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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums29 cats killed when 2 pit bulls escape from cages at Alabama animal shelter
Two pit bulls at an Alabama animal shelter escaped from their cages early Thursday morning and fatally mauled 29 cats, WTVY reported.
Workers at the Dothan Animal Shelter found the dead cats when they reported to work Thursday morning, the television station reported. Those dogs forced their way out of a pen. Then, they pushed hard enough on galvanized bars to knock (the bars) out of their clamps, shelter director Bill Banks told WTVY.That action enabled the dogs to push on the chain-link fencing and then attack the cats.
These dogs were able to eat their way out, for lack of a better term, and attack these cats. That is horrible, Dothan City Commissioner Beth Kenward told WTVY.Kenward said the shelter is outdated and believes the city should have helped to upgrade it a long time ago.Mayor Mark Saliba agreed, telling WTVY, It's sad, and there is no doubt that (a new shelter) is overdue."
Banks said the pit bulls were brought to the shelter Wednesday. He told WTVY that no decision has been made about what to do with the dogs.
https://www.ajc.com/news/national/cats-killed-when-pit-bulls-escape-from-cages-alabama-animal-shelter/NY1BAv0KconXwjOgAGNH2L/
jayfish
(10,039 posts)I have rediscovered my deep affinity for cats. I cannot imagine what the workers went through emotionally when they came upon this awful scene. I am sorry they had to experience this.
onecaliberal
(32,852 posts)😢😢😢😢😢😢
Codeine
(25,586 posts)Really?! Come the actual fuck on.
ProudMNDemocrat
(16,784 posts)These dogs had apparently been trained to fight. They need to be put down.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)About thirty cats too late, but the decision is pretty obvious.
lame54
(35,287 posts)They would need to make arrangements for a transfer to a shelter that can euthanize
Maybe that had not been done at the time of the interview
IF they are a no kill shelter
Floyd R. Turbo
(26,546 posts)get the red out
(13,462 posts)Dogfighters are evil low-life scum.
lindysalsagal
(20,680 posts)dhill926
(16,337 posts)EllieBC
(3,014 posts)That should be the decision.
And before someone mentions that chihuahuas bite more, you can punt a chihuahua thats attacking a kid or a cat off the target. A pit bull? No its going to kill you too.
Buzz cook
(2,471 posts)By a loose dog. She was a very good cat.
This story has me in tears all over again.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216702297562839&set=pcb.10216702298562864&type=3&__tn__=HH-R&eid=ARAa05YmwVgHUQDby-JXRdT56ZW-RM3kO94h7KNALLlylej4xhK6w78z7enczg-9WmlUoALwYOWEohPv
ProudMNDemocrat
(16,784 posts)Pets are our children, but with fur. They impact our lives in so many ways be they dog or cat, even Rat.
essme
(1,207 posts)I know this story hurts.
Beringia
(4,316 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)Many of us have a cat-shaped hole in our hearts.
dawg day
(7,947 posts)I lost a cat that way too. I still think of him, years later, but now with sad smiles instead of tears.
SouthernProgressive
(1,810 posts)backtoblue
(11,343 posts)Celerity
(43,339 posts)get the red out
(13,462 posts)That is horrible.
LexVegas
(6,060 posts)raccoon
(31,110 posts)exboyfil
(17,862 posts)charge me yesterday when I was walking my Aussie/Sheltie mix. I picked her up and yelled for the owner to come get this dog. Splash will respond if a dog gets near her and then it will be all over. A neighbor had to distract the dog. When I crossed the street and turned the corner, I saw the idiot standing in her backyard on her phone. I told her to get her dog in a pretty unfriendly fashion.
Earlier a corgi charged me. Fortunately Splash wasn't with me. I had my English Shepherd Arlo who is a teddy bear and not fear aggressive.
Why can't people control their dogs.
lindysalsagal
(20,680 posts)You can really knock an attacker out with a putter.
silentEcho
(424 posts)All the time I have lived here I have not seen dogs off leash. I walked the dog a couple times a day and not once have I had this issue. Not a lot of aggressive dogs, not the preferred breed. Other areas I lived, I was always concerned with the roaming dogs without owners around. I feel lucky being in this atmosphere that is so very dog friendly.
shanti
(21,675 posts)is what deters me from taking a daily walk or even getting a dog that I have to walk. I'm very afraid that a loose dog will attack me (not to mention the shady characters).
exboyfil
(17,862 posts)I have never had a bad attack, and, in general, the other residents do a good job keeping their dogs on leash or behind fences. Strays seem to stay off of the bike trails. I always am on the lookout for an open garage.
