We explore how animal rescuers help dogfighting victims trust again
Less than a month after she first learned to go on leash, a brindle-and-white dog named Cameo completed a turn around the inside of a Maryland care and rehabilitation center and, keeping pace with her handler, moved calmly back into her kennel. There, she settled onto her bed in a corner and chewed on a rubber toy. The young dog, who had been rescued from a suspected dogfighting operation by the Humane Society of the United States four months before, now looked ready for adoption. But the team at our center knew she was not. When a handler walked by with another dog on a leash, Cameo rushed to the door of her kennel and started jumping 5 feet straight up in the air.
“She doesn’t know what to do with her body; she’s trying to release the stress,” said Katie DeMent, senior manager of animal care for our Animal Rescue Team. Cameo, explained DeMent, was still too anxious to go to a home.
Upon arriving at an alleged dogfighting operation this past spring, rescuers found Cameo with a canine tooth missing and part of her upper lip gone. Of the more than 100 dogs, many were on heavy chains. Some had untreated wounds, while others had been fed so little their ribs stuck out. But some of the cruelty was invisible: the desire to engage in combat that is instilled in dogs who are bred within dogfighting operations.
The dogs faced a multitude of obstacles: not only medical problems, behavioral issues related to their training and trauma from alleged dogfighting, but generations of selective breeding that predisposed dogs from these established bloodlines to conflict with other dogs, said Audra Houghton, director of operations for the Animal Rescue Team. (These challenges have nothing to do with the dogs’ appearance—assumptions about behavior should never be based on how a dog looks.)
In order to eventually place these dogs with families, HSUS behavioral experts and certified dog trainers had to first determine who had aggression issues that could be overcome, then work with great patience to change their behavior.
We’re not dealing with normal behavior; we’re dealing with behavior that has been selectively bred for by people
who exploit these dogs…
Audra Houghton, director of operations for the Animal Rescue Team
“We’re not dealing with normal behavior; we’re dealing with behavior that has been selectively bred for by people who exploit these dogs for their willingness to please,” Houghton said. “The [majority] who can be rehabilitated are wonderful dogs.” Knowing that, Houghton explains, her team has the best chance to place the dogs in shelters where they can eventually be adopted and continue rehabilitation.
By summertime, 19 dogs remained at the rehab center: 16 who needed more time than most but were ready to go to partners for adoption, and Cameo and two others who were still receiving training and behavior modification. Scores of dogs without major issues, including two dozen puppies, had already been sent to placement partners and then to homes, said Amy Schumacher, shelter partner placement specialist for the rescue team. “These guys are sweet as pie.”
The dogs were first individually tested to see how they behaved when they encountered another dog, said Houghton. For many it was likely the first time since they were weaned that they met another dog outside of an alleged fight. Staff observed them for hyperfocus on other dogs, trying to incite a fight or displaying defensive body postures like intermittent eye contact with another dog, signaling their wish to disengage from near-certain battle.
Introduced to a friendly dog, some new arrivals just wanted to play. Often, though, getting them successfully through an introduction took a few tries and redirecting the dog’s attention with talk or a treat, or using medication to reduce anxiety.
DeMent said they saw a lot of unsafe behavior, but took it slowly, dog by dog. “This was a very hard case for us,” she said. “The resiliency in [some of] these dogs is mind-boggling. Unfortunately, for others, the trauma is too deep.”
To help Cameo, behavioral technicians were keeping the kennel next to hers empty and gradually moved other dogs closer to her, said Marissa Giangiordano, a specialist for behavior and enrichment. They were considering using anti-anxiety medication or practicing dog walk bys, said DeMent.
Madonna, on the other hand, froze during her first dog introduction, so the team was working to build her trust with people by spending time around her and gradually getting her used to a leash. “We have to go at the pace that the dog is at,” Giangiordano said. “We can’t force them to feel differently.”
The approach works. Vogue, who arrived while a puppy and showed arousal issues around other dogs—barking, pulling toward them and growling as though in preparation for a fight—was running around off leash and rolling on the ground with several friendly “helper” dogs.
Two-year-old Debbie, who arrived nervous around both people and other dogs, her body stiff with fear, had also transformed. “We would never have envisioned she would be in a pen, [unleashed], wanting to play,” DeMent said. As summer ended, Debbie greeted a new person with a relaxed body and a wagging tail. Soon she would be going to a home.
By late September just five remained at the center: four who were ready for adoption and Cameo, who was very, very close.
Ray J was found cowering on the end of a heavy chain at a dogfighting site in South Carolina. His chest was covered with infected wounds so serious that our rescuers rushed him for emergency surgery. Once he healed from his physical trauma, he spent a year recovering from the emotional and mental trauma. Now, at a home in Lebanon, Ohio, he’s rolling around on the lawn—his lawn. Kathleen and Jim Barefield saw his photo on Facebook and adopted him. Kathleen says he was still fearful when he arrived, but he’s overcome that. He climbs stairs, takes walks and plays vigorously with a stuffed toy. Kathleen marvels at the transformation to the “good-hearted” dog who’s now a part of their family. “[He’s] in a much better place,” she says. “He’s with us.”
This was written and produced by the team behind All Animals, our award-winning magazine. Each issue is packed with inspiring stories about how we are changing the world for animals together.
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