Whose fault is it anyways? Call your CA legislator and ask!

It would be worth the time and effort to ask people to contact their local shelters and compile a list of the dogs sitting in the California shelters because of the legal system's slow grinding wheels (as in the news story posted at the end of this). The CA Beemis dogs are STILL sitting in the shelters, 4 years later after they were impounded because of animal hoarding... at the taxpayers' expense!

As taxpayers, our states are going broke housing and caring for these dogs, then eventually killing them when the court case is settled. These are tax dollars we all pay that could go to better things besides 'warehousing' dogs for evidence purposes in some court case. Madeline Bernstein is right in her statement in the news article posted below... The state and status of a dog at the time of impound is not static - it will change (usually for the worse) the longer the dogs are in the shelter system.

I've watched Chihuahuas lose several pounds during the time a shelter is required to hold them because of Hayden's law... I have one right now that looked bad at impound, but 15 days later, was virtually the walking dead... When I pulled her from the LA City's shelter, I took pictures immediately because I thought she was going to die on me... I could encircle her stomach area with my hand (thumb to first finger) she was so emaciated...

She's recovered now, months later, but the harm done to my breed during the shelter time is deadly... A 5 to 7 pound Chi cannot afford to lose 2-3 pounds without serious long term health effects on their system... And Chihuahuas simply do not do well in a shelter environment - there's just too much going on all the time - their senses are on overload alert 24/7...

They become 'crazed' rapidly without time to sleep, recoup, regenerate, calm down - as they are supposed to do in a natural home environment. Some breeds can survive in a kennel/shelter environment - Chihuahuas cannot. It's not necessarily the shelter's fault either... I believe they do the best they can with the budget restraints they have, plus the overwhelming amount of incoming unwanted dogs and cats... Some breeds (such as mine) deteriorate rapidly in the shelter environment and I ask you - are our 'humane' laws really humane at all when we lose them in the shelters because of the legal system???...

We as taxpayers need to address this with our local legislators... There are enough CA rescue groups that would partner up with the local shelters to evaluate, rehabilitate and move these dogs out of the shelter systems and onto furever homes - or euthanize them rapidly if they proved unable to transition into a home environment... A Chihuahua goes loco in about 2-3 weeks in a shelter with strange dogs coming and going all the time, banging and loud noises, constant barking, etc. We use these same tactics with people (remember Ruby Ridge, Waco?) and those folks were bombarded with extreme levels of noise and sounds from loud speakers in an attempt to force early surrender... I can only minimally imagine what happens to the Pitties being held in this same environment because of an impending drug or dog fighting case on the court docket!

Why do we not understand this and CHANGE the way the system is working?

We will NEVER fix these problems unless California legislators step up to the plate and fix our current laws and legal/shelter system in regards to these dogs! You want to fix the budget crunch? A good start might be to address the revenue loss and seepage caused as these dogs languish in the shelters on a slow walk towards death row caused by the slow wheels of the legal system.

Just my opinion - for whatever it is worth!


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CA: Critics assail animal 'evidence'
3 YEARS: ELEVEN DOGS, CAGED WHILE THEIR OWNER IS PROSECUTED, CAN BE NEITHER EUTHANIZED NOR GIVEN HOPE FOR REHABILITATION.
10:35 PM PST on Friday, February 6, 2009
By RICHARD BROOKS, The Press-Enterprise

The line of solitary-confinement cages at the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter has the look of Death Row. One pit bull paces in circles incessantly. Another acts like a crazed Energizer Bunny, repeatedly leaping to the 6-foot-high ceiling, as if seeking escape. Others would spend hours slinging their water bowls, until keepers replaced them with heavy water-filled buckets.

At the shelter, the 11 pit bulls are known as the Albert Cain dogs. They have been caged for three years, their fate tied to the outcome of their owner's prosecution on felony dog-fighting charges.

This is one of 11 pit bulls who are entering their fourth year of confinement at the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter. Their owner, Albert Cain, faces charges of dog-fighting. If acquitted, Cain could not reclaim them without paying the city for keeping the animals, a bill that is approaching $100,000.

If Cain is convicted, possibly later this month, it likely will mean death for most of the dogs. They likely will be euthanized because the city doesn't want the liability of allowing anyone to adopt fighting dogs, shelter officials say. If Cain is acquitted, but can't or won't pay the board-and-care bill that already totals nearly $100,000, the dogs still face death. But there's no guarantee the case will end this month.

