promotor and journalist for AP, has written an article about rescue pit bulls being trained as service dogs.  (YIKES)  She mentions two organizations doing this -  Animal Farm Foundation, the best funded pit bull ownership advocacy organization in the world,  and Pits for Patriots in Chicago.  When we first blogged about Pits for Patriots in 2012, this outfit was less than a year old, and they had not yet placed any pit bulls as service dogs for veterans with  PTSD.  They noted that they started with four candidates, but that two had washed out.  There's a photo below of the two successful training candidates fitted with prong collars.  Today, three years later, they still haven't placed any service dogs with a veteran and the two candidates below both developed a case of the dog aggression for which there is no cure.

They are up for adoption.  The white one, Odie, had to have his CGC and Therapy Dog certificates revoked.  He must go to an experienced pit bull owner who will not "set him up to fail."  FYI: That means potential owners must set up strict containment and movement protocols with zero margin of error allowable or there will be a bloodbath.  And to think he was once a therapy dog.


Pits for Patriots cites as their inspiration two "successful" pit bull service dog organizations, one in New York, and one in Tampa Bay, Florida.

The Tampa Bay organization, called Pit Bulls 4 Patriots, was founded with the intention of training rescued pit bulls as service dogs for veterans with PTSD. Unfortunately, by the time the Chicago Pits for Patriots had cited them as their inspiration, Pit Bulls 4 Patriots had already been forced to abandon their original concept. They retooled and renamed themselves Hounds 4 Heros, a program that uses rescued greyhounds instead. Why? The pit bulls were not working out as service dogs. They took too long to train, and they found that pit bulls were too "sensitive" to work with handlers with PTSD because they "reflected" the symptoms of their handler's PTSD. Evidently, the pit bulls were exhibiting common symptoms of PTSD: anger, irritability, hyper-vigilance, and anxiety whenever their owners did. Irritable pit bull service dogs. N o  T h a n k  Y o u.


In addition, the wonderful pit bull "washouts" could not be easily adopted so the founders of the organization are now the proud owners of a boatload of pits. Rescue pit bulls, it seems, are not inherently (genetically), suited to service dog work.  Unfortunately Hounds 4 Heros not only took down the page the above quote comes from, there is no archive of it either.

However, Hounds 4 Heros has written in depth about just what makes rescued greyhounds such great candidates as service dogs for veterans.  Knowing that they were forced to scrap their original concept, it is not hard to read between the lines.  It seems that greyhounds possess inherent (genetic) characteristics that that make them good PTSD service dogs and pit bulls do not:

"In our search for the "perfect" PTSD service dog, we are very excited to have Murray join us. Greyhounds tend to be calm, loving but not pushy, caring but not overly sensitive, and are happy to relax and go wherever their person needs them to be."

This second quote speaks directly to their experience with pit bulls and they speak to both genetic and a reasonably knowable and appropriate early experience for the greyhounds:
Our dogs are carefully selected for having exceptionally calm and stable temperaments. We like working with greyhounds because we do not have to train over any strong genetically bred instincts and drives (such as protection/guarding, being territorial, herding, dog aggression, or hunting). It was surprising for us to learn that although some greyhounds have a strong prey drive, most do not. While growing to adulthood in preparation for racing, greyhounds remain in daily contact with their litter mates and other hounds. They are spared from the jarring loss of their pack at an exceedingly young age, unlike most other dogs, who are bred and quickly sold as pets. This continued companionship with their own kind is extremely healthy for balanced brain development and canine social skills. Since they are being groomed to become racing dogs, their lives are disciplined, with plenty of exercise, routines, and very clear guidance from all the humans they come in contact with. As a result, they tend to be peacefully submissive to people, and easily accept direction. This is very helpful in their new roles as service dogs for our PTSD veterans.

This next quote perfectly explains the very real dangers of trying to shape dogs bred for fighting into service dogs:
We can't overstate the importance of the balanced minds and good nature of these dogs for their job as psychiatric service dogs. It is critical that our dogs are going to be calm and stable "on their own" without the necessity of great guidance and leadership from their handler. When living with someone who has fluctuating weak energy and leadership skills, such as anyone with a psychiatric disorder, a dog will revert to its genetically bred instincts and/or to default behaviors learned in puppyhood. Skilled training can override weaknesses in temperament and high-drive instinctual behaviors, but our PTSD handlers will not be able to maintain training over the top of these things. The longer the team spends together, the more the dog's training would "unravel" and revert to the genetic predisposition of the dog. Examples of this would be an unbalanced German Shepherd who falls back inappropriately to his instinct to guard and bite when threatened, or a herding dog who neurotically begins nipping at the feet and heels of anything that moves around his person. With the greyhounds their default is to either relax, or quietly withdraw into themselves. As a result, they don't act out, become dangerously unbalanced, or create problems for their handlers or the public. They are able to maintain and return to their trained behaviors with relative ease.These gentle, intelligent, and malleable dogs respond very well to our positive training methods. They are able to perform the many kinds of tasks and work that most benefit people who face the daunting challenge of living with PTSD.

