# K9 Officer Accused of Killing His Own Dog



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Anyone know anything more about this story one way or the other (other than the dog looks like a Malinois and not a GSD)?

http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_150213450.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/123669.html

Sad...


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

The article in your first link says Malinois.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I wonder if it's Commotio cordis that caused the death. It wouldn't necessarily have to have been a very hard blow to cause this.:
http://www.emaxhealth.com/2/10812.html


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

It is indeed sad. While I'm not usually quick to judge and he will have his day in court, if it happened the way it's reported I hope he gets what's coming to him.

DFrost


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> Anyone know anything more about this story one way or the other (other than the dog looks like a Malinois and not a GSD)?
> 
> http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_150213450.html
> 
> ...




http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/123973.html

And this one a few articles down the page: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/crazy_for_critters/

QUOTE: May 30, 2007
K9 Cop Busted; Charged With Killing His Partner
Nearly a year ago, a high-ranking Miami-Dade K9 officer's dog died during a training exercise. Although the incident report said that Sgt. Allen Cockfield tried to save his dog, anonymous e-mails began circulating almost immediately telling another story: that Cockfield had kicked his 4-year-old German shepherd, Duke, to death in a fit of rage.

He was finally charged today with animal cruelty and killing a police dog. Through his lawyer, he denied the charges. Click here for the story. http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/123669.html

I did a lot of reporting on this case last year, much of which didn't make it into the story as you'll see it on the website or in tomorrow's Herald because of limited space, so I'll share some of it here:

"Miami-Dade Police Department's first two K9s joined the department in 1972 and were assigned to detect explosives at Miami International Airport. 
There are now 14: eight Belgian Malinois, four German shepherds, a bloodhound, a Dutch shepherd, and a Belgian Tervuren used for drug, explosives, and human-remains detection, suspect searches, and trailing.

Duke was one of three dogs that the department requisitioned in late 2005. He cost $8,500 and was delivered on Feb. 25, 2006, by Tony Guzman of Metro-Dade Canine Services in the Redland, a long-time dog vendor to the county and other South Florida departments.

Duke was trained for ''felony apprehension and would have eventually cross-trained for explosives,'' according to police spokesman Roy Rutland. He was the fourth dog assigned to Cockfield in 21 years.

The day he died, Duke was training at Range 3, a grassy area at the training bureau. The activies were ''obedience control work,'' according to Rutland. ''No decoy or biting with suits or sleeves'' were being used.

Tissue samples from the dead dog were sent to a Antech Diagnostics, a laboratory on Long Island.

Following Duke's death, an anonymous e-mail was sent to various county agencies, animal-welfare organizations and media outlets, alleging that Cockfield had killed his dog and describing in detail what the writer said happened that day.

''Duke was on a leash at his partner's side. He barked at a time when his partner, Sgt. Cockfield, did not want him to. He was then strung up by his neck and kicked repeatedly. Duke let out a prolonged yelping cry, shook and went 
limp. When put down on the ground he died IMMEDIATELY.''

Russ Hess is executive director of the USPCA: United States Police Dog Association. The retired chief of the Jackson Township (Ohio) Police Department spent 15 years as a K9 handler.

''The only reason to kick a dog is self-preservation, if a dog is attacking the handler,'' said Hess. ''If it's out of control trying to hurt the handler, it's the same as if [the handler] is fighting a person. But as a training method, I don't see that.''
END partial QUOTE from
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/crazy_for_critters/


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

You just don't want to believe something like that can happen with a senior handler. 

DFrost


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

susan tuck said:


> The article in your first link says Malinois.


Some of the earlier articles I had read said German shepherd...though in the video from the first article I posted, I head the classic "Belgian Malinoys." :roll:


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## Lacey Vessell (Nov 18, 2006)

Sad if it is true. No doubt they will be looking at his history with the other three dogs that he handled to see if it was a trend. Twenty-one years as a handler.....when burn out or stress leads anyone to take it out on those around them (two-legged or four-legged)....then it is definitely time to retire rather then tarnish the badge :-x


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## Justin Eimer (Oct 17, 2006)

I agree with you Lacey. Unfortunately, there are handlers in the both the law enforcement and civillian sector (we both know one) that mistreat their dogs during training, i.e. too much force and compulsion. It sometimes borders on abuse. There is a huge difference between compulsive correction and abuse. Kinda like disciplining your kids as opposed to beating them. There is a fine line. Sometimes, you just have to walk away, count to ten, and take a couple deep breaths and clear your head before you do something that you will regret. Stress on the job may be a reason, but it is no excuse. I hope this guy didn't do what has been alleged, but if he did... I agree with David Frost. ~Justin


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## Jerry Lyda (Apr 4, 2006)

Here Here, Justin and David.


