What do you do with an ever-so-slightly used $100,000 elephant treadmill?
If you’re a zoo in Alaska, you do the same thing you did with your captive elephant – admit it was a mistake and find it a new home.
The Alaska Zoo had the treadmill custom made so that Maggie the elephant — fat, cold and lonely being the only elephant in Alaska — could get some exercise in her otherwise cramped quarters. When the zoo finally came to its senses and shipped Maggie to a sanctuary in northern California, that left them with a contraption that wasn’t in too great demand. Not the sort of thing you can put out at the yard sale. Though the zoo did try selling it on Craigslist.
While the zoo didn’t get paid for the treadmill, they did find a home for it: Iditarod musher Martin Buser has hauled it to his kennel to be used to train his dogs for the 1,150-mile race, the Alaska Dispatch reports.
While he won’t have it reassembled in time to train dogs for the coming race, Buser, a four-time Iditarod winner, expects to use it in the future. Built for an 8,000-pound elephant, it’s 10,000 pounds and 22 feet long, more than big enough to let a whole team of dogs run on at once.
At Buser’s Happy Trails Kennels, he plans to use it to let his dogs run long distances while getting nowhere, invite scientists to use it to learn more about sled dogs, and possibly entertain tourists who want to see a team of dogs run long distances without getting anywhere — like the Iditarod, only without the freezing cold or the breathtaking scenery.
Maggie the elephant left the Alaska Zoo in 2007, after several years of controversy over whether she should ever have been brought there in the first place.
The treadmill was the zoo’s attempt to get Maggie exercising through Alaska’s long winters. It was one of the steps the zoo took to improve her controversial and cramped living conditions. Critics argued she should be in a warmer climate , with more open space, where she could walk outdoors year-round and be with other elephants.
But the zoo decided to try the treadmill experiment first. It didn’t work out, zoo officials admitted. Maggie would have nothing to do with the treadmill – an objection to which we can relate.
At that point, the zoo gave up and loaded Maggie on an Air Force C-17 for a flight to northern California, where, thanks in part to funding from animal activist/game show host Bob Barker, she’s living the rest of her life at ARK 2000, an animal sanctuary in San Andreas operated by the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).
After Maggie left town, Buser called the zoo and inquired about the machine. In exchange for the treadmill, Buser added the zoo to his list of official sponsors.
In addition to drawing tourists, Buser says the treadmill will allow for closer scientific research of his sled dogs. Instruments like oxygen consumption masks and heart rate monitors can yield valuable information, but can’t be used when the dogs are running outside.
Sled dogs cruise at 10 to 12 mph, the Swiss-born Buser said, but he’d like to get the treadmill up to 20 mph so he can put his dogs through some speed workouts. Buser said he probably won’t get his dogs on the treadmill until after the coming Iditarod, which has its ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 6.
Despite a last-minute barrage of pleas from animal rights supporters, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals today euthanized Oreo, a pit bull that survived a six-story plunge after being thrown off a Brooklyn rooftop.
Despite four months spent trying to modify her behavior, Oreo was too dangerous and aggressive to be put up for adoption, the ASPCA said.
Oreo was recovering from the two broken legs she sustained when she was tossed from the roof of a six-story apartment building in the Red Hook Houses in Brooklyn. Her owner, Fabian Henderson, 19, pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court last month to a felony charge of animal cruelty and will be sentenced on Dec. 1.
But because of all the abuse she underwent as a pup, the 1-year-old dog was unfit to be around people or other dogs, the ASPCA said.
Shortly after she was euthanized this afternoon, and amid continued messages of outrage from those hoping the dog would be placed in a sanctuary, ASPCA President and CEO Ed Sayres issued a lengthy press release, which appears here in its entirety:
On June 18th, a one-year old Pit Bull Mix named Oreo was thrown off a 6th floor Brooklyn roof top by 19-year old Fabian Henderson. Oreo sustained two broken legs and a fractured rib in the horrific incident.
Amidst a flurry of media coverage and public outcry, Oreo was taken to the ASPCA hospital to be treated for her injuries, and Mr. Henderson was placed under arrest by ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Agents. The circumstances that led to this most difficult and heartbreaking of decisions are not widely known. In fact, details such as these are usually closely guarded. And yet, what is even more tragic about this story’s ending is that it is an all-too-familiar outcome in shelters across the country. It is the true face of the fight against animal cruelty.
Oreo was a victim of cruelty at the hands of Mr. Henderson. The details surrounding these incidents are largely unknown. However, after Mr. Henderson’s arrest in July, it was learned that several of his neighbors reported hearing the sounds of the dog being beaten for at least 20-30 minutes — and the dog whimpering as a consequence.
After arriving at the ASPCA’s facility, Oreo began to recuperate from her injuries, only to begin showing signs of extreme aggression — with little provocation or warning. As is customary at the ASPCA, the dog underwent a series of comprehensive behavior evaluations. This evaluation system has been used to assess many other dogs and is used to determine the rehabilitation programs needed to prepare them for foster care or placement.
In the case of Oreo, we also sought the assessment of an outside veterinary behaviorist. The outcomes of these evaluations were all the same: the dog was not able to be placed in a home.
Despite extensive behavior rehabilitation efforts undertaken by ASPCA staff, Oreo continued to lunge, growl, snap and attempt to bite. She would lunge at a behaviorist, only to spontaneously and unpredictably redirect her aggression toward her handler. She could not be socialized with other dogs for fear of an attack — her aggression toward other dogs was clearly evident during her evaluations.
