Tuesday, April 29, 2008

**Volunteers Needed To Help Find Bella** (near Almaden Exp & Branham)

** PLEASE HELP US FIND BELLA...VOLUNTEERS NEEDED** Bella is the Shiba Inu attacked, along w/her owner in her neighborhood, by a pit bull roaming loose on 4/11. See attached SJMN article. We've had multiple sighting as recent as 4/26 and need your help to have an all-out search to get the word out and bring her home safely. We need volunteers to help search for Bella on Saturday 5/3 at 10 AM, starting at 3859 Thousand Oaks Dr, San Jose. We will have flyers and maps with the latest sightings to focus on. All volunteers and help is truly appreciated. We know she's out there and needs your help to find her way back home where she belongs. Please be part of bringing Bella home safe. Thank you, Terri & Steve

stevebelsley@comcast.net

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Blogs of Note

I have added another section (finally!) to the Shibalog - Blogs of Note. If you have a Shiba or dog themed blog and want a link, let me know and I'll check you out. I will add links at my discretion, so this isn't an official link exchange. :)

Saturday, April 26, 2008

We are still looking for Bella

Repost from email:

The Belsleys are still looking for Bella, the Shiba, in the San Jose, CA area. Bella went missing on 4/11/08 when she and her owner were attacked by a roaming pit bull. Yesterday, there was a possible sighting of Bella in the general area of an earlier sighting. They are bringing in a scent dog to do area search today of this area .Tomorrow they will meeting at the Belsley's house at 1:00 p.m. to do another area search with people. They have notified media of the Sunday search.

People interested in supporting the Belsley's search effort tomorrow (Sunday) should contact them at (remove space):

stevebelsley@ comcast.net

***

Search is still on for Sunday at 1pm at our house. Making more fliers and posters today, along w/searching. Left message w/local stations and paper...if you have time to call, please do, as I think the more people they here from the better chance they'll cover.

Had a possible sighting last night near Lincoln Ave. and Coe....about 1 mile from last sighting and 5 mile from our house. Search dog coming this afternoon to check for scent, so we can increase searching in that area tomorrow with the help of more people. Any help in passing the info on via internet etc. is appreciated. I am encouraged by last evening's sighting, we were out late looking and my husband went back this a.m. Hoping she will return to that area. Thanks again for helping to bring Bella home safe.

Oookay...

Shiba Brand... garbage bags



Their motto appears to be "Free Journey in Imagination". Well, it's admittedly true that many Shibas are extremely imaginative as to what they could eat and later shit out onto an expensive floor or vomit onto a pair of $200 Adidas. However, I am not the first person to advertise the Shiba as a prime candidate for filling these garbage bags via the strategically placed "X".

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Still hunters in their native land

I came across this blog entry containing a photo of Japanese wild boar hunters and their dogs. Two of the dogs look like Shibas. It's interesting to note that they are still used for hunting, especially wild boar, which is a tough opponent even for larger hunting dogs like Catahoulas and the American hounds.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Bella still missing

Craigslist Lost Ad

$$1000-Reward$$ - Lost Shiba Inu - dogs - looks like a black fox (near Branham & Almaden Exp, San Jose)
Reply to: stevebelsley@comcast.net
Date: 2008-04-20, 8:24AM PDT


Lost female Shiba Inu dog, black with tan color, small to medium size, 251bs, curly tail, pointed ears, looks like a black fox, may be injured. Name is Bella. Lost Friday night, 4/11. Last spotted running down Edenbury Ln and and recently near Willow Glen HS. Could be anywhere in the greater south San Jose area or surrounding communities. $$ 1000 Reward $$ offered. 408-891-4239 any time, day or night. View SJ Mercury News article for additional info:
http://www.mercurynews.com//ci_8917541?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

Thanks to Gail for letting me know about this.

No Next Day Pets

Speaking of selling, as I referenced in the 100th post of the Shibalog, you may notice that the ad for NextDayPets is gone from the Google ads that I have posted on the right.

I'm not a big fan of any website whose domain name basically encourages the buy-on-impulse-neglect-at-leisure attitude. "NextDayPets" is not something that I want to imply is just fine.

Furthermore, I'm not a supporter of a system that treats animals like anything else that you can buy on E-Bay, with a puppy paypal system:

Safe Payment Method - FeelSafe, Pet Pay!
FeelSafe, Pet Pay! - Learn More
  • Trusted payment and transaction management solution
  • Create and reference binding agreements readily accessible online 24/7
  • Listing details and images are saved and accessible online 24/7
  • Send payment for the puppy directly to the Seller using Pet Pay!
  • Accepted Payment Methods
    Sellers may accept one or more of the following types of payment: Credit Cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express), PayPal, Wire Transfer, USPS Money Order and Cashier Check

    I don't like it. I think that a pet purchase should be carefully thought out, not something you do on impulse, based on the picture of a cute puppy and an information line that looks like it was excerpted from an emo MSN conversation: OMG! These puppys R soooo cute! U should buy 1 cuz there gonna go kwik!!! LOLWTFBBQ!