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## Lacey Vessell (Nov 18, 2006)

I don't condone abuse of any kind but I have not heard this officer's side of the story so I held judgement. Curious as to: 

"e-mails began circulating" - some departments (not unlike the civilian sector) have some cut-throat officers in them.....they will do and say anything to get someone elses job. If I saw abuse of any kind on the job or off the job...I confronted the person face to face and I'd be damned if I would have stood by and watched what is *alleged* to have happened only to start circulating e-mails after the fact. *If* what is alleged is true...then I doubt very much if this was the first time his partner were subjected to this type of abuse - or the first time that someone witnessed the abuse in a K-9 Unit as large as this one or a department as large as this one. If this officer is found quilty then there should be a few more officers that should be held accountable for failure to report.


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## Tim Martens (Mar 27, 2006)

Lacey Vessell said:


> I don't condone abuse of any kind but I have not heard this officer's side of the story so I held judgement. Curious as to:
> 
> "e-mails began circulating" - some departments (not unlike the civilian sector) have some cut-throat officers in them.....they will do and say anything to get someone elses job. If I saw abuse of any kind on the job or off the job...I confronted the person face to face and I'd be damned if I would have stood by and watched what is *alleged* to have happened only to start circulating e-mails after the fact. *If* what is alleged is true...then I doubt very much if this was the first time his partner were subjected to this type of abuse - or the first time that someone witnessed the abuse in a K-9 Unit as large as this one or a department as large as this one. If this officer is found quilty then there should be a few more officers that should be held accountable for failure to report.


+1. i heard about this a few days before it was posted here. congrats for not joining the "rush to judgment" lacey. while it certainly looks bad from the outside, like you said, we haven't heard the officer's side.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Tim and Lacey, that's why I asked if anyone knew anything else about this as everyone deserves to have their side heard. However, it is sad and very unjust if everyone covers up for him if he did indeed hang and kick the dog, causing its death. The dog did die, right? That's somewhat unlikely that it would just drop of its own accord, congenital heart problem aside.


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## Tim Martens (Mar 27, 2006)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> Tim and Lacey, that's why I asked if anyone knew anything else about this as everyone deserves to have their side heard. However, it is sad and very unjust if everyone covers up for him if he did indeed hang and kick the dog, causing its death. The dog did die, right? That's somewhat unlikely that it would just drop of its own accord, congenital heart problem aside.


nobody's talking about covering anything up. the other side of the coin is this: this wasn't his first dog. what if he was doing something he had done many, many times with his other dog, under the supervision of the department trainer and this dog because of it's health problems, couldn't take it. lord knows i've hung my dog. 100% of the time it was for handler aggression. if for some reason, a health problem with the dog contributed to the death for an action he had performed on previous dogs, do his actions constitute criminal negligence? i don't know. it's a tough call and certainly not as cut and dried as some PETA members would have you think...


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## Amber Scott Dyer (Oct 30, 2006)

that would be the question for me. What was the dog doing to make him hang it up? If the dog was coming up the leash, then something drastic should have been done. If he was correcting that harshly for a routine obedience error, that's a different story. None of the articles have been very clear as to what prompted the incident, but it would seem that a man who had successfully handled four dogs over a 21 year career would be better than that.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

IF it truely happened as the article stated then hang HIM from the nearest tree. 
Still, the one thing I try and keep to the forefront is that reports in the news/web/etc have a way of "evolving" to sell the news. Not necessarily factual. Let's wait and see!


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## Lacey Vessell (Nov 18, 2006)

I agree Maren and understand completely that you were just inquiring as to whether anyone had more information on this incident. I just happened to voice my opinion, not necessarily directed at you, that no one is above the law but even cops are innocent until proven otherwise....the "story" is out so there is no cover-up. I doubt very much, unless someone knows this officer personally and or professionally that we will hear his side of the story until his day in court. Either way (innocent or guilty)....life as he once knew it will no longer exist. 

