Rescue group robbed, dogs stolen
A dog rescue group is looking for help after someone robbed their Doggie Care Center in Johnson City, Tenn.
The group, led by Tammara Josselyn, keeps all its rescue animals in the center while they are nursed back to health so they can be adopted. Josselyn’s niece, who lives in an apartment above the center, came down to check on the dogs when they wouldn’t top barking in the middle of the night.
She was confronted by the robbers, one of whom pulled a knife and cut her. The woman was treated at a nearby hospital. The robbers made of with 14 dogs. Twelve were dobermans, one was a labrador retriever and one was a miniature pinscher. Some of the dogs have special medical needs.
Animal advocates in the area fear the robbery could be the work of a local dogfighting ring. There has been a strong of break-ins at shelters recently, with thieves taking large breeds known to be used by dogfighters, along with declawed cats, puppies and small dogs.
The small animals are used as bait to test the larger dogs’ fighting instincts. They are often mauled and killed. As the owner of a miniature pinscher mix, this story is particularly disturbing to me.
Supporters have set up a Web site with the full story along with photos and contact information for anyone who might be able to help bring these dogs home.
- Staff Writer Bryan Dean
Dognappers run amok!
Apparently dog thefts are on the rise. Through last month, the American Kennel Club has tracked more than 115 stolen pet stories this year. The group only heard of 71 thefts all of last year. Here’s some more info from AKC:
The FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which tracks stolen property nationwide, currently lists 200 stolen dogs, according to Steve Fischer, FBI Spokesperson. According to Fischer, “Dogs listed in our database must have permanent owner-applied serial numbers, such as those from embedded microchips. Unfortunately not all dogs have permanent ID, so we know this is only a fraction of the number of missing dogs.”
Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in Texas which would have made it a state felony to steal a pet, including the family dog, with a possible two years in prison if convicted. California and Delaware have tried to regulate roadside pet sales as a way to combat the trafficking of stolen pets to unsuspecting consumers.
Keep your pet safe:
- Keep your dog leashed.
- Don’t leave your dog alone in the yard, in your car or tied up outside a store.
- Have your pet microchipped.
What to do in a worst-case scenario:
- Call the police.
- Search the neighborhood.
- Post fliers. (This is why it’s important to have a current photo of your pet!)
How can you curb pet theft:
- Don’t buy dogs from the Internet, flea markets or roadside vendors. (Better yet – ADOPT!)
- Use reputable breeders and adoption agencies.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Scary car thief
A Coloardo couple recently got a surprise when their car alarm started going off at 2 a.m.
They could see someone moving around inside their car from their window, so they called sheriff’s deputies. When authorities arrived the thief was discovered — a young bear somehow found its way into the car.
After snapping a couple of photos, deputies opened the door and the bear took off, but not before he managed to cause significant damage to the car’s interior. Apparently this isn’t an uncommon problem. People who leave food in their cars when bears are about run the risk of bear-related damage.
Fortunately, damage is repairable. I can only imagine the heart attack I’d get if I walked out to my car at night to find a bear inside.
- Staff Writer Bryan Dean
I bet it was Boss Hog
Pet thefts are on the rise, and even celebrities have to worry about their puppies being snatched. Even celebrities who became famous becuase they were on a TV show in the early 1980s that focused on a couple of southern boys riding around in a modified orange Dodge Charger with a Confederate flag on the roof, jumping over creeks and trains (see photo) to foil the schemes of an evil Hazzard County Commissioner and his bumbling sheriff. 
OK, digressional confession time. I was born in 1979, the same year The Dukes of Hazzard began its legendary run on network television. When I was about 4, the show was at its peak of popularity. I had the General Lee Hot Wheels Car and a Big Wheel peddle bike modeled after the General Lee. It was my favorite show. When you are 4, a brightly-colored car jumping over a creek or flying over police cars or trains is about as awesome as it gets. In retrospect, the show was probably aimed at the 4-year-old demographic. And my adult self has some problems with the racial undertones that come with the Confederate theming of the car. But that show was magical to little boys everywhere who loved hot wheels and fantasized about jumping things in a fast car.
