Panda Accused of Faking Pregnancy To Get Better Food, Air Conditioning

Expectant pandas are moved to air-conditioned rooms and showered with more buns, fruit and bamboo.

By Dominique Mosbergen – News Editor, The Huffington Post – Posted: 07/30/2015 12:57 AM EDT | Edited: 07/31/2015 02:07 PM EDT

Pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, names together mean "reunion", eat bamboo at a panda base in Ya’an, southwest China’s Sichuan province, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. A few weeks after this photo was taken, the duo were moved to Taiwan. (Associated Press)

Keepers at the Taipei Zoo were excited. Resident giant panda Yuan Yuan was exhibiting signs of pregnancy — an all-too-elusive event among captive pandas.

There were tell-tale symptoms, like a loss of appetite and a thickening of the uterus. Yuan Yuan’s fecal progesterone concentration was also on the rise.

Yet despite these promising signs, the panda’s pregnancy was a false alarm.

According to China’s Southern Metropolis Daily, ultrasound scans determined that Yuan Yuan, who was artificially inseminated earlier this year, was not pregnant. Now the panda is being accused of faking the pregnancy as a way of getting her caretakers to shower her with better food and care.

Pregnant pandas are typically treated like queens. As China Daily notes, the expectant bears are moved into “single rooms with air conditioning” and given “round-the-clock care.” They receive more buns, fruit and bamboo as well.

Panda experts have speculated that Yuan Yuan, who gave birth to a cub in 2013, may have been feigning pregnancy to reap these added benefits.

Taiwan’s panda cub Yuan Zai, right, and her mother Yuan Yuan enjoy Yuan Zai’s first birthday cake at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday, July 6, 2014. (Associated Press)

Last year, another female panda named Ai Hin was accused of trying to pull the same trick. The panda, who lives at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, exhibited pregnancy symptoms for two months before experts determined that she didn’t actually have a cub in the oven.

“After showing prenatal signs, the [panda] ‘mothers-to-be’ are [pampered],” Wu Kongju, an expert at the Chengdu Research Base, told CNN last year. “So some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life.”

Other panda experts disagree with these accusations.

Zhang Heming, director of the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda, told the Guardian last year that pseudo-pregnancies are actually fairly common in the panda world. He attributed the pandas’ behavior to "more of a hormonal issue than a deliberate ruse."

"This phenomenon occurs in 10 to 20 percent of pandas," he said. "After the mother panda is inseminated, if her health isn’t so good, the pregnancy will terminate, but she’ll still behave as if she’s pregnant."

According to a 2010 LiveScience report, scientists "don’t know why pseudo-pregnancies happen, or if they have evolved for an evolutionary purpose."

"In a sense there’s no answer, but there is speculation that perhaps pandas’ bodies just rehearse pregnancy all the time," Lisa Stevens, curator of primates and pandas at Smithsonian’s National Zoo, told the news outlet.

Also on HuffPost:

Alamy AK58HY Giant Panda Cub  Kin Cheung/AP One of the one month old Panda triples receives a body check at the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong province Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014. China announced the birth of extremely rare panda triplets in a further success for the country’s artificial breeding program. The three cubs were born July 29 in the southern city of Guangzhou. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Panda cub Bao Bao hangs from a tree in her habitat at the National Zoo in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. Today marks her first birthday and the zoo is marking the event with a traditional ‘Zhuazhou’ ceremony, a Chinese birthday tradition symbolizing long life to mark the event. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Getty Images

YA’AN, CHINA – JUNE 29: A giant panda climbs onto a platform at the panda research base on June 29, 2015 in Ya’an, China. China’s Sichuan province is home to the majority of the the world’s nearly 1,900 endangered giant pandas. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

leungchopan panda eating bamboo

  Alamy AJC9T9  -  ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

A woman poses for photographers with the part of the 1,600 paper pandas, created by French artist Paulo Grangeon, in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building during the month-long "1600 Pandas World Tour" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin) ABA PREFECTURE, CHINA – JULY 05: (CHINA OUT) Aerial view of people, wearing panda costumes with mahjong tiles, playing mahjong during a mahjong competition at a theme park in Jiuzhai Village on July 5, 2015 in Aba Perfecture, Sichuan Province of China. Over one hundred people wearing panda costumes with mahjong tiles played on a one hundred-square-meter mahjong table during a mahjong competition. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)  

