| (04-23) 16:48 PDT CLEARLAKE, Calif. (AP) A dog who was hit by a car, shot in the head, kept in a freezer and lived to bark about it probably won't have any long-term health effects besides an impaired right ear, her veterinarians said Wednesday. "Her eardrum burst, she kind of leans her head to the side," said Yvonne Scott, office manager of Clearlake Veterinary Clinic, where Dosha the dog is recuperating. The animal's ordeal started on April 15, when Dosha, a 10-month-old mixed breed, escaped from backyard and got hit by a car. The Clearlake police officer who reported to the scene shot the dog, who didn't have a collar, when no one could tell him who owned her. Presumed dead, the dog was taken to the local animal shelter, where she was put in a freezer. About two hours later, the center's interim director opened the freezer door and found the dog standing upright in a plastic orange bag. When Dosha arrived at the vet's office, she was suffering from hypothermia and a gunshot wound. "The car accident was the least of her problems," Scott said. "The gunshot was, of course, no good. The hypothermia was more life threatening when she arrived here." Scott said the gunshot probably caused the damage to Dosha's ear, and that veterinarians are considering sending her to another clinic for neurological testing. Local animal groups and the Humane Society of the United States have begun fund-raising efforts to pay for her care. Clearlake's police chief has defended the officer's decision to shoot the dog. The officer said Dosha appeared to be in extreme pain and he wanted to end her suffering. (The article above is from the San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, April 23, 2003) |
| News in brief from California's North Coast |
| San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, April 23, 2003 |
| There are many people in your state that want to buy or adopt an animal like a dog or cat and right after they get the animal they get rid of it. This happens because the owners are faced with normal pet problems like barking or chewing furniture. But maybe the animals are only doing this because their owner is not paying attention to them. There are places that people can drop off their animal, like the city animal drop off box so that the SPCA cannot find out who that animal belongs to. Recently, there was a special on 20/20 about animal drop-off boxes and why people do this. Barbara Walters interviewed a man that had heard about these animal drop-off boxes and he came all the way from Europe to get additional information on them. With his video camera he started taping people that were dropping off their animals in these drop off boxes and a lot of people were doing this in the middle of the night so no one would see them disposing their animals. There are people that were having their children drop their family pet into drop-boxes. There are about three million pets that are adopted every year by kind and loving people that have a better chance of loving animals then the people that throw a family pet away in those boxes. Nicole Kolarik was interviewed with Barbara Walters and this is what Nicole said about the picture that she saw: "I think one of the hardest ones for me to take is the father holding his son up to drop his puppy in the box. To sit there and think a father is teaching his son that a life is not important, and it's OK it away and dump it down this bin." The animal shelter in Batavia, Ohio received more then 3,000 pets in 1998. There were more then 260 of those pets that were claimed, and more then 570 pets that were adopted. There were about 2,247 pets that were destroyed because of the lack of people wanting to be pet owners. More than a quarter of these animals were claimed or adopted and about three quarters of these animals were destroyed because no one wanted them. There are a number of excuses for getting rid of your family pet. Here are some of the excuses for dogs: barks, has fleas, we're moving, poops too much, sleeps too much, and probable the most common is that no one is home to be with the animal. Here are some of the excuses for cats: has fleas, has worms, sheds, messy litter box, getting too old, and doesn't like to go outside. The reason you should keep your pet is for love and comfort not because it barks or meows too much; that is what you have to deal with when you are a pet owner. You should only get rid of your family pet if the animal is suffering from illnesses or it is getting really old. I think that there should be a proposition this year that would protect animals from being destroyed by people that do not want them. When people bring in the pets they do not want, they should have to pay money that will cover the cost of caring for that animal. This would assure that the animal would get the medical help it needs or maybe even a loving and caring family. |
| Copyright � 2003 |
| Animal Threats |
 |
|
| Animal Ownership Takes Responsibility |
| By: Mike Keller |
 |
|
 |
 |
| Josie Keller |
 |
|
 |
| A local California Raccoon (Cutter Scout Reservation) |
 |
 |
 |