Hopefully the outcome will be posted...no doubt the media will be present in the courtroom.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I've never hung my dogs in "training" (unless you count outing on a non-slip collar), but I have had to for occasional behavior clients (and one of my own dogs once after biting me), but that's for very serious infractions like the client's dog tries to all out attack me or my dog. But *if* what was said on the previous page *was true* that the dog just barked at a time when the officer didn't want him to and then got subsequently hung and kicked, that's just way overboard. I'm not a particularly soft trainer nor a particular good one :lol: but the old von Stephanitz quote rings true about the handler asking themselves how am I at fault when the dog does something "wrong" or doesn't understand. Granted, it may be embarrassing for the officer if he's a seasoned handler and his dog makes a mistake, so I can understand having a little bit of a volatile temper as I can have one too, but yikes. JMHO.  But yes, Lacey, I'm interested to see how this plays out.


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## Art Lavely (Apr 14, 2007)

All I can say is I hope he NEVER becomes a K9 Handler at any other Police Department in the Country. Obviously (and Thankfully) he is done in Miami/Dade as he should be.

If 6 of the 10 officers saw the incident and said something, I think it must have been so blatant that they could not have held it back to bring down one of their own. The other 4 were probably digging into come Dunkin' Donuts and couldn't comment being in front of a glazed..........

If he is found guilty then they should string his A** up and let a Patrol dog have at him for a 'lil while. -That will probably cure his "handling" issues as I think that this guy is a piece of garbage if he is guilty.


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

Tell us how you REALLY feel, Art


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## Art Lavely (Apr 14, 2007)

LOL! Hey Kristina, long time no see since Lake City. I didn't get a chance to tell you before you left how much I liked Gator by the way, very nice dog. Even nicer looking dog, could not keep my eyes off of him. Ok, where was I...........

If I remember correctly, you are a LEO/K9 handler? What is your take on this situation if I am correct about your occupation.........I think you might be able to provide a good insight to this if you are willing to comment.

We have all (at least me) done things to our dogs that we are not proud of when they got out of hand or would not listen, it is true. I have lost my temper and handled my dog in a way that made me feel bad shortly after and felt like a jerk. Or used too much compulsion, whatever. I just feel what this Officer did is pretty sad as I believe that first and foremost you have to be FAIR to your dog above anything else. For me, this is the golden rule of dog training. 

I have a lot of respect for K9 handlers putting it on the line every day to protect and serve in dangerous situations, it is a very hard job. I have two friends of mine that are K9 handlers for Ocala PD and I dont think they would ever dream of doing this to their dogs.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

<<<I just feel what this Officer did is pretty sad as I believe that first and foremost you have to be FAIR to your dog above anything else. For me, this is the golden rule of dog training.>>>

Let me play PBA Rep for a minute. Did I not see it my contract, or is it just a local thing with Florida, that an officer accused is automatically guilty? If he did what he was accused of doing then he deserves everything he gets. Until then, I believe he deserves the same protection under the law as everyone else arrested and charged with a crime. 

DFrost


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Currently in our society, it does seem that you are guilty until proven innocent, unless you have money, then different rules seem to apply.


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## Lacey Vessell (Nov 18, 2006)

Art Lavely said:


> If I remember correctly, you are a LEO/K9 handler? What is your take on this situation if I am correct about your occupation.........I think you might be able to provide a good insight to this if you are willing to comment.


Hmmmmm I think I counted at least 3 LEO/K9 handlers (former and present) that provided insight.....and I think they responded as David did......

Thanks David:smile: ........


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## Art Lavely (Apr 14, 2007)

I agree with all of you that I may have been quick to judge a man that may be innocent of what he is accused of. He does deserve due process of the law as he is entitled to that being an officer or not.

It is the fact that the dog died as a result of his actions wether he was justified or not that has me bothered.

-If I offended and Law enforcement handlers past or present, it was certainly not my intention. 

I don't think there is really much more to say until he is brought to trial and the verdict is given.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I hope they ARE considering Commotio Cortis. I don't think the kick would have to necessarily be that hard, just timed so it interupted the heart beat. Maren, being as you are studying veterinary medicine have you ever heard of a dog dying from this?


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

Someone else may have already brought this up...Was an necropsy performed on the dog shortly after?

That alone, IMO, would make or break the evidence. 

