Frenchie Adopts Wild Boar Piglets

While searching for articles about boar in the news worldwide I  stumbled on this story published by WCYB.com in Bristol, VA. It is noteworthy because it shows how mother instinct can transcend the limits of species. I re-publish it here in full length.

"Six abandoned wild boar piglets have found a new home with a bulldog at an animal sanctuary in Germany.
The French bulldog named Baby took to the piglets right away when they were brought in last weekend, shivering from the cold after being abandoned in a forest, officials at the Lehnitz animal sanctuary outside Berlin told The Associated Press.When the striped piglets were brought in, Baby ran over and started snuggling them and keeping them warm, sanctuary worker Norbert Damm told the AP."She thinks they're her own babies," he said.

The piglets, whose mother was likely killed by a hunter, weighed less than 2 pounds when they were brought to the sanctuary, but are being bottle-fed and growing well, Damm said.They won't be released into the wild, but could be set free in a nature reserve in about three months if they continue to thrive, he said."
WCYB.com 02/16/2012

The Curse Of 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua'

A Flood of Chihuahuas is washing over animal shelters in Los Angeles Visits to animal shelters in the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County are on my list of weekly activities. One of the most noteworthy observations in the shelters is the ever increasing number of small dogs, particularly Chihuahuas and Chihuahua Mixes in almost all shelters. While pit bull type dogs used to be among the most common, if not the most common, dogs found in a dog shelter, nowadays that position of dominance is seriously challenged by all dogs small and noisy. Among them, Chihuahuas appear to be taken over the world.

Chihuahua (blue) versus all other dog intake

 Note how the number of dogs committed to shelters declines (it rises only with the economic woes). On the other hand, the number of Chihuahuas increases steadily as they become the fashion dog to have.
The draft of a still unpublished study by Los Angeles animal services gives facts and figures to confirm my hunch. Chihuahuas and their assorted mixes are increasingly becoming a major problem that taxes the resources of City animal services exceedingly, often to the detriment of other animals, dogs and cats alike, in shelter care.



Since 2001 the number of Chihuahuas showing up in city shelters has increased at a steady rate of between 14 and 29 percent annually. However, in 2008 the intake rate exploded to 53 percent. I could not find intake statistics for the years after 2008, but my experience allows me to conclude that the numbers have not come down significantly.
This impression is also bolstered by the empirical fact that my walks with my medium sized service dog feel more like running the gauntlet than taking an peaceful afternoon constitutional. Hardly a day and a walk passes without being harassed and screeched at by some diminutive wannabe Napoleon with not much more than hot air to back up a nasty attitude.

Chihuahua intake at shelters. (Source: City of Los Angeles)

The diagram above makes the point. Note the steady increase in Chihuahuas that landed in animal shelters. There is no reason to assume that this explosive trend has been broken already. There are still thousands of small tyrants to be dumped that were acquired as fashion accessories or simply because the dog in the movie was 'so cute'.
While irresponsible, misguided dog owners get away scot free when the animal has outlived his welcome or inflicted one bite too many, it is the poor dog that pays with his life for the foolishness and lack of respect for other creatures of his owner.
Consequently, with skyrocketing Chihuahua intakes, more and more of them were expedited to a better more permanent “life” at the end of the Rainbow Bridge.

Chihuahua euthanisia (Source: ibid.)

Look at the diagram showing the increasing rates of euthanasia.
Does this make Los Angeles shelters the culprit as many emotional dog lovers might claim?
No!
The real culprit for the misery and the suffering of these Chihuahuas are those who got them because it was cool to have one at home or riding around in a shoulder bag. They do not pay for the cost of their folly. They just pass on their discarded toys hoping that some merciful person or rescue group will come and get it. And on to the next toy we go . . .