Getty Images

CHENGDU, CHINA – JUNE 30: Giants pandas pause from eating bamboo in an enclosure at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on June 30, 2015 in Chengdu, China. Twin female cubs were born by artificial insemination to seven-year-old Kelin at the center on June 22. China’s Sichuan province is home to the majority of the the world’s nearly 1,900 endangered giant pandas. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

‘Dogs Have The Intelligence of a Human Toddler’

Smartest Dog In the World, Chaser – 60 Minutes With Anderson Cooper

Quebec bill changes animals from "property" to sentient beings and includes jail time for cruelty

Spanish town gives pets equal rights as citizens

China, Korea, South East Asia: Stop Cooking Dogs, Any Animals, Alive 

Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees!–06.02.15

Friends Do Not Make Friends Wait in Hot Cars

Don’t think for a minute that dogs can survive in a hot car

K-9 dies after being left in hot patrol car 

It Is So Hot Here… My Dog Is Melting!! 😉

Car Sickness & Fear of Riding in Cars

Jihad making lives “Ruff” for Dogs in Europe; PETA Silent

In the West, there is a saying about dogs being man’s best friend. They’re extremely loyal and they’re always thrilled to see you whenever you walk through the front door. In Europe, dogs have suddenly found themselves the targets of Jihad, particularly in the Netherlands and Spain.

Via Stonegate Institute:

A Dutch Muslim politician has called for a ban on dogs in The Hague, the third-largest city in the Netherlands.

Islamic legal tradition holds that dogs are “unclean” animals, and some say the call to ban them in Holland and elsewhere represents an attempted encroachment of Islamic Sharia law in Europe.

This latest canine controversy — which the Dutch public has greeted with a mix of amusement and outrage — follows dozens of other Muslim-vs-dog-related incidents in Europe. Critics say it reflects the growing assertiveness of Muslims in Europe as they attempt to impose Islamic legal and religious norms on European society.

The Dutch dustup erupted after Hasan Küçük, a Turkish-Dutch representative on The Hague city council for the Islam Democrats, vehemently opposed a proposal by the Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren) to make the city more dog friendly.

Things appear to be worse in a certain Spanish city:

In Spain, two Islamic groups based in Lérida — a city in the northeastern region of Catalonia where 29,000 Muslims now make up around 20% of the city’s total population — asked local officials to regulate the presence of dogs in public spaces so they do not “offend Muslims.”

Muslims demanded that dogs be banned from all forms of public transportation including all city buses as well as from all areas frequented by Muslim immigrants. Muslims said the presence of dogs in Lérida violates their religious freedom and their right to live according to Islamic principles.

After the municipality refused to acquiesce to Muslim demands, the city experienced a wave of dog poisonings. More than a dozen dogs were poisoned in September 2011 (local media reports here, here, here, here and here) in Lérida’s working class neighborhoods of Cappont and La Bordeta, districts that are heavily populated by Muslim immigrants and where many dogs have been killed over the past several years.

Local residents taking their dogs for walks say they have been harassed by Muslim immigrants who are opposed to seeing the animals in public. Muslims have also launched a number of anti-dog campaigns on Islamic websites and blogs based in Spain.

Still awaiting word from PETA. Nothing yet. Will keep you posted.

Source: Foundation, Walid Shoebat

Related:

Muslims in Spain Declare Jihad on Dogs

Man’s Best Friend in Shariah’s Cruel Crosshairs

Dogs… Pets – Beyond Traditional Islam

The Latest Enemies of Iran: Dogs and Their Owners

Iran Cleric Says Dogs “Unclean” and Not to be Kept as Pets

1 Million Stray Dogs in Iraq to be Culled

Pakistani Blogger Slams Islamic Feast of EID

Operation Bagdad Pups – No Buddy Gets Left Behind

First the Greenies Want Us to Eat Our Dogs… Now the Academics Say it is Insulting to Call Them Pets

Shocking Report… Gov’t to Decide What Pets You Can Own

Video: Rescued beagle dogs experience sunlight for the first time

A beagle dog experiencing sunlight for the first time after being rescued from a laboratory …

In the heartwarming video below, a group of beagles rescued from a research laboratory in Spain experience sunlight for the first time. The 72 beagles arrived in Los Angeles last week, after they’d been saved by the Animal Rescue, Media & Education’s (ARME) Beagle Freedom Project. On its web site, the Beagle Freedom Project describes itself as a "mission to rescue beagles used in animal experimentation in research laboratories and give them a chance at life in a loving forever home."