"This is a big problem. Having animals languish for three years is not unusual, because the legal system takes so long," said Madeline Bernstein, a former New York City prosecutor who is president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles. "The legal system is oblivious that this is a problem."

Bernstein bridles at the notion that such animals must be kept as evidence. In an animal-cruelty case, their condition after months or years at an animal shelter is irrelevant, she argues. "There's no evidentiary value to the animals once they've been impounded, because they change: We heal them," she said. To prove a case, authorities document the animals' condition with photos, medical reports or testimony, she said.

Meanwhile, the impounded animals suffer, she said. "They'll all go 'cage crazy' eventually," she said. "The racket of the shelter will bother them. They'll chew on themselves. They'll walk in circles. They'll grieve. How would you like to be in a closet for ... years?"

Bernstein also blasts California's animal cruelty law, saying it is poorly written and rife with contradictions. "On one hand, it says there are ways to release these animals" before the case goes to trial, she said. Forfeiture hearings can be held, owners can be assessed for the cost of impounding their animals or asked to release their claim on them. "On the other hand, it says, after trial you should still have these animals," Bernstein said.

[b]Send A Bill[/b]
In Los Angeles County, Deputy District Attorney Debbie Knaan says that sending monthly bills to an accused dog-fighter is one of the most effective ways to avoid having to keep the animals for months or years. Defendants are offered an administrative hearing to determine the validity of the animals' seizure or impoundment, she said.

If they fail to request the hearing, Knaan said, they become liable for the food and board of their animals. If the bills are unpaid, a lien is filed against their property. "But let's say they pay it: You've got a problem, because it's their property," she said. "If they're acquitted, the defendant has a right to get their animals."

One critic says California’s animal cruelty law is contradictory over whether impounded animals can be released before a case goes to trial. Cain's attorney didn't respond to calls seeking comment. But two years ago, Cain said the animals are show dogs. "I was not fighting my dogs," he said. Cain's legal troubles began, both sides agree, after he summoned police to complain that he had been shot at outside his San Bernardino home.

Animal control officers were called when police noticed one of his dogs was injured. They found more injured dogs and dogfighting paraphernalia, investigators said. One room was a dog-fighting pit, with blood spattered three feet high on the walls, investigators said.

San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus said the dogs aren't needed as evidence. She says Cain should have been given a forfeiture notice long ago -- or been asked to surrender ownership. She asked him recently if he would give the dogs up, Ploghaus said. "He refused," she said. "And I cannot force him to give up his property."

At the shelter, Director Ken Childress is blunt about the animals' future. "He's not going to get his dogs back," Childress said. "There's not going to be a payment plan." Even at only $8 per dog for room and board, that's $88 a day -- or $32,120 annually. Over three years, the bill has skyrocketed to more than $96,000. And there may be more charges, like veterinary costs.

[b]Liability Issue[/b]
Nor is Childress inclined to put the dogs up for adoption. "There's a liability issue," he said. "As soon as you adopt a pit bull that has been here for three years and it goes out and bites the neighbor's child, the city is going to get sued.

"Or when you find out that the city adopted out a fighting dog that came over and killed your pet, you're going to be furious."

Not everyone agrees that pit bulls -- even if they were fighters -- are a lost cause. Albert Cain denies dog-fighting allegations, brought on when he called police on another matter but they found an injured dog.

"Every dog deserves a second chance," said John Polis, spokesman for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. The sanctuary's staff accepted 22 pit bulls from the Michael Vick dog-fighting case and already has placed one with a foster family, an interim step that could lead to a permanent home.

"It takes time and effort, but these fighting dogs can be rehabilitated," dog kennel manager John Garcia said by phone. Cain's dogs fit a nationwide pattern, he said. Every major shelter has at least one dog on a court hold, Garcia said. In his view, a dog is a dog, whether it's a Chihuahua or a pit bull. They require different training techniques, he said, but the same concept: Consistent rewards for good behavior. "We've proved it with the Michael Vick dogs. Eleven of the 22 are completely fine with other dogs."

Reach Richard Brooks at 951-368-9463 or rbrooks@PE.com

Source: http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_dogs07.4427023.html