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Pit bull ban idea out; in -- Monday March 2nd, 2009

http://www.ktvz.com/global/story.asp?s=9934058 Pit bull ban idea out; insurance rule proposed

Posted: March 2, 2009 05:50 PM PST

Last Updated: March 3, 2009 07:28 AM PST

Pit bull owners say it's a good breed given bad rap by irresponsible breeders, and they'll fight insurance requirement

Owners say the idea reeks of discrimination

By Nina Mehlhaf, KTVZ.COM

After days of heavy media attention around the country, the idea of a legislative ban on pit bulls in Oregon was dropped late Monday. But now, something else is brewing.

The new legislation, introduced in the House, would require pit bull insurance that every owner or landlord would have to buy, if they want that dog.

On the first readings list for Monday was House Bill 2852. It would require keepers of pit bulls to maintain liability insurance, what exactly does that mean?

Nobody knows quite yet, but it's gotten the attention of Vancouver, Washington's Pacific Northwest Pit Bull Rescue organization.

"I don't think it's something attainable for the public," said Ellena Thomas. "I know quite a few people with liability insurance to keep these dog-specific policies. I know someone who had to pay $11,000 just for an annual payment."

Is the bark worse than the bite, or vice versa? It's a heated debate over pit bulls, who can be seen as vicious or as innocent, family pets.

In light of recent dog killings and maulings in Portland and even here in Central Oregon, there was an idea by Hillsboro Senator Bruce Starr to outright ban them like some places like Sioux City, Iowa have done; San Francisco instead requires their sterilization.

Hugo Garcia of Bend has four pits he shows professionally. He says they are loving, nice and play well with his kids.

"Mostly, I think it's the way you raise them and treat them," Garcia said Monday outside the Humane Society of Central Oregon. "If you treat them badly, of course any animal is going to be aggressive."

Senator Starr's spokesperson told NewsChannel 21 the ban legislation, never formally introduced, was an idea from one of his constituents. She said Starr had no intention of going forward with the ban proposal, so it has been killed in committee.

But pit bull owners say the insurance idea reeks of discrimination. And if it proceeds, they say more landlords won't rent to tenants with the dogs, so they'll avoid having to pay the fee.

Ellena Thomas says she'll fight for the dog that gets a bad rap from bad owners.

"They're breeding them, and they're not looking at the temperament of the dog, and they're not breeding for the betterment of the breed," said Thomas. "They're breeding for a quick $50."

Rescue organizations plan to write letters to Oregon legislators to get the insurance bill dropped.

Shelters say pit bulls are in the top two breeds of dogs they get in the most, but one of the hardest to adopt out.

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Smooch from a Pooch! -- Saturday February 14th, 2009

Pacific Northwest Pit Bull Rescue held an adoption event to celebrate Valentines Day! Click to watch the news video here!

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Learning From a Dog -- Wednesday July 25th, 2007

In our view: Learning From a Dog

Love can overcome stereotypes

Felida is more than just the name of an unincorporated area full of friendly people. It's also the name of a dog - formerly homeless and feral - who lives there. We're reluctant to specify the breed of Felida the dog because some readers might throw down the newspaper and scream "Run for your lives!" First, we'll synopsize the heart-warming story that John Branton wrote in Wednesday's Columbian.

Several Felida residents around Northwest 26th Avenue and Northwest 111th Street (near the white water towers) last year began feeding a homeless dog that had invoked squatter's rights in a nearby field. Ultimately, Felida residents Joey and Mark Cooper contacted a dog-rescue group, which came and got the dog and took it to the Humane Society for Southwest Washington's shelter. A new adopted home likely will be found for the dog after a convalescence at the home of a rescue-group organizer.

The breed of Felida the dog? Pit bull! Yikes! No, wait! Come back! There's more to this story. The rescue group was Pacific Northwest Pit Bull Rescue, directed by Ellena Thomas and her husband, Jacob. And we're guessing that numerous residents in Felida the neighborhood have learned a lot about pit bulls, and about themselves. Ellena Thomas described that learning process eloquently: "It says a lot to me that a neighborhood would band together to save the life of a (pit bull) dog that is usually hated and mistreated."

An even better description was the color photo that was published, the one of Felida the dog licking the nose of Felida resident Ron Goodstein while Ron's wife, Stacy, and Ellena Thomas smiled in the background. If only people got along with each other as well as we get along with dogs, right?

http://www.columbian.com/opinion/new...news166880.cfm

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Visiting Felida -- Sunday July 15th, 2007

Visiting Felida: Dog, one-time owners reconnect

Sunday, July 15, 2007 BY JOHN BRANTON Columbian staff writer

If Felida the pit bull is a little confused, we can understand. Her life has been a bit of a blur lately.

