I was a volunteer at PAAS until recently. When I last spoke to Connie Urbanski, she told me on August 20 that if there were any dogs who needed extra work, she would call me, yet I haven't been contacted. During my 1.5 years as a volunteer, I actively worked with all Pit Bulls - especially the ones who were not yet up for adoption. I would have gladly worked with Elon to make him "more reliable."

Full disclosure: I am a founding member of Friends of the Palo Alto Shelter (FoPAAS). You can see our mission statement under "About Us" on www.pafriends.org

I support Cathy's message looking for a rescue group that might accept Elon as a dog who needs special training & fostering. I also understand the position of Palo Alto Animal Services who must be confident in a dog's behavior before it is deemed adoptable.

Pit bulls are a sad problem in every shelter where they show up. Whenever one comes in to PAAS, staff & volunteers cross their fingers and hope for the best outcome. Not always possible. Connie Urbanski at the shelter has enlisted the aid of 2 or 3 dog training specialists to work with all the "large" dogs (not just pit bulls), and it's paying off as the dogs reflect good manners. I do not know how the training applies to dogs such as Elon who are not already approved for adoption.

I wish that the kind people who want to save Elon's life had started the campaign for his rescue on August 16th, as soon as they learned he was at the shelter. No need to wait for an animal to be scheduled for euthanasia before we marshal forces to find other options. Especially with pit bulls, it might always be good to approach rescue groups ASAP, just in case?

Thanks for both of these comments. It seems based on Maria's comment that we are not fully leveraging our volunteer base. In regard to Scottie's comment, I would say that I think it would be a much better practice for the shelter as part of their protocol to contact rescue organizations themselves and make the dog's status publicly known before putting a dog down. Otherwise the volunteer community has to maintain a vigilance over the animals in custody, and how can someone know to launch a rescue campaign if they don't know that the dog is going to have adoption issues? Also I don't agree with saying the breed is the problem, this could have been any dog, we see issues with all types of dogs, it's really who the dog comes from and how they're trained and socialized.

For this sad situation, seems like a solution is at hand. Just neuter Elon an call in the volunteer who wants to work with him. Two days is just a number, it can be changed.

Sadly my cat was killed by a neighbor's pit bull that escaped from a fenced yard. There are many dogs that need homes. This dog sounds dangerous. Why put other people and animals at risk?

Cathy, I didn't mean to imply that I blame pit bulls for the bad press they get. When I used to walk Roseanne, a pit bull who lived at the shelter for 8 months before she was adopted, I'd meet grown men who were anxious about being near a pit bull. I'd introduce Roseanne and demonstrate what a sweetie she was, and sometimes the man would admit that he should reconsider his prejudice about the breed. Before I met and spent time with Roseanne at PAAS, I was NOT a fan of the breed. Roseanne taught me to love pit bulls. So did Spanky. And Lulu, so young she still had her baby teeth, who learned to sit for me in about 5 minutes! I gave no command, and she put together that sitting got a reward. That's another thing about pit bulls--they are incredibly smart and eager to please. FYI, I did post Elon on the page for RescueMe, where they showed 250 pit bulls in California up for adoption on their website.

A footnote: At least 10 years ago (maybe 15?), the new editor of the Palo Alto Weekly, Diana Diamond, informed PAAS that the Weekly would no longer permit the shelter to list pit bulls in the "Pet of the Week" section. Absolutely never! She claimed that news reports of terrible attacks by pit bulls made her banishment valid. Not long after that, the Weekly stopped carrying the shelter's "Pet of the Week" photo & description of any dog or cat. Still true today. The Weekly shows pets from Peninsula Humane Society, in Burlingame, but not Palo Alto Animal Services.

I wrote a letter to the editor at the time explaining that pit bulls at PAAS were evaluated for temperament & behavior before they were approved for adoption. In addition, volunteers worked with all the dogs every day but Sunday and kept the shelter staff informed of each dog's health and behavior. I challenged Ms. Diamond to find a single report of aggressive or dangerous behavior of a pit bull adopted from PAAS. No response.

Freedom of the press? Or the same kind of irrational ignorance that continues to follow pit bulls wherever they are found?

Thanks much for these comments. Thanks Scottie for posting on RescueMe, and thanks for bringing up this question about the newspaper. I think you're referring to the Palo Alto Daily News, not the Weekly. In response to "sad," I believe we should follow shelter best practices before killing dogs in our community, and I don't think we should generalize about dogs or dog breeds; this could have been a chihuahua. I do agree with Kathleen, that it seems like there could be a solution here, or at least more options to be considered for this and every dog that comes through the shelter. It would be nice to have more detailed policies and procedures that follow best practices in animal shelters (who knows, maybe since we're Palo Alto we could actually *create* some even better, new best practices?) along with more transparency about our process so that community members don't have to bird-dog the status of each dog that comes through, and the resource of potential volunteers can be tapped and fully utilized.

