From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2005:

Black Wolf Rescue founder Robert Clifton Artois, 56, of
Triangle, Virginia, was convicted on June 1, 2005 of neglecting
the 11 wolf hybrids and 18 other dogs who were removed from his
premises by animal control officers on April 18. Volunteer caretaker
Cheryl Grenier discovered and reported the conditions, including a
dead dog, after Artois was jailed in Alexandria on April 13 and
called from jail to ask her to feed and water the animals. Artois
had already been warned to improve his care regimen in October 2004,
and was charged with one count of neglect in November 2004. In
December 2004, Prince William General District Court Judge Peter W.
Steketee continued the original neglect case until June 2005, and
ordered animal control officers to inspect Black Wolf Rescue weekly.
Artois allegedly then refused to allow animal control personnel to
enter his property.
Founded circa 1992, Black Wolf Rescue raised funds through a
web site. Artois was convicted of felony larceny in 1983, and was
convicted of contributing to the delinquency of minors in 1997 and
2003, according to Maria Hegsted of the Potomac News. The 2003 case
involved a 15-year-old boy whom Artois met via the Internet. Artois
was in a sex offender treatment program, Hegsted indicated, and may
be facing fraud charges for falsely claiming on his web site that
Black Wolf Rescue has IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:

Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar’s office on April 20,
2005 announced through spokesperson Kristin Hubbell that his office
will not appeal an April 7 ruling by Judge Martin Engelhoff that the
Colorado state legislature had no right under the state constitution
to usurp the authority of local governments to enact breed-specific
animal control ordinances.
The verdict reinstated the Denver ban on possessing pit bull
terriers, in effect from 1989 until it was overturned by the
legislature in May 2004. In the interim, Denver largely avoided the
eight-fold surge in pit bull terrier attacks and four-fold surge in
animal shelter admissions of pit bulls that has afflicted most of the
rest of the U.S.
Engelhoff previously upheld the Denver ordinance in December
2004, but city officials did not resume enforcing the ordinance
while it was still under state appeal. Denver Animal Control
received six pit bulls as owner surrenders and animal control
officers picked up six on May 9, the first day of resumed
enforcement. The Table Mountain Animal Center in Golden and the
Humane Society of Colorado in Englewood also reported receiving more
pit bulls than usual.

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:

Bob Carr, prime minister of New South Wales state,
Australia, announced on May 3, 2005 that his government will
introduce mandatory sterilization of all pit bull terriers, American
pit bulls, Japanese tosas, Fila Brasieros, and Dogo Argentinos.
“If you are thinking of getting a pit bull, don’t,” commented Royal
SPCA of NSW chief executive Bernie Murphy to Gerard Noonan and Bonnie
Malkin of the Sydney Morning Herald. “These are fighting dogs. They
are totally inappropriate animals to have in a residential community.”
The Connecticut House of Represent-atives on May 4, 2005
approved a bill to bar insurers from refusing to cover specific
breeds of dog, 77-70–a surprising upset in “The Insurance State.”
The state capitol in Hartford is within blocks of the head offices of
several of the largest insurance firms in the world. “The bill does
allow insurers to use breed when underwriting a homeowner’s or
renter’s policy,” explained Susan Haigh of Associated Press.
“Insurers could require owners of particular breeds to have their
dogs neutered or take them to obedience training.”

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:

SAN FRANCISCO–The California First District Court of Appeal
on May 5, 2005 reinstated the March 2002 second degree murder
conviction by jury of former San Francisco attorney Marjorie Knoller,
49, for the January 2001 fatal mauling of neighbor Diane Whipple,
after Knoller lost control of two Presa Canario dogs in the hall of
the apartment house where both lived. The jury also convicted
Knoller, and her husband and law partner Robert Noel, 63, of
involuntary manslaughter. Knoller and Noel both drew four-year
prison sentences. Both are now out on parole.
Trial judge James Warren of the San Francisco Superior Court,
threw out the second degree murder conviction. The appellate court
said he erred.
“Justice James Lambden, writing for a three-judge panel,
said Knoller knew that the dog who killed Whipple was a ‘frightening
and dangerous animal: huge, untrained, and bred to fight,”
summarized Associated Press legal writer David Kravets.
“The ruling could send Knoller to prison for 15 years to
life,” added San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Bob Egelko–after
all appeal possibilities are exhausted.

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2005:

ANDERSON, S.C.–Firefighters responding to a March 20
explosion and fire at a methamphetamine still in Anderson County,
South Carolina, found 23 pit bull terriers chained to nearby trees,
along with 24 Chihuahuas and an Akita. Burn victim John Woods was
airlifted to Augusta, Georgia for emergency care. Quilla Ralph
Woods, 59, and Brenda Joyce Keaton, 51, with charged with
illegally manufacturing methadrine. Q.R. Woods “has a 15-page
criminal history dating to 1966 and is listed on the state’s sex
offender registry,” reported Charmaine Smith and Kelly Davis of the
Anderson Independent-Mail. Q.R. Woods also was charged with
possession of a firearm by a felon.
The circumstances under which the dogs were found would
appear virtually certain to bring related criminal convictions, but
prosecutors have often run into legal obstacles in pursuing charges
against suspected breeders of fighting dogs and the breeders’
spouses. The main difficulty is in proving that the breeders and
their spouses knew that the dogs were used for criminal activity.
Different judges have twice in four months thrown out
racketeering charges filed against Luther Johnson Jr., 38, of
Wetumka, Oklahoma, alleged organizer of a dogfighting ring that
police hit with a series of raids between May and July 2004.

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2005:

FREDERICKSBURG–The first murder-by-dog case filed in
Virginia was on March 24, 2005 set for an April 20 preliminary
hearing in Spotsylvania County Circuit Court, three days after a
grand jury indicted Deanna Hilda Large, 36, of Partlow, on one
felony count of involuntary manslaughter, carrying a possible
10-year prison sentence, and three misdemeanor counts of allowing
dangerous dogs to run loose.
Large was briefly jailed but was released on $10,000 bond
after police determined that her three unneutered male pit bulls on
March 8, 2005 killed distant neighbor Dorothy Sullivan, 82, and
Sullivan’s Shih Tzu in Sullivan’s front yard.
The first sheriff’s deputy to arrive, after an emergency
call by Sullivan’s daughter, reportedly shot two of the pit bulls at
the scene. The third was captured and euthanized later. Local
police shot two more pit bulls outside Large’s home two days later
when they charged as the officers interviewed her.
“The [five] dogs were suspected of killing other pets in the
neighborhood, including a German shepherd [on March 1, 2005] and a
kitten,” wrote Emily Battle and Keith Epps of the Fredericksburg Free
Lance-Star. “Sources said that although Large was questioned in
those cases, there was not enough evidence to file charges.”

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2005:

TORONTO–The province of Ontario,
Canada, will on August 29, 2005 implement the
farthest reaching ban in North America on the
sale or acquisition of pit bull terriers,
attorney general Michael Bryant announced on
March 31.
Enforcement will be phased in over 60
days. A “grandfather clause” allows pit bulls
already in Ontario or born within 90 days of the
ban taking effect to remain, on condition that
they are sterilized and are muzzled and leashed
when out in public.
The Ontario pit bull ban was among
several amendments to the Dog Owners Liability
Act passed through the provincial legislature by
the Liberal Party majority on March 1, 2005.
Other amendments doubled to $10,000 (Canadian
funds) the maximum penalty for allowing a
dangerous dog to escape control, and eased
search-and-seizure warrant requirements for
police and animal control officers who impound
dangerous dogs.

Read more