Duchess, Internet sensation, is no longer with her owners

A Doberman puppy in Ft. Lauderdale may be ending her day today in a far better situation than she started. Though she was returned to her owners, with animal control saying they saw no signs of abuse, the owners were subsequently arrested on non animal abuse charges and the puppies (Duchess and a dog whose name I have not seen) were taken into custody as well.

(picture linked from Examiner.com article)

Duchess was apparently been chained out back of her family's house for hours, barking, and the neighbors report that they did not see food and water out for her. She also had no shelter, and a neighbor is quoted as having seen the puppy try to dig a hole and crawl under a porch for shelter. For reference, it's been 90 in Ft. Lauderdale. When people approached the owners and said things to the effect of "hey, can we take your dog to the vet? Hey, she needs water and food", the owner said "It's just a dog" and told them to get off his property. (We already know how I feel about "just a dog" statements)

Police had visited the home once already, and took Duchess who animal control, who determined that she was in good health and released her to the owners. I'm not a medical professional, but when I saw the picture I linked above, I thought it was of a dead puppy. Not one who had a "tub of high quality food" inside for her. I don't know how you can look at that little girl and say there are "no signs of abuse", though apparently when a vet did see her, she wasn't gaining weight because she had hookworm (according to the NBC 6 video). They were displaying vaccination records, maybe somebody should've said "hey, we shouldn't see a dog's ribs, spine, and hips" and done a fecal.  Also according to the video, straight from the owner's mouth, though a house dog Duchess was chained out back because she had a "discipline problem with barking". She's 8 weeks old, for God's sake. She's a baby. Puppies bark; do you put a baby outside for crying?

(pictures from Dogster article)

No dog deserves to be chained outside. There's a high correlation between dogs who are chained/tied up outside and bites, in fact. Obviously, this hits me hard, because I know Elka doesn't want to be outside without us. I tried to get her to go outside and potty without me once during the winter; she'll stand in the middle of the yard and bark at the house. Dobermans want to be with their people. I'd risk making the assumption that most dogs do.

Duchess does look like a sweetie (though somebody needs to clean hear ears up; they were cropped, and clearly have gluey stuff from tape all over them in the NBC 6 video.) I hope she has a good and happy life, and those nasty hookworms are taken care of.

Doberman puppy lost the fight to Parvo at the Florida University Veterinary School

In Florida, a "breeder" had a litter of 8 Doberman puppies under his or her care. More than a week ago, all of the puppies got sick. And then five of them died. That breeder then got tired of it and took the three who were left to the Florida University Veterinary School and instructed for them to be euthanized.

The puppies all had parvo. Of the three, a little fawn girl died yesterday, and one of her red sisters died this afternoon. Only one is left, named Scorcha by those taking care of her. The Doberman Assistance Network has stepped in to help. If you'd like, you can donate to her care on the Doberman Assistance Network sponsorship page.

Sorcha has been sick for long enough that the deck is really stacked against her. She's under constant care in puppy ICU, on IVs for fluids and food. The best I can say about this is that she's under loving care, and if she pulls through, DAN will get her foster care with a rescue, and that rescue will find her a loving home.

I cannot countenance watching puppies grow that sick, for that long, and watching five of them die. I cannot. The details I've related to you are the only ones I know; I don't know the breeder's history of care otherwise, what vaccines the puppies did (or did not) receive, the condition in which they were kept. I can only make assumptions, and none of them are good. At least those poor little ones knew some love before they left us.

Edited to add:  As of 10 p.m., little Sorcha has died as well. I truly hope that the person who produced these puppies will take a hard look at how they do things in the future, or no longer keep dogs altogether. The Florida University Veterinary School tried their hardest, but sometimes it just isn't to be. So rest in peace, little ones. I'm sorry your stay here turned out the way it did.