IT IS OFFICIAL: NO DOGS FOR LAPORTE!

I dedicate this blog post to the Honorable Judge Sirois who today rendered final judgement against Marc-Andre Laporte, convicted animal abuser of 97 dogs, mostly wire fox terriers.

I had wanted our friend and Laporte survivor Bingo to give us his report - but he is out celebrating and I was too impatient to share the good news!

Judge Sirois sentenced Laporte to 200 hours of community service (the maximum by law is 240), plus a fine of $2000. He will serve THREE years of probation during which he is NOT ALLOWED to own a dog. The best news is that the so-called Red Collar Dogs (the 18 wires Laporte still owned and wanted returned so he could breed them again) are safe. The Judge severed Laporte's ownership rights and said he would send him to jail if he contacted any of the foster families. To see the video in English that reports on the case's outcome - click to:
http://montreal.ctv.ca/cfcf/video_popup?news_id=21840

There you will see my friend Bingo (I'm almost sure that is him in the black coat - also pictured top left) and I think there is a glimpse of Honeybee too. And our dear friend and savior, Elizabeth Pierce is interviewed too.

Oh Happy Happy Days my friends! Though we would have liked to see Laporte banned from dog ownership for life or sentenced to hard jail time or the electric chair - the Judge handed down the most severe sentence he was able according to the Montreal law. It is indeed more than we could have ever hoped for.

Thank you to everyone for signing the petition and supporting out cause against Laporte. It's been a 3-year struggle, but we were victorious in the end, for the just always triumph my friends, and evil gets what it deserves.

AGC

Substantial Wires Club

I am proud to announce that I have been accepted as a member of the Substantial Wires Club started by founding member Jackson from the UK. To be a member of this coveted club, you have to be over 26.5lbs. I am 32lbs and 19" tall at the shoulder. I do not believe I am overweight, I am just, well, substantial! I am proud to be a big guy, and have a heart to equal my stature!

Good news to report. My itchies have vanished! POOF! One day I was red, hot to the touch, and itching like crazy, and the next day, one shot of cortisone later, I am cured. Please God we hope it lasts as cortisone is not very good for me! I am so much happier you wouldn't believe. The weather is warm again after a few cooler days - and our street is littered with pink blossoms all over the pavement and street - it is messier than snow, but thankfully it isn't slippery. Can you see the pink carpet in the photo at right? It looks really pretty at a distance, but up close it is kind of smelly and the petals get into everything - car, house and oh yeah, paws!

The best thing about spring is the arrival of Mr. Softie The Ice Cream Man. Everytime I hear the musical van, I rush to the door and start to bark to alert dad to his arrival. Dad loves ice-cream almost as much as I do! If he is putering in his basement, he can't hear Mr Softie, so I go crazy to tell him to hurry up, grab his $1.25 and get the hell outside to buy an ice cream. Then from the moment Dad steps in the door holding his cone, I pester him until I get some. Dad, unlike Mom, is not a sucker for my cute behaviour, he ignores me and always leaves me the very last bite of his cone. I tell you, waiting for him to eat the whole thing is pure torture!! Below you can see me pestering Dad in stages - first I sit next to him and tap him with my paw. Then I jump up behind him and breathe in his ear, and finally I jump in front of him and bounce up and down until I get my way!!

A reminder that Tuesday is the final hearing in the Laporte case - let's hope the judge has done all his work and will deliver justice for the wirey survivors of Blainville House of Horrors. Another report will be in from Bingo as soon as the verdict is delivered...so watch this space...

AGC

LIVE Laporte Hearing Update

Two days ago, on April 8, Marc Andre Laporte, convicted abuser of over 100 wire fox terriers, had his day in court. I turn my blog over to Bingo, survivor of Laporte's House of Horrors, who attended the hearing, and renders this report:

Greetings from Quebec - my name is Bingo Mayer, and I am coming to you LIVE from the courthouse in Saint Jerome, where my former owner and abuser, Mr. Laporte, today faced Judge Sirois. Today the learned Judge, stated on several occasions, that he WILL NOT under any circumstances remit any of the remaining Fox Terriers that survived the kennel of M. A. Laporte. This INCLUDES any of the “red collar” dogs that were picked out from the bunch by Mr. Laporte back in November 2005 at the time of his arrest to be returned to him for breeding purposes. The judge expressed his disappointment that Mr. Laporte has not recanted his claim to those dogs.

The prosecution today requested a fine, 4 or 5 years probation during which time he would not be allowed to keep ANY animals, community service, and a substantial donation. At least that is what I understood. [Of course, if a Wire like me was sitting in judgement, we would sentence him to life in prison, to a cell with no toilet and little food and water. We believe he deserves to be treated as we were treated by him!]

