UPDATE: Miami-Dade officer accused of killing K-9 gets misdemeanor charge

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/30/1752997/miami-dade-officer-accused-of.html#ixzz0vALLDlyT

By David Ovalle For The Miamiherald.com

A judge on Thursday tossed out a felony charge against a former Miami-Dade police sergeant on trial for allegedly killing his police dog, but allowed a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge to go forward.

Allen Cockfield is accused of viciously kicking his K-9 partner, Duke, during a training session in June 2006, killing the Belgian Malinois.

He was charged with a felony count of killing a police dog, and a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.

Prosecutors rested their case Thursday, after presenting two days of testimony from eyewitnesses and medical experts who said that Duke died from a disruption to the heart caused by the kick.

But Cockfield’s defense lawyer, Douglas Hartman, argued Thursday afternoon for an acquittal on the felony charge because the state did not prove that the longtime canine handler intended to kill the dog.

He said the charge required proof of intent.

“This was a training accident,” said Hartman, who contends that Cockfield was trying to protect himself from Duke’s attacks.

Miami-Dade prosecutor Isis Perez, after researching the issue, agreed, and Circuit Judge Antonio Arzola threw out the charge.

But Arzola declined to issue an acquittal on the misdemeanor charge, meaning jurors will decide Cockfield’s fate.

Cockfield is charged with a first-degree misdemeanor.

The charge is punishable by up to one year in jail.

The trial will likely finish late Thursday or Friday.

Trial Over Miami-Dade Police Dog’s Death Begins

By David Ovalle For The Miamiherald.com

Duke was a young, rambunctious Miami-Dade police K-9 felled by a series of vicious kicks from his frustrated human partner during an ill-fated training session, according to prosecutors.

“Duke was unjustly killed,” Miami-Dade prosecutor Isis Perez told jurors Tuesday. “And that kick is what caused his death.”

But the defense painted Duke, a Belgian Malinois, as a troubled and aggressive 70-pound canine who attacked police Sgt. Allen Cockfield, an experienced handler who felt threatened.

“He was simply trying to save himself,” defense attorney Douglas Hartman said.
The lawyers offered their versions of events in the opening of Cockfield’s trial for the June 2006 death of Duke, a 2 ½-year-old rookie police dog.

Charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and a felony count of killing a police dog, Cockfield could face jail or prison time, plus the loss of his state police certification, if he is convicted.

To read the rest click here.

This a letter from Wayne Pacelle, Chief Executive Officer of the Humane Society of the United States.

– Kenn Bell

By Humane Society of the United States

Animal crush videos are back and, next week, The HSUS will release details about their resurgence on the Web. By all appearances, this lurid and sickening commercial activity re-emerged from the shadows after two federal courts, most recently the U.S. Supreme Court in April, struck down as unconstitutional the 1999 federal law criminalizing the sale of these videos.

Today, the U.S. House voted 416-3 in favor of a new, more narrowly tailored law to crack down on the commercial trade in these videos. The bill, H.R. 5566 and known as the Prevention of Interstate Commerce in Animal Crush Videos Act, was introduced by Reps. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.). Gallegly was the author of the original 1999 law and has been an especially tenacious foe of animal cruelty and the crush video industry. The House Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing on the topic, taking testimony from scholars on the First Amendment who argued that a more carefully crafted measure could survive a legal challenge and suggested what the contours of such legislation should be. Gallegly and Peters introduced a bill that took the witnesses’ recommendations into account, and it quickly gained 263 cosponsors, including Democratic and Republican leaders. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and the full committee’s Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-Texas) worked with all parties to produce a strong bill, which responds to the concerns expressed by the court.

The House action today is a reminder of the near universal view among the American people that individuals who commit malicious and obscene acts of cruelty for commercial gain should not have license to peddle and profit from videos showing these acts. By banning the sale of the videos, the federal government can deter these people from making the videos in the first place. Because it is so hard to catch people in the act of making them, the only practical way to crack down on the activity is to stop the sale of these obscene videos.

To read the rest click here.

By L. Finch, Globe Correspondent

Call it a right to free speech — for dogs and cats.

