Resident dog vs. family dog
What is the difference between a “resident dog” and a “family dog?”
Abuse, neglect, cruelty:
Chance
July 2009: Saugatuck — Jason Allen Williams quietly described what he did to the black Labrador now known as Chance. “Well, I, uh, under pressure to get rid of the dog, and, well, off my medication, I gave the dog antifreeze,” the 23-year-old told Judge George Corsiglia Friday, July 10, in Allegan County Circuit Court.
Williams pleaded guilty to killing or torturing an animal, actions that enraged the community and led to the dog’s high-profile adoption from a lakeshore rescue group.
Williams will be sentenced 9 a.m. Sept. 4. The felony is punishable by 4 years in jail and/or $5,000 fine and/or 500 hours of community service, cost of veterinary care and other fines.
Susan Smith, president of Wishbone Pet Rescue Alliance, the Saugatuck group that took care of the dog and facilitated his adoption, was in court Friday to make sure Williams faced the judge. “I wanted to be sure there was a presence for Chance,” she said.
Smith hopes the judge takes into account for sentencing that Williams also hanged the dog from a tree and severely beat him in Dorr Township in November 2008.
The dog is recovering in a Grand Rapids-area home. “Chance is doing quite amazing,” said Chance’s owner, who adopted the dog in January. “He’s probably the coolest dog I’ve ever owned.”
Chance needs to be on a special diet because of kidney damage from the antifreeze, and he came to his adoptive family with trust issues, including a distrust of teenage boys and nervousness when people touched his paws. On the Wishbone Web site, the family described how Chance loves water and now has his own small pool.
Dec. 2008: Ypsilanti Township - The Humane Society of Huron Valley found the bodies of two dogs, and a third dog barely alive. The owner of the dogs had apparently moved out of the house. He claimed he didn’t know his dogs died or were dying. However, the body of one dog was badly decomposed, chained in a doghouse. Another of the dogs, a pit bull, appeared to have died recently. A third dog, also a pit bull, was badly emaciated, and had no food or water, or shelter to keep her warm. She was recovering at the shelter. Animal cruelty investigators commented that the owner seemed mostly concerned about what he would be charged with in connection with his tortured dogs. When told it was potentially just a misdemeanor, “he seemed relieved.”
Jul. 2008: Authorities say a 24-year-old Hamburg Township man killed his dog because he was “feeling crazy.” Police found the floor and walls of the man’s home covered in blood and a pit bull dog dead on the living room floor. The dog’s throat had been cut so deeply that his head was nearly severed.
May 2008: A Gladwin couple pled guilty to animal cruelty in connection with the starvation death of their male Boxer dog. The dog, who also suffered from anemia due to sever flea infestation, had been dropped off at the Gladwin County Animal Shelter on Feb. 21 weighing only 35 lbs - his normal weight should have been 60-70 lbs. His body had begun to consume its own tissue. The dog died a week later.
Feb. 2008: Pontiac – Police arrested a man they said had stabbed a puppy to death while it was playing in its own backyard. A witness saw the man jump the backyard fence and attack the young dog. The man used a stick to stab the dog in the side and within minutes the 10-month-old shepherd mix died.
Oct. 2007: Petoskey – Police say Anthony Goff confessed he stabbed a dog, Torro, at least ten times to get revenge against the dog’s owner for a drug deal gone bad. The dog suffered life-threatening injuries, but was showing signs of recovery.
Feb. 2007: Jackson - A pit bull was left out in frigid temperatures. The animal died from exposure and was found “frozen solid.” Jackson Police were investigating whether the owner was criminally negligent.
May 2006: Detroit – Sheba, a mother dog that was caring for her three new puppies in an abandoned house on Detroit’s west side, was found attacked and beaten with a golf club. Rescue crews and members of Helping Every Animal Downriver Society rushed Sheba into surgery. Sheba was expected to recover.
People who fight dogs:
Dog fighting, possession of dogs for fighting, and being a spectator at a dogfight are all felonies in Michigan.
National Canine Research Council