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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Supermodel Maggie Rizer: "United Airlines Killed Our Golden Retriever, Bea"

In her blog, the woman chronicles the events that resulted in the death of her beloved dog Bea during a commercial flight.

Forty-six dogs died traveling on commercial airlines in 2011, according to the Department of Transportation, as reported by the Huffington Post. In 2010, it was 39. If those numbers seem high, they should. We didn't realize the numbers were so high until supermodel Maggie Rizer's Golden Retriever died earlier this month on a United Airlines flight, and the story hit the Internet like a thunderbolt. 

By all accounts, Rizer -- a Vogue covergirl and a model for Calvin Klein, Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Clinique, and Louis Vuitton -- loved her 2-year-old Golden Retriever named Bea. The dog was the titular hero of Rizer's blog, Bea Makes Three, which chronicled the life of the model, her family, and her three dogs. 

Rizer's most recent and final post is titled, simply, "United Airlines Killed Our Golden Retriever, Bea."

In it, Rizer details the circumstances of Bea's death, which occurred on a United flight from the East Coast to San Francisco, along with United's actions after the dog was discovered dead. 

According to Rizer, Bea and the other dogs were well prepared for the flight. To her credit, Rizer seems like the very definition of a responsible owner. She writes: 

"Beatrice had a perfect health record. She received a full examination and a health certificate four days before the flight, as is required by the Pet Safe program. This program is United’s branded on-board pet safety program. In addition to Pet Safe’s stringent requirements, we took every extra precaution we could think of. Both the dog’s kennels were labeled front to back with emergency numbers, flight information, and warnings. Their kennels were purchased specifically for the measurements and design specified by Pet Safe. We purchased special water bowls, which we filled with ice to ensure that the water wouldn’t spill and that it would last longer. We drove the six hours to New York City from our house in Northern New York state, so the dogs wouldn’t have to make a connecting flight. We paid United Airlines $1800.00, in addition to our plane tickets, to ensure the safety of our pets. Albert and Bea were very prepared travelers."

Yet, when Rizer arrived in San Francisco and made her way to the cargo terminal, a worker told her that one of her dogs had died. What's more, he told her the dog had been sent to a local vet for an autopsy -- an outrageous lie, it turns out, by a company looking to save its skin: 

"Over the next two hours the supervisor’s lie unraveled as it became clear that Bea was right behind a closed door the whole time, and he had been discussing how to handle the potential liability with his boss who had left and sticking to the divert-and-stall tactic that they had been taught."

Having recovered Bea, Rizer took the dog to her own vet for an autopsy. William Spangler performed the necropsy (a dog's autopsy), and determined that the dog had died from heatstroke. "Our little Beatrice died in pain, scared and alone," writes Rizer.

Dr. Spangler also told her that “in my experience it is not unusual for a single dog in airline transit to be affected while other dogs of the same breed survive the trip apparently unscathed.”

United officials apparenly believe that this fact -- Bea was the only dog who died -- cleared the airline. Rizer writes that United informed her that “our internal investigation does not show any irregularities, as evidenced by the fact that your companion dog and other animals on board did not suffer the same fate."

Rizer claims she does not want to sue United or have people boycott the airline. She just wants people to know the dangers of flying with their pets. 

"I am writing this to help make people aware that airlines are incapable of ensuring the safety of our pets," she writes. "All it takes is for one employee to not follow the proper procedure and then like me, your dog is dead."

"I can’t say exactly what happened to Beatrice on the plane two weeks ago. If United had been able to be honest, it would have helped us to find closure. All I know is what the necropsy told us, Beatrice died from heatstroke."

"It is said to be an agonizing death."

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Noisy Dogs Could Be Killed

If you live in Adelaide, Australia, and have a bark-prone dog, that dog could face the death penalty if the city council approves a harsh anti-barking proposal.

Some council members and residents feel the current law doesn’t have enough teeth. The radical new proposal calls for the removal of noisy dogs whose owners are not present when the authorities come knocking. Dogs who are not picked up within an allotted time could be killed, according to a Discovery article.

Those who are subjected to the incessant barking of a nearby dog are glad for the chance at silence.

“To all the whingers who live by the motto ‘dogs bark – thats what they do’ – yes they do, and they drive the rest of us mad when you let them,” one commenter wrote. “Keep them quiet, keep them inside, whatever, just don’t let them ruin everyone elses right to peace & quite.”

But many in the community are outraged, saying the proposal is utterly inhumane, and devalues the lives of pets.

“…these ideas are over the top and there are a lot of vulnerable people, the elderly and those on low incomes will lose their companion pets,” Residents and Ratepayers Association president Kevin Kaeding told Adelaide Now. “The councils are just trying to make it easier to destroy these animals.”

