All Things Dog - September 22, 2008

The Tampa Tribune Featured the following articles last week:

This man really defies believing. Herminio Soto of Plant City told Animal Services investigators when they came to his home, that he can starve his old dogs if he wants to. By old dogs, he means 8 and 10 year old bull terriers that had the misfortune of landing in this household. He allows them to forage rotten oranges off the ground in the yard occasionally, but otherwise believes that starving to death is a better solution than euthanasia. At their age, he feels those are their two alternatives. Hmmm, I'm thinking Soto, who is 58, is way past his prime and should be foraging off the ground himself. What this man really needs is a psychiatric evaluation. Thank goodness the dogs are now at Hillsborough County Animal Services along with three other bull terriers, two puppies and a one year old. Mr. Soto is in jail on animal cruelty charges. Read more here.

And in yet another glaring example of inhumanity, Michael McKinney of Tampa has been charged with animal cruelty for the second time in two years. In 2006, he pleaded guilty of animal cruelty and was sentenced to time served. In that case, one dog was found dead, hanging from a fence and another suffered severe head, face and neck wounds. This time, a male adult pit bull mix was found with head, neck and face wounds, consistent with dog fighting. One adult female pit mix was found with six pups, one of them dead. She delivered five more puppies at the HCAS shelter. Another female had a prolapsed uterus. Animals were chained to axles driven into the ground, with no shelter, and some had no water. McKinney's comment to investigators when they served him with charges was "I'll walk." Let's hope justice is served and he walks right into a nice long prison term. Come on, Florida prosecutors, remember the Vick's case. Don't condone dogfighting in the state of Florida! The full story is here in the Trib.

And on a positive note, there was a small blurb hyping the Lutz Dogpark, with a Border Collie and some labs hamming it up in a photo.