WESTCOAST NEWS
Experts in dogfight over Rottweiler
SHELTER I Police search for dog set free by SPCA workers

Chris Johnson
Vancouver Sun

June 19, 2004

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CREDIT: Vancouver Sun Files
Suspended SPCA worker Amanda Muir, who was mauled earlier by a Rottweiler dog (not the one shown) says Cheech can be rehabilitated.

Dog experts are debating whether it's too late to teach a young dog new tricks -- or at least better manners.

Delta police say they're looking for Cheech, a young black-and-tan Rottweiler that disappeared before he could be destroyed, after he allegedly threatened a dog tester at a Delta animal shelter.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals believes he should be put down, but Delta SPCA volunteers say Cheech's bark is worse than his bite.

TV dog show host Amanda Muir, suspended by the SPCA for allegedly taking Cheech, denied she is harbouring him after the dog went missing Wednesday.

"He's a puppy, and with the right rehabilitation and training will grow up to be a perfectly sound companion," says Muir, who was mauled last year by a nine-year old Rottweiler.

"There's no comparison between the two. That's why I made a plea for his life. He's been making progress. He does have a fear of some men approaching with objects. But he hasn't bitten anyone or attacked anyone."

SPCA staff say it's too late to teach Cheech.

"All of the people who assessed the dog since April ... say he's too dangerous to be in the community," says SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk.

"He has very high, fear-based, learned aggression. He can be very affectionate at one moment. But then when someone's back is turned, he can attack them."

Deborah Wolf, a volunteer at the shelter who plans to protest at the Delta SPCA at 11:30 a.m. today, disagrees.

"He still mouths," she says. "It's a puppy trait, a form of affection. He gently puts his mouth around your arm and hand, without biting."

She says Cheech's personality tests were unfair.

"You put him in a cage with a stranger coming at him, my dog would have done the same thing. A lot of wonderful family pets would be aggressive if backed into a corner."

Muir says that after an initial test May 13, Cheech went out peacefully in public with volunteer dog walkers. She claims the shelter's manager ordered a new test after Cheech growled at her in the office.

Wolf says she begged to spend five minutes with the dog.

"They said no. We want to take him right now," she claimed. "I spend hundreds of hours and hundreds of dollars volunteering at the SPCA helping these animals. And they wouldn't give me five minutes. They wanted him dead right away. I said to them 'What's the big hurry. You guys are monsters. He's kissing us and wagging his tail'."

However, SPCA staff maintain Cheech is bad to the bone, a belief backed up by a temperament test used to assess thousands of dogs over seven years in England.

After showing on the first test that he had anger management issues, Cheech got "progressively worse in the shelter," said Nadine Gourkow, animal welfare manager of the SPCA office in Vancouver.

During the second test, Cheech "showed he had a very high level of fearfulness" by growling, showing teeth, jumping up and down, and cornering himself in the back of the cage, she says. Then, when the dog tester wasn't looking, Cheech lunged at him.

"He has learned that aggression works to keep people away," she says. "He will lunge and be very aggressive. Or he may wait until you're turned around and not looking, and then attack you. He has to unlearn that the best strategy is to attack. Where are we going to do this?"

"All of the people who assessed the dog since April ... say he's too dangerous to be in the community," says SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk. "

The SPCA has claimed that Cheech was assessed negatively four times in other statements. Two assessments were done not four. The first deemed him adoptable with a little time and rehabilitation. The second was done after Cheech growled at the manager when she was rough with him. Staff at the Delta SPCA told us that the second and final assessment on Cheech was done by Head Office assessor Barry McKnight, a male who Cheech does not know, who cornered Cheech in his kennel holding an object, some say a broom and this would be most likely as poking a dog with a broom handle is a known test. It is possible that the SPCA has dishonestly strengthened their argument by having more assessors sign off the McKnight assessment then claiming that four assessments were done.

"He has very high, fear-based, learned aggression. He can be very affectionate at one moment. But then when someone's back is turned, he can attack them."

"He still mouths," she says (volunteer Deborah Wolf). "It's a puppy trait, a form of affection. He gently puts his mouth around your arm and hand, without biting." She says Cheech's personality tests were unfair.

"You put him in a cage with a stranger coming at him, my dog would have done the same thing. A lot of wonderful family pets would be aggressive if backed into a corner."

Muir says that after an initial test May 13, Cheech went out peacefully in public with volunteer dog walkers. She claims the shelter's manager ordered a new test after Cheech growled at her in the office.

However, SPCA staff maintain Cheech is bad to the bone, a belief backed up by a temperament test used to assess thousands of dogs over seven years in England.

The SPCA has maintained this fiction because of the credibility the name RSPCA lends. The RSPCA test is much different than the BC SPCA test. For example, a dog is tested by its kennel attendants, not strangers. It is tested every day for 10 days, not "one test and you're dead". It recommends winning the dog with treats and warns that aggressive handling, like the kind that is part of the SPCA test, may result in the tester being bitten.

After showing on the first test that he had anger management issues, Cheech got "progressively worse in the shelter," said Nadine Gourkow, animal welfare manager of the SPCA office in Vancouver.

During the second test, Cheech "showed he had a very high level of fearfulness" by growling, showing teeth, jumping up and down, and cornering himself in the back of the cage, she says. Then, when the dog tester wasn't looking, Cheech lunged at him.

...And did what? There is not one report of Cheech biting anyone. And none of the other staff and volunteers ever saw Cheech behave this way. Muir says that after an initial test May 13, Cheech went out peacefully in public with volunteer dog walkers. She claims the shelter's manager ordered a new test after Cheech growled at her in the office.

"He has learned that aggression works to keep people away," she says. "He will lunge and be very aggressive. Or he may wait until you're turned around and not looking, and then attack you. He has to unlearn that the best strategy is to attack.

Not one word of this is confirmed by the many staff and volunteers who spent much time with Cheech daily. Gourkow has never met Cheech. Neither has Chortyk. Both have displayed the same ignorance of dog behaviour that Manager Michelle Rodgers has. Rodgers actually asked volunteer and rescuer Mia Riback, to advise her how to handle her own dog's aggression.