And that is the crucial issue for safety - what instincts (genetically controlled behavior) does the dog default to when not under guidance or under the guidance of someone who is not an expert dog handler.

Animal Farm Foundation is the other pit bull service training dog organization mentioned in Manning's article. They are going at it the right way. They have put out a nationwide call for pit bull service dog candidates that they will evidently transport to the Farm at their own expense. They must figure that by casting an enormous net, they will be able to find one or two pit bull outliers with the temperament of a lab.  But the best news is Animal Farm Foundation now admits that anyone can identify a pit bull, because they will accept any dog that was identified by anyone at a shelter as a pit bull for the program.  They have evidently already placed five pit bull service dogs with handlers, but stopped promoting their feat after blogging about the first three.  The serviceman with PTSD and his dog are not listed as being one of the pit bull service dogs placed by AFF.

Stunt pit bull service dogs are dangerous for the reasons Hounds 4 Heros outlined above.  And Animal Farm Foundation's efforts to promote pit bulls as service dogs and to emphasize that you can train your service dog yourself makes them even more dangerous.

Here is a video of a rottweiler service dog.  The owner/handler/trainer of this dangerous breed dog was billed as South Africa's Dog Whisperer  - a supposedly Ace dog trainer.  The Rottweiler is supposedly his service dog.  Watch the service dog launch a predatory attack on a little girl in a restaurant.




In many respects, pit bull service dogs are silly stunts.  If it takes 4 years to train a dog to be a service animal, one can conclude that dog is not really suited to the job.  This is just like BFAS crowing about a fight bust dog getting a CGC certificate after 6 years of training when normal dogs need only 8 to 10 weeks of basic obedience classes to become a good citizen.  But, even if all of Animal Farm Foundation's pit bulls are truly cream puff pit bull outliers, they are encouraging everyone to pick up a rescue pit bull, train it up themselves, and seat it under the restaurant table next to yours.  Bon Appetit!

Read more:
Service and Therapy Pit Bulls that Turned Pit Bull
defrocking the asshole priests of the savage lion tamer cult
Animal Farm Foundation Service Dogs
Anyone can ID a Pit Bull for AFF's Service Dog Program
AP syndicated article by Sue Manning New York Times

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Pit Bull Experts: scientifically unimpressive and technologically worthless

In 1960, Louis Leaky sent a secretary with no college education into the Africa bush to study chimpanzees. Despite the objections of "experts" Leaky persevered. Leaky felt that someone with little formal training would be more likely to describe what they were seeing rather than what they thought they should be seeing. 

I think everyone will agree that hiring Jane Goodall for the job was a brilliant move. 

Keep Jane Goodall in mind while you watch this video, The Trouble With Experts, then continue reading.

Pit bull advocates make a lot of noise about their "experts" and tout the perceived consensus among "experts" as proof that "pit bulls" are not the problem, owners are. Here are four of the more impressively credentialed "experts".


















PETER L. BORCHELT


The ASPCA cited BORCHELT in their anti-BSL position statement and BORCHELT was called upon to provide his "expert" opinion in favor of pit bulls when a NYC council member sought to ban them:

A Brooklyn-based animal behaviorist who opposes a citywide pit bull ban, Peter Borchelt, said strong dogs such as pit bulls, Rottweilers and German shepherds are generally safe, if they are "raised like pets." You get into trouble when the dog is not trained to be nonaggressive," Mr. Borchelt, who has a doctorate in animal behavior, said. "They can become dangerous when they're thrown behind a fence and allowed to become overly protective. You just have to take a few extra steps to make sure the dog is friendly, affectionate, and well socialized."
PETER L. BORCHELT, PhD and "expert" for hire.

BORCHELT provided the above "expert" opinion about the safety of pit bulls AFTER he was sued for a million dollars for providing his "expert" opinion to a retired fire fighter about the safety of a pit bull that he was in possession of. The pit bull attacked the retired fire fighter. Despite the fact that the pit bull had a known documented history of previous aggression, BORCHELT assured the retired fire fighter the pit bull was safe. During the civil trial, BORCHELT testified under oath that the pit bull was not vicious. Yeah. Just in case you missed the colored text above indicating an external link, click here.

PETER BORCHELT is a member of an elite club known as Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists. According to the civil lawsuit article, he charges $300 an hour to fix your dog's problems. You can find his fee schedule here. BORCHELT'S gun for hire, er uh I mean "expert" witness page is conveniently malfunctioning.




















IAN DUNBAR

If I were asked to recommend a dog, say for a children's psychiatric ward, my first choice would be a pit bull. When children pull their tail, if they have one, or poke them, the dog's like... he doesn't care. With a good owner, you have the most fantastic breed of all.  
IAN DUNBAR, DVM, PhD

Poor Ian. Yet another dupe of proof of assertion. Apparently he has yet to receive the memo regarding the official revocation of nanny dog status. 

Hot shot Dunbar does not appear to offer services for problematic or dangerous behaviors. Smart move.
