First, the black-and-white dog lived homeless and feral for more than a year in the Felida area, stealing food from garbage cans and sometimes being fed by neighbors.

On June 30, she was captured, after eating food laced with liquid tranquilizers. Her captors were an animal rescue group that lavished her with kindness - and named her after the area where she roamed.

And then on Wednesday, her world was turned around again.

It turned out her name isn't Felida at all.

Her name is Simba, and she was reintroduced Wednesday to two of her original owners, who lost her in Felida in November 2005.

"We were so excited," said Joy Winters, 29, who lives with her husband, Michael, and their two children in Clark County.

"To see her after all that time was unbelievable," Joy Winters said. "She came up to me and my stepdaughter, Tori, and was giving us kisses. We called her Simba and she ran right over."

This latest chapter in the dog's life was brought about by Joy Winters' mother, Deby Dunegan of Vancouver.

On the day Simba went missing, about 19 months ago, Joy and Michael Winters, then Oregon residents, had been visiting his parents in Felida.

While running an errand, they left Simba in the garage, with a long chain fastened to her collar. They left the garage door partially open to let air in.

Simba, likely scared at being left behind in a strange place, slipped her collar, leaving her ID tags and the parents' home behind.

"We drove around looking for her, calling her name," Joy Winters said. "We placed several ads in the paper, and lost-dog reports with the humane society. I called them almost daily for almost a year, to check for matches.

"My mom, she never gave up," Joy Winters said. "She always said she was going to find Simba."

On Wednesday, mom made good on her vow.

While Dunegan and Joy Winters were chatting on the phone, Dunegan also was looking through The Columbian's Neighbors section.

There, Dunegan spotted the story about Felida being captured by Ellena and Jacob Thomas of Pacific Northwest Pit Bull Rescue.

"She said, 'This sounds just like Simba,' " Joy Winters said.

That same afternoon, Michael Winters telephoned Ellena Thomas, and Joy Winters sent her an e-mail.

"They were very excited, to say the least," Ellena Thomas said later. "I was a little excited myself, to be honest."

In her e-mail, before she saw Simba in person, Joy Winters accurately described details of the dog's appearance that weren't visible in the newspaper photo: a white blaze on her nose, a white diamond-shaped mark on the back of her neck, and what looks like a mole on her left front leg.

"Everything was right to a T, a perfect description," Ellena Thomas said.

As a second check, before taking the dog to the Winters family late Wednesday afternoon, Ellena Thomas called her original name.

"I said 'Simba, come here,' " Thomas said. "I have never seen that dog act so excited. Her ears perked right up and her tail was wagging a million miles a minute."

The Winterses also have photos of Simba, whom they bought as a 2- or 3-month-old pup.

What's next for Simba?

It's not known whether the Winterses will take Simba back into their family.

For one thing, Thomas prefers to keep a rescued pit bull under observation for a month, to see if it proves vicious or over-aggressive.

Her group doesn't adopt out all pit bulls it finds, according to its Web site, www.pnwpbr.com . Vicious dogs must be euthanized, Thomas said.

However, Simba has been doing well since she was rescued two weeks ago.

"We really do feel she will be adoptable," Thomas said. "She loves people, and she's very, very affectionate."

But Simba "does not do well with other dogs," Thomas said, adding that she may be territorial rather than aggressive in her reaction to other dogs.

Ideally, Thomas said, if Simba passes the aggression test period and the Winterses don't take her back, she would be adopted by a family with no other dog or cat. During the dog's 19 months of living in the wild, she may have hunted cats for food, out of desperation.

"I think with all she's been through, she deserves to be an only dog," Thomas said.

And the Winters' family situation has changed since they lost Simba. They have a new baby, Ashley, 7 months, as well as Michael Winters' daughter, Tori, 9, who helped pick out Simba as a pup.

In addition, they have another dog, Sapper, a black Labrador and boxer mix who never cottoned to Simba in the first place.

So the decision has yet to be made, by Thomas or the family.

"We need to see if we can take her back," Joy Winters said Friday. "We're going to do everything we can to do so."

And if Simba doesn't like whatever new arrangements are made, she might just take off again.

John Branton covers crime and law enforcement for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-759-8012 or john.branton@columbian.com

http://www.columbian.com/printArticle.cfm?story=168169

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Saving Felida -- Wednesday July 11th, 2007

Felida, a once-homeless and feral pit bull that neighbors fed for more than a year, and that recently was rescued, gives a kiss to Ron Goodstein. Watching from left are Ellena Thomas, executive director of Pacific Northwest Pit Bull Rescue, and Ron's wife, Stacy Goodstein. (JANET L. MATHEWS/The Columbian)


Wednesday, July 11, 2007 BY JOHN BRANTON, Columbian staff writer

FELIDA - The first time Stacy and Ron Goodstein saw the homeless pit bull dog they called Pup, the petite female was sleeping under a shed overhang outside their home.