Huffington Post writer Laura Hibbard spells out the intense deprivation the puppies have suffered:

ARME’s Beagle Freedom Project spokesman Gary Smith said the beagles, all between ages 4 and 7, had lived in cages their entire lives. "We’ve been told they lived one per cage in rooms of 10 beagles, but they never had any physical interaction with one another," Smith told the station. "They’ve been in kennels since they were rescued about a week ago, but aside from that, they’ve spent most of their lives locked up."

You can watch the full video after the jump, below.

Video:  Beagle Freedom Project

 

By Eric Pfeiffer | The Sideshow – Tue, Nov 29, 2011  -  Source: Yahoo News  h/t to Patricia Gillenwater

Undercover humane investigations to be banned in Minnesota?

April 7, 2011- Two bills have been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature that would make it a crime to videotape and to show footage shot inside puppy and kitten mills and factory farms.

Senate File 1118 and House File 1369 would criminalize blowing the whistle on animal cruelty, food safety problems, or labor abuses inside puppy and kitten mills or factory farms by making it a crime to take video inside such facilities, or even for the news media to possess or distribute these images. Read the bills here.

Please take action to oppose these bills today.

While purporting to be targeted at actual interference or damage to farming operations, SF 1118/HF 1369 are worded so broadly that they criminalize videotaping or audio recording of activities inside ‘animal facilities’. An ‘animal facility’ includes farming operations, research facilities, veterinary offices, pounds or shelters, pet stores, and commercial kennels. These bills prohibit ‘animal facility tampering’ (which is already prohibited by state and federal law), ‘animal facility interference’ (defined, in part, as video or audio taping inside a facility without the owner’s consent, and possessing or distributing such videos), and ‘animal facility fraud’ (using false pretenses to gain employment at a facility). Some of the provisions in the bills, such as theft, trespass, and fraud are already crimes under existing law. In addition, the chilling effect  this proposed legislation will have, if passed, is detrimental to the public interest in knowing about abuses of animals and consumer product safety violations. The bills also define all equine species, including horses, ponies, mules, jennys, donkeys, and hinnies, as ‘agricultural animals’. Once defined as such, they may not receive the greater protections afforded to ‘companion animals’ under Minnesota’s cruelty statutes.

The bills prohibit usage of one of the most important tools the humane movement has to reduce and prevent animal suffering- undercover investigations that expose animal cruelty and inhumane conditions and practices that go on behind closed doors in Minnesota.

If these bills pass into law, taking undercover footage in Minnesota’s puppy mills, like that captured at Kathy Bauck’s facility by Companion Animal Protection Society, would be a criminal offense, as would taking undercover footage at Minnesota’s slaughter and factory farming facilities, like that taken by the Humane Society of the United States at the Willmar poultry processing facility. Both such videos revealed shockingly inhumane conditions and practices, and in the case of Bauck, led to her conviction for animal torture.  Similar legislation has been introduced in Iowa and Florida, following undercover investigations that revealed inhumane conditions and animal suffering there.

Undercover investigations protect the public

The public has an interest in knowing about consumer product safety violations. In states around the country, undercover investigations at farming and slaughter operations have revealed animal husbandry practices and conditions that threaten the safety of the food supply. In California, an undercover investigation there led to the the nation’s largest beef recall in history. In Iowa, where there have been several large egg recalls recently, overcrowded conditions documented by undercover investigators at egg production facilities revealed the risk to the public of egg-borne Salmonella infection.

Who is supporting these bills?