I would be remiss in my evaluation of the Chihuahua problem if I did not mention another important factor that is not pointed out in the yet unpublished draft study.The city has to be politically correct. I do not have to.
Chihuahua surplus situations are not only the result of fashion statements or movies, a trait they share with, for example, Dalmatians. Chihuahuas are very popular dogs with certain ethnic groups. In my travels around Los Angeles I sometime come to neighborhoods where every single house is home to one or more of them.
What do they all have in common – besides the incessant barking and frequent nips at owners and strangers alike?
Well?
OK, I'll tell you if you do not know:
Hardly any of them are spayed or neutered. It is a very rare exception if one is.


What else do they have in common?
They never, hardly ever maybe, are on a leash, roaming the neighborhood free at all times of the day. They are only restricted at night because the coyotes would get them otherwise. If they are in rare cases on a leash, it is more often than not a flex leash.
What is the result of free roaming unaltered Chihuahua hordes?
More and more Chihuahuas.
May I humbly suggest at this point that you now go back and look one more time at the euthanasia diagram?
I repeat: Do not blame heartless city bureaucrats for 'wanton slaughter' of innocent small dogs. Blame irresponsible dog owners and breeders for not spaying and neutering the animals.
The city and the taxpayers cannot be asked to pay forever for the irresponsible actions of certain dog owners. Does the overgrown ego of a macho Chihuahua owner really get diminished when the pocket Napoleon undergoes some snipping?
You can still be proud of your barking Chihuahua that harasses dogs many times its size despite the fact that they could dispose of him in seconds. His bark is still the same – lots of hot air.
More importantly, does a little snipping on your Chihuahua really equal snipping at your manhood? I don't think so. Maybe you do . . .

And to dog rescue groups and heart-bleeding self-appointed dog rescuers I say:
The solution to the Chihuahua problem is not to rescue every little noisemaker in a shelter. You will never be able to rescue and place them all. The 'free' ones will make more Chihuahuas faster than you can ever rescue the imprisoned.
Instead true friends of dogs should stop whining and blubbering and concentrate their efforts and their funds more on convincing dog owners and potential dog owners to spay and neuter their pets. That is the real challenge; it also offers the highest reward and satisfaction. One Chihuahua neutered or spayed is better than a dozen rescued from a shelter.
Believe it or not.
Now go do the right thing!
PJJ

Want to Help Service Dogs - Call Or Write Your Lawmakers

A few days ago I found a proposal prepared by animal control authorities in one of our largest urban centers on how to reduce significantly the number of dogs killed annually in shelters. I will report on the proposal in a separate, detailed article.
One of the findings has a more or less direct bearing on the topic of my articles on working service dogs. The draft proposal proves clearly and unmistakably that the number of Chihuahuas in shelters has increased significantly in the last few years. This confirms my own finding that we are coming close to a situation where small dogs, mainly Chihuahua mixes of all sorts, outnumber the traditional bad boys of the shelter world.
Walk your medium or large sized dog in certain neighborhoods and you will see and hear that this is also true for regular life situations.
What does this have to do with working service dogs, you demand to know.
Ask any landlord or manager of an apartment building and you will hear stories of purported service dogs of that kind, talk to store managers and you will hear similar stories, question library personnel or anyone who works in public buildings and you get an earful of complaints. Almost all cases involve 'service dogs' of that nature.
Abuse of the service dog privilege is not primarily perpetrated by owners of working dogs but rather by owners of breeds that were meant and bred as pets. These dogs hardly ever can perform a 'specific task' to assist their owner. They excel maybe in being companion dogs or even therapy dogs, but that is about it. I cannot see what service three Chihuahuas on flex leashes can perform in a grocery store.


