Dogs at risk are being rescued -- with your help
You already know that a portion of every online purchase at Dogstuff.com goes to support rescue. But we thought you’d like to know about a specific case of your rescue funds in action.
This weekend, K9 Northwest, a training and rescue facility in Tacoma, is on a marathon mission to rescue dogs from Camp Wolfgang, a rescue operation with 200 dogs (primarily German Shepherds, but other breeds as well) near Dallas, Texas.
Camp Wolfgang was forced to close by budget problems thanks to the struggling economy, and had to empty its facilities on short notice, leaving dozens of dogs at risk of euthanasia.
We’ve gotten word that the good folks at K9 Northwest reached Camp Wolfgang last night, and are on their way back to Tacoma with 27 dogs. We’re delighted to help sponsor this generous and compassionate effort with donations from the Special Rescue Fund at Dogstuff’s Rescue First program.
Thank you again for your support of rescue operations like this one.
A champion sniffer
Last October, I wrote about Sable, a German Shepherd mix in Michigan who can detect pollutants in water.
The New York Times reports that Sable is still at it, and his fame is spreading. Communities in New England want to fly him in to test their water.
It might cost $10,000 for Sable and his trainer, versus $100,000 for rounds of expensive and time-consuming tests. Sable is not only highly accurate, he’s much faster than standard tests.
Sable has been so successful that his trainer, Scott Reynolds, has started his own company, Environmental Canine Services LLC. He’s training two more dogs, and in addition to Sable’s detection services, he also offers to train other agencies’ dogs. He hopes that these specialized scent-sniffing services can be made affordable for small communities and nonprofit organizations.
In my original post, I speculated that Sable probably enjoys his job, smelling things that most humans find disgusting. Reynolds says yes, that’s right. “He loves it! Every day, when I get ready for work, he runs and jumps on the counter, looking at his harness and hoping that he gets to work that day.”
Jewel basks in the sun
We know that dogs’ olfactory abilities are amazing, so much better than humans’. Dogs’ keen sense of smell even has health care applications.
And we know that dogs sometimes demonstrate extraordinarily nurturing traits with people and other animals.
Jewel is a special dog. Her person, Oakland, CA resident Charlotte Cook, shares Jewel’s story.
Notecard from Dogstuff
Even highly trained police dogs are still creatures of instinct. When Chicago K-9 unit member Bear was outside last Wednesday attending to nature’s call, he was startled by another part of nature: a sudden clap of thunder. Bear jumped the fence and took off.
His handler, Rick King, spent four sleepless days and nights following up on reports of missing dogs. “It’s like your child. Animal lovers will know what I’m talking about,” he said.
Fortunately, on Sunday Bear was spotted outside a hardware store by a man who recognized him from news reports. A scan of Bear’s microchip confirmed his identity. Other than being “a little shaggy and a little dirty,” according to King, Bear is doing fine.
The newly sworn dogs and their human partners
Doug Nurse of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution asks the questions:
How exactly does one swear in a dog?
Does he raise his right paw? Does the city clerk tell him, “Bark after me”? Will there be a reception? What will be served? Pig ears and faux bacon treats?
And one more question: why, exactly, does one swear in a police dog? Nurse has the answer:
Johns Creek on Monday had two canine recruits, Nico and Dano, take the oath of office so they would be legally sworn police officers, empowered to make arrests and detain people. As sworn officers, evidence they find is admissible in court. Smacking a police dog is akin to taking a poke at a two-legged officer.
All right then. May Nico and Dano and their partners have long and successful careers.
