What does it take to put a 'Celebrity' behind bars?

For all of you lucky people who have never seen an organised dog fight. I can tell you that it takes a special kind of person who having seen one is not physically sick and doesn't have nightmares as a result.

My attention was drawn to the case of the American 'sportsman' Michael Vick and his involvement in this illegal 'sport'. It seems his lawyer is sorting out a deal so that the poor little love is not inconvenienced too much by contravening some boring old law. He is after all famous, surely laws only apply to 'little people'. It is only dogs that have died or been maimed so that's alright then.

Read the story and see the video here http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8fd_1187417726&p=1

Vick then pleaded guilty http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a33_1187638783&p=1

And then the apologists came out of the woodwork. You have to listen to this guy. Did he listen to what Vick did? Is he from the same planet as the rest of us? How can he sleep at night defending people like this? "Mr Vick is a redeemable human being". Yeah, right! http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bf5_1187816021&p=1

And then we have the case of the rapper DMX who loved his multiple dogs so much he they were like family so, like you do, they were tied up and he didn't visit them for two months. Obviously these dogs were much loved family pets and not intended for any other purpose.http://www.usatoday .com/life/ people/2007- 08-24-dmx- dogs_N.htm? csp=34 Will he receive a substantial penalty at court?

Think Paris Hilton and all the other C list celebrities who drive around in an unfit state often without a licence. Think of Pete Doherty who's more likely to make the news if he wasn't in possession of drugs when stopped by the Police for some unpleasant behaviour or other. He must be on his tenth 'Last Chance' . The list is endless both sides of the Atlantic, actors, musicians, 'Super Models', sports personalities, children of the aforementioned. They assault people, steal (you have to fill the wardrobes in your mansion somehow), demand 'freebies', get unpleasantly and dangerously drunk, openly take drugs and laugh about it because they've just told the last judge that they've found God and turned their life around. They do all of that and more and expect to get away with it, and they do! Weak judges, weak prosecutors and we wonder why young people are killing one another at an alarming rate!

Young people need role models, well duh! Young people would pay a lot more attention if they saw that just because someone has been on tv in a reality programme or crawled into the underwear of some scrawny model they were not exempt from the law. No wonder so many young peoples only ambition is to be a 'celebrity'.

In between my clients and their dogs with behavioural problems I could happily fit in the job of Home Secretary, vote for me! I would have a simple philosophy, Bad things Happen to Bad People and not to Good People. Very Bad Things Happen to Very Bad People!

Finally if you really feel strongly about cruelty to dogs please sign my petition to Downing Street to ban cruel training aids such as spiked collars http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Traumatised-Dogs/

Police Dog Training 4, Hiding up a tree

This is a very short video clip of fairly poor quality due to the 'autofocus' being too 'auto'.

It aims to give just a taste of what a hiding criminal sees when found by a searching Police Dog.

The clip starts with the 'criminal' climbing up a tree to hide. You will then hear me 'challenge' "Police Officer with a dog etc." You will also hear Acco 'speak'. When the criminal doesn't give up Acco is deployed to search and soon locates the offender and indicates his find by barking.

When this exercise is done 'for real' it is not unknown for the criminal to be so spooked by the barking that they lose their grip and fall from the tree. This often happens at night when the first indication they get that the dog has located them is the sudden outburst of barking from the base of the tree.

As with all of these clips it is very early in Acco's training As he became more experienced I trained him to use a chainsaw so that if the offender wouldn't leave the tree he could deal with them on his own! Oh alright, I made that bit up!

The biting bits will be here soon.

Police Dog Training 3, Agility

Here we are again, another video clip, this time with a look at agility. It is vital that a Police Dog can deal with any obstacles in his way when working. He may go over or under, around it or through it whichever is the most effective. If a criminal is hiding behind a fence the dog wants to join him as quickly as possible.

In the following clip you will see the first three obstacles we teach young dogs.

