Posted on 02/14/2014 3:25:10 PM PST by nickcarraway
A Cupertino woman considers it a miracle that her 3-year-old pit bull, Hammy, is still right by her side.
Last month, Hammy was rushed to a 24-hour emergency animal clinic in Campbell after she ate what turned out to be tainted food.
Emily Aldrich, Hammy's owner, said the incident occurred when she let the dog outside to go to the bathroom. She later found Hammy munching on something from a bag of food.
The food was strips of beef laced with Strychnine pellets in a Ziplock bag. Strychnine is a common type of gopher poison.
Minutes after Hammy ate the poisoned food she started going into seizures. Aldrich believes someone came into her backyard and deliberately tried to kill her dog.
"Oh my God! Why would someone do that?" she said. "You know. It was just questioning like why, how and just no understanding."
Aldrich rushed Hammy to an animal clinic where doctors pumped the dog's stomach and flushed out the poison. But minutes later, Hammy had another seizure that forced her heart to stop.
"I literally watched her die right in front of me and I felt so powerless," Aldrich said.
Aldrich said Hammy was dead for 12 agonizing minutes. But doctors wouldn't give up and managed to revive her.
"I couldn't believe it," Aldrich said. "I think my own heart stopped at that point because I was just in such shock."
Now three weeks later, Hammy is walking around and slowly getting back to her old self.
"The fact that she's still here with me is the biggest blessing that I could ever have," Aldrich said. "I never thought I would be so attached to a dog. She's my best friend."
Aldrich's family and friends have come together to raise money to help pay for Hammy's medical bills. To contribute, click here.
If the article was about a toy poodle I would agree with you. Pitbulls no! The people who own these dogs have a screw loose.
Killed by a maltese's what?
I never mentioned killing. I'm afraid you're going off the deep end, first assuming a dog deserved poisoning because he was not "nice", and now he's progressed all the way to being a killer.
"The reprehensible thing is why these dangerous dogs are being breed in the first place and why people who purport to be animal lovers buy them."
Not all people who buy pit bulls are animal lovers, or know how to handle them. Therein lies the problem.
Wrong.
The problem is animal lovers who think a vicious breed is safe.
Most dogs love to wander about off the leash in the general area of their house. One problem this presents is the owner doesnt know who’s yard is being pooped on day after day after day. Some pet owners around here walk with their dogs and carry a few plastic bags, those bags not yet confiscated by the Greens. I prefer to stay away from pit bulls, but I would not cruelly poison an animal like this just for a daily poop. There are better ways to keep that Property Owner’ RAGE in check. Maybe Deer repellant works to keep dogs off the lawn. I never tried it.
That's an assumption on your part and a very stupid one.
How many threads showing the extreme cruelty to our animals have to be posted to make you realize that there are very sick people out there?
You got a problem with a neighbor's dog, you don't poision it, you don't shoot it with a pellet rifle and you don't beat it to death.
You call up the local enforcement agency that deals with these kinds of things..........
If I knew that a neighbor harmed my pet, I would likely beat him to within an inch of his life and let the local law enforcement sort out the details.........
No, you are ignorant and intolerant of the breed. You blame the animal for what some people have done to some animals I know over dozen Pits owned by different people, none of them with a screw loose, and all of the animals are sweet, loving and non aggressive. I have known many aggressive animals that cross the spectrum and the most aggressive and likely to attack are smaller dogs.
Mmmm no.
I’m no supporter of pitbulls, but this isn’t the way to handle it.
If someone did this to my dog and I found out who it was, they’d be dining on the same dish they served.
I didn't, the only point you made was of your ignorance of animals.........
I love German Shepherds and they can be VERY dangerous..........In fact, my dad had several.
If anyone has contacts in the Baltimore area with the Humane Society or with appropriate law enforcement I would appreciate hearing from you.
I don’t want to be too specific at this point on an open forum but it involves serial dog poisoning.
Wow. And you think that any dog not within a foot of it’s owner should be executed. wmfights is way outside the norm.
Chet99 is back!
The problem is animal lovers who think a vicious breed is safe."
Quite a few breeds have been branded as vicious....German Shepherds & Dobermans to name a couple. But viciousness was never the issue. It was about people who don't understand that certain dogs require knowledgeable owners.
My sister-in-law had a German Shepherd that was trained for protection. He was a big love puppy with the family. However, he requireed a loving but firm hand. Without training, or the right owner, he would have been an accident waiting to happen.
my pit is 8. never once agressive except cats ans rodents
neihgorhood kid grabbed his balls 3xbefore i caught him. all my dog did was YELP.
2 reasons I can think of for pushing the nbr to this.
Bit someone and/or endless barking.
I am fully aware that there are damaged animals out there, I have run into them and sadly that is why it is playing roulette to adopt a pit from the shelter, sad for the undamaged pits that won’t find a home. However if you know the lineage and breeding they are safe loving animals. My six year old grandson has a Pit puppy from his other grandfathers dogs. The pup and my dog got along just fine and I find this to be the rule not the exception. I just don’t understand the vile ignorant hate that some people have for the breed.
What about Great Danes?
Wow. You are an idiot.
I mean I’ve seen people say dumb things, but that really has to be the dumbest.
How about you quote where I said that.
Or you admit that it was you who said that and not me.
Go ahead and quote it, you damn idiot.
there are obvious exceptions but i do believe how a dog is raised is paramount to his temprament.
to be honest had someone squeezed my balls three times i definitely would have bit him. i was amazed that he took it three times and NEVER touched the child. just looked at me with a “HELP” expression.
everyone loves him.. realtor neighbors family etc
with that said i would not allow ANY breed of dog unsupervised with very young infant or child. you just never know.
That’s absolutely true, and not so much because of the dog, but because of the child. It takes time and direction for children to learn and respect an animals boundaries. They don’t have the experience to know that a old animal can’t tolerate the play a puppy can and they have no concept of an animals response to having its feeding space invaded.
I met a lady today who was talking about the drug dealers who live near her who let their dogs run in a pack.
The local LE cites them> Big deal. It doesn’t stop them.
They are now considering more drastic action.
However, they are concerned that shooting them will result in retaliation. They are considering other options because of that.
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