Finally, Some Justice for Jagger, the Bulldog Kidnapped and Killed in Washington

A man gets three years for his role in the dog's death. But is it enough?

Last week, Jesse James Clark of Kelso, WA, was sentenced to three years in jail for his part in the kidnapping and killing of a Bulldog named Jagger in October 2011, as reported in the Daily News Online. Clark is the third person to be convicted in the crime, which received worldwide attention. 

In October 2011, the two other culprits, Ivey Rose Svaleson and her boyfriend, Johnny Lee Jordan, kidnapped the Bulldog from Jennifer Lynn Thomas. The pair had shown up at Thomas' home to collect used baby items that Thomas had offered them, out of kindness, as Svaleson was pregnant. Instead, they stole the dog. 

They then started sending "sinister" text messages, saying that the dog would be tortured and killed if Thomas didn't hand over money and prescription drugs. They kept the dog at Jesse James Clark's house.

“I was just crushed and scared and sick. I loved him so much, and I was so worried,” Thomas said during the trial. 

Police tracked down the suspects, but not before finding Jagger dead and dismembered alongside railroad tracks in Kelso. 

Last year, Svaleson received nine months in jail, and Jordan was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Clark, who insisted he only agreed to keep the dog for his friends, was shocked by the sentence, according to the Daily News Online, staring with "slack-jawed disbelief" at Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Michael Evans as he read the sentence, while his mother "wept so loudly that Evans threatened to find her in contempt of court."

The jury found Clark guilty of first-degree extortion and second-degree possession of stolen property. During the trail, prosecutors said that Clark was overheard saying that "he beat the dog, then got rid of it." He also lied to to sheriff’s deputies when they came to his home and asked about the dog's whereabouts. 

Jagger's owner berated Clark in court. “If he would have been a man and said, ‘Yes, the dog is here,’ he could have been a hero right now instead of a defendant,” she said. “He cut our dog’s head off!”

Prosecutors aren't sure what exactly killed the dog, but they believe it was indeed at the hands of the defendants, saying that it “seems improbable” that a train killed the dog and caused the mutilation. 

“There’s a degree of cruelty here, a degree of depravity,” one of the prosecutors said.

Clark's three year sentence was at the top of the sentencing range for his crimes, and he won't be able to own a dog when he's out. 

Via the Daily News Online

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We Are Dying to Hug Chesty, the Marines' Adorable New Bulldog Puppy Mascot

The 14th Chesty is a splendid dog. He should discharge his duties nobly and with much cuteness.

A new, impossibly green recruit reported for duty earlier this week, stepping off the bus from his hometown of Stephens City, Virginia, and joining the ranks of his esteemed peers in the armed forces.

His name is Chesty. He is a nine-week-old English Bulldog.

But before he can assume his duties as the official United States Marine Corps mascot, Chesty must survive a relentless boot camp, a hell-on-earth struggle that will test his resolve and bring him face to face with his worst fears -- he'll go to obedience school, in other words.

“After obedience school and recruit training, the young puppy will earn the title Marine, joining the ranks of his well-known predecessors,” the Marine Corps said on its website.

Those predecessors include 13 other Bulldogs named Chesty, all of whom are named after the late Lt. Gen. Lewis “Chesty” Puller, one of the most decorated officers in the history of the Marine Corps. The post -- mascot -- goes back to World War I, when our boys, responding to the German habit of calling Marines ‘teufel-hunden,' or devil dogs, created a U.S. Marine recruiting poster with a snarling English Bulldog wearing a Marine Corps helmet. 

After the poster with a Bulldog, the Marines set about getting an actual Bulldog, according to author Marion F. Sturkey, who wrote Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines.

“At the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia, the Marines obtained a registered English Bulldog, King Bulwark. In a formal ceremony on 14 October 1922, Brig. Gen. Smedley D. Butler signed documents enlisting the bulldog, renamed Jiggs, for the ‘term of life.’ Pvt. Jiggs then began his official duties in the U.S. Marine Corps.”

He was later renamed Chesty, after the famed Chesty Puller, and the naming tradition stuck.

As for this Chesty, his duties will include marching in the Friday Evening Parades and supporting various events around the National Capitol Region, according to the Marine Corps' website.

That is, after he gets into fighting shape.

"We do like what we do with regular recruits, our human recruits," said Captain John Norton, according to Fox 59 News. "We’re going to take a good civilian and we’re going to make him a little bit better and turn him into a U.S. Marine.” 