First, the three foot hurdle. This represents a normal height dividing fence which may be topped with barbed wire. In case of barbed wire the dog must not touch the fence with any part of his body to avoid injury. To ensure that there is no contact the top element of the training hurdle is a very light pole which is easily dislodged.

Second, the long jump. This is to teach dogs to clear obstacles such as ditches or excavations when searching areas such as building sites. By the end of training all dogs are required to clear an eight foot long jump but most will clear much more.

Third, the A frame. This is used to teach dogs to go over six foot fences into enclosed areas. In this exercise what is supposed to happen is that Acco should go over the obstacle when directed. He should then wait on the other side until called back by me. As you will see he realises that it is much quicker to just stroll around the side of the jump to rejoin me (bless him). I then go to his side of the jump to position him for a recall. Acco starts to negotiate the jump early but stops. I replace him in position and start to return to my side of the jump to recall him when he decides to take matters into his own paws. I just get back in time. As you can see Acco is very pleased with himself. I then realised that after a hard days training, tracking, searching, biting and a host of other things often the last thing we would do on return to the dog school would be to do a round of agility before feeding the dogs. Acco was effectively saying, "Can I have my grub now?" A lesson well learned.

The dogs are trained on a number of other obstacles, tunnels, wobbly bridges and catwalks to name but a few. Anything that they might meet operationally.

More clips to come, we'll soon be at the biting part.

It's Not Fair. I Was Only Doing A Burglary!

My attention was drawn to this story from America involving two burglary suspects who were upset because a Police Dog was used to detain them. It must have very traumatic for them (I hope).

Read the story:- http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--policedoglawsuit0728jul28,0,2519349.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/2007/07/28/2007-07-28_jury_nips_nypd_dogbite_suit.html

http://allpawsbulletin.blogspot.com/2007/07/police-dog-dj-in-court.html

This story got me thinking of violent and non compliant criminals that I've dealt with over the years. As with the above story almost without exception offenders, with no thought for anyone else break into innocent peoples homes, into shops or warehouses. They attack people often for no reason other than to spice up their own inadequate lives and then, when they lose the fight and get arrested, they complain! The Policeman wasn't nice to them, the nasty Police Dog barked and frightened them. Indeed I remember one particularly unpleasant individual who, when told that he was being arrested for some serious offences, picked up a very large screwdriver in one hand and a metal bar in the other and told me that he was going to 'stab me up'. he'd obviously paid a lot of attention in English lessons. When I told him that it would be a good idea to 'moderate his behaviour or meet my dog on a more personal level.' He did drop the weapons but complained that in challenging him I was 'Out of order' and 'Over the top!'

Most of these criminals complain as a matter of course as part of their defence strategy. I'm sure that it's coincidental but often when a suspect goes to a particular lawyer the Police Officer can be sure that a complaint will be made and even guess the line of the complaint. Some like to allege Police brutality, some prejudice of some sort, either racial, sexual, religious or something else that hasn't become trendy yet. There are all manner of things that a suspect or his lawyer can do to muddy the waters. What the trial should be about is to find out if the defendant did what he is accused of doing. instead it becomes a game between lawyers with little thought for the victim. It certainly wouldn't do to admit responsibility would it? If anyone's to blame it must be Society.

I said earlier 'almost without exception.' Let me tell you about just one such exception. This is a true story and happened in the town of Aldershot in the County of Hampshire.

It was a dark and stormy night (well there had been moderate showers). I was working a late shift from 1800 to 0200 and it had been a very busy evening. It was a little after 0130 and I was looking forward to a warm bed. I had just finished arresting two suspects who had broken into a building site. To gain access I'd had to slide under a fence and so had a coating of wet mud all over my back. And then, when my mind was already in bed, the radio went and sent my body to another call.

The call was an alarm activation at the Argos store. This is now located in the local Mall but at the time of this incident it was in a basement now occupied by the Aldershot Bowl. The alarm at this premises was a regular and I had never known it to be anything other than a false activation. There were two sets of doors some yards apart so when I pulled up I let my dog, Acco, out of the van and left him to check one set of doors while I did the other. My doors were secure as I knew they would be. I turned to call Acco so that we could get on with the serious business of going to bed and there he was, gone!