Here's my rant, sorry for the length:
There are three sides to every story. Typically: his side, her side and the truth (adapt only the first two perspectives as needed). 
As Art said, we've all lost our tempers with our dogs at some point and several of us have had dogs what required a whole fresh set of "motivational training" techniques. Anyone who has had to "hang" a tough dog even with no physical damage to the dog could be on the recieving end of a stiff animal cruelty charge and we all know that. As such, I am typically skeptical of "animal abuse" charges against trainers. The chick in Chicago that was arrested not long ago for "torturing a bichon frise in a public dog park with an e-collar by continuously shocking the dog because he would not go play with the other dogs" deserves to get the $hit shocked out of her (for several reasons), but shes one of few I'll say that about based on a newspaper article. If you search YouTube for a "Baltimore K-9 officer crossing the line", you'll see comments shredding this guy and wanting to light him on fire for trying to alpha-roll a determined mal at his head trainers orders. 

People can't swat their lab on the butt for barking at another dog...do you really think they can handle some of the tough training sessions we've seen and be held as witness to the benefits?

On the flip side, we all know and several have posted there is no reason to continually kick a dog unless it is sustaining an attack on you, an unprotected person or another animal. It certainly isnt justified for breaking a sit under minor distraction, as the research stated. Whether the kick(s) would have killed a healthy dog or not can't be known unless they did an necropsy but would definitely be the deciding factor. I think it's just a sad situation. My first impulse is that the guy needs to be retired and kept out of police K-9 work but not necessarily charged criminally for killing a fellow police officer. Just my $.02

-Kristina


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Here's the video I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H_iGRgGr0E

In that video on YouTube, what exactly was going on? Obviously it was edited, but why would he even need to alpha roll the dog like half a dozen times? What little I could read of the dog's body language, it was already in submission, just trying to escape. I'd say he's pretty lucky he didn't get his face taken off. I always equated alpha rolls with rank issues, not with training exercises when you are trying to teach the dog something. I don't believe "disobedience" to the handler is always the dog pulling rank on the handler if the dog is either not properly motivated or not properly taught and doesn't understand the exercise. Just seems like poor handling to me. Then again, I'm a better behaviorist than a trainer, so what do I know...

And Kristina, I believe I read in one of the articles that the dog was found to have a smaller than normal heart when they did the necropsy.


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

Your assessment was exactly what mine was :"why the hell is he trying to dominate the dog?"
It's unnecessary and foremost, not working so you'd think they'd try somthing else. 

I think I miscommunicated my point, though (ha! Like that's a first, lol!). I agree that video is an example of poor training but the handler is just doing what his superior is telling him and although the dog is verbalizing and confused, he's not beating or injuring him. It's the response in some of the comments that floors me. People are ready to tear the dude limb from limb and feed him to wolves. 

This video might have just been a bad example on my part. 
I could not find a link to the (better) example I had in mind.


-Kristina


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I don't know...I think a lot of the comments are somewhat ignorant as most folks are ignorant of good dog training, let alone police dog training, but I don't think they're necessarily off. Others seemed to maybe misunderstand why he was wrestling the dog to the ground (of course from the video, I don't get it either), but seemed like they thought it was part of the exercise? I don't know. I didn't count, but slamming him down on the ground multiple times for an unknown offense isn't really any better than kicking or beating IMHO. From what I saw on the video (which is, granted, edited and not of good quality, of course), the dog didn't exhibit any handler aggression until like 1:30 of the video where I think I saw him get his hand. He maybe mouths the handler's arm at the very beginning? The dog's vocalizations progress from confusion and panic/flight to "I'm starting to get pissed off" around 1:40. For as prickly as Mals can be, it's one thing to slam a 60 lbs dog on the ground and another to do the same to one that weighs twice as much, say a 120 lbs Rottweiler. Good training or bad training aside, it's a good way to get badly bitten if the dog doesn't want to "submit."


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> Currently in our society, it does seem that you are guilty until proven innocent, unless you have money, then different rules seem to apply.


*cough cough* Paris Hilton *cough cough* Put on house arrest for "medical reasons." Give me a freakin break. :roll:


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

And now, back to the regularly scheduled program of; K9 Officer Accused of killing his own dog.

Thank you

DFrost


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Does he have a lot of money???? LOL


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## Kim Gossmeyer (Feb 24, 2007)

I agree Maren... What medical condition... She seems to go to clubs just fine and any where else!


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

I cannot believe that we put up with that shit. They have so much stupidity going on we cannot keep up with it all. If we tried to write our reps, we would do little else all day.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> If we tried to write our reps, we would do little else all day.


Not me. I have being a pest totally streamlined. :lol:

I have the email addresses and mailing addresses of all my reps, from city to county to state to fed, set up in my email program. And I subscribe to carefully chosen watchdog groups that email me and tell me when bitching is needed. :lol:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

I do, however, pick my battles, so they don't just say "Oh, jeez, not her again....."