For the safety of the individuals at the ASPCA, the other animals, and Oreo herself, she had to be kept in relative isolation, and daily contact with her was kept to a minimum of essential, and highly-trained, personnel. In fact, employees were even directed to refrain from making sustained eye contact with Oreo so as to not incite aggression.
Because adoption was not an option, the ASPCA looked at placing Oreo in a long-term resident facility. However, because of the aggressive behavior displayed, it is almost certain that Oreo would have lived out her entire life in seclusion from other dogs and people. Her contact with the outside world would have been minimal at best. Her quality of life would have been reduced to virtually nothing.
Thus, we arrived at the painful yet clear decision to humanely euthanize Oreo. While Oreo’s plight has garnered a plethora of media attention due to the sensational nature of her injuries, the decision to euthanize her is not a novel one. These are decisions that we have had to make before — and will undoubtedly have to make again. And as painful as these choices are, they are the same ones that face dedicated shelter workers throughout the country each and every day.
However, these outcomes are made all the more tragic because they are often preventable. Animals that suffer cruelty at the hands of their owners often face tragedy beyond that which they have already endured. Animals like Oreo are abused every day. These cases often don’t make headlines; in fact, most people don’t even know this abuse is quietly occurring in their backyard. But this abuse is all too frequent, and despite more rigorous efforts by law enforcement across the country, shows little sign of completely abating.
Sometimes these animals are fortunate enough to escape the confines of their abuse and are placed in loving homes. Sometimes, they die as a result of the abuse. And sometimes they retaliate from their abuse in the only way they know how: aggression. It is this last unfortunate circumstance that places shelters in the precarious position in which we find ourselves now.
We have done everything humanly possible to save Oreo’s life; yet, as a result of the abuse she suffered at the hands of Mr. Henderson, or for other reasons we may never know, she has come to a place where she can no longer be around people or other animals. We make this decision — and others like it — with a heavy heart and a complete understanding that had she been treated with love and respect, Oreo’s fate would be much different.
People know that the ASPCA is in the business of saving animals’ lives — it serves as the very core of our 143 year-old mission. Yet, the moment this statement is picked up, we will feel the repercussions of the difficult decision we know had to be made. We will receive angry phone calls … profanity-laced e-mails … and we will likely be vilified by tweeters and bloggers across the country. And the rallying cry of these missives will all be the same: the ASPCA failed this animal.
If the ASPCA has failed at anything, it is shielding America from the true face of animal cruelty for far too long. Animal cruelty isn’t pretty and doesn’t always have a happy ending — it is ugly and sad and, ultimately, tragic. As a community of individuals committed to the welfare of animals, we have to be more proactive and insistent in raising our voices against cruelty — and hope that the nation is ready to listen.”
Greyhound racing is nearing the finish line in Wisconsin.
Dairyland Greyhound Park, in Kenosha — the last operating track in the state – announced Tuesday it will close its doors after racing ends Dec. 31.
Dairyland was one of five Wisconsin tracks that opened after a 1987 amendment to the state constitution allowed for a state-run lottery and legalized parimutuel betting. The others closed earlier, unable to compete with the state’s tribal casino offerings that began to emerge in the 1990s.
According to the Kenosha News, the 19-year-old track has lost $17 million over the last seven years.
Dairyland has remained in operation in recent years with the hope that the Menominee Nation wins federal and state approval to develop a $1 billion casino complex on the site. The tribe is now in litigation to overturn a January denial of the project.
Closing the track will put about 180 people out of work, and, track officials say, leave the 900 dogs that race at the facility in need of homes.
If you’re interest in adopting, here’s how to find a greyhound rescue near you.
Long Island authorities are continuing their investigation of a woman in Selden whose back yard contained the buried remains of at least 20 dogs.
Sharon McDonough, 43, has been charged with animal cruelty, WCBS-TV reported.
“This is one of the worst cases of animal abuse I have seen in the last 25 years I have been doing this,” Chief Roy Gross, of the Suffolk County SPCA, said.
It all started Thursday, when a local rescue group contacted police about conditions at the house. When authorities arrived, they found five dogs crammed in small cages. By Saturday, police were digging up the backyard.
Investigators are looking into complaints about animals disappearing from the neighborhood, and allegations that McDonough tortured, killed, and buried them behind her house.
McDonough remained free Sunday night after pleading not guilty, but authorities say she could face more serious charges after investigators determine how the animals buried in the backyard died.
The live animals recovered from McDonough’s home, including several dogs and a cat, are doing fine. They are currently up for adoption at the Suffolk County SPCA.
The Humane Society of the United States thinks it’s time animals have a representative in the White House — a human one.
Both the society and the Humane Society Legislative Fund are asking the Obama Administration to appoint an Animal Protection Liaison who would work with the executive agencies and Congress to advance animal protection policies.
The liaison would get involved in matters such as protecting dogs from abuse at large-scale puppy mills, enforcing the federal laws against animal fighting and inhumane slaughter and defending the international ban on commercial whaling.
“These are just some of the critical animal protection issues that depend on the active involvement of federal agencies — in fact, there are 18 different agencies that oversee animal welfare!” HSUS says.
“We have developed a change agenda for animals, which outlines 100 immediate steps the Obama Administration can take to help animals — including millions of pets, farm animals, laboratory animals, and wildlife. With your help, we can ensure the Administration is addressing these critical animal protection issues in an ongoing and sustained way.”
The Humane Society is urging people to sign the online petition to ask President Obama to appoint an Animal Protection Liaison.