I went to his door and found that the bottom pane of glass had been carefully removed and was propped against the wall. Acco had gone in and was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. I joined him and then found that the glass in the internal doors had also been removed. Being very perceptive I realised that there was something not quite right here! I stuck my head through the gap where the glass should have been and 'challenged the building.' A deep breath and a loud bellow. "Police Officer with a dog! come out or I'll send the dog!" I then instruct Acco to 'speak' to let any offenders know that I'm not bluffing, and then a final challenge. "This is your last chance! Come out or I'll send the dog!". No response from within the shop so it's 'Game On!'. I sent Acco in to search for anyone in the premises. Contrary to popular belief Police dogs do not rush about shredding innocent members of the public. They locate the hidden person and then indicate to their handler by barking. If the offender is compliant then there is no problem. If they want to fight then the world can end in pain.

Acco searched the shop and indicated to me that there was nobody still in the shop but that the offender had been to the jewellery counter. The glass display cabinets were all smashed and the complete collection of watches, necklaces, bracelets and rings had been stolen. A haul amounting to several pounds in value!

Acco then indicated the doors to the warehouse, and once again I challenged with no response. The warehouse was in complete darkness. I sent Acco to search and very quickly I heard cries of pain from within. When I followed the sound of the screams I saw a suspect laying on the shelving, hanging onto the uprights trying to resist, as Acco who had a firm grip on his calf was encouraging him to let go and come and join him. Subsequently the suspect told me that when Acco had located him he had given him 'a little shove with his foot to discourage him!' A very bad move, in that moment the suspect moved from compliant to non compliant. The consequence of that action? Pain, lots of it.

I called Acco off and escorted the suspect into the shop area where there was more light and the following conversation took place.

"Are you injured?"
"I don't know, I think so."
"Let's have a look, pull your trouser leg up."

On pulling up his trouser leg I could see a very substantial bite injury to his calf.

"When we get to the nick we'll get you medical treatment for that"

So far the conversation was nothing out of the ordinairy and I imagined him plotting the wording of his complaint or compensation claim but then his reply left me speechless.

"No, it's alright. Fair does, he's a police dog and I'm a burglar. He's only doing his job. If I hadn't kicked at him he wouldn't have bitten me. It's my fault but if I'd managed to scare him off I'd have been 'Jack the Lad' down the pub when I told all my mates about it. I tried it on and I lost so its fair enough. You've got a good dog there." (I already knew that)!

The prisoner was taken to the police station so that I could finish the search of the warehouse in case he wasn't on his own. Having concluded the search I went to the Custody Suite to deal with my prisoner. On my arrival he was being documented and a Doctor had been called to deal with his injuries. Our conversation continued:-

"How's your leg?"
"So so, quite painful but it's an occupational hazard isn't it?"
"The Doctor will be here soon to see you."
"Thanks. Do you know, there's only one thing that pisses me off about you and your dog?"
"What's that?"
"Well, when he bit me, he tore my new jeans."
"I'm very sorry about that."

And then with a huge grin he said,

"Yeah, do you know I only bought these jeans a couple of weeks ago with a stolen credit card?"

When he appeared at Court he pleaded guilty and apologised "For upsetting the Police Dog." If all criminals were like that life would be a lot better for Police and offenders alike. Even better Lawyers wouldn't be so rich.

Criminals have a saying, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime". I would add "If you can't take the bite, you'd better do it right!"

Dogs For Hire

Yes it's true. Can't be bothered to take responsibility for a dog but want all the positive aspects of dog ownership? Why not just rent one when the fancy takes you? Perhaps there's someone you find attractive that you often see walking their dog? The obvious answer is to hire a pooch then you can 'bump into' your hearts desire while out walking 'your' dog. You get into conversation and live happily ever after. Except of course the dog. They have to go back to the hire centre to await the next client.

