Practically all dog trainer cruelty & neglect cases end with plea-bargained probation DAYTON, Ohio––The June 9, 2026 sentencing of former dog trainer Jason Thomas Jones, 47, who previously owned and operated Dayton Dog Trainer LLC in Huber Heights, Ohio, may mark a distinct turnabout in how judges handle cruelty and neglect inflicted in alleged dog […]
Both convicted of fatal dog attacks, Koko Miller & Brandy Dowdy face prison
Criminally negligent homicide plus multiple related charges PORTLAND, Oregon; RUSSELLVILLE, Alabama––Each convicted of criminally negligent homicide and related charges for dog attack deaths, Koko “Moe” Miller, 56, of Portland, Oregon, and Brandy Lee Dowdy, 42, of Red Bay, Alabama, are to be sentenced on March 13, 2026 and April 28, 2026, respectively. Miller, convicted on […]
Pit bull pusher Steffen Baldwin gets 15.5 years on 32 felony counts
Charged in 2020, former Best Friends Animal Society & Maddies Fund star Steffen Baldwin delayed trial until January 2025 MARYSVILLE, Ohio––Steffen Baldwin, 44, alias Steffen Finkelstein, former executive director of Top of Ohio Pet Shelter in Logan County and the Union County Humane Society, also in Ohio, and co-founder of the Underdog Alliance in California, […]
Trump cabinet nominees Doug Burgum & Kristi Noem records on animals
Burgum favors fossil fuels, factory farming, & wild horses; Noem shot her dog, a goat, & three horses, then bragged about it in a book WASHINGTON D.C.––Whatever people in North and South Dakota think about animals on public lands, and human use of public lands, is very likely to be public policy during the second […]
Trainer of pit bull “service dogs” for veterans faked just about everything
Michigan TV 6 News exposes Kirk Lanam for “Stolen Valor” HOWELL, Michigan––Again an alleged trainer of pit bull service dogs for U.S. war veterans is in trouble for misrepresentation. Criminal charges against Kirk Lanam, 52, founder, president and executive director of Veteran Service Dogs Organization, in Osceola Township, Michigan, near Howell, have not yet […]
Pit bulls: Truth or Consequences? by Beth Clifton
Pit bull pushing is not a game show Humans appear to have discovered the rewards of canine companionship to enhance and enrich our daily lives so far back in the Ice Ages that cave bears were a constant threat and a “Three-Dog Night” was not a band but an early form of home heating, perhaps […]
Alabama wolf hybrid baby killing: Jack London knew “bastard wolves”
Alabama wolf hybrid baby killing: Jack London knew “bastard wolves” CHELSEA, Alabama––Amid stonewalling by the Shelby County Coroner, Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, and family of the victim, strong circumstantial evidence including matching photographs and property descriptions suggests the three-month-old boy killed by a wolf hybrid on November 30, 2023 in Chelsea, Alabama was Leo Caddel, […]
Police dogs killed by driving into 100º heat index at rush hour with bad AC
Lake Station Police Department helps driver/trainer to evade humane investigation CHICAGO, Illinois––“Parts of the Chicago area are under excessive heat warnings and heat advisories,” warned Eunice Alpasan and Paul Caine of WTTW-Chicago in the early evening of July 27, 2023, “with temperatures expected to top out at 96 degrees, along with a heat index […]
Corpus Christi: 30th U.S. dog attack fatality of 2023 is 21st by pit bull
Corpus Christi animal control chief Joel Sizemore calls pit bull attacks “extremely rare” over victim’s dead body CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas—Attacked on May 31, 2023 while dog-sitting her adult daughter’s pit bull, Rita Maria Vasquez, 58, of Corpus Christi, Texas, three days later died from her injuries. Vasquez thus became the 30th U.S. dog attack fatality […]
Beagler fined $10,000––for wildlife trafficking, not for torturing hares
Allegedly hired Maine trappers to supply Massachusetts field trials PORTLAND, Maine––Jon Thomas Rioux, 36, a landscaper in Attleboro, Massachusetts, entertained himself and friends for years by setting beagles on snowshoe hares, until, apparently running out of rabbits locally, he ventured more than 150 miles north into Maine to find more. Jon Thomas Rioux might […]