Dogs Deserve Better: Turning Bad Newz Good

Are you familiar with the organization Dogs Deserve Better? I was introduced to them by Sammy's foster mom. They work to eliminate chaining of dogs, through legislation and rescue/rehab efforts. They are trying to raise the money to purchase Michael Vick's old home that was the home of his infamous Bad Newz Kennels and turn it into a rehab center for former chained/penned dogs with the hopes of socializing them and adopting them out. The property is about an hour away from me.

I know that there's very little love for Michael Vick here, and I love that the site of such awful stuff could be turned into something positive!

Here's a link: http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/ddbcenter.html

What a wonderful thing if they pulled it off!

I like to dream. And in that dream I see Michael Vick donating the house to this organisation. Pity is I'll wake up and know reality is.....that's NEVER gonna happen.

Sadly Vick sold the place to an investor shortly after his arrest. But he should donate the $ needed to buy the place back!

I had dogs that were outdoors and "on chain" but were very social. We didn't have a fence so it was safer to have them on a cable. the "chain" was a small dog chain and the only reason they had those was because they could chew through the rope.

Sled dogs are normally on chain for the same reason when they aren't in harness. But all are socialized (in most kennels, I grant some mushers are unethical, but they rarely get a lot of support and their dogs end up going to someone better once the bad musher is found out).

I think the board terms are what turn me off to these big organizations that lump it altogether. I prefer the "homegrown" local rescues that aren't so cold.

Tonichelle wrote:I had dogs that were outdoors and "on chain" but were very social. We didn't have a fence so it was safer to have them on a cable. the "chain" was a small dog chain and the only reason they had those was because they could chew through the rope.

Sled dogs are normally on chain for the same reason when they aren't in harness. But all are socialized (in most kennels, I grant some mushers are unethical, but they rarely get a lot of support and their dogs end up going to someone better once the bad musher is found out).

I think the board terms are what turn me off to these big organizations that lump it altogether. I prefer the "homegrown" local rescues that aren't so cold.

That's certainly not been my experience. I'm glad it's been yours. We see dogs in rescue and in the shelter system who have been chained up and the cost to their temperament and their health is huge. Admittedly, we tend to see dogs who have been cruelly chained up with no exercise or outlet. Or we see dogs that have been tethered outside the front door of the house and are in the shelter due to aggression.

One of the quickest ways I know to make a dog territorial and develop barrier aggression is to tie them out. I evaluate dogs in the shelter with this issue all the time and the outcomes for them are not good.

I can't speak to the musher experience as it isn't something I have much experience with. But the chaining up I see here and that I suspect 99% of people in rescue and shelter systems see isn't positive at all and the dogs who live it suffer the consequences.

I'm glad that your experiences haven't been negative, but I will continue to advocate for not chaining up dogs as I don't see the positives of it, but only negatives.

My neighbour had a large breed puppy that was chained to the dog pen fence this past summer. One Sunday afternnon we heard strange noises so looked over the fence to see the poor puppy hangin from the chain where he had twisted it around and around til his feet were off the ground . He was choking before our very eyes. Jon ran round with chain cutters while I took pictures and called animal control .It was and still is very distressing to think of any dog on a chain.

Our city actually passed an anti-chaining law a few years ago -- it's now illegal to tie a dog up outdoors.

I have to agree with Blanche. From what I've personally seen at our shelter over the years, chaining/tying can have a dramatic (and negative) effect on a dog's behavior and temperament.