Politics and hand-wringing aside, what's the real deal with this dog? Is this one of the cases where PAAS is euthing a dog whose behavior isn't that bad, but it's more convenient to put him down? I say this based on their local reputation in recent years.

Or, is Elon's animal aggression/prey drive really that hard to handle for most folks? And what behavior does he *really* exhibit toward people?

The bottom line is that most dog and other animal aggression can be managed by a responsible owner. A human aggro pit bull can be a recipe for disaster, if the dog has really shown aggression and/or poor bite inhibition.

So what's the bottom line with Elon?

Call Our Pack, from the South Bay, and plead with Marthina McClay to assess him. She's stellar, and she's not that far away: Web Link

Here is their Facebookpage: Web Link

Cathy, I'm pretty sure it was the Weekly, not the Daily News, though I think Diana Diamond did move from the Weekly to another local paper -- but not till she imposed the "no pit bulls" standard based on her emotional, irrational response to one of those terrible stories about a violent incident. It doesn't matter which paper it was. What matters is that people who ought to know better think it's appropriate to profile an entire breed and condemn them.

Hmmm, thanks so much for mentioning Our Pack. I really admire the groups that focus on helping the unjustly vilified pit bulls around us. And thanks for reminding us that we're writing in this blog about a situation when we don't have all the hard facts.

I'd love to have a comprehensive list of the rescue groups in northern California. Anyone know where I can get such a list? When our shelter Friends group becomes acquainted with specific rescue groups, we add them to the "Affiliates" page on our FoPAAS website.

Terry and I spent a lot of time with Shylow recently and she was sad (Terry, Shylow we presume was psyched) that someone else had decided to adopt her, ahead of us.
Then we found it it was our neighbor M_ and her family that adopted Shylow.
Then we found that D_, married to M_, was severely allergic to Shylow and she was returned to Palo Alto shelter.
Then we found that two days later another family took home poor, lovable and sady (but presumably slightly more psyched) Shylow.

Overall I found we get a LOT for our tax dollar with our public sector shelter. Kudos to Bonnie and staff.

With due respect to Cathy and Cynthia (and Elon) this is an atypical case.

Kudos to Bonnie and Connie and staff. (Satchi)

Does not mean, due respect to Scottie, that I support a brand new capital improvement shelter, but will hear you out on this.

Mark Weiss
intact male
running for City Council
(misses Frida)

Got all that?
more info on my blog if you sniff it out

(i also spend quality time with a private dog dating service and Maryann, but have yet to post those photos)

Hi Mark, thanks for your comments. I appreciate the respect because I have teenagers, but I don't think you're refuting anything because of course anecdotal evidence can't be the basis for your assertion that this is an atypical case. If you're running for council, I hope you have an interest in reviewing departmental policies, implementing best practices, and maintaining transparency and accountability. See my follow-up post re Elon's reprieve. Also I don't think you want to come to snap judgments about issues relating to operational policies, or come across as dismissive of residents who have different experiences and views. Just my opinion as a voter. As a long-term resident, I've happily adopted many animals over the years, so that's not really the point here, but I'm very glad you shared as it's good to get a mix of views in any discussion.

I think Mark's wrong. Elon is atypical given the behavior he demonstrates (atypical for his breed and for so many of the dogs at PAAS), but what's NOT atypical is the shelter putting down an adoptable dog, hence the scrutiny and questioning what is really going on.

Yet another terribly sad story. I hope Elon found a home--any luck at all?

The other night at a restaurant on California Ave. a couple was dining on the patio with their dog. The dog rose to greet me and was so friendly, repeatedly giving me his paw to shake hands, wagging his tail, etc. I was kneeling down, patting him, my head by his, and it dawned on me he was a pit bull. I'm a firm believer that it is the owner, not the breed, who is responsible for aggressive behavior. The woman thanked me for communing with her dog, as many are frightened of the breed. It was my pleasure to have an encounter with such a sweet dog.

I truly hope Elon found a forever home.

What a nice story Nora about the dog you met! It's always such a pleasure to meet mellow, well-trained dogs of any breed, and the owner behind the dog, but especially when it's of a strong breed. The other day I saw a woman walking a well-behaved bulldog while I was circling around looking for a parking spot downtown, and I just had to compliment her on the lovely job she was doing with her dog! And see my subsequent blog post about the reprieve for Elon.