It’s been a while since this blog has been updated but this story is definitely worth sharing. Many of you who are regular readers of the DallasDogLife Facebook page know that I have been following the story of Mr. James “Jim” Sak and his service dog, Snickers.

Mr. Sak is a retired Chicago police officer and a Vietnam War veteran. A few years ago, Mr. Sak suffered a stroke which left him disabled, and has been living with a registered and certified service dog named Snickers to help him regain some independence. Snickers helps Mr. Sak by preventing falls, steadying him when he stands, and alerting his wife Peggy if Jim needs more assistance than Snickers can provide.

Jim and Peggy moved to Peggy’s hometown of Aurelia, IA so that Peggy could help care for her ailing 87-year-old mother. After they arrived, a group of Mr. Saks’ new “neighbors” circulated a petition to force him to get rid of his service dog.

Had Snickers gotten lose? Had he snarled at someone? Had he chased a child? Did he dig up a flower bed? Did he lick a deer on the head?

No, Snickers had only done one thing since arriving in Aurelia, and that was help care for Mr. Sak. His “crime” was being born a Pit Bull.

The Aurelia City Council arrogantly decided that their town’s irrational fear and prejudice was more powerful than federal law, which protects disabled Americans like Mr. Sak and allows them to have their service dogs not only in their homes, but in any public place they wish to go.

Mr. Sak had not brought Snickers into an elementary school or a McDonald’s. Mr. Sak can barely walk himself, much less bring Snickers where he might accidentally wag his tail at someone, like a park. Snickers was inside Mr. Sak’s apartment, waiting to help Jim make it through the day.

Snickers was banned from Aurelia’s city limits, and was initially being boarded at veterinary clinic. Later, Snickers was moved to a foster home so he would be more comfortable, but he still suffered from stress. Hives broke out on Snickers’ underbelly and he began to lose his hair. And Mr. Sak was heartbroken as well.

Heartbreak was not Mr. Sak’s only injury; since being deprived of Snickers’ service, Mr. Sak fell twice and required emergency medical care.

Luckily, the Animal Farm Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to “securing equal treatment and opportunity for ‘pit bull’ dogs,” came to Mr. Sak’s aid. They brought national attention to this criminal act of the Aurelia City Council and paid for legal representation to help Jim and Peggy get their much-needed service dog back home where he belongs.

Today, the Iowa Northern District Court heard the case of “Sak et al v. City of Aurelia, Iowa” and the judge ordered a preliminary injunction to reverse the Aurelia City Council’s ruling while the lawsuit is pending. Snickers will be coming home!

However, this is a temporary order; Snickers isn’t out of the woods yet. The lawsuit against the City of Aurelia is still ongoing; but in the meantime, Snickers and Mr. Sak will be reunited.

While this case was pretty much cut-and-dry (seriously, how does the City of Aurelia’s attorney have the arrogance to think he can defend their criminal actions against a disabled veteran?) it does bring national attention to the outrageous foolishness of Breed Specific Legislation (BSL), which prohibits owning dogs of a certain breed.

BSL does not work. It’s not only stupid, it’s harmful - and now we have proof.

While I hate that Jim, Peggy, and Snickers have to go through this ordeal, I am glad for the attention that it’s brought to this idiotic practice of accepted prejudice.

Thank you, Mr. Sak, for being the voice for Pit Bulls like Snickers who may not have a service dog vest but are wonderful dogs just the same. We salute you.

Photos taken from the Animal Farm Foundation Facebook Page.

On Saturday night, I was driving home when all of a sudden, several cars screeched to a halt and swerved in front of me. I was able to stop in time to see that a medium sized dog was darting in and out of traffic. I pulled over into the driveway to a locked gate in front of the Fossil building at Central Expressway and Spring Valley (just next to Chili’s) and tried to see if the dog was OK. I had just stopped for food so I grabbed my Chipotle Burrito Bowl - always a favorite among stray dogs - and tried to get close to the dog.

This stray was a very skinny and skittish female hound, I think, with lesions and bruising on her side. She may have already been hit by a car. She barked at me fearfully, so I kept my distance and put some rice down on the ground for her. She stopped barking long enough to eat the rice and I backed up a little bit to see if she would follow me. She did, and I led her almost all the way to my car. A little rice, a lot of barking, some treats and food samples I’d picked up at the City Wide Pet Day earlier…but she kept barking and wouldn’t let me more than a foot near her. I sat down and looked away, and she came close enough to sniff my shoes and jeans. She looked at me one last time, and turned and trotted off into the night.

The next day, I went back with a gallon of water and more food, and in the light of day saw that several food and water dishes had been put out for her. I filled all the dishes with water and saw that someone had also dumped about a pound of food for her. So I felt comfortable in knowing she had a full belly, but scared that she will dart into traffic.

She seems to only come out at night. I’m calling her Fossil Dog, since she seems to live within the gates of Fossil headquarters. I’ll keep going back to see if I can get her to trust me. The problem is, I have a house full of dogs and CAN NOT take in another. If anyone is willing to foster, please let me know. Thanks!

This week, many parents sent their kids off to school for the new academic year. Some children were returning students, some were going to school for the first time, and some were starting at a brand new school…and from what I can tell, many parents were just as nervous as their kids. I never quite understood what they were so scared of until this week when I dropped Chewy, Buster, and Fudge off at doggie day care for the first time.
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This Saturday, January 24 is “Change a Pet’s Life Day.” Hill’s Pet Nutrition is helping to promote animal adoption by sponsoring the first ten adoptions at their partner shelters. New owners will receive a starter kit that includes Hill’s Science Diet pet food and tips to give their adopted pet the best start in their new life.

Local participating shelters are:
Denton Animal Services
Lone Star Miniature Pinscher Rescue
SPCA of Texas (Dallas)

Please visit FeedingIsBelieving.com for more information.

As I said way back when, I’m not the best HTML programmer in the world. Or even my block, probably. So I got all excited when I finished creating my very first HTML newsletter. I thought I tested it completely but, well, I just now saw the most recent version on Gmail and it’s pretty ugly. My bad. I’ll keep tweaking it, but in the meantime I just wanted you to know that I know that it needs work. If you are reading the newsletter using another email provider and it doesn’t look the way it should (click here to see the newsletter in its full HTML glory), I would REALLY appreciate it if you sent me a quick note ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) letting me know so I can be sure to address all those issues before the next newsletter is sent.

Thanks for your help and your patience!

Hi from Los Angeles! The weather is great here this week. I actually saw a little Schnauzer in a sweater on Tuesday morning, which made me think that I need to find Buster and Fudge’s winter wear. I’m looking forward to trying out new designs from our local clothing vendors. If you are a dog-clothing designer and have figured out how to create a warm sweater for male dogs that allows them to do their business without any mess or sudden interaction from the owner, please let me know!

But on to the weekly update, which is about DallasDogLife now being on MySpace! Read the rest of this entry »