Unthinkable! Couple Caught Selling Hundreds of Dogs to Labs

The illegally purchased dogs came from shelters, the street, even "free to a good home" pet ads. What the hell?!

You might have never given much thought to how medical researchers get dogs for their labs. The truth might be worse than you imagined. 

On Thursday, according to a story by Philly.com, Floyd and Susan Martin pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally purchasing dogs to sell to research facilities. How many dogs? Hundreds of them. To what institutions? Big ones, like Johns Hopkins and Columbia University.

And they received hundreds of thousands of dollars for those dogs, between 2005 and 2010.

The case throws light on the sordid world of dog-dealing for biomedical research. 

According to the Philly.com, the Martins, who are "random source" dog dealers, "bought their animals by the hundreds from shady individuals known as 'bunchers,' who collect dogs from auctions, shelters, the street, theft, and 'free to good home' pet ads."

Authorities say that two bunchers bought hundreds of dogs from different sources in 10 states, then sold them to the Martins for $50 to $75 each. The Martins then sold the dogs to labs for hundreds of dollars in profit per dog. 

"We’re talking about an abuse-ridden system of acquiring animals for research,” said Nancy Blaney, senior federal policy adviser for the Animal Welfare Institute, a national advocacy group. “‘Random source’ is what it sounds like it is. They can get animals from individuals who respond to ‘free to good home’ ads or animals being stolen. We know because they have been traced through microchipping.”

This is not what people had in mind with the Animal Welfare Act of 1966, which attempted to establish humane standards for animals in labs and regulate dealers who sold to them. 

The Martins are Class B or “random source” dog dealers, a designation that is federally sanctioned but controversial. These dealers may purchase dogs from unlicensed bunchers, but no more than 24 dogs per buncher per year. The Martins ran into trouble by buying hundreds of dogs from just two bunchers. 

The silver lining in all this is that only 3 percent of dogs used in biomedical research in the U.S. come from random-source dealers, and that number is decreasing because of the controversy of using former pets as lab subjects. 

Most labs buy from facilities whose dogs are bred for research.

As for the Martins, they made a deal with prosecutors, with Floyd pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud, for which he will serve a year in prison, and Susan pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy, for which she will be placed on probation.

Via Philly.com

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Caught on Video: Dramatic Rescue of Dog Who Fell Through Ice in Colorado

Very unfortunate update below

A dog who bolted from his owner while on a walk near the Smith Reservoir in Lakewood, Colo., would probably be dead today if not for the heroic and dramatic rescue by local fire crew. A firefighter suited up in cold-water rescue gear crawled out and then semi-swam to the dog while hacking away at the ice so he could reach the dog. The dog, a Dogo Argentino named Max, was very glad to see his hero, and made a beeline for him.

“We’re blessed to have him here tonight,” Max’s owner, Michael Robinson, told 7NEWS. Max warmed up in the ambulance and is apparently back to his bouncy, energetic self.

His dramatic rescue was captured by a news helicopter.

Can you say “hero”?

(I was sorry to learn that Max ended up in the water because he was chasing a coyote. The coyote also fell into the reservoir, but very sadly, did not last against the elements. I wish that weren’t part of this story, but it is. Still the real story is that of the lengths these rescuers went to to save Max. RIP, coyote …)

Update 2:30 pm 2-8-12: I am really dismayed to have to bring you more bad news about this story. It started out as such a feel-good story, then I learned about the coyote drowning, and now it turns out that this morning Max bit the face of Denver TV anchor Kyle Dyer as she “tried to kiss/snuggle with the dog,” stated the animal control report, according to the Denver Post. Dyer is in fair condition at a local hospital.

The 85-pound dog is in custody of Denver Animal Care and Control, where he’s being detained pending investigation of the incident, and quarantined for 10 days to observe for signs of rabies and other illnesses. The dog reportedly was not up to date on rabies inoculations.

The firefighter who went into the frigid water to rescue Max was in the 9News studio with Max and his owner when the attack occurred. He once again went into rescue mode, this time helping Dyer. “It was definitely shocking, it was not how I envisioned my morning going,” Tyler Sugaski told the Denver Post. “It’s one thing getting called to a scene, but to be there right as it is happening, it’s different.”

I’ll provide another update when I get more news. Thank you to Chesney, who left a comment below so we had a heads up about this situation.

Here is a supershort clip of the bite. The main interview and clip are no longer available.

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NC Cop Who Was Caught on Video Kicking and Brutally Yanking Dog May Get Job Back

An image from the video of Jones teaching Ricoh a lesson

Remember back in 2007 when footage came out showing a North Carolina cop yanking and kicking the crap out of his Belgian Malinois patrol and narcotics detector dog? It was very disturbing to watch, although I’m sure much more disturbing to be the dog, Ricoh.

State Highway Patrol trooper Charles L. Jones was fired after public outcry. But a three-judge panel has just ruled that Jones should get his job back. Oh, and he should receive more than $200,000 in back pay.

I’m not including the video here because it will completely sicken most of my regular readers. (If you really want to find it online, you can.) But in case you don’t know the details of what Jones did, here’s a recap, via the Los Angeles Times.