The chief authors of these bills, Representative Rod Hamilton (R, 22B), and Senator Doug Magnus (R, 22) are the Chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, respectively. As Chairs, Hamilton and Magnus have authority to choose which bills they will grant a hearing, and enjoy tremendous influence when it comes to deciding which bills will pass. In the House, the following Representatives have signed on their support: Cornish ; Davids ; Urdahl ; Dettmer ; Anderson, P. ; Drazkowski. In the Senate, the following Senators have signed on to support the bill: Rosen ; Skoe ; Ingebrigtsen ; Sparks.

What are they trying to hide?

The free flow of information and ideas is essential to a free society. Stifling awareness and discussion does not make the problems of an unsafe food supply or of animal cruelty and suffering go away. Legislators should focus on enacting animal welfare reforms, not on hiding what is occurring behind closed doors.

Bills aiming to lessen abuses at Minnesota’s commercial dog and cat breeding facilities have languished for years- currently, unlike most states in the country, there are no state laws regulating this industry in Minnesota.  Yet, instead of taking serious steps to address puppy and kitten mill cruelty, some lawmakers are choosing to shield commercial dog and cat breeders from public scrutiny. Minnesota legislators who do not support the Commercial Dog and Cat Breeder Bill insist the humane community use ‘exiting laws’ to regulate the dog and cat breeding industry. How is it possible to use ‘existing law’, which requires finding and documenting inhumane conditions at puppy and kitten mills, if it is made a criminal offense to do an undercover investigation and publish the results?

Responsible agriculture producers should welcome transparency regarding their animal welfare and food safety practices. Agriculture producers are ultimately responsible to the millions of consumers who buy their food, and they should not try to quell public discussion and discourse on these practices.

Please take action today

NYC Woman Arrested for Allegedly Starving Two Terriers

Horrible!!  Throw the book at her and then some!!

When two severely emaciated Jack Russell Terriers arrived at the New York City Animal Care & Control (AC&C) shelter in Brooklyn, staff immediately suspected they had a cruelty case on their hands. Brooklyn resident Vera Osborne had relinquished the starving dogs, claiming that her niece could no longer afford to feed them—and that she could no longer bear witness to it. One of the dogs, a two-year-old pup named Patches, died within hours of being admitted, despite heroic veterinary efforts to save him.

“Unfortunately, starvation is one of the most common types of cruelty we investigate,” says Stacy Wolf, Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel for the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Department. “Animal cruelty is a serious crime, and we are doing everything we can to see that the victims receive justice.”

AC&C contacted the ASPCA Humane Law Department for assistance with the case, and a necropsy performed at ASPCA Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital confirmed that Patches’ cause of death was indeed starvation.

Soon after, ASPCA Special Agent Joe Vais began investigating Patches’ death, traveling to Osborne’s East Flatbush home for an interview. When questioned, Osborne again stated that the dogs were under the sole care of her niece, Rlisa Youell, and that after several failed attempts to have the dogs properly cared for, she turned them over to the shelter.

On February 24, Special Agent Vais arrested Youell and charged her with one count of misdemeanor animal cruelty. She faces up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The second dog has been treated and made available for adoption at AC&C in Brooklyn.

Posted:  Just One More Pet

(Just another example that we all need to be vigilant and report or intercede whenever abuse is involved.  We also need to get these sentences upgraded for abuse to animals, children, seniors… or anyone!!)

Help Chained Dogs This Valentine’s Day

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has called for dog lovers to support the Dogs Deserve Better group in it’s efforts to end the practice of perpetually chaining dogs.

This Valentine’s Day, Dogs Deserve Better will be sending Valentine’s Day cards and dog treat coupons to the owners of chained dogs across the country during it’s “Have a Heart for Chained Dogs” week. The gift is accompanied by a brochure for the dog’s owner, explaining why the practice is a form of abuse and encouraging them to bring their dog indoors or to re-home the animal. This year the group hopes to send 15,000 such packages.

The HSUS points out that because dogs are social animals they need regular interaction with their family, and that chained dogs will experience boredom, loneliness, and isolation, which will eventually lead to territorial and aggressive behavior. This is illustrated by the fact that almost 300 children were killed or seriously injured by chained dogs in 2003, with a recent high-profile case being that of 2 year-old Matthew Clayton Hurt who was killed in Arkansas in October 2009 by a chained dog protecting her puppies. California, Maryland and Nevada have all passed laws that limit the tethering of dogs, with Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Washington currently working on laws that will limit this activity.

