Update

Hey everyone,

Figured we should post an update about our lives, but I do apologize for the lack of pictures. Sure, I can always post pictures of the famous Winston, but I get enough grief from a certain fellow blogger in LA for my ridiculous obsession with my 4-legged best buddy.

John is going through what is likely the busiest semester, between overloading himself with classes and seminars, teaching, and research. He is an overachiever, but he plays that role so well. He has also found some time for Wake and UofA basketball, which is a good opportunity for him to relax. You guys know him, though...this doesn't really relax him.

Winston is doing really well at agility so far. He has mastered the tunnel, which is stretched out to about 15 feet. For whatever reason, this was scary for some dogs...not for Winston. Once he would reach one end, he was ready to run back the other way without any prodding from me. And, he liked to stop in the middle to sniff out any treats that were left as bait for some of the more timid dogs. To see the entire tunnel from the outside, wobbling and rocking around from him investigating, was pretty funny.

As for me, I'm keeping busy with my new lab and various things. I'm at the animal shelter most weekends, which I love, but this weekend was a really tough time to be there. After several months of investigation, a very large dog fighting ring was busted last week in Tucson. Two of the many news stories on it is here and here. Officials seized about 150 dogs (mostly pit bulls), loads of firearms, and God-awful equipment used in breeding fighting dogs (treadmills, rape stands for unwilling female dogs, etc). Most of these dogs ended up at our shelter.

To accommodate the 150 dogs at the shelter (side note: pit bulls are kenneled separately since they will kill each other if kept together), most of the regular dogs up for adoption were moved to the Humane Society shelter across town. So, my job of finding homes for the remaining adoptable dogs was a tough one on Saturday. It was a bit jarring for my little protected soul to see the pictures of everyone arrested in this bust scattered around "backstage," as warning should we see any of them lurking around. During the slow times, I poked around the closed-off and very secure part of the shelter to see all of these fighting dogs. Many came up to meet me right away, some were unsocial, and some were downright irritable. There were so many puppies, too. After hearing that some of these fighters were from such good "breeding stock" to cost thousands of dollars each, I wasn't too surprised to see that they were in good shape and healthy-looking. Still, I couldn't help but feel a lump in my throat walking around back there, thinking about what each of these dogs may have already gone through.

These dogs will all very likely be humanely euthanized...these dogs do well what their jerk-face owners bred them to do. It is controversial to put these dogs down, as many of Michael Vick's dogs are currently being rehabilitated. So, with the large number of dogs seized here in town, their "good" breeding line, the cost to rehabilitate these dogs, and the small funding our shelter gets, the reality is grim. Any thoughts?

I'm realizing what a "Debbie Downer" post this is, but I just can't seem to get these dogs out of my head. It amazes me to realize that Winston is the same species as these fighters. As my dad says of Winston's ability to protect us against another burglar, "He would serve them cocktails before he would ever stop them." While that doesn't serve my paranoia over home intruders well, it does make Happy Hour at our house very nice. He makes a good vodka tonic.