“The video shows Jones wrapping Ricoh’s leash over a railing, then yanking and raising the dog by its neck so that only its back feet touched the ground. Jones then kicked Ricoh five times, causing the dog’s legs to swing out from under it. Jones was disciplining the dog after it refused to release a piece of fire hose given as a reward for alerting officers to the presence of narcotics.”

(Update: OK for those of you brave enough to watch, or who need more inspiration to contact the people listed in the comments, you can find a 15-second version of the video here. Even YouTube has it as a video for 18+ years old only. I won’t embed it in this post.)

Okay, I need to take a deep breath and count to 10. I’ve spent a good part of the last year devoted to the research and writing of my upcoming book (it’s being published in about a month!) on military working dogs, and have spoken with dozens of military dog handlers and trainers, and witnessed countless hours of intensive training. There is no way anyone I dealt with would condone this kind of treatment of a dog because he didn’t want to give up his “paycheck.” What Jones did to Ricoh — who had been his dog for six years before the incident — is nowhere on the scale of “okay” in the military. I may get back to you later with the words of a highly regarded trainer who’s been in the military dog program for years, but that’s my two cents for now.

Instead of slinking away with his tail between his legs, Jones sued the state. Another state trooper backed him up, saying that dog handlers were trained to “use any means necessary to discipline” a dog to control him. Whoa, it’s not like this dog just ate a trooper’s face for lunch and got a swift punch or kick in the heat of the moment. The dog just didn’t want to give up his reward. There are plenty of other ways of dealing with this.

Oddly, the panel of judges in the latest development were simply upholding earlier decisions by a state Superior Court judge, an administrative law judge, and a N.C. personnel commission. (It was the state’s then-governor Mike Easley who fired Jones in 2007.)

The state Supreme Court may be asked to review the latest decision. But it looks like there’s a good chance Jones will really clean up. He has been working as a police officer in Apex, N.C., so he has been getting a paycheck. The extra $200,000 and getting his old job back could make him feel pretty invincible. If I were a law-enforcement dog for the N.C. Highway Patrol, I’d start sending out my resume right about now.

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Caught on Camera! Jake’s New Year’s Resolution Too Much; Turns Him into a Blatant Thief

Sure, Jake may have curbed his begging a little, per his New Year’s resolution he reported on a few days ago. But he is now supplementing his caloric intake with a new technique: raiding the compost bucket. Last night I heard him breathing in an odd, hollow-sounding way as he tiptoed past me in the living room as I was reading from my new Kindle. He sounded like a short Darth Vader.

I looked over as he walked by and saw his mouth open to the point that it looked like a shark’s unhinged jaw. In his mouth he held what he surely considered the most fantastic treat ever: the gingerbread house my daughter and her friend Elton put together three weeks ago. It was from a Trader Joe’s kit, and it had been cute, but it didn’t taste very good so we used it purely as decoration, picking off little candy bits as the days of Christmas came and went. Last night, while starting  to dismantle our Christmas decorations, we decided it was time to put the gingerbread house in the compost bucket in our kitchen. Within 10 minutes it was in the stealthy jaws of our ceaselessly food-obsessed yellow Lab.

I had my camera close by and wanted to catch him red-jawed, as it were, but Jake wanted to keep moving toward the backyard with his quarry. So I called for Laura, who ran out of her room and grabbed Jake for his mug shot.

The compost bucket will be on the counter from now on.

I hope the New Year’s resolutions are going better in your household.

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Portraits in Hilarity: Dogs Caught in the Act of Shaking

Don’t you hate it when you have an awkward expression on your face and someone snaps a picture? There it is, that odd and unfortunate look, preserved for eternity, maybe even ending up tagged on Facebook. So embarrassing!

Imagine how the rather undignified-looking dogs in this post felt when internationally acclaimed photographer Carli Davidson caught them in the act of shaking, and put them in her new collection, aptly named Shake. In real life, a dog shaking looks normal enough. But catch the movement with just the right shutter speed on just the right camera in the hands of just the right photographer, and you’ve got laugh-out-loud portraits of unbelievably stretchy-skinned creatures. The effect is not as dramatic with tighter-skinned models, thus the dearth of Jack Russells and greyhounds in the collection.

I have looked at these photos a dozen times each since finding them over at one of my favorite fun and sassy dog blogs, Animal Planet’s Daily Treat, and I still crack up when I see them. It’s the kind of art I’d like to have lining my stairway. How about you?

Happy Monday, Dogsters! Here’s jowl in your eye!

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Caught on Tape: Amazing Ice Rescue of 13-Year-Old Dog

The above photos, from a video by WPVI in Delaware, show the dramatic ice rescue of a 13-year-old dog named Boo. Boo usually walks around the lake and visits friends, his owners say, but he’s never stepped onto thin ice. Fortunately his screaming barks got a neighbor’s attention, and she called 911. A rescue crew worked wonders with a rowboat and axe to open the ice to clear a path for the boat. It was slow going, and partway through the video below you’ll find yourself holding your breath, worried that the crew may not make it before Boo slips under.

I hope his family reconsiders his winter roaming. Most dogs don’t have nine lives…

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