The charity wants dog owners across the country to take action to help end the practice by assisting the Dogs Deserve Better group in identifying chained dogs. If you know of a perpetually chained dog you can anonymously provide the dog’s address to the group. Other ways members of the public can assist is in making Valentine’s Day cars, donating pet treat coupons and donating directly.

Photograph courtesy Dogs Deserve Better.

Source: Pet People’s Place

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Cat declawing now a crime in San Francisco and Beverly Hills – CA

For the couch: Some pet owners have their cats declawed to prevent damage to household items. (AP File Photo)

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco has become the first major city in the nation to outlaw the declawing of cats.

Some pet owners declaw their felines to protect themselves, or their furniture, from scratches. But pet advocates condemn the practice as animal cruelty.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 to enact a ban on the declawing of cats. Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Michela Alioto-Pier voted against the legislation.

“It is well-documented and well-understood from a medical prospective that [declawing] is torture. It is a form of animal cruelty,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who introduced the legislation.

Other California cities are considering adopting similar bans. The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on whether to enact a ban by the end of the year. West Hollywood banned declawing in 2003. Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Berkeley are considering similar ordinances. Declawing is illegal in 20 countries, including most of Europe, Brazil, Japan and Israel.

The California Veterinary Medical Association opposed the legislation. (Shame on them… it is like AMA, who stands up for Big Pharma and money making procedures, not patients.) The group said declawing should be left up to veterinarians and not politicians.

“I don’t support the board making those types of medical decisions,” Alioto-Pier told The Examiner after the meeting. “It seems misplaced. I think that the doctors and the vets should be making those decisions. And if it’s a bigger issue than that then the state of California should be outlawing that.”

Violators of the ban, such as anyone who declaws a cat or a pet owner who approves of a declawing, could face up to six months in jail or a fine of up to $1,000.

Many cities have decided to consider such a ban because a state law was recently adopted that would prohibit cities from enacting the bans after Jan. 1.

Vote was held and passed on Nov 5th in Beverly Hills.

Options:  Get your cat a scratching pole, take them for a walk on a leash and clip their nails.

Try Pedi-Paws –

Couple’s Chihuahua Pitched Into the Catoctin Creek

Man admits to throwing dog, charged with animal cruelty

Caisha and Tim Wantz

BRUNSWICK, Md. — Maryland State Police charged a man with throwing a Frederick County family’s Chihuahua off a bridge.

Caisha and Tim Wantz encountered a man with a station wagon and talking on a cell phone at the end of their driveway in Point of Rocks on June 19 as they were driving to get gas in preparation for their big weekend plans. They argued with him after asking him to leave. He told them he wanted to stay and make a call, the couple told NBC4’s Pat Collins.

“I told him I was going to call police,” Caisha Wantz said. “He laughed at me.”

She said he mocked her and started driving toward her like he was going to run her over.

Dog Thrown off Bridge in Frederick

“I yelled out to him, ‘Go ahead, you. Run over me in front of my family,'” Caisha Wantz said.

She was holding thermos of coffee and she decorated his rear window with the beverage.

Charging documents state that 34-year-old David Beers left but came back after the couple left and drove up to their house. Beers told police that he grabbed the 4-pound, 1-and-a-half-year-old dog named Zoey when she walked up to his car.

As Beers drove home over Catoctin Creek Bridge, he threw the dog over the bridge, police said. He later admitted to throwing the dog, which was never found.

“I have made, a few months ago, the worst decision of my life, and I want everyone to know that I deeply regret the pain and suffering that I caused the Wantz family,” Beers told Collins. “I have dealt with this stuff very heavily, and it’s affected my family and friends, and to them I own an apology as well.”

“She was my companion,” Caisha Wantz said. “She was our family companion. She went on vacation with us; she would travel to the store with us. I often had her in my purse.”

Beers has been charged with theft less than $500, trespassing and animal cruelty. He told Collins that he is undergoing anger management and seeing a psychiatrist.

A Sept. 17 court date has been set.

