A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Courtesy of Columbia County Animal Control / The South County Spotlight
DANGER DOG — This male pit bull was one of two dogs that attacked a calf last summer. While the pair are relatively friendly to humans, they’re highly aggressive towards other animals — and to each other. “They're an accident waiting to happen,” said animal control officer Roger Kadell.
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It may be a death sentence next week for the pair of pit bulls – owned by convicted dog fighter Eduardo Ribaya – that attacked a calf last summer in Scappoose.
Columbia County Circuit Court Judge Jenefer Grant has affirmed a county commission ruling that the dogs should be put to death and their owner fined. The county’s Animal Control Officer Roger Kadell said that his agency would continue to hold the dogs until Feb. 6 in case the dogs’ owner, Ribaya, 57, files an appeal.
Grant’s strongly worded ruling took into account dog fighting-related equipment that Kadell documented finding on Ribaya’s property.
“Specifically, the hanging spring line and canine tread mill, in combination with Mr. Ribaya’s previous conviction for dog fighting were sufficient to persuade me ... that he was involved in at least preparations for dog fighting,” Grant wrote in her Jan. 6 decision.
Ribaya, who has previous convictions for dog fighting in Washington and California, had filed for a hearing to review the process by which the County Board of Commissioners had decided that the dogs should be euthanized and Ribaya fined for the damage by the animals. Grant said at the hearing that she would consider letting the dogs live if Ribaya and his attorney could find appropriate placement by the end of the year.
No placement was found and that, combined with the news that the male pit bull had escaped his cage and injured the female pit bull and a county employee on Dec. 26, spurred Grant to write that she was anxious to relieve the county of the duty of keeping the dogs.
“Unfortunately, by mistreating these dogs by converting them from pets or companions to dangerous, unpredictable animals,” Grant wrote, “Mr. Ribaya not only loses his right (if he had any) to possession of the dogs, but also ensures that the dogs will not be able to safely relocate to another home.”
Comments that these dogs could easily find sanctuary is so untrue. The County Counsel contacted several rescue groups, none would consider taking the dogs based on their history. The owner has been given months to provide information on an approved location to transfer the dogs. He Offered none.
Since the case was not prosecuted by the Sheriff's office on potential dog fighting. Requiring the owner to pay for retraining of the dogs was not possible.
Many people use Vick's dogs as an example of what can be done, anything is possible, but few defendents can pay $15,000 per dog for the retraining as in the Vick cases.
As it is, the County has spent thousands carring for these dogs for more then seven months, they had an employee injured by the dogs and as with most civil cases never see any repayment of the cost.
Yes the dogs may be friendly to people, but any other animals that comes near is attacked and they can rip open most normal kennels. Who is willing to take a dog like this due to the liability if it gets free.
At the shelter the one time the dog got free it attacked and injured the second dogs and the employee who was in the fight of his life was injured. Had the dog escaped the dog would have injured or killed.
The shelter works hard to find homes for dogs and has one of the lowest euthanasia rates in the County, .04 % the national average is 56%. But in this cases these dogs present a real danger, while the fault is not theirs but the owners, it is also not the fault of the County, or the courts for not being able to save these dogs.
(email verified)
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 09:42 PM
The above statement is true. The SHAME is that once again what could be great dogs in the RIGHT hands will pay the utimate price for the OWNER's sick, greedy and preverted actions of not properly socializing his dogs.
I wonder if the OWNER knew that HIS actions would lead to HIS demise if the dogs would have been allowed or trained to be aggressive with other dogs? I think NOT.
I hope this joker has to PAY for everything AND that HE does SERIOUS time.
(email verified)
Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 12:28 AM
It is tragic that these dogs will be put to death. I would seriously like to know if anything besides a tread mill and spring pole were found as evidence of dog fighting. These dogs, and a ton of others that are not 'pit bulls', love spring poles. It is a great game for them and uses up a ton of energy. A lot of people will hang a bicycle tire from a tree and dogs have great fun pulling them and hanging from them. Tugging is lots of fun for dogs. These energetic dogs need an outlet to burn off excess energy. The same with treadmills. Really good trainers and handlers use treadmills to exercise their dogs. There is nothing wrong with that. Cesar Milan uses them to exercise his dogs. I can't say whether this man intended to fight these dogs, but the mere presence of these normal exercise devices cannot in themselves be considered evidence of dog fighting!
(email verified)
Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 05:29 AM
These dogs CAN find sanctuary. I would be happy to provide sanctuary for them when I have space. Can you let them live that long, if I put them on the waiting list?
There is no legitimate pit bull sanctuary that would refuse to take these dogs "based on their history." As they have exhibited no human aggression, their behavior has not precluded their placement. Many of the dogs who come into our sanctuary have histories of chasing livestock, and is it really that difficult to understand why two male pit bulls living with a dog fighter would not get along with each other? That doesn't mean they are dangerous to humans. To the contrary, their history shows that they are not.
It is true that finding placement might not be "easy," because so many people continue to breed dogs of all breeds, that every shelter I know of is operating at capacity right now. But it is certainly not true that the dogs themselves are un-placeable.
So the county gave the man who owned them time to find a placement and he didn't? What one earth! Why on earth would the County continue to leave the lives of these dogs in the hands of this irresponsible and foolish man. If he really does have past convictions for dog fighting, WHY is he still free on the streets? Why are you not prosecuting him, and why have you not allowed someone more qualified to find placements for these dogs?