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Like they read them. At what point of the day when you see the stuff they are argueing over, can you say, hey! that was one of my concerns!(?)

How about the rep from Alabama that punched the guy in the head??? Not saying the guy didn't deserve it, but the guy didn't even go down. WTF???


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## Amber Scott Dyer (Oct 30, 2006)

BTW, that Baltimore vid has been all OVER the PETA website. They've even sent it out in emails. That's the scariest part - people will see that guy trying to roll his dog (which probably wasn't necessary, but wasn't physically hurting the dog - just confusing the hell out of it) and call their senators the next day. There are already numbnuts out there (like my little sister, who refuses to ever come to another trial because they were "beating the dogs with sticks" at our last ASR trial) that think all protection work is cruel and inhumane - this kind of stuff is fueling the fire. For every 10,000 responsible handlers out there, those one or two bad ones are gonna be the ones on the news.


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

Oh, I know.
It's just another bandwagon to jump onto. It's scary.

It was a huge relief when I left Virginia to not have PETA breathing so heavily down everything you do there. Their headquarters is in Norfolk, VA and they test virually all of their legislative action in VA first and in order to do so, they watch for any dirt on anyone or anything to fuel their fires with. You would'nt believe how much it effects you without even thinking about it. 
When I lived in Richmond, my next door neighbor was a PETA spokesperson. The first time I cought her in my backyard taking a pinch collar off of one of my dogs the $hit hit the fan. 

-Kristina


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

OMG Kristina, Are you kidding? She was in YOUR back yard? What did you do?


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

<<<<Like they read them.>>>>

They don't read them, but they do count them. You can bet they have a tally of the yea's and nay's. 

DFrost


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## Amber Scott Dyer (Oct 30, 2006)

Geez... 

i can't believe that one of your dogs would LET her take the pinch collar off... LOL

My sister is a member of PETA and HSUS, which is nearly as bad, and when I tried to get her to OB train her headcase chow mix, told me that "dogs are like children; we don't yank on them with a leash." (to which I responded that I've seen a lot of kids that I wish someone WOULD yank on a leash a little.  )


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Amber Scott said:


> Geez...
> 
> i can't believe that one of your dogs would LET her take the pinch collar off... LOL
> 
> My sister is a member of PETA and HSUS, which is nearly as bad, and when I tried to get her to OB train her headcase chow mix, told me that "dogs are like children; we don't yank on them with a leash." (to which I responded that I've seen a lot of kids that I wish someone WOULD yank on a leash a little.  )


The HSUS does not resort to terrorist tactics, as far as I know. They have a few official policies (or missions) that I don't personally agree with, but I think that all in all, it's better that the HSUS exists than not.... and ditto the SPCA.

PETA, however, as an entity, has lost it. JMO.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Losing it would require that they had it at one time. I doubt that is true.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> Losing it would require that they had it at one time. I doubt that is true.


For someone who has done animal laboratory research for nearly the last 5 years, I certainly don't mind if there are watch dog groups out there who look for signs of abuse in lab research and that sort of thing as it does happen on occasion. When you work with lab animals for a while and you have to kill them, you do get desensitized to it. When I watched 300 with a friend of mine from my research lab, I was all thinking "there's way more blood when a head gets cut off!" :roll: 

However, like anything, saying that we should just stop ALL lab animal research that helps out humans, domestic animals, and wildlife is just ludicrous. Like my graduate faculty adviser said, most people who are into animal research do so because they love animals and love biology. I sure do. But setting lab animals "free" and blowing up labs and their data is completely counter productive as 1) little white lab mice are going to be scooped up like popcorn in the wild 2) they cannot be told apart, so they would have to be euthanized once caught, so their life served no purpose and 3) all the data lost (this one ESPECIALLY burns me) means the experiments would have to be done ALL OVER AGAIN WITH NEW ANIMALS. Ugh. Idiots...I'm all about animal welfare as a future vet, but not so much with animal rights. In fact, that was one of our essay questions on the application to Missouri's vet school. I think I nailed that one. :grin:

Here's some pretty good ones:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30800

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39180

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28724


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Ok the last two articles were funny, but the first one was not. [-X


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

LOL, the first one is actually posted on the back door of our lab office. When you've killed thousands of mice for the betterment of humanity, one must have a sense of humor about those sorts of things.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i LOVE the onion!!!!


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

I thought they were all hilarious 
Thanks for the laugh!


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