The West Virginia Supreme Court has overturned a decision ordering the destruction of a pit bull that bit a child.The court says the Wayne County Circuit…
The West Virginia Supreme Court has overturned a decision ordering the destruction of a pit bull that bit a child.
The court says the Wayne County Circuit Court erroneously adopted a presumption that pit bull breeds are vicious, dangerous or a public health hazard.
Tuesday’s ruling says West Virginia’s law regarding vicious dogs doesn’t contain a breed-specific assumption.
The decision came in the case of a pit bull named Tinkerbell that bit an 8-year-old boy on March 31, 2014.
The Supreme Court says facts in the case don’t support the circuit court’s conclusion that Tinkerbell is vicious or dangerous.
A circuit judge acquitted Tinkerbell’s owners of charges that they knowingly owned or kept a dog they knew was vicious or dangerous. But the judge later ordered Tinkerbell’s destruction.
Paca is an English Black Labrador who works with elementary school students at the Mary C. Snow School on Charleston’s West Side.
One of Paca’s roles is to help children who are emotionally in need of some extra love.
“Our population of students are 84% free and reduced lunch, so we have the highest poverty rate in Kanawha County,” said Assistant Principal Jordan McBride.
McBride explains that Paca the dog is actually used in the school to help children who are going through some very stressful situations at home.
“Our students experience a lot of trauma. Paca kind of comes in with that, that she is used as our therapy dog for students that are in need.”
Paca was trained by prison inmates at a state prison in Ellsworth, Kansas.
After her training there, Paca came to West Virginia in 2011 to work at the Mary C. Snow school when it first opened.
The money to pay for Paca’s training came from donations raised by the school’s librarian, Debbie Cannada. Cannada traveled to Kansas to adopt Paca and to receive her own handler training.
“When we come through the door in the morning, her tail is wagging, her eyes are bright. She’s the most excited to be here of anybody on the staff,” said Cannada.
Paca usually senses whenever a child has been going through a difficult time and is in need of some special attention. “We have children who talk to her. We’ve got one little boy that will lift her ear up like a flap, and he’ll just whisper and talk to her. For him, she is a completely objective, non judgmental, listening ear. Where he can say anything he needs to say.”
Ms. Cannada says that little bit of Paca love often goes a long way to calm a student down.
“I saw her step between two children who were…..angry with each other. And she basically nosed in between them. You know, wiggled her body in between them. And the act of her wiggling her body between them made them giggle. Cause she looked funny trying to get between them, and it de-escalated the situation instantly. They both just started petting her and laughing about how she looked so silly trying to get between them.”
Paca spends most of her working day in the library, but she also travels around the school to other classrooms for story-time.
Cindy Shuman teaches third grade, and Paca is a regular reading companion for this classroom. Today the children are taking turns reading to Paca, who occasionally lays her head in their lap or puts her paw on their leg.
Paca also works one on one with students who are struggling with reading. Children are invited to come to the library to visit Paca to read to her, to talk to her, to pet her.
“And she always answers it with a kiss, a big wet sloppy kiss, and they think that’s just the best thing ever,” said Cannada.
In part two of this story, we’ll go inside one of the West Virginia prisons where service dogs like Paca are trained by inmates.
In part three of this story, we’ll meet a service dog that helps an 11-year-old boy with special needs.
Summertime is always the high season at animal shelters, and many homeless pets end up being put to sleep. The Kanawha Charleston Humane Association is trying to buck this trend. In the last 5 years the shelter has cut the number of animals it’s euthanized by almost 95%.
Two years ago, a group called Dog Bless began working to help foster dogs from the Kanawha Charleston Humane Association shelter. Some animals find permanent homes nearby. But each month about 50 others are transported to rescue groups in Philadelphia, Jersey City and New York City, where rescue groups have offered to help.
"If people don't adopt and foster, they will just continue to stack up here, and we would be forced to return to euthanizing for space."- Chelsea Staley, director Kanawha Charleston Humane Association Shelter
On Fridays, the trip up north begins here, at the edge of the parking lot of the shelter around 6:30 in the misty early morning. There are some tears today, as 22 dogs are loaded into the transport van, including Luke Skywalker, a black and tan shepherd who is saying goodbye to his foster mom, Debra Null.
This is Luke Skywalker
“I just want to help with the mission of keeping the dogs alive–the new mission of the shelter and not euthanizing them.”
That new mission began last September, when the Kanawha Charleston Humane Association changed its policies and started trying to save all adoptable animals. The KCHA could do that, in part, because of Dog Bless. Cathy McClung co-founded the volunteer-run organization.
“We started rescuing from the shelter when it was a high-kill shelter, and they allowed us to start pulling dogs for rescue. And now that the shelter has changed a lot of its practices, Dog Bless’s mission is still to reduce euthanasia at the shelter. And rescue is a part of that equation.”
In 2009 the KCHA euthanized 4,160 animals between January and June. This year the shelter has only euthanized 211. Dog Bless is part of the reason, but the shelter also made a difficult decision when it changed its policy. It reduced the number of animals it takes in–by half. All strays are automatically accepted, but owners wanting to surrender their pet are often put on a waiting list.
Credit Anthony Cassis
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Adam Batty, foster volunteer with Dog Bless
Credit Roxy Todd
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Credit Roxy Todd
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Pebbles is a one and a half-year-old beagle mix
The KCHA shelter isn’t exactly a nice place, but for about 278 animals it’s home. It’s loud with the cacophony of dogs barking, and even with the constant cleaning of the cages, it smells.
Even the director of the KCHA helps with the chores. Chelsea Staley is mopping the floor just before the shelter opens for the day.
“Our intentions are good. We want to save every animal that comes through our door. But we can’t do it. We can’t continue to hoard animals. So moving them out of here is absolutely key.”
Credit Roxy Todd
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Also, the KCHA now wants to be the last resort for people that need to surrender their pets–not the first option. Last month, the shelter adopted just over two-thirds of all the animals it did accept.
The shelter also still depends on Dog Bless to help get many dogs as possible to rescue groups across the country. Before they leave West Virginia, the dogs are placed into foster homes temporarily.
Chad and Angela are some of the most active of the foster families with Dog Bless. In addition to the three rescue dogs they already own, this month they are hosting 6 dogs from the shelter, including one mamma dog and her 1-week-old puppies.
Chad and Angela both work day jobs, but they spend their evenings, weekends and even their vacations with the dogs. They spend more money on dog food than on their own grocery bills.
Angela and Chad’s own dogs have served as role models to help socialize the fosters and get them ready for their new home.
“Yeah they help each other. And I think that’s what we’ve learned the most about having dogs is they help each other. And they help us. They fill a hole…that sometimes you don’t even know you have.”
Credit Anthony Cassis
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Foster volunteer Lindsay Smith
The Kanawha Charleston Humane Association hopes more people like Angela will be willing to open their hearts and their homes to these animals and increase their adoption rate. Shelter director Chelsea Staley says that increasing its local adoption rate is key to its success of shelter’s mission of reducing euthanasia.
“If people don’t adopt and foster, they will just continue to stack up here, and we would be forced to return to euthanizing for space. And we just certainly do not want to do that.”
For more information about Dog Bless, click here, or email them: dogblesswv@hotmail.com. To find out which dogs and cats are available for adoption in Charleston, click here, or call (304) 342-1576
Credit See spot rescued
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See Spot Rescued is a rescue group in Jersey City where many of the dogs are transported when they leave the Charleston shelter. Chibi found a home with the help of See Spot Rescued.
To see more photos from one of the rescue shelters in New Jersey that regularly finds homes for West Virginia dogs, visit See Spot Rescued’s facebook page.