That was in early 2006, a cold time of year.

"We felt bad for it, so I fed it," Stacy Goodstein said recently. "It looked like it was hurt and very hungry."

The young dog, black with white markings, was fearful and shy. When people got too close, she would run away. But if they put food out for her, she'd gladly return and devour it.

As the months went by, Stacy Goodstein kept leaving food for the dog, hoping she eventually could catch her, but it didn't happen. At one point, when the dog charged toward Ron Goodstein and their dog, they stopped feeding her, but they later forgave it, giving her the benefit of the doubt.
"I think it was a territorial thing, not an aggressive thing," Stacy Goodstein said.

Besides claiming an area outside the Goodsteins' home where she'd been fed, the dog had a nest atop a grassy knoll in a nearby field. Sometimes people left food for her there. Sometimes she stole food from garbage cans and carried it to her nest.

Officers with Clark County Animal Protection and Control came out to try and catch the feral dog, but couldn't.

Very recently, the Goodsteins heard about Pacific Northwest Pit Bull Rescue, headed by Ellena Thomas and her husband, Jacob, of Vancouver. Area resident Joey Cooper, whose husband, Mark, gave the dog treats, sent an e-mail to Thomas, describing the situation.

The group is one of about 75 that work with the Humane Society for Southwest Washington, based in Vancouver. The groups can provide foster homes, and work to find permanent homes for animals including cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets and even turtles.

Asked about the Thomases' work, Chuck Tourtillott, executive director of the local humane society, said they do well.
"They've helped us place some of the pit bulls that come to our shelter. We think she's very responsible in her placement."

The Thomases' group, formed a year ago, isn't devoted to saving all pit bulls. Those dogs that turn out to be aggressive or vicious are euthanized. "While we love the breed, we accept that not all pit bulls are good candidates for adoption," states the group's Web site, www.pnwpbr.com .

Told of the situation in Felida, a 2½-year-old pit bull that had survived homeless for about 14 months, the Thomases took action.

"We went and scouted the site, then contacted our vet for tranquilizers," Ellena Thomas said.
On the morning of June 30, Stacy Goodstein put the liquid tranquilizer in some food and took it to the hill nest. When she saw the dog had eaten the food, she notified Ellena Thomas.

Arriving in a half-hour with a catch pole, the Thomases captured the dog. "The neighbors were there waiting and watching," Ellena Thomas said. "We surrounded the poor girl and helped her into our SUV. She never even made a peep."

During a visit later that day at the humane society shelter, "She actually came up to me in the kennel and kissed my face," Ellena Thomas said.

On the next day, a Sunday, Ellena Thomas went to the kennel and sat on the floor with the dog. "She actually climbed into my lap and kissed me," Ellena Thomas said.

The Thomases soon took the dog to their home. In the next several days, they cared for her and sometimes took her on errands, to see if she can readjust after her long period of homelessness.

"We're reintroducing her to the world and affirming that she's safe and that everything's OK," Ellena Thomas said. "We're basically doing what you could call re-domestication, because she has been on the streets a year plus."

She said the dog appears to be doing well, with no growling or snarling.
"She is a little shy and fearful, which is to be expected," Ellena Thomas said. "But she's also very loving. She wants to trust people."

The Thomases and Goodsteins will never know what the dog lived through during those 14 months of being on the streets. She has good-sized scars on her left-front leg and abdomen.

They wonder whether she was hit by a car, or had to fight off other stray dogs or coyotes that roam Clark County.

It's not known whether the dog was dumped by her former owners, or perhaps became lost from a family that loves her.
"This dog is house-trained," Ellena Thomas said. "She knows 'sit' and she knows 'shake.' She knows how to walk on a leash. I honestly believe she was someone's pet."

"We ended up naming her 'Felida,' " she added. "We figured she's earned that name."

If Felida passes the Thomases' non-aggressive evaluation period, they hope to reunite her with her former family - or find one that will adopt her. She might do best in a home with no other pets, Ellena Thomas said.

On a recent visit to the Goodsteins' home, Felida licked Stacy and Ron's hands.
"We are very happy and hope the dog stays on the good-to-go path," Stacy Goodstein told The Columbian.

And Stacy Goodstein had some kind words for Ellena Thomas as well.
"I praise her up and down," she said. "She was right on top of it. She was there."

The neighbors are to be commended as well, Ellena Thomas said.
"It says a lot to me that a neighborhood would band together to save the life of a dog that is usually hated and mistreated."

The phone number for Pacific Northwest Pit Bull Rescue is 360-433-9581.

http://www.columbian.com/news/localN...news166317.cfm