    Thank you, no. I don't need revenue from those kinds of referrals.

    Wednesday, April 16, 2008

    I was going to sell my soul on this post, but...

    this is the 100th post! Yay, us!



    Tuesday, April 15, 2008

    New Shiba Rescue site!

    Today, I got a new e-mail.

    I have had your site bookmarked for years and have actually linked to it on my personal Shiba site. I also direct many prospective Shiba owners to your site. I do not know if you have heard of our group or not, but we recently started a new Shiba rescue called Shiba Inu Rescue Association www.savingshibas.com. We would be honored if you would consider linking to us on your website. Thank you!
    Aimee Winkler
    Shiba Inu Rescue Association

    I've got to thank Aimee, because she inadvertently gave me an e-kick to the ass to update TMS already. Nothing major; just updating the information about Shassi (she's now #10 on the unofficial Shiba Inu Veteran top 50) and improving parts of the site. I want to make it into a bigger site than it is, maybe breaking up the information into several pages. Eventually. Some day.

    One idea that I will need more knowledge for, but I think would be cool is an application on the site that automatically rotates pictures and information about rescue Shibas and/or Shiba alerts, like lost dogs or Shibas who have come upon misfortune. I'll see; I need to know a LOT more information about web applications as well as incorporate an easy to use interface where rescuers could post pictures and information about their dogs.

    But, back to the e-mail. If you're a Shiba person in SIRA's area (some volunteers are pretty far away from the base, so people outside the Chicago/Illinois area may still be able to help/volunteer/adopt through them), check them out. And thanks, Aimee!

    Monday, April 14, 2008

    Missing Shiba Alert

    Dog is missing after pit bull attacks her and her owner
    By Joshua Molina
    Mercury News
    Article Launched: 04/14/2008 01:33:48 AM PDT

    For the last three years, Bella, a shiba inu dog with deep brown eyes, pointed ears and a corkscrew tail, slept peacefully every night on her fluffed-up down pillow next to Terri and Steve Belsley.

    But Friday night, Bella never came home.

    "It is like a surreal nightmare," Terri Belsley said. "We let this dog become our life. Nothing is going to seem normal until we find Bella and bring her home safe."

    The black and tan dog hasn't been seen since she was last spotted hobbling away on Edenbury Lane, about a block from Thousand Oaks Drive in San Jose, after an altercation with dog that animal control identified as a pit bull.

    The San Jose Police Department responded to the attack and the pit bull was seized by animal control.

    The chaos ensued when Steve Belsley was walking Bella as part of the frisky dog's nightly ritual. The pit bull, said Belsley's, wife, Terri, charged the two.

    When the violent and frightening encounter ended a few seconds later, Steve Belsley had more than a dozen dog bites on his left arm, and a huge gash in his forearm where "the dog practically bit him to the bone," Terri Belsley said. He also tore a tendon in his hand that will require surgery. He spent several hours at the emergency room at Good Samaritan Hospital.

    And Bella has disappeared.

    "We don't know how badly she is injured," Terri Belsley said. "We are concerned that if she is injured or scared that she is holed up in
    Advertisement
    a bush."

    Neighbors spent the weekend posting fliers with the dog's picture. Some of the rescue crews stayed out as late as 5 a.m. looking for the dog, which stands about 10 to 12 inches tall and weighs 25 pounds.

    Animal control has also been looking for Bella. The pit bull's fate was unclear on Sunday night. The Belsleys said they were told the dog had been destroyed. The dog's owner did not return Mercury News calls on Sunday.

    "The neighborhood has come out in droves," said nearby resident Sharon Freitas. "To Terri, it's like she's missing a child."

    Contact Joshua Molina at jmolina@mercurynews.com or (408) 275-2002

    ****************************************
    I'm not so concerned about the pit bull as I am about the owner. What the hell is someone who carelessly let their dog run loose doing... loose? Why aren't these people arrested as accessories to manslaughter or assault with a deadly weapon? In a different reality, the pit bull could have been responsibly contained and Bella would be at home. Until society starts treating irresponsible owners like the menace they are, they will continue behaving irresponsibly towards their dogs.

    I hope Bella is reunited quickly with her family.

    Monday, April 7, 2008

    Spay and neuter or die

    Questioning whether to spay or neuter can get one in extremely hot water from animal rescue groups, reputable breeders and kennel clubs. It seems that anyone calling this into question is automatically labelled as a foe of preventing overpopulation and that spaying and neutering is the only solution to pet overpopulation. Of course, the health benefits of spaying and neutering are held up as reasons to get the surgery performed, but arguably the main reason is so that the dog cannot produce offspring.