Anyone who has been on the receiving end of a dog who barks at night or all day can understand how hard and frustrating it can be. But the death penalty? Dogsters, do you have a dog who barks too much? What steps have you taken to keep the peace? And if you’ve ever been driven batty by an incessantly barking neighbor dog, have you tried to do anything about it? By sharing your experiences, you could help others with similar problems. Bark back! (But not too loudly…)

View the original article here

Man Who Killed 100 Sled Dogs Allegedly Asked SPCA for Help

Outdoor Adventures sled dogs giving it their all (AP photo)

Update 8:20 a.m. Feb. 3: After we published this story, we received a comment saying the information in the story in The Vancouver Sun, which we cited in our post, was not accurate. BC SPCA CEO Craig Daniell issued a statement refuting the charges, saying the man who killed the dogs contacted the SPCA only after the dogs had been killed.

“I would like to make it clear to our supporters and to the public that the suggestion in the Vancouver Sun story published today (Feb. 2) that the BC SPCA had prior knowledge about the slaughter of the 100 sled dogs in Whistler is 100 per cent false….It is deeply distressing to our organization that anyone would imply we had knowledge of, or could have prevented, the devastating killings carried out by Outdoor Adventures Whistler on April 21 and 23, 2010,” it begins.

You can read the rest, and the timeline given by BC SPCA for actions related to the sled dogs, in the Comments section below the story. (Look for the comment from Robert.) Please read the story below with this information in mind.

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The man who killed 100 sled dogs in Whistler went to the SPCA for help on two separate occasions finding homes for the dogs, according to a new report in The Vancouver Sun.

He was given no help either time.

Officials at the British Columbia SPCA say they didn’t realize the dogs from the Outdoor Adventures dog sledding outfit would be slaughtered, The Sun reports. But they admit they told the man the dogs were not adoptable because they wouldn’t make good pets.

“[The employee] didn’t advise me he was going to kill any dogs. He was looking to find homes. I spoke to an animal behaviorist who is also a vet and she spoke with an expert in the [United] States who said [the sled dogs] weren’t adoptable,” senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever told The Sun.

Five months after the cull, which sent the man into major post-traumatic stress disorder, he is alleged to have once again contacted the SPCA, looking for homes for some of the pack’s remaining dogs. The Sun obtained a copy of the email he sent. It states:

“I understood…that there were to be some dogs going to you for adoption? Is that indeed happening? Or should I just show up with a truck full so they can get off the chain and get some attention, exercise, stop fighting, etc….I am happy to bring some down to stop cruelty they are going through here.

“This is me as a bystander (I am off due to injury to both arms). I am the only one who has made any effort to move dogs. We still have almost 60 dogs too many, and a new litter of pups to be given away. Can you please give me a call so I know something can be done. It’s breaking my heart.”

Two Outdoor Adventure sled dogs. (Photo: Outdoor Adventures)

Drever wrote back once again that after consulting with behaviorists, she has deemed the animals unadoptable. She said she would conduct an inspection of the Outdoor Adventures facility. She never did.

“What people have to realize because of the way they’re raised they’re not highly adoptable animals. Maybe a few could have been adopted but these dogs are on tethers 90 per cent of their lives,” said Marcie Moriarty, the SPCA’s head of animal cruelty, in The Sun story. “Is it fair [Outdoor Adventures] profits — get thousands of dollars from tourists and not have a retirement plan? Is it fair they would dump them on the SPCA and then we’d have the pain of that euthanization?”

Moriarty said that the agency would have acted if they’d known slaughter was imminent, but that the dogs would likely have been euthanized anyway. But she said it’s not the agency’s responsibility  “to take on their issues … to suddenly make a phone call and say, ‘I have 100 dogs that need placing;’ that’s not an answer to their business operation’s issues,” Moriarty is quoted as telling The Sun.

If this is true, it looks like there’s blood on a lot of hands in this tragic case.

Even though he carried out his atrocious duties in the end, the man who killed the dogs
(his name is being withheld by The Sun because of his condition) may have been the only one to try to get help for these dogs — many of whom he’d helped raise from puppyhood. Before this was revealed, many Dogster readers left comments on our original post about the slaughter wishing the man into hell,  and much worse. But now that these facts have come out, perhaps some will see shades of grey in the blackness…

Meanwhile The Globe and Mail reports that the Humane Society International Canada is calling for stronger laws involving dog sledding. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is offering  a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone engaged in the illegal killing of sled dogs in Canada or the U.S. Maybe this is just the beginning of some much-needed oversight for this industry.

View the original article here