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Owner taped dead bird on dog as discipline

February 20, 2020

The owner of the black Labrador retriever found Monday night in rural Paso Robles, duct taped part of a dead chicken to the dog’s face to discipline it for attacking chickens, an Animal Services official said. [Tribune]

At about 9 p.m., local resident Lynda Shoemaker was taking her dog for a walk when she discovered the Labrador retriever had wandered into her yard on or near Loma Lane. The Labrador retriever had its mouth and eyes shut with duct tape, to which there was part of a dead chicken attached.

Shoemaker cut the duct tape off the mouth and then removed the dead bird from the dog. SLO County sheriff’s deputies and Animal Services personnel arrived at the scene and launched an investigation. The dog was taken to the Atascadero Pet Hospital for treatment.

Investigators identified the owner of the black Labrador. The owner apparently taped the dog’s muzzle and the top of its head after the Labrador attacked chickens, said Eric Anderson, the director of Animal Services.

Anderson also said the owner taped part of one of the chickens that was attacked to the dog’s head.

The owner did not necessarily intend to cause suffering to the dog. Rather, the owner was trying to discipline the dog and break its behavior pattern, Anderson said.

Animal Services personnel are currently holding the Labrador retriever, which is now doing well.

The duct-taping does not appear to have been intentionally malicious, but it has implications for the future well-being of the dog, and authorities are taking the incident seriously, Anderson said.

Authorities are deciding whether to recommend charges to the SLO County District Attorney’s Office. A decision should be made by the beginning of next week, Anderson said.


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If DA Dan Dow won’t prosecute a rapist cop what do you think will happen here?


5

this dogs rights were violated. He deserves a loving home not an abusive environment. Hopefully Animal Services will remove all animals from owner and owner should be fined/jailed for animal abuse. No excuse.


8

I don’t get it. Doesn’t everyone duct tape their dogs eyes and mouth shut?


-1

Pen your dog. Pen your chickens. Problem solved, case closed. “Can’t we all just get along” sounds better when typed or written.


4

“this technique has been widely used and quite successful for 100’s of years.” Ummm…so did spanking your unruly kids arse. Look where that ended up.


6

Someone should print out Adam Hill’s emails and tape them to HIS face for discipline.


16

I’m sure to face 50 lashes for this but, this technique has been widely used and quite successful for 100’s of years. I’m sure the owners intention wasn’t to ever impeded the dogs breathing or vision however, it seems like the dog probably grew frustrated and in trying to remove the duct tape probably made it worse. I’m not commenting on his disciplining expertise (he needs help for sure).


Plan B for a dog that continues to harm your livestock is to get rid of the dog and I’m sure he didn’t want to lose a good dog. If he was honestly cruel I feel he would have simply shot the dog.


2

Wow. I see you consider yourself an authority on the history of animal discipline. If this practice, as described here were done for “hundreds of years”, a whole lot of dogs would have ended up dead by very sadistic means.


The historic method of disciplining a dog for killing domestic fowl was to tie the dead carcass to a rope securely around the dog’s neck, but not in any way hindering the animal’s ability to function, except for, perhaps, catching another chicken.


The bird would remain in place until it rotted off. This was a quite disgusting experience and therefore a strong deterrent, appropriate because the dog was killing (a natural behavior in the wild), but in no way threatening to the dog’s survival. Only an ignorant sadist would handle this situation in the way that the owner did, with no regard to the welfare of the dog. It is the owner’s fault that the dog was killing the chickens, the animal lacked proper training.


This was NOT proper “training” or “discipline”, it was more in the range of sadistic retaliation from an ignorant person who should not be handling animals. They are not simply lesser possessions to be treated any way we please. They are other living creatures and deserve a lot more respect than this. I hope this “owner” is properly prosecuted. The next time someone has a similar problem, perhaps they will consult a professional trainer or the dog’s vet.


17

What a mealy-mouthed article.

1. The Labrador retriever had its mouth and eyes shut with duct tape, to which there was part of a dead chicken attached.

2. …the owner taped part of one of the chickens that was attacked to the dog’s head.

3. The owner did not necessarily intend to cause suffering to the dog. Rather, the owner was trying to discipline the dog and break its behavior pattern, Anderson said.

4. The duct-taping does not appear to have been intentionally malicious…


Why would you ever think that there is anything malicious about duct-taping your dog’s eyes and mouth shut? Or, that doing so was in any way malicious or intended to cause suffering to the dog?!?!


I need to know what readers think.

Who is the biggest jackass:

1. The sadist dog owner who committed these unthinkable acts

2. The clueless, mealy-mouthed idiot who wrote this article

3 Eric Anderson, the director of Animal Services who defended the sadist because he “did not…intend to cause suffering to the dog”?


Shit show all-around.


18

Not saying it is right or wrong, but this standard Barbara Woodhouse dog training technique. She recommended tying the; dead animal, shoe, whatever the offending object was around their neck. I think you were also instructed shame the animal profusely while tying it on. Shame works great for dogs, not so well for cats.


I doubt you’ll find agreement on this technique nowadays, but it was the standard training a few short, decades, ago.


Speaking of shit show. Just curious: is not now not acceptable to rub their “nose in it” if the go in the house?

The most effective training tool ever!


0

What a mealy-mouthed apologist comment.


“The owner did not necessarily intend to cause suffering to the dog” Bullshit, That is literally how discipline works, tape over the face, some lashes whatever. The victim suffers the discipline of the perpetrator in order to keep the victim from repeating the behavior.


-15

This “person” has no clue how to train dogs. The lab should be removed from their custody.


21

It’s been done for a hundred plus years to break field & bird dogs from a bad behavior. I’ve used other methods of reinforcement quite successfully but to each his own in their training regimen.


Surely, a mountain will be made of this molehill by the court of uneducated public opinion when in reality, if these naysayers were to come across a finished field dog that was trained, they would be in awe of the incredibly disciplined and fantastic Labrador, doing what it was bred for in the first place. Been there, got the t-shirt many, many times.


-3

Cool, you abuse animals. Just because tactics used by backwood rednecks might have worked at one point, doesn’t make it civil then or now or even efficient. Ive broken horses and dogs; many, without physical abuse or corporal punishment. Let’s hope if you have kids, they received lesser. Hm, side show showing his colors yet again, super cool.


11

Sorry. Not buying it. Dogs have been trained for a long time by tying the bird around the neck with a length of rope and left until it rotted. Not using duct tape over it’s eyes or mouth, which is life threatening. How do you think you would do if someone shoved you out into the wild with no way to take duct tape off your eyes or mouth ? I would wager you would be the one who would be “finished”. If you are doing this to any animal, you should be arrested. Encouraging others to behave in this manner is a sickness.


5

Gee, maybe as punishment, people should have their eyes and mouths taped shut and a dead piece of rotting meat placed on their face. This was abusive behavior.


7