The perils of Hills Prescription i/d

Sula, my little pit bull, has been eating i/d exclusively for some time now, because she has always had digestive issues and the i/d is somehow the only thing that keeps her system working properly. I'm not sure why this is true, because the ingredients are pretty crappy. But it is high in fiber I guess, and that's the secret. The problem, of course, is that you need a prescription to obtain it. There is nothing medicinal in it--its just a lot of rice and a little meat. Our vet is out of town. Her bag of food is empty. And, after calling around, I've been lectured more than once about the breach of ethics in my even asking if someone can supply me with the food while my doctor is gone. What they want, of course, is for me to bring her in, pay the initial visit fee, and then they will allow me to buy a small ten pound bag to get me--and Sula--through.

UGH.

Now shipping from Amazon...

I still don't know how the book managed to go from the printer to the warehouse to retailers so quickly, but you can now buy Dogs I Have Met at Amazon, too.

Apparently on sale now

Once again, Mr. Brando Foster, originally uploaded by kfoz.

It is officially an October publication, and I haven't even seen a finished copy myself yet, but apparently my new book is on sale. Now. At least in North Florida.

I got a very nice email from the first reader yesterday (which happened to also be my birthday):

Ken,

Imagine my surprise when I found a copy of "Dogs I have Met" at an indie bookstore in north Florida! I thought it wasn't hitting the stores until Oct. Anyway, much to my husband's chagrin(native New Orleanian), I didn't put it down till I finished it a few minutes ago. Once again, you have a home run!! I doubt you'd remember me, but I'm the girl from South Georgia(Brunswick) who has two rescued greyhounds and emailed you a long while ago about a coworker attempting to get rid of a litter of pit bull puppies.

As I read your blog and keep up with your attempts to help New Orleans become a better place, I am hopeful that your new book will continue to encourage others to take part in the animal rescue cause.....be it pit bulls or any other breed for that matter. I also hope that LOTS of folks read/purchase this book as so many of your stories are universal to any kind of dog........I saw my greyhounds in place of your dogs on several occasions, especially the story on our dogs getting older, as we are.

I wish you much continued success!! Hopefully, on one of our future trips to New Orleans(still trying to get the Mid-City house repaired), we can attend one of your book signings. Thanks so much for the greyhound mention in "Dogs I have Met" as well!!

I look forward to seeing what your next project will be--

Denise Emmer
Brunswick, Georgia

So why does it seem like it is only pit bulls that attack?

Consider four separate incidents that happened in the span of a few days…

* August 17, 2007 A Labrador mix attacks a 70-year old man sending him to the hospital in critical condition. Police officers arrived at the scene and the dog is shot after charging the officers. This incident was reported in one article and only in the local paper.
* August 18, 2007 - A 16-month old child receives fatal head and neck injuries by a mixed breed dog. This attack was reported two times by the local paper only.
* August 20, 2007 - A 6-year-old boy is hospitalized after having his ear torn off and receiving severe bites to the head by a medium-sized mixed breed dog. This attack was reported in one article and only in the local paper.
* August 21, 2007 - A 59-year-old woman is attacked in her home by two Pit bulls and is hospitalized with severe injuries.
This attack was reported in over two hundred and thirty articles in national and international newspapers, as well as major television news networks, including CNN, MSNBC and FOX.

People routinely cite media coverage as “proof” that pit bulls are more dangerous than other dogs. Costly and ineffective public policy decisions are being made on the basis of such "proof". While this biased reporting is not only lethal to an entire population of dogs; sensationalized media coverage endangers the public by misleading them about the real factors in canine aggression.

All information was researched and is fully documented by Karen Delise, LVT

www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com

Pit bull mauling in Texas

There was a horrible, tragic mauling of a six year old in Texas on Friday. The child was killed by what has been described as a one year old pit bull that was his favorite pet. Several news reports have quoted people as saying that that the dog had never "snapped" before this one instance, in which the dog is reported to have jumped from the floor without warning to bite into the child's neck. There were no adults present when this happened.

Of course, anything is possible. I could probably snap and bite into someone's neck, although it is highly unlikely. So whenever I hear stories of dogs doing the same thing I try to dig a little deeper, like this reporter did in the Dallas Morning News:
"Neighbors said that Scott's family had moved in only about four months ago, but that their dogs had already become a nuisance. One neighbor, Rudy Lopez, said he saw a woman beating one of the dogs with a shovel a few weeks ago after it was involved in a fight with another dog."

Of course, I don't know what happened or if any of the comments reflect the truth about these dogs. But it goes without saying that letting your dogs run loose or requiring that neighbors beat them off with a shovel...doesn't reflect well on the owner's responsibility or supervision of these animals.

Today is my birthday...

The problem with early September birthdays is that there is always something else going on: school starts, new jobs start, moving to a new home, Labor Day, etc. And this year I'm involved in all of these things, so it wasn't until yesterday that my birthday fully dawned on me, and, of course, with Labor Day being upon us, it is too late to make any plans.

The tradition here is to have everyone pin a dollar to your chest with a safety pin. So far I have twelve bucks and it isn't even 10am.

Meanwhile, over at MySpace.com, a bunch of pit bulls have been posting birthday greetings for me all week.