    It has long been held that spaying and neutering are the best things you can do for a dog, with many health benefits and very few drawbacks. To a degree, this is true - many unspayed bitches that have not had a litter develop cancers and other nasty things. Some dogs have developed testicular cancer and prostate troubles. Despite these more-or-less well known facts, there are studies that indicate that neutering and spaying may not be the Holy Grail of responsible dog ownership.

    Look at Long-Term Health Risks and Benefits Associated with Spay / Neuter in Dogs (PDF File). There are a lot of startling risks associated with neutering at ages traditionally held to be "best" (6 months or earlier). Spaying is a different dish of kibble; malignant mammary tumors and pyometra are a significant affliction of unspayed bitches. But there are a lot of other health risks to spaying and neutering that are completely glossed over by the majority of people and organizations that promote the surgeries.

    Understand, I have great respect for the people who take the time and effort and spend a lot of money to rescue. I am also a big supporter of the whole, "Don't breed your dog if you're not going to do it right. And by 'right' I mean doing everything in your power to ensure that your puppies have the best genetics, temperament and environment possible for them to have." And I accept that a lot of people are morons, who put their personal feelings - "Oh, my Pookie is the best dog ever and there should be more Pookies in the world!" - ahead of their responsibility to their dog, the puppies they produce, and dogs in general.

    Spaying and neutering is the one thing that ensures that, whatever else, a dog will never be able to reproduce. And that is important, because once a dog can be said to be legally owned by someone, it's out of the rescuer's ability to control whether the new owner breeds it or not. So, especially in our oops-I-did-it-again society, this might still be the best option for rescue dogs. Vasectomy and tubal ligation are another possibility for sterilizing dogs and letting them keep the hormones. Bitches will still go through heats and dogs are still getting the full benefit of testosterone, which may mean that they will have higher aggression levels. Then again, it is never guaranteed that neutering will solve aggression problems or any other problems - training is a better overall solution. Vasectomy and tubal ligation have yet to become accepted as a valid alternative.

    What about movements to make spaying and neutering mandatory for dogs and dog owners? Save Our Dogs is a blog devoted to fighting Bill 1634 in California, aimed at establishing a mandatory spay and neuter of dogs over 6 months of age. Among their other points against this bill, they mention health. The California Veterinary Medical Association withdrew support of the bill after massive opposition from members and the veterinary community because, in part, they did not believe that the bill was in the best interests of pet animals.

    One problem I see with the automatic promotion of spay and neuter is that it doesn't solve the underlying problem: ignorance and society-supported selfishness. The assumption seems to be that anyone who wants to keep their dogs and/or bitches intact is automatically planning to breed them. And it is true that this is often the case - many people who do not have their dogs spayed or neutered are making the choice to breed, either deliberately or causing an "accident" through studied carelessness. However, whether or not a dog or bitch is intact is not the problem; the problem is people breeding unhealthy dogs for the wrong reasons, then refusing to take responsiblity for the puppies and keeping them out of irresponsible hands or rescues.

    Sweden is a good example of a society where most dogs and bitches are not altered. Despite the fact that they don't surgically prevent dogs from breeding, there is not an overpopulation problem like there is in North America. In fact, most Western European countries seem to view dogs differently than North America does. In France, dogs are a common sight in restaurants and shops and other places that they are not generally allowed in here in Canada.

    One can only surmise that the incredible concept of responsibility has leaked through the heads of Europe's people until they actually control their dogs from running loose and breeding indiscriminately. Obviously, if dogs are routinely allowed access to places like stores and restaurants, they must be well behaved. Good behaviour in dogs only happens when people are expected to behave well. Responsible management of dogs, then, is only going to happen when their owners are expected to behave responsibly by their society. If horrible social consequences befell people who allowed their dog to breed without thought to health or the care of the puppies, you can bet that there would be a lot fewer litters.

    In North America, it seems that any behaviour by dogs is automatically seen as the fault of the dog. Overpopulation is seen as a dog problem, not a people problem. The result is the call to do something about the dogs. Spay them, neuter them, euthanize them, train them, do something about them. Not the people who choose to breed them, abandon them, neglect them, abuse them.

    It would take a huge upheaval in North American society for attitudes towards dogs to change so that overpopulation is quickly made a thing of the past. Until then, perhaps spaying and neutering is the only weapon that people can use to ensure that the dogs they are trying to find homes for cannot be used to bring about another generation of unwanted, unhealthy animals into the world. But, for people who are dedicated to breeding (or not) responsibly, the alternatives should not be automatically condemned.