Beginning Wednesday, dogs and cats across Massachusetts will be protected by a new law banning surgical devocalization, the cutting of the animals’ vocal cords, animal welfare activists said.

Governor Deval Patrick signed the bill into law April 22.

“This is so remarkable, the passage of this legislation,” said Beth Birnbaum, a member of the Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets, the organization that originally filed the bill. “Beacon Hill should be congratulated.”

The law bans devocalization of dogs and cats except in cases of medical necessity. Before, breeders and pet owners weary of annoying barks and mews could have their animals’ vocal cords cut by a veterinarian.

But after Wednesday, devocalization could carry up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.

Nearly 60 state representatives and senators co-sponsored the bill. The Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association and the Massachusetts Federation of Dog Clubs and Responsible Dog Owners opposed the legislation.

So-called debarking procedures can be dangerous for pets, Birnbaum said. Scar tissue in the throat can make it difficult to breathe, leading to a lifetime of wheezing, coughing and choking for some animals, she said. In fact, the law, known as “Logan’s Law,” gets its name from one such pet, the adopted dog of one of the organization’s members, she said.

The law is a victory for animals like Logan, Birnbaum said.

“It’s going to protect animals from a very cruel and unnecessary, painful, and risky procedure,” she said.

By Stacey Doyle for Examiner.com

A New York couple recently filed at $1 million lawsuit against Doggie Love, a pet sitting agency in Queens, after finding their dog dead on their apartment floor.

Laura Garner and Robert Hardon of West End Avenue left their dog under the care of Doggie Love for one July night in 2009. CBS News reports the couple adored their 5-year-old French bulldog.

The lawsuit indicates an employee of Doggie Love drove Percy home to the couple’s NYC apartment in an overheated van. The doorman and a neighbor offered the dog water or medical attention but the employee declined and left the dog in the couple’s apartment.

Just a few hours later, the couple found Percy dead in front of an air conditioner in the apartment. The post reports the couple stated, “The emptiness that has been left by Percy’s death and the anguish we suffered has not and will never be filled or go away.”

The lawsuit also states owner of Doggie Love, Nilo Mathais, said to the couple, “sometimes, dogs just die.” Marla Abrams, another owner, asked the couple, “What do you want from us?”

To read the rest click here.

From The Associated Press

BOULDER, Colo. — A Colorado woman convicted of taping her boyfriend’s dog to a refrigerator has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years’ probation.

Twenty-one-year-old Abby Toll was sentenced Friday after she was convicted of felony animal cruelty in April. She could have faced up to 18 months in prison.

Prosecutors say Toll used hair ties and packing tape to bind the snout and legs of her boyfriend’s 2-year-old Shiba Inu (SHEE’-bah EE’-noo) named Rex, then taped the dog upside-down to the refrigerator.

Police say Toll told them she was getting back at her boyfriend, Brian Beck, for paying more attention to the dog than to her.

Beck pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted animal cruelty and was given a one-year deferred sentence.
Another family has adopted the dog.

From MiamiHerald.com

MIAMI — Officials in Miami-Dade County say a small but growing group of pit bull owners has found a loophole in the county’s ban against the breed.

Miami-Dade Animal Services reports that about a half-dozen pit bulls have been registered as service animals for people with disabilities. Federal rules governing service animals trump the local ban, enacted in 1989 after an 8-year-old girl was mauled
by a neighbor’s pit bull.

Investigator supervisor Kathy Labrada says it’s a challenge to verify that a pit bull is a service animal because the federal rules don’t require any special certification and restrict what the county can ask about an individual’s disabilities.

Pit bull owners can face a $500 fine and possible court hearings in Miami-Dade, which considers the breed to be dangerous.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/12/1726394/some-pit-bulls-skirt-s-fla-ban.html#ixzz0tUHlmMaS

From WCAX.com

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Gov. John Lynch has signed a law banning live dog racing in New Hampshire.

The state’s two remaining dog tracks currently don’t conduct live greyhound racing and instead provide simulcasts of races held elsewhere. The law eliminates the tracks’ option of resuming live racing. It takes effect Jan. 1.