If managers, store owners or other employees of public facilities have given you and your service dog a hard time, you owe it to yourself and to other people who rely on the services of their true service dog, to write or call your senators or representatives.
They need to hear about the huge loopholes in the ADA sections related to service dogs. They need to hear about every day difficulties you experience because someone before you abused the law.
We do not need more exemptions and more vague additions to pacify vocal interest groups, we only need a better defined and formulated law.
Please, go do the right thing: Pick up the pen or crank up you computer and let your duly elected representatives know what you think about ADA and service dogs.
PJJ

What You Can Do To Curtail The Use Of Service Dog Impostors

Recently I went to a large chain store to shop for a specialty item. My state licensed service dog was with me – as always. He wears on his collar a special tag issued by the 'dog police' (animal control) that identifies him clearly as a service dog.
Upon entering the store I was immediately confronted by a security guard who explained the store's no dog policy, except seeing eye dogs and service dogs. I summoned the manager. Asked him to look at the ID tag of my dog. He declared never to have seen a state issued service dog tag. Therefore, he refused to let the dog stay. Furthermore, he announced, that even if the ID were real he could not admit the dog because he does not wear a harness with large round service dog patch stuck on.
“How do you expect me to determine the true status of the dog,” he asked.
Just look at the dog and read it. It says there “XX service dog # 9”, I told him. He still balked. So, I called the police. They came, did not know much about service dogs at all, but concluded after closely examining the tag that this dog is indeed a service dog. They asked the manager 'kindly' to admit the dog without any further discussion.
The reason for the manager's stubborn refusal to admit a service dog became apparent in the course of the exchanges with the police.
About one week before my visit a woman with three small dogs (all on flex leashes) wearing impressive looking harnesses with big service dog patches (well, as big as could fit on a small dog) had visited the store. When challenged she gave the manager her spiel about ADA, the disabled and service dogs. He let her in. Unfortunately, the three service dogs quickly became a nuisance because of the long flex leashes and their incessant barking.



This example of 'bad' service dogs and an irresponsible dog owner clearly illustrates why it is so important to combat the abuse of service dog privileges by a relatively few inconsiderate, doting dog owners. It also shows what needs to be done.
Close the loopholes in the service dog sections of ADA.
The loopholes notably are the missing requirement for the disabled dog owner to be able to present some sort of official proof of disability.
Under ADA a disability of the owner is the prerequisite for the ability to claim a dog as service dog. The service dog privilege is dependent on the existence of a disability of the owner of the dog.
The other big invitation to fraud is the fact that under ADA service dogs need not prove in a test administered by an independent examiner (animal control, for example) which specific task they are trained to perform for their handler.
Any service dog should have to take and pass a service dog test administered by a trustworthy agency – not by a virtual service dog school.

As part of this test the dog would also have prove that he or she has mastered the art of being a 'good canine citizen'. That's quite basic.

Since service dogs have the privilege to go with their owner wherever he goes, they can be expected to behave accordingly and not to become a nuisance when in buildings, confined places and among large crowds. It is so simple and basic that one can safely assume that those who object to such a requirement most likely do so because they abuse the privileges established by ADA.
Finally, once a dog passes the service dog test, his owner should receive some sort of identifying tag to be worn by the dog as proof of his service dog status.



If we could agree and convince lawmakers to modify and improve the provisions of ADA to this effect, we would have made a big step towards eliminating the rampant abuse of dog related ADA privileges. Such easy changes trump the alleged need to expand and make even broader and vaguer the catalog of disabilities and challenges that qualify as 'service dog' worthy.
And the owners of true and trusted service dogs that spend their life in service to their owners would encounter less hassle and challenges provoked by bad experiences with belligerent and aggressive owners of service dog impostors.