By MATTHEW STABLEY

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Washington – First Published: Aug 28, 2009 7:20 PM EDT

I really think it is time to start charging these people with what it is… murder, or at least man(pet)slaughter as well as will emotional distress for the pet parents, which should include any medical bills!  Theft, trespassing and animal cruelty should be add-on charges.  Throw the book at this guy and all the other nuts who these kinds of things.

Because they are uncaring crazies or animal haters at best and sociopaths and/or both domestic and animal abusers at the other end of the scale, and we are not making examples of them, they are willing to do these things without a second thought.

Posted: Just One More Pet

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Demand Justice for Dog Tortured and Killed by Owner – PETITION

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

UPDATE 8/20/09 – Finally Some Media Coverage and IMPORTANT-Charges Can be Upgraded, Must Contact County Attorney ASAP!!

Mr. Robert Suttles, Somerset, KY, has demonstrated a total disregard for the life and health of his devoted canine companion “Bowser.” 911 (Sheriff’s Department) has been called in the past to the home of Mr. Suttles where neighbors had observed that he refused to give his dog the basics for sustenance: food and water. Emergency personnel would not seize the dog “since no ribs were showing.” On other occasions they refused to respond to the 911 calls.

In retaliation for the neighbors’ calls, on June 30, 2009, Mr. Suttles demonstrated his “dominance” over this animal. Boasting of his ability to treat his own dog as he liked, he proceeded to pour antifreeze onto bread and to stuff this deadly concoction in Bowser’s mouth, holding the mouth closed so that Bowser could not spit it out and had to swallow it. Mr. Suttles performed this act of cruelty in front of neighbors and other witnesses. Death from antifreeze poisoning is one of the cruelest deaths.

Bowser was unable to regain standing position after this poisoning as he was in severe pain from the deadly food. Mr. Suttles left Bowser outside in pain for two full days (no food, water, meds, comfort) until he went outside to Bowser, kicked him viciously in the head until Bowser finally died. At this point, on July 2, 2009, he dragged the lifeless body across his yard to a burn barrel and proceeded to burn Bowser’s body that night, leaving no opportunity for necropsy. But there were witnesses to his vile and heinous acts. Witnesses who are willing to testify to his heinous acts.

On July 20, 2009, charges against Mr. Suttles were finally filed. He has been charged with second degree animal cruelty and harassment and a $7,500 bail has been set. Mr. Suttles tried to plead to lesser charges but Judge Woods set trial for Monday, August 28, 2009, at a time to be determined later, in order for the DA to interview witnesses and gather facts.

On the night of the burning of the body, the Sheriff was called to Mr. Suttles, but made himself unavailable to help.

This is not the first time that Mr. Suttles has been involved in documented cruelty to animals. He has bragged about killing another dog in March 2009. And he has been seen throwing food (laced with antifreeze?) over another neighbor’s fence to her goats.

Somerset KY has experienced many unexplained deaths of domestic animals by antifreeze poisoning and other means. It has been suggested that Mr. Suttles may be behind those acts as well, but we do not have evidence to support that at this time.

Somerset KY is a nice community with good neighbors who love and care for their domestic animals. If “Bowser,” a beautiful black lab mix, had become a burden to Mr. Suttles, he could have surrendered Bowser to the Humane Society for rehoming. Instead, he willingly and viciously killed his own dog in a most horrendous way, with witnesses around who were unable to stop him or get the law to arrest him at the time of the assault.

It is time to get justice for Bowser! Please read below and then sign the petition. The petition will be sent to the Judge and DA on the Friday before the trial.

ACTION REQUESTED

Urge the District Attorney for Pulaski County, KY (Somerset) to prosecute Defendant Mr. Robert Suttles, Somerset, KY, for the maximum charges allowable by law as a result of his egregious acts of animal cruelty and harassment against his dog Bowzer.