So apparently John Schneider, who played the blonde-quafed Bo Duke, recently had his family’s two puppies stolen. The puppies, Marley, a Yorkie terrier, and Paisley, a Yorkiepoo, were in Bo’s, I mean Schnieder’s Cadillac Escalade when it was recently stolen. The puppies never turned up. 
I feel very sad for Schneider’s kids, who have lost their beloved pets. This should be a lesson for everyone that your pets can be a target of thieves, and you need to try to protect them.
I’m also sad that Schneider doesn’t ride around in a replica of the General Lee. I mean, come on, it was the coolest car of the 1980s (sorry Kitt from Nightrider, but you come in second). If I played Bo Duke, I would show up everywhere in that car, honking the Dixie-playing horn wherever I went.
Here are some tips from the American Kennel Club on how to protect your pet from theft.
- Don’t let your dog off-leash or leave your pet unattended in your yard.
- Breeders should be aware of home bisits by potential puppy buyers and be on guard for potential thieves.
- Never leave your dog unattended in a car, even if it is locked.
- Don’t tie your dog outside a store.
- Microchip your dog so it can be recovered in case it is taken.
- Call police if you think your dog has been stolen.
- Have a recent photo ready so you can make fliers in case your dog goes missing.
And here are my prime suspects in the napping of Bo Duke’s dog:
- Boss Hog: It seems almost too easy. This must be part of some grand scheme to acquire the Duke family farm or send the Duke boys to jail by framing them for violating their probation.
- Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane: Maybe Flash, Roscoe’s basset hound, wanted some company.
- Uncle Jesse: Maybe Jesse got back to his moonshinin’ and needed some leverage to keep Bo from squealing.
- Cooter: His name is Cooter.
- Staff Writer Bryan Dean
Pet scammers have no shame
As if pet owners who’ve lost their animals haven’t gone through enough, email scammers are making things worse.
Con artists in New Mexico are scamming owners of missing pets by scanning Web sites likes Craig’s List for pleas for help. The cons then contact the pet owner, pretend to be a vet and say they had the missing animal but since sold it. The only way to get the pet back? Buy it back from the new owner.
The New Mexico attorney general is looking into the reports.
Have you had an experience like that here in Oklahoma? Contact Drew Edmondson.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Dealing with hateful neighbors
Andrea Lattimore of Oklahoma City posted this story on MyNewsOK about the horrible death of one of her dogs.
Apparently her pet boxer “escaped” from her back yard. The other two dogs – a pitt and German Shepard – were still in the yard. She looked all over, even checking the pound to see if the pup had been picked up. He wasn’t anywhere to be found. The staff at the pound told her animal welfare officers had to use a tranquilizer to catch the boxer, and the tranquilizer killed her dog.
She suspects a neighbor who’d been complaining about how much the boxer and Lattimore’s other two dogs barked.
I had a similar situation happen to me, but I lucked out and my dog survived. A neighbor of mine was complaining about my dogs barking, even though she has dogs that also bark.
One day my boyfriend’s mother was driving on the major road near my house and spotted my dog Deter running loose. She called to him and thankfully he got in the car with her. When she went back to my house, she found my postwoman outside my home. Apparently my dogs charged her and she had to pepper-spray Deter, who’s the larger one. He took off and she stayed. (She’s an animal person and was so upset she had to hurt Deter. Of course, this was a totally reasonable action on her part.) But how did they get out? The gate had been opened. The latch on my gate required both hands to open. No dogs could open this. I know it was my neighbor.
But what can you do? Nothing. It’s a tough situation. But if I could go back, I would have spent more time hashing out the problem with my neighbor and I would have put a bike chain on my gate.
- Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Gator madness
It seems like lately there’s been a bizarre wave of gator hijinks. First, police pulled over a Texas man with a 6-foot alligator in his back seat. Imagine driving down the highway and noticing this:
Then, five kids were arrested for trying to steal a gator. I’m not a reptile owner, but I’m guessing that taking an alligator anywhere it doesn’t want to go is a bad idea. Everyone’s mad – the police and the reptile.
Long story short, let sleeping gators lie.
- Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