Some states have laws pertaining to service dogs that establish such procedures and requirements. California is one of them. But there are other states with similar provisions. Some have no regulations on state level whatsoever.
In our “Working Service Dog Report” we will explore and explain state by state regulations pertaining to service dogs.
Now, some of you might argue that federal law trumps local law. Those who do most likely got their information from one of the many website that hawk service dog harnesses and patches and useless IDs for the disabled. Some even offer certificates that attest to the successful completion of service dog training based on 12 or so individual rules for training and handling service dogs posted on the site. Much of it is worthless at best and a fraud on the gullible.
True, federal law supersedes local laws. However, ADA has a provision that the merchants of trinkets do not tell you about. Only those who read the ADA law themselves will most likely find it and take note.
The provision affirms the predominance of federal law – except when local laws are stricter and offer more and better protection.
Requiring that a dog take and pass a test before becoming an official, protected service dog certainly qualifies as a law stricter than any ADA provision. In addition, in California state licensed service dogs also enjoy much stronger protection under the Penal Code. It can be reasoned that at least in California state law trumps federal law when it comes to service dogs.
That is why my service dog is a state licensed, state sanctioned service dog.
PJJ

How To Combat Abuse Of Service Dog Privileges.

Service dogs perform indeed a much needed service to many physically and mentally challenged individuals. They also play a role in medicine because of their ability to sense impending physiological and psychological changes. Nobody questions the important role highly specialized service dogs play in police work and for the military. Search and Rescue dogs, cadaver dogs, tracking dogs, animals that sniff out certain dangerous chemicals all are good examples of these invaluable service dogs.

These service dogs have one thing in common: Each one of them underwent a rigorous process of selection, basic training (basic obedience) and finally very demanding special training according to their abilities. Similar criteria apply to seeing eye dogs or true service dogs that underwent successfully a selection and training process during which they acquired the skills and the discipline that makes them such valuable canine citizens.

Many of them never make it to the end of this challenging process.

But all of them, even those that fall a bit short, deserve our respect, because both dog and owner have given it their all investing much work and patience in the process.

Therefore it is fair to say that the distinguishing mark that makes an ordinary dog an service dog is careful selection of the animal and extensive, specialized training proven by passing a test.

Isn't it therefore also equitable to make the successful completion of a course of special training the criteria for a dog to be awarded service dog privileges?

The lawmakers who wrote the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) clearly had such requirements and qualifications in mind. ADA clearly talks about training a service dog to perform specific services for his disabled owner. The Act even grants service dog privileges to a dog in training.

However, special interests among doting dog owners and financial interests of merchants expanded the original scope of qualifying services for service dogs by adding more and more broadly formulated disabilities, such as psychological, psychiatric and emotional conditions that are at times difficult to establish and often even harder to classify.

'Emotional needs' or 'emotional support' are most frequently used to declare a pet a service dog. They are also about the vaguest justifications one can imagine. What exactly is the underlying disability? And what service does a dog need to learn in order to assist his owner? Sit on a pillow. Look cute and snap at the owner when he wants to use it himself?

These purported improvements of the original ADA criteria for a service dog has created enormous loopholes that doting pet owners with the help of a spineless or greedy medical professional use to transform their pet into a service dog.

This trend must be reversed in order to curtail the abuse of a special privilege by an ever increasing number of owners of ordinary dogs.

A few simple, easy steps will go a long way to curtail the rampant abuse of the privilege service dogs enjoy in exchange for their hard labor.

Licensing Requirement

ADA provisions that refer to service dogs must be rewritten to require licensing for service dogs. During a mandatory test the trained dog must demonstrate the ability to perform a specific service that assists his disabled owner in accomplishing necessary daily tasks The dog must demonstrate his ability during a test.

Many of the false service dogs I have come across in real life situations are actually small dogs that lack any training, even the most basic obedience training. Their only qualification appears to be that their owners consider them as their child. That is deplorable because there is no reason why a small dog can not be a true service dog – provided it has a special and specific talent and is trained to use it in service to his owner. Unfortunately, this is hardly ever the case. The small “service dogs” that I have come across had only one outstanding talent: To bark up a storm, even while on duty in public.

On the other hand, I know of several cases where a small dog proved himself truly of service to his owner, even without being designated service dog. Such as the small dog that insisted in alerting his owner to a problem on one of her legs. Medical examination found a skin cancer. Or the small dog that was somehow able to sense an upcoming seizure of her owner many minutes, even hours, before the actual event.