Supporters had argued the tracks aren’t racing dogs now and the state will save money by no longer regulating the activity.

Opponents had argued the state should let the tracks decide when it made financial sense to offer live racing.

From The Washington Post

Call it the Calvert County Canine Custody Case.

As they headed toward divorce, Gayle and Craig Myers had only one bone of contention: Who would have the right to keep Lucky, their 16-pound gray-black Lhasa apso.

Under Maryland law, family pets — unlike, say, children — are treated as jointly owned marital property and sold if the divorcing couple cannot agree on who gets to keep them. The parties then split the proceeds of the sale.

But the standard resolution did not seem right to retired Prince George’s County Circuit Judge Graydon S. McKee III.

The judge, presiding over the limited-divorce proceeding by special assignment, decided on his own last month that Gayle and Craig, who have no children, would split custody of Lucky.

The dog will alternate spending six months with each party; Gayle’s turn began on July 1.

McKee rendered his decision after hearing testimony from Gayle, who lives in Alexandria, Va., and Craig, who resides in Dunkirk.

To read the rest click here.

By Beth Landman For The New York Post

It’s better to be Mariah Carey’s dog than to work for her.

The veterinarian whom the songbird allegedly stiffed out of some $30,000 slept with the sick pooch at the diva’s California mansion during the doc’s 2½-week assignment and even sent videotapes of the pup to Carey when she was out of town.

New York-based Dr. Cindy Bressler cared for Carey’s Jack Russell puppy, Dolomite, around the clock with her team, constantly feeding the pooch and making sure it was all right.

“We were up all night caring for and tube-feeding the puppy,” said a source who worked with the vet. “Mariah loves her dogs and requested the best care, and that’s what she got.

“Dr. Bressler left her practice [in New York] and was there through the pre- and postnatal care and the delivery. We provided 24-hour day care.”
The singer visited the ill pooch several times a day, and Bressler sent her videos of the dog when Mariah could not be there, the source said.
Bressler and her staff stayed in a room at Carey’s sprawling Bel Air home when they were not taking turns holding vigil in the dog’s room. Little Dolomite needed in tensive care after being born to another of Mariah’s dogs, Cha- Cha — who was only six months old when she gave birth.
It soon became clear that Carey did not appreciate that hiring a vet for weeks of in-home care would cost more than some of the other services to which she was accustomed, the source said.

“She [Bressler] is a doctor, and Mariah acted like Dr. Bressler was one of her hair or makeup people,” the source said.

According to Bressler’s suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Bressler gave Carey a bill for $37,790.32, but the singer only paid $8,231.50.

Bressler is seeking the remaining $29,559, plus legal fees.

Bressler declined to comment, but her attorney, Michael Posner, said she “provided lifesaving, round-the-clock medical care to Mariah Carey’s puppy. This was a serious medical matter that required professional care by a veterinarian and veterinary nurses.

“Dr. Bressler also helped deliver the puppy, which was of low birth weight, and administered nutritional feeding in the absence of an appropriate level of milk production during nursing. The costs were clearly communicated costs associated with this level of treatment. Despite successful treatment, Ms. Carey still refused to pay her balance.”

Carey’s attorney, Orin Snyder, said, “This abusive lawsuit appears to be a crass publicity stunt. As a matter of principle, Mariah intends to fight this baseless case and is confident that it will be dismissed.”

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/it_ruff_going_8I1fU7K19p40NI8I47tAeK#ixzz0rs7qD6UX

From The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina has a new law bearing its governor’s signature and a dog’s paw print that could put people in jail for the worst cases of animal abuse.

Gov. Beverly Perdue on Wednesday signed a measure that threatens jail time for those who torture, starve or kill an animal.

The punishment could be up to eight months behind bars, but a judge could agree to community service instead.
On hand was Susie, who was a puppy last year when she was burned, beaten and left to die. A judge said state law allowed him to sentence the Greensboro man who abused Susie to no more than probation.

After Perdue signed it, the owners of the female pit-bull mix placed Susie’s paw on an inkpad and added her mark to the document.