However, friends, remember the judge MUST sentence according to CANADIAN LAW…(not moral law). Canadian law states that animals are considered PROPERTY - therefore, the defense requested that Mr. Laporte have his “property” returned to him AFTER he has served his time. The prosecution, in turn stated that, since the “property” that was confiscated by police was used in the commission of a crime (animal cruelty, of which Mr. Laporte has been found guilty), then he is not entitled to that property, any more than a convicted felon would not be entitled to reclaim his or her cocaine or gun confiscated from a crime scene.

The final outcome was that the judge wishes to investigate the jurisprudence on this point of law before making his final decision on May 6 so that it CANNOT BE OVERTURNED on appeal. All things considered, the outcome was positive, given Canada ’s antiquated laws (dating back to 1892).

This is Bingo Mayer, signing off and reminding you all to be good to yourselves, and to be good to your animals. I was unlucky to endure time with Mr. Laporte, but I now live very happily in a loving and wonderful family. I am truly blessed. Goodbye.

Thank you Bingo for that illuminating report. We will check in with you again on May 6, when we hope Judge Sirois will have found some legal precedent for making sure Laporte cannot reclaim the red collar dogs EVER.

AGC

Stymied...for now

Yesterday was supposed to be Laporte's hearing and sentencing, but the defense lawyer asked for a postponement and got it! We are all very disappointed as we were so ready to champion our cause. Our friends in Montreal were armed with binders of our petitions and CDs that Mom, Christine and Elizabeth worked so hard to compile; the media were all coming and many others including foster parents; people who helped in the rescue of the wires and even my pal Bingo!

But, I Axel G Chocholoza am the eternal optimist. This setback is not going to make me depressed. Instead, I see this as an opportunity to add to our petition binder print outs and get many more signatures! We are now at 13,766 - I am sure we can get to 20,000 by the next hearing date scheduled for April 8. And I am very proud to tell you, we have signatures from 64 different countries, WOW!

Besides, word on the ground in Montreal is that the press are still interested in the story and were very impressed with our petition. They interviewed Elizabeth and Bingo - I hope to get that link on the blog soon so we can all watch it.

Mr Laporte, enjoy your freedom for 2 more months, you will get your just desserts yet!

In local news, we got 3.2" snow yesterday. I've been having lots of fun hopping about. Photos soon, me promises.

AGC

WE DID IT!!!!

I was fast asleep on the couch when I heard mom SCREAM. I got a big ugly fright. Then I saw mom grinning from ear to ear. A smile wider than any I'd ever seen before lit up her narrow face.

"Axie Pax, We did it!!" she yelled.

The crazy woman tried to lift me in her arms (fat chance mom!) and do a jig, gave up and did a private jig by herself around the coffee table.

"We exceeded our goal of 10,000 signatures Axie Pax, can you believe that??!! 10,000 people said No More Dogs for Marc Andre Laporte!"

Then I understood her joy. I felt this feeling of intense joy creep from the tip of my tail all the way to my little black nose. It was a wonderful feeling folks! I thought of Bingo and of Honeybee and all the survivors of Laporte's hell, and of all the wonderful people who cared for those wounded dogs and all the special people who answered our call to sign the petition, and of our relentless partner in this campaign Christine and Dean-O in Montreal. And it was a very special moment indeed.

We will be printing out the petition and our dear friend Elizabeth will be presenting it to Judge Sirois at Laporte's hearing on February 22.

Stay tuned...we will of course update you as to the outcome.

A great big thank you to everyone out there who helped us attain this awesome accomplishment.

AGC and one happy Mom

A New Year Beckons

Here I sit, on my favorite spot in the whole world, on top of the couch's arm, contemplating life and the year that has passed.

I had a jolly good year! I went to the ocean on holiday in Cape May, NJ; I visited Gracie in Maine. I spent an interesting 2.5 weeks with the Daschund/Beagle brood while Mom and Dad went to Africa. I made many friends in the dog park and ran and ran. I enjoyed the daily services of my dogwalker. I spent many afternoons at Daycare which I love. I went on many many walks with Mom and Dad. I destroyed many toys and removed many squeakers. I partook of many treats and chews. I swam in many fountains all through Summer despite being warned that I was not allowed to. I connected with many amazing dog bloggers and cyber dog friends. I launched a heartfelt campaign to stop Marc Andre Laporte from abusing any more of my Canadian brothers and sisters...

BOY, 2007 WAS A GOOD YEAR! (Well, except for the itchies over summer)

Here's to another happy, healthy year in 2008!
Happy New Year Everyone!! (Hope there won't be any fireworks!)

AGC

Merry Christmas to my Non-Jewish Friends

Enjoy your holiday, hope you find yummy treats in your stocking and many gaily wrapped gifts under the tree. Hopefully your parents won't follow's Doug's lead and hide your gifts IN the tree:



Special holiday cheer to our wiry friends in Montreal. The signatures continue to rise on our petition...don't forget to sign!! We're at 8,374!

Cheers!
AGC

Laporte Crusade Hits YouTube

Thanks to our friend Nancy for creating this moving YouTube show to highlight our all important campaign against Mr. Laporte:



Please spread it around, everyone should see it!