But two factors work against small dogs as service dogs: Small dogs are ever more popular with people, especially older people who can no longer handle a strong dog. In addition, many landlords disapprove of dogs on their properties – often with the exception of smaller dogs up to a certain weight.

As an part-time apartment manager I once encountered a belligerent young man with a small Chihuahua who began his tenancy by letting his dog defecate on the doormat of his new neighbor and run off leash all over the place barking and barking and barking.

When challenged this young man flashed one of the false ID cards for disabled followed by another card that explained the rights of the disabled and his 'service dog'. Both were of the Internet variety, of course. Both essentially stated “You can not challenge me and ask me nothing.”

The other aspect it the “child syndrome”. Because of their small size and light weight, small dogs are easily carried around, hugged, cuddled and spoiled. They trigger maternal and paternal instincts in people. Training and discipline play a secondary role. That is the reason why most small dogs are untrained, highly undisciplined and thus a nuisance to most but their owners.

Despite the fact that many of the reported dog bites were perpetrated by larger dogs, in actuality small dogs bite far more often. But because of their size and the limited bite damage, these incidents go mostly unreported.

Because small dogs and their owners have this special parent-child like relationship, many of the 'emotional support dogs' are in fact small dogs. But emotional support dogs do not qualify as service dogs. Nor do therapy dogs.

It is imperative to change ADA rules to require that even small dogs must be trained to perform a specific task that assist their owner and demonstrate their abilities in a test in order to qualify as a service dog.

Closely related to the problem with emotional support dogs is the fact that it is quite easy to procure a letter from a medical professional certifying that the animal is needed by his owner for medical or mental health reasons. Certifications of this kind are almost as easy to come by as medical marijuana cards. Money, easy money, trumps responsible professionalism.

The family doctor should not be allowed to certify a condition to be used as justification for the status of an animal as assistance dog. That's just common sense.

ID Requirement

There are at least two conditions that must be met for a dog to be a service dog under ADA:

1. A dog owner must be physiologically or psychologically challenged,
2. His dog must have been trained to perform specific tasks that benefit his owner by making certain daily tasks easier.

Since the service dog privilege derives from the presence of the two preconditions, it is only logical to demand that the existence of the conditions has been proven. It is easy to do. For example, states issue special license plates and placards to the handicapped owner of a vehicle. They come with a small certificate. The handicap has to be established through medical records.

The state issued certification could serve as official proof of disability where no other official ID is issued.

How about the dog?

Easy as well. Require that the service dog to be demonstrate his special training to an examiner from the local Animal Control section of the Police Department.

Upon successfully completing the test, the dog will then be issued an official service dog tag.

California uses this method for their special service dog licenses.

When it was time to have my new dog take on the duties of his predecessor, I weighed carefully the pro and the con of going ADA or of opting for the local solution. Though I am generally somewhat reluctant to opt for heavy-handed licensing requirements, I decided to forgo the easy federal solution. Instead I trained my dog to pass local California service dog licensing requirements.

California makes you train your dog to perform a specific task that makes performing specific daily task(s) easier for his owner. In exchange the dog is given an official service dog tag that gets him all privileges of an assistance animal without the potential hassle of challenges by managers and owners of stores, bus drivers, landlords, mailmen, administrators and custodial personnel of public buildings, theaters, airline people and police.

In fact, his tag names the Police Department, Animal Control, of his city together with his license number. The license is good for his life, even when retired. And it is free.

No need for a vest, a harness or patches procured from the Internet. Just a small tag, that's all.

In addition, a California licensed service dog enjoys special protection and value under the Penal Code of the State of California.

If I get challenged by uninformed officialdom, I simply call the police.

Problem solved, no more hassle. No more doubts.

Stepping down from soapbox. Exit stage left.

PJJ

The next and final article in this series will deal with other ways to reduce abuse of service dog privileges. A programmatic statement of sorts, one could say.