 RICHARD POLSKY

No other breed has been maligned or vilified as much as the pit bull terrier. One commonly finds negative publicity about this breed, despite the fact that many honorable Americans have kept pit bulls as pets, including Franklin Roosevelt and Thomas Edison. 
RICHARD POLSKY, PhD and "expert" for hire.

Poor Richard. All of that money and all those years spent studying to acquire impressive degrees was no guarantee that he would be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills. He still fell prey to the common fallacy known as Proof of Assertion. It is a documented fact that President Roosevelt's "pit bull" was a dangerous menace. It is a documented fact that Edison did not own Nipper and there is no documented proof that Thomas Edison ever owned any pit bull. 

The pit bulldog's long legacy of vilification is well earned and well documented.

POLSKY'S fee schedule is available on demand. I suspect it is one of those cases where if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it.


















JAMES HA

DR JAMES HA, animal behaviorist at the University of Washington in Seattle and "expert" for hire.
The reason we're focusing just on pit bulls is that we hear so much about them, and that is not because of the breed difference, the genetic difference - that's because of the way they've been raised.

That quote is from a 2010 KOMO news interview. Compare that to HA'S blog post in 2008, where HA cited research that stated red and golden cocker spaniels were more likely to display aggressive behavior than black cocker spaniels and that yellow labs were "significantly more likely to be reported with aggression problems" than the black or chocolate variants, yet JAMES HA promotes the crazy notion that dogs artificially selected for violence only require a loving gentle family.

Also in the 2010 KOMO interview, DR HA stated that mastiffs, chows, shepherds, rottweillers and dobermans are "all more genetically aggressive than" dogs that had been artificially selected for combat for 200 years. HA goes on to add that genetics is roughly 20-30% responsible for temperament. YET, at the roughly 4:00 minute mark of his presentation on "Behavioral Genetics" DR HA stated that in studies of selected dog breeds, none were gripping breeds btw, for defence behaviors ie, guarding, attacking, biting there is a 14 - 20% heritability rate "which in genetics world is important". He immediately followed up with "there are different genetic predispositions in different breeds." Towards the end of this 2011 youtube video, HA states that 30-50% of behavior is genetics. My head was spinning just trying to keep up with all his facts.

DR JAMES HA is a member of an elite club known as Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists.
HA offers a variety of services ranging from $75 - 250 plus travel fees.


One unspoken assumption among early behavior geneticists, an assumption that was shared by most for many years, was that some psychological traits were likely to be significantly influenced by genetic factors, whereas others were likely to be primarily influenced by shared environmental influences. Most behavior geneticists assumed that social attitudes, for example, were influenced entirely by shared environmental influences, and so social attitudes remained largely unstudied until relatively recently. The evidence now shows how wrong these assumptions were. Nearly every reliably measured psychological phenotype (normal and abnormal) is significantly influenced by genetic factors. Heritabilities also differ far less from trait to trait than anyone initially imagined. Shared environmental influences are often, but not always, of less importance than genetic factors, and often decrease to near zero after adolescence. Genetic influence on psychological traits is ubiquitous, and psychological researchers must incorporate this fact into their research programs else their theories will be ‘‘scientifically unimpressive and technologically worthless,’’ to quote Meehl again.
Genetic Influence on Human Psychological Traits



Genetics, Not Parenting, Key to Temperament, Studies Say, Los Angeles Times, February 20, 1994

Major Personality Study Finds That Traits Are Mostly Inherited, New York Times, December 2, 1986



PETER BORCHELT, IAN DUNBAR, RICHARD POLSKY and JAMES HA believe that purpose bred dogs, artificially selected for violent combat for 200 years are not genetically predisposed to violence. BORCHELT, DUNBAR, POLSKY and HA believe it is equally wrong to think that nature plays second fiddle to nurture in dogs. Unfortunately, they have been able to convince others of their distorted beliefs too.


So much for "experts".



Dr James Ha
http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profiles/articles/consider-the-pit-bull-february-2013

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/109770109.html

http://companionanimalsolutions.com/blogs/the-genetics-of-behavior-what-color-is-your-dog/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMyjS6m1Sq4


Jane Goodall
http://www.janegoodall.ca/goodall-bio-timeline.php

http://www.biography.com/people/jane-goodall-9542363#early-interest-in-primates

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Gi-He/Goodall-Jane.html#ixzz3Bo6e4pHc



The Nanny Dog Myth Revealed

Thomas Edison's pit bull

Famous Pit Bull Owners: The Thomas Alva Edison Edition

Famous Pit Bull Owners: The Presidential Edition

Pete Roosevelt: The Disgraced White House Bandog


Myth 99: Scientists know what they are talking about because they study animals in an objective way, Alexandra Semyonova

The science of how behavior is inherited in aggressive dogs by Alexandra Semyonova

Alexandra Semyonova's book, The 100 Silliest Things People Say About Dogs is available in the right side bar of this blog.

 

The Trouble with Experts


Only An Expert