Thursday, March 13, 2014

Lassie? Where's Timmy?

Best headline EVER


Dogs That Ate Owners Remains Given All Clear For Adoption



THE CANADIAN PRESS -- SPRINGSIDE, Sask. - A famous dog trainer has checked out seven dogs who ate the remains of their dead owners and has proclaimed they pose no danger to anyone.

Brad Patterson hosts "Puppy SOS" and is also a trainer on the Slice TV show "At the End of My Leash."

He spent all Wednesday at the Saskatoon SPCA working with the dogs.

He says the dogs have good dispositions, are compatible with people, and had no trouble being checked out.

The dogs belonged to a devoted couple who lived in a rural home in eastern Saskatchewan.

When the wife died after an illness, her husband then killed himself, leaving the dogs behind to fend for themselves.

Patterson says the dogs did what they had to, and are not dangerous animals.


"You just can't assume just because they've had human flesh, that they're going to become these creatures of the night, like a werewolf," says Patterson.

He believes two of the dogs may be mourning their dead owner.

"The only part of their temperament that has changed is the depression that they've lost something significant in their lives," he says.

Patterson feels the dogs are healthy and could live in any home, even with children.

Margaret-Ann Irving, a dog breeder who knew the couple, has said the dogs should be euthanized because they were poorly socialized and had behavioral issues.

14 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I'd need to think on that for a while.

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  3. I remember that story, from about a year and a half ago. I'm actually just outside of Saskatoon. There was lots of chatter in the local dog community about whether or not the "breeder friend" was actually qualified to make that call or if she was biased by grief.

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  4. Poor dogs! What choice did they have? Did the guy leave the door open and a years supply of dog food out for them before he offed himself?

    I am guessing no.

    Don't know why anyone would blame the dogs.


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  5. After a string of thoughtful comments, I feel like a jerk for saying this....

    But that was honestly one of the funniest things I've read all day, and I really needed that laugh right now.

    Could you imagine adopting one of those dogs? "Sweetie, he's sniffing me again. Why is he sniffing me? I feel uncomfortable."

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  6. Becky - Thank goodness, I was afraid I was the only warped one out there.

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  7. OMG...thought I'd bust a gut reading the headline...

    I'll never hear "Lassie, Where's Timmy" w/o thinking of this post.

    Thanks for the morning giggle.

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  8. Morbid humour aside (lol!), the debate is stupid. Dogs eat dead things all the time. There is nothing special about dead humans. As long as you don't become cold, unresponsive, and smelling of carrion, the dog isn't going to eat you.

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  9. What choice did the dogs have? They can't just open a tin or call for home delivery. I can't see a problem with rehoming them.

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  11. Okay - I just loved the headline...sorry, can't help it, it killed me.
    Of course I don't think it's funny that people died, or that the dogs lives were endangered because dogs, unlike people, understand that meat is meat. Once the person is dead, the remains are meat.Me and dogs, well, we think alike on that one.
    I have to admit I thought it was funny the dogs were Shelties.
    It would have mad me laugh more if they had been Maltese or Yorkies, but Shelties were pretty good.
    No, I don't think the dogs should be put down.
    I do think dogs that attack, kill and then eat their owners should be put down.
    In retrospect, I should have left the column off, because what I thought was funny, was the headline. Except then, you wouldn't know the owner-eating dogs were Shelties, which also cracked me up.
    There, I think I covered everything.
    If those people were your neighbors, your friends, or your relatives, then I am sorry for your loss.

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  13. redhorse - I think it's hysterical. I have thought about offering my services as a Chihuahua Trapper...maybe I could get my own reality show...

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