From: Best Friends, Troy Lea 

Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 6:00 PM

To:

Subject: RE: Blackie

Hi Dara,

She must have misunderstood my email, but you can see that I offered to what we could to help Blackie.  Thanks for emailing me, sorry for all the phone tag.  I just tried one more time to reach you by phone, but was not successful. 

I have a few questions.  First how is Blackie doing and do you feel she too aggressive for placement in a home?  I certainly understand the liability issues that go with a dog that has shown aggression.  Does she seem to seek out attention, does she enjoy petting from people?  Have you also witnessed any dog on dog aggression with Blackie?  Melanie described what sounded to me like fairly severe dog on dog aggression.  Is Western PA Humane Society open to Blackie being placed in a sanctuary setting if possible?   

You may find that that most sanctuaries and rescues cannot accept dogs with a history of aggression because of the risk they present to volunteers and staff. Additionally, most organizations don’t have the resources to give dogs like this the regular training they need to control or transform their behavior, nor can they afford consultations with a behaviorist who can help identify the triggers of the dog’s behavior. Frequently, the aggressive behaviors of dogs in rescues and sanctuaries worsen over time due to their isolation from people as well as the over-stimulation of being surrounded by many other animals.  If Blackie is indeed dog aggressive this will most likely be the case with her.     

We have a number of dogs with issues similar to Blackie's here at Best Friends, and even here, depending on the severity of the aggression, many dogs live in an isolated area, where they are kenneled in separate runs and can only interact with one or two highly skilled trainers and handlers. Since Blackie is very young, it’s possible that she would live many years at a sanctuary, with limited human contact. I'm hoping that Western PA Humane Society will be able to determine if this kind of setting would suit Blackie. 

For a listing of sanctuaries, please go to www.worldanimal.net.

We also invite you to post a message on the new Best Friends Network website at http://network.bestfriends.org which is an online community where you can either join a pre-existing community either by “topic” or by “state” or you can start your own community dedicated to your topic of interest.  If you are indeed looking for another organization/sanctuary that would be able to work with and rehabilitate Blackie then please specify this in your posting.   


To post a message, please follow these easy steps:

Go to the following link: http://network.bestfriends.org/Pennsylvania

Click on the box near the top right hand of the screen to join the Network

Once you are logged in, click on the “Forums” tab, then click on: “Working Together for (your state name) Animals”

Choose “New Topic” from the choices next to the title of the community

Post your message

Check back daily to see if other members have responded

Please let me know if you have any questions Dara or if you would like to discuss this further.  I sincerely hope that something can be worked out for Blackie and would love to know the outcome.  I will also let Melanie know that I was able to contact you through email. 

Best wishes,
Ms. Troy Lea

Animal Help Specialist

Best Friends Animal Society

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