This business is already in existence in California and was reported in yesterdays Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail :-

Dog lovers who do not have the time or space to keep a full-time pet are being offered the chance to hire a part-time one. Marlena Cervantes supplies dogs by the day or the weekend, and says her service, FlexPetz, is like a holiday time-share."Our members are responsible in that they realise full-time ownership is not an option," said Miss Cervantes, 32, a behavioural therapist who came up with the idea when working with animals and autistic children. The service is currently available in Los Angeles and San Diego, but Miss Cervantes hopes to open in London by the end of the year. Members pay an annual fee of £50, a monthly subscription of £25, and £20 per visit by "their" dog. The fees include leads, bowls, beds and food which are supplied for every trip.Miss Cervantes says her dogs ideally are shared by only two or three "owners", and live in a kennel the rest of the time. Student Shari Gonzalez, 22, who lives in a small flat, shares a black labrador called Jackpot which spends one day every weekend with her."I never even thought that was a possibility," she said. "I thought you either owned a dog or you didn't." One of Jackpot's other "owners", Jenny Goddard, who is married with a six-year-old son, said the dog encourages the family to spend more time together outdoors."He is so friendly and playful that people are surprised he is a rental dog," she said.Miss Cervantes has ten rental dogs including Afghan hounds, labradors and Boston terriers. "They get undivided attention from our members because it is the only time they have together," she said.

That says it all you would think but no, there's more. Where do they get their dogs from? The answer is that most if not all of these unfortunate animals are rescue dogs and probably cost Miss Cervantes nothing except possibly a small donation to the rescue centre. That might be a shrewd business move but is it ethical?

Let's examine what's going on here. A dog who, let's not forget, is a pack animal. Has already had a bad start in life perhaps they were abused, abandoned had 'behavioural problems' that their previous owners were unable or unwilling to resolve or, if they were 'lucky' perhaps their owner died. In any event the dogs find themselves in a centre full of other stressed dogs. They are then passed on to Miss Cervantes who 'trains them' before hiring them out.

Most of these rescue centres give as their main aim, 'Animal Welfare with a view to rehoming.' How they they can justify passing animals that are already 'damaged goods' to be moved around from pillar to post, and from pack to pack, to be rented and returned at a whim just to make a profit is beyond me.

Do these people listen to themselves? 'Miss Cervantes says her dogs ideally are shared by only two or three owners", and live in a kennel the rest of the time.' And that's the ideal is it Miss Cervantes? The already traumatised dog who has no reason to trust humans is only moved between three changing locations or is kept in a kennel. Hmmm some good bonding able to take place there. I would like to know what proportion of these dogs fall into the 'ideal' classification and even more important what happens to those who don't. Do they get shared by five people, ten people or are they the workshop spare available for hire if someone's already booked your favourite out for a week. Perhaps they wanted to go hiking? Another quote which has a large amount of truth in it even if the speaker didn't realise it at the time. Student Shari Gonzalez, 22, who lives in a small flat, shares a black labrador called Jackpot which spends one day every weekend with her."I never even thought that was a possibility," she said. "I thought you either owned a dog or you didn't." You're absolutely right Miss Gonzalez so what are you doing playing with a dogs emotions?

If these people want to have a relationship with dogs but can't do it full time then they can volunteer to help at their local rescue centre that way everybody wins and hopefully the dogs have only one kennel experience before being properly rehomed. If someone just wants a dog as a toy or fashion accessory purely because they can afford it then I say. That's a hell of a price to pay just to be stylish.

When I first picked up on this story I was going to title this post 'Only in America' or 'Only in California' and then I saw that this Lady is bringing her business to London. I think we all know the type of person who will be using her services. Should she be allowed to start trading. I wonder whereabouts in Chelsea, Notting Hill or Islington she'll set up shop?

The duty of every right minded person, dog owner or not, is to ensure that rescue centres in the UK do not pass on any animal to a commercial venture. They should also object to their Local Authority if any like minded business tries to start trading in their area.

This business is wrong in every way and must not be allowed to succeed.