Please grant them a reprieve and let us find a shelter with room for these dogs.
(email verified)
Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 09:42 AM
I have contacted the County Commissioners, the animal control staff, and the assistant to Judge Grant in the hope of finding a better solution for these dogs. I believe they can be safely placed in a rescue shelter, and I am happy to work with the County to locate a suitable placement. Nothing about the dogs themselves makes them impossible to place, it is only a matter of finding an opening for each dog. This is no easy task, as you know, but I think we can do this, given the time and the permission to do it.
According to Judge Grant's assistant, the decision CAN be changed. It is up to the County Commissioners. I have not yet heard back from them, but I think we are all people of good will, who can work together to find a better solution than killing these dogs.
I would like to add that the kill rate in the Columbia County animal shelter is the lowest of any county shelter that I know of. It is MUCH lower than, for example, the nearby Multnomah County animal shelter. This is a record they can be proud of, and I believe that the people who work there do want to do what is best for the animals. I fear they simply don't know what to do in the case of these two dogs. That is understandable, given that so much of their time and resources are so taxed with the effort of tending to the many animals who come in without any behavior problems at all. I do understand their predicament. Again, I would like to help.
Together, we can find a place where these dogs can live safely, and possibly be rehabilitated. What do you say, Commissioners Hyde, Fisher, and Bernhard? Can we do this? Please let these dogs live.
(email verified)
Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 11:30 AM
It is not the shelters desire to euthanize this or any dog. What they are concern about is the safety of other animals. If a "responsible" home can be found that can assure the public safety, then I think all would agree to consider placing the animals. But if you ever saw the dogs response to other dog, you would be concerned.
It was not only the past owner who was looking for a home ( any suggested would have to be approved), the county council, Spencer Parsons placed numerous calls and took information on rescues from the Shelter and from the Oregon Humane Society. The county must also consider the liability to the County if they adopt the dog even to a rescue.
The shelter has many wonderful available Pittbull mix dogs. They also have a track record of finding homes for these dogs, so the issue is not that theses dogs are pitts. The shelter many years ago changed from space being the consideration for euthanasia to animals temperment, euthanizing aggressive dogs and not by breed.
Today at the shelter two AKC dogs with a past records of being very expensive dogs. The issue with these dogs? They are older and the people are moving. Being older is a reason many shelters will not take a dog. The shelter places numerous dogs yearly that would be turned away from other shelters.
Many would like to see more done to the owner. The County is limited in that the only case against the person is the Livestock attack. The Animal Control is limited in that they could not enforce dog fighting statues.
For all reading about the shelter issues, if you have space the shelter is very full and could use good people to take a dog home. They also took in two more dogs today involved in the killing of two goats. So the process starts all over again.
(email verified)
Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 07:27 PM
I think it's only fair to add an update regarding my earlier post.
I have now spoken to at least one of the commissioners. It appears that, indeed, they will allow the placement of these animals if we can find a good, secure shelter willing to take them in before the deadline runs out. This is always a difficult task, and I do not doubt that they have given it some effort already.
The county is understandably concerned about protecting the community, and about liability. And so the dogs will not be able to be adopted into a private home. They can only go to a secure rescue shelter where they can be safely evaluated and rehabilitated.
Because there are so many people out there who continue to selfishly, greedily breed dogs and cats, there is never enough room to save them all. So it's not going to be easy to find a placement, especially given the limited time frame, but I intend to put my best effort into finding them a place to live. (So far, I have found several shelters who would be willing to take these dogs in, but they do not have space at this time. They would be willing to put the dogs on their waiting lists, but the wait would probably be longer than these dogs have, given that they only have until the end of next week, according to the judge's order.) So I continue to work to find a place.
Thanks to the commissioners for allowing me to try to help the dogs, and thanks especially to Roger Kadell for his help and for the great efforts that he and his staff go to try to save all the animals that they can. I know it is not easy work.
I I believe these dogs can be rehabilitated, and have seen dogs recover from the kind of damage that humans do to them. I have faith that we can save them together.
But you can make it easier for us to rescue the animals who need to be rescued. I ask that people PLEASE stop buying and breeding animals. More than 5 million dogs and cats die in shelters every year for the simple reason that they are unable to find homes. For every ten puppies born in this country, only one will find and keep a loving home. There is NO excuse to be bringing litters of puppies and kittens into the world while this is happening. PLEASE stop buying animals as well. If you want to share your home with a dog or cat, please adopt. The shelters are filled with dogs and cats who need you. Go to the Columbia County shelter, or go to petfinders.com to see animals waiting in other shelters. But do not contribute to the problem by rewarding the people who continue to intentionally breed animals. Don't buy while shelter animals die.
(email verified)
Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 03:26 PM
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Re: Convicted dogfighter’s pit bulls on death row
I am very sad to hear that the county commissioners have sentenced these dogs to death. This awful man who forces dogs to fight gets to live and continue to harm animals, and they are sentenced to die? This makes no sense. Incarcerate people who fight dogs, and rehabilitate their victims at their expense. What century IS this? Has no one heard of the Vicktory dogs?
Why not place the dogs in a sanctuary? According to the article they are not aggressive toward humans, and so would be fairly easy to place. I urge the commissioners to grant clemency to these dogs.
"Ann"
(email verified)
Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 09:01 PM