I always here the dog is friendly. Well my Sheltie/Aussie was abused before we got her, and she is decidedly unfriendly towards other dogs. She usually starts some crap that my English Shepherd pays for. It so happened I had the right combination yesterday since neither dog can walk as far I as do now, I have been splitting the walks between them some. I would have hated the corgi to have charged Splash. It is a good little dog (I want one), but Splash would have attacked it if it got close enough.
misanthrope
(7,411 posts)for those who let their cats roam. Ours dogs and cats stay inside both for their physical safety -- disease, cars and predators -- and their emotional well being. I see dogs on chains or isolated and ignored in back yards and roaming cats all the time and it makes me wonder why someone would bother getting a companion animal at all.
exboyfil
(17,862 posts)Our dogs (and the cat) are part of our family. My English Shepherd has been my personal trainer for 13 wonderful years (we got him from the shelter at a year old). He is entitled to his walks. It is sad he can't walk like he used to, but he still loves to go. Occasionally he puts a longer walk up on the board.
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)milestogo
(16,829 posts)GusBob
(7,286 posts)I think the poster is implying the cats got picked up to the shelter because they were left roaming around by their ownets
Thats alot of cats tho. Maybe some were feral
shanti
(21,675 posts)The safest place for your cat is in your HOME. My cats haven't been outside in over 7 years. Before that, I let them out, but after one got sick (the neighbor was spraying the common fence with Roundup), they are strictly indoor cats. I'd never allow any cats of mine outdoors ever again, too many dangers. The same people that don't spay/neuter their animals are the same ones who allow them to roam, imo.
Indoors = longer lifespan too. Mine are 15 and 16.
Marengo
(3,477 posts)SouthernProgressive
(1,810 posts)The benefits would be enormous.
Goodheart
(5,321 posts)zackymilly
(2,375 posts)Thekaspervote
(32,762 posts)Our no kill shelter is full of pit bull and pit bull mix dogs. Obviously no one wants them. AZ for all its crazy politics is outlawing them. Anyone who owns one is allowed to keep the dog until its natural death.
You just cannot undo hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. The dog as a breed should be allowed to naturally go extinct
Response to Thekaspervote (Reply #24)
JonLP24 This message was self-deleted by its author.
shanti
(21,675 posts)Pit bulls/mixes and chihuahuas. I'm fine with them going extinct.
JustAnotherGen
(31,818 posts)Afromania
(2,768 posts)They need to find those fuckers and put them under the jail. The dogs are beyond help at this point and should be put down.
Farmer-Rick
(10,163 posts)They need more funding.
I use to think it was always the owners that made dogs killers but after losing a very much loved, gently handled and pampered dog, I know dogs can take on an aggressive killer instinct all on their own.
I had a wonderful smart pampered mix breed with Rottweiler markings. He was neutered and well fed but he would kill any animal that crossed his path. When he killed a 150 pound breeding ewe, we knew he would have to go.
He went through chain link, woven wire and electric fencing to get at his prey. Sometimes dogs get blood lust and there is nothing you can do to stop them from killing other animals. In the wild that is an evolutionary advantage. It's probably why we can't breed it out of some dogs.
leftyladyfrommo
(18,868 posts)She sees lots of pit type puppies that are just as sweet as can be . Then they hit puberty and become very dog aggressive. That is a problem with pits. They can be fine with people but be very dog and other animal aggressive.
And some aren't aggressive at all. Part if it is what the owners are like. And part is breeding.
She has no problem with a breed ban.
Bayard
(22,063 posts)And the article doesn't say, how were the dogs able to get to the cats? Were the cats running loose in the shelter?
I think Pitbulls are like any other breed, where a specific trait is emphasized in the breeding, and continued to be focused on in subsequent breedings. You want a mean fighting dog? Then you breed 2 mean fighting dogs. You want dogs that will go nuts looking for vermin? You breed Doxies or Jack Russell's that make your yard look like Swiss cheese. Around here, LSD's (Livestock Guardian Dogs, like Great Pyrenees) are likely advertised as coming from, "working stock". Many Amish folks here raise sheep and goats, and need those flocks protected. The puppies are raised with the flock almost from birth.
Another good example: I used to adopt retired Greyhounds off the track. Those guys are born--and love--to run. We were in a coursing club, where various Sighthounds (Greyhounds, Whippets, Afghans, Borzoi's, etc. Dogs that hunt by sight instead of smell), would chase a motorized lure around a big grass field. It would zig and zag all over the place. The dogs were released in pairs or 3's, and they were just nuts for it. They got to "catch" the lure at the end--a plastic grocery bag. One time, someone showed up with a couple of show Greyhounds. They were gorgeous, with excellent confirmation. When the lure went off, they looked at it for a moment, and wandered back to their owner.
The point being, whether you want a working dog, a show dog, or just companions, a good breeder will study the genetics, and select their stock accordingly. With backyard breeders (where most Pitbulls come from), its always a crap shoot. One of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen, was a story and picture, of a couple guys with a young pitbull. The dog refused to fight, so they cut off his ears, and threw them on the ground in front of him. The photo showed this sweet pup sitting there and looking at his own ears on the pavement. I still have nightmares about it.
misanthrope
(7,411 posts)are the lowest scum imaginable. What I would like to see happen to them can't be printed here.
Duppers
(28,120 posts)I could cut off their ears!! Seriously.
I couldn't agree more with what you posted. EXCELLENT! Your detailed post nailed the problem.
"Swiss cheese."