Urge Judge Woods (or the sitting judge for the trial) to find Mr. Robert Suttles “Guilty” (Note from Deanna: I believe this may be a jury trial from information I found researching this) on all counts of animal cruelty charged against him and to sentence him to the fullest amount of time for such charges. Urge Judge Woods to require that he complete at least 75% of his sentence in jail, that the remainder of the sentence be community service to a NON-animal related agency (you can’t trust him around animals), and bar him from forever owning a domestic animal again (dog, cat, etc.) Any other animals in the home shall be surrendered to the Pulaski County Humane Society for the purpose of rehoming in a loving home. Finally, Mr. Suttles should be required to reimburse the Pulaski County Humane Society $xxx.xx for the care given to Bowser before his death. If any expenses have already been donated by the public, Mr. Suttles should still be fined at least $1,500, with the monies going to the Humane Society for the purpose of helping document and obtain veterinary and humane care, for future cases of cruelty.

In light of recent notorious cases such as the Michael Vick dogfighting case, we in Pulaski County need to send a clear message to our residents and other residents of Kentucky that such acts of cruelty will not be tolerated and will be fully pursued and prosecuted.

We appreciate your time in reading this petition and again we urge you to send a clear message of justice on behalf of the late Bowser.

Thank you.
Signed by:
Concerned Citizens of Somerset, KY, Pulaski County
Concerned Animal Advocates of Kentucky, Tennessee, and other states
The Pulaski County Humane Society

Please write, call, fax, or email the public officials in Pulaski County and give them your opinion on this case. As always, we ask that you be polite and stick to the facts. Hysteria and cursing (or worse!) will only harm our cause. You don’t need to write a long letter. Just let the DA and Judge know that the citizens of Pulaski County will no longer tolerate a “slap on the wrist” to perpetrators of animal cruelty. See below.

CONTACT INFO
District Judge Katie Wood
402 Grande Avenue
Somerset, KY 42501
Phone: 606-219-5783

William Thompson
County Attorney
104 North Main Street
Somerset KY 42501
Phone: 606-679-4449
Fax: 606-678-2635

Pulaski County Judge Executive
Barty Bullock
P.O. Box 712
Somerset, KY 42502
606-678-4853 – phone
606-679-8642 – fax

Sheriff Todd Wood
Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department
P.O. Box 752
Somerset, KY 42502
Phone: (606) 678-5145
Fax (606) 679-3119
info@pulaskisheriff.com

The information above came directly from the petition which you can signHERE. Oddly enough I could find no media coverage of this horrendous crime but as the petition is sponsored in part by the humane society and the trial is on the docket, I will accept the facts as laid out.

This dog was routinely starved, then poisoned and kicked to death then had his tortured body burned to try to hide the crime!  There is no excuse for the suffering inflicted on this innocent creature!! We must demand justice!!!

What this waste of human life did was to cruelly torture this poor dog in a vicious power play, taunt and harass his neighbors and witnesses and someone almost get away with this crime!! He needs to be punished severely and there needs to be justice for Bowser, tortured and killed for no reason except for some POS to play his power game.

Please, I ask that you not only sign the petition but to call and write!! This is one dangerous psychopath and if he’s on the streets, his neighbors fear retribution as do the witnesses who are scared but willing to set that fear aside and testify to try to get justice for “just a dog” against a bully!!

Help to get the word out and share this with anyone who has a heart and cares!!  Only through our action can we make a difference!!

Again, here’s the PETITION!

UPDATE 8/20/09 – IMPORTANT!!!
Finally some media coverage of this horrific crime!

See Video at:  Demand Justice for Dog Tortured and Killed by Owner – PETITION: For the Love of the Dog

Now for the important part; the charges for this crime can be upgraded to a Class D Felony under Romero’s Law!! For some reason the County Attorney wants to leave it a 2nd Degree Misdemeanor… No Way!! I don’t think so!! There is no way you can know the details of this and not see it as the torture that it is.

Please, please, please… keep in mind that time is short…

Contact County Attorney (Bill Thompson) or the Assistant County Attorney (Dan Thompson – Bill’s brother) to refer this case to the Commonwealth Attorney (Eddie Montgomery) for prosecution as a Class D felony under Romeo’s Law.

County Attorney’s office
PO Box 5
Somerset, KY 42502-0005.
Phone at: (606) 679-4449 or (606) 679-4440.

It really is time for the laws against animal cruelty to be updated and stiffened!!!!  let’s use this case as a springboard to launch that campaign!!

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Posted:  Just One More Pet