Via Fox 59 News 

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French Bulldog Found Tied in a Bag in Petco Bathroom

The abandoned dog was severely ill, but the rescue community has gathered around him.

It was a horrible way to abandon a dog: On Sunday, a French Bulldog was found tied up in bag in a store bathroom in Pittsford, New York. The dog was malnourished and dehydrated, and he had decayed teeth and missing fur. He couldn't keep his tongue in his mouth, and he couldn't eat solid food, according to DemocratandChronicle.com. 

The only saving grace: The person who abandoned him did so in the bathroom of a Petco. The store was having an adoption event, so lots of people were milling around with carriers. Presumably, the person slid into the bathroom with a carrier undetected. Or, more likely, the person just had the sick, listless dog in a bag, and was able to bring him into the store and dump him in the restroom without anyone noticing. 

In any event, help came quickly. Store employees found the dog and called a vet. Then an organization that saves dogs brought in by Greece Animal Control in New York, Greece Residents Assisting Stray Pets, stepped in. GRASP, as it's known, has found homes for 273 animals this year alone, and it regularly works with the Petco Foundation. Karla Barkley, the cat adoption coordinator, was determined to help the abandoned French Bulldog.

"Hearing the story about it touched my heart," she said. "So I drove up there to pick him up and bring him into our rescue group." 

"He was in terrible shape," Barkely said. "Malnourished, extremely thin, severely dehydrated, just a whole bunch of stuff." 

Fortunately, Pierre, as Barkley named the dog, is recovering quickly. After being fed by an IV for a while, he's switched to small amounts of boiled meat and rice, and his spirits are up.

"He just wants so much attention," Barkley said. "He followed me around the house all night. You cannot love this dog enough."

"He's the cutest little thing," she said. "The first thing I thought was, 'How could someone do this?' But it's very rewarding to find a dog like this and give him a second chance."

Today, Pierre is well on his way to finding his forever home -- he's just gone to live with foster mom Sue Zukoski, and GRASP is working through applications for a permanent adoption. 

"He's wonderful and loving," said Zukoski. "It's just so sad someone would have neglected him so horribly."

Via DemocratandChronicle.com 

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Bulldog Bud: The Grandpappy of all Road-Trip Dogs

Bud was the predecessor of today's road-trip dog, with his well-publicized cross-country venture. Here is a rendering of the bulldog with the real Winston Motor Carriage Company car he rode in. The exhibit is at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. (Photo: Maria Goodavage)

Wondering if y0u should take your dog on a road trip this summer? Need inspiration to pack his doggy bag and hit the road?

Rest assured you’ll be following a well-trodden tradition. Millions are doing it as we speak, thanks to the tremendous increase in hotels, parks, and outdoor eateries that welcome dogs.

Before the relatively recent surge in dog-friendly travel, John Steinbeck took to the road in 1960 with his French standard poodle, Charley. I consider Charley the father of all traveling dogs. But it wasn’t until a trip to the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C., last week that I realized there was also a grandfather of traveling dogs.

The Smithsonian's (blissfully non-taxidermy) version of Bud

Meet Bud the bulldog. He’s the first dog to hop in a car and travel across most of the U.S. 

In 1903, H. Nelson Jackson made a bet at a San Francisco gentleman’s club that he could cross the country in a car in under 90 days. He bought a gently used Winton touring car, and hired mechanic Sewall K. Crocker to accompany him. Together they hit the highway. Only there was no highway. And most of the time there was no road. They found themselves in all kinds of difficult situations, and used ingenuity and physical strength to continue the journey.

In Idaho Jackson aquired a bulldog, named him Bud, and packed him along for the rest of the trip. Bud loved riding in the car. Since the car was an open two-seater (like a modern-day convertible, but for different reasons), they must have either put him on the carriage/storage area in the back or put him on their laps. The latter is highly unlikely, but then again, so was crossing the country in these newfangled inventions.

Bud's well-worn goggles (the first "doggles"?)

Along the way they realized the dust they inevitably kicked up was bothering Bud’s eyes. So they ordered a pair of goggles for him, and Bud traversed much of the country wearing these protective – and rather stylish – lenses.

Sixty-four days after they started their trip, they ended in New York. It was a triumph for the trio, and for the car company (imagine the publicity this brought it), and for dogs everywhere who wanted to stay by their best friends’ side no matter where they went.

Bud spent the rest of his years enjoying life in Jackson’s Vermont home. I guess they decided against the round trip.

OK, ready to think about hitting the road with your dog now? You’ll be following in wonderful pawsteps.

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