I end with this petition entry which made Mom laugh out loud...

# 7792: Dec 18, 2007, Claire leone Domney, United Kingdom
Lock him up i his own filth with a dead convict for dinner the ba**ard

We are 3 entries away from 7,800 signatures!!

AGC

A Message from BingoLaporte Survivor

Who would believe by looking at that beautiful photo at right of smiling, happy Bingo and his Mom Helene, that Bingo survived the Laporte House of Horror? In two years, they have travelled a very hard road together, Helene helping Bingo overcome his traumatic past. When Mom and I look at Bingo and his Mom, we can't help smiling and feeling warm all over. To think of what Bingo survived shows just how resilient and special our breed is!

Bingo was very happy to see himself on my blog with his pal Honeybee that he wrote me an email:
I diid see mee an honeebee!!!. Wee wur so happi to bee onyur paige dat we juzt leeped inde aire wit joy! Wood uue tell awl de peepol onyur blog how happi wee R?
Woof …oops I forgawt…I don’t bark anymor.

Well Bingo, you just told everyone yourself. Well done buddy!
Bingo sent other wonderful photos of himself which I'd like to share with you here at left. Mom says he reminds her of me!

By the way, unbelievably, the petition has now accumulated 6,548 signatures! Even the Russians have found us and the Christmas Island people - what do you think they call themselves? Christians? LOL!
I liked the post today from Mary "Mare" Moore #6,539 from Canada - she wrote:

"I am simply appalled at what this man (and others like him) has done to those poor dogs. I'm even MORE appalled at the thought that the judge just might allow him to get some of his dogs back!!!! Only a LIFE-TIME BAN on owning ANY animal is what this guy needs! He doesn't deserve to own a lowly slug let alone anything higher up on the food chain!!!! There is absolutely NO excuse in the world to justify either what he did, nor being allowed to ever own another animal for eternity! "

We couldn't have said it any better Mare. We just hope Judge Sirois feels the same way.

I wonder if the good judge would appreciate an artistic interpretation of the Laporte legacy? Bingo's Mom Helene goes to Honeybee's Mom for art lessons and painted "a series of little dogs coming out of the darkness" to represent Bingo's journey. We think that the painting speaks volumes! I am sure Asta's Mommy who is a great artist, will agree that this is a pawsome picture!

Keep up the good fight! Tell your friends to sign the petition!
Oooh, and before I forget - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR CANADIAN PAL DEAN-O! WHO IS 7 TODAY! He and his fabulous Mommy Christine have been working flat out at promoting our petition! Wishing you many more happy and healthy years pal!

AGC

Happy News on the 8th Night of Hanukkah

Mom has gotten me hooked on refreshing the No Dogs for Laporte petition website every 5 minutes! We have been doing jigs around the room all day because the numbers keep jumping upwards! First we aimed for 1,000, then 2,000 and then so many came in today, that Mom kept yelling, "Ax - we need to up the goal dude!! What do you think?" I give a wag for every 1,000, so to date, I told Mom to go with 4,000, but I might have to wake her in the middle of the night with 5 wags if the petition continues to rise. I will be on refresh duty tonight!

Boy the jigs and refreshing is getting tiring, I haven't even had time to eat my Dingo which you can see I left on my keyboard...helping other wires is more fun and gratifying than eating a million Dingoes. That much I can tell you!

So in between the refreshing and the jigging - we did still make time tonight to light our menorah. Tonight alas, is the last night of Hanukkah, so as you can see, we lit 8 candles and the chief candle in the middle known as the shamash. We didn't get to play dreidel again - but when we were doing our petition jigs, we made sure to jig in many circles so we became canine/human dreidels instead!

We also found time to snack as we need our sustenance to keep on fighting for the Blainville wires! Dad worked late tonight and came home with some KFC chicken - I LOVE chicken - eventhough Mom had coincidently barbequed chicken for his dinner already (and I got half of that too!). I won't tell you which chicken I prefer - the Colonel's or Mom's 'cos, I live with Mom!

I'm sad to see the end of Hanukkah - but who can be sad when one only has to run upstairs and hit refresh on the computer. In the time it's taken me to write this blog post - the number has jumped from 3,782 to 3,865 (and I'm a fast blogger!!). Pawsome! And also, I still have one more Hanukkah gift - the postman left a slip in our mailbox to pick up a parcel - I suspect it is the package from Ricky Pepper and his family that "got lost" for a while! Woohoo!

AGC

Meet Laporte Survivors: Bingo and Honeybee

I'd like to introduce you to two very special friends, Bingo and Honeybee (that's Honeybee snuggling on top of Bingo in the photos, they love eachother very much). What makes them extra special is that they are survivors of Marc Andre Laporte's puppymill in Blainville. Forty other foxies who they lived with were not so lucky and did not survive the horror and neglect.

Yesterday these brave pups, met with a journalist from "Journal de Montreal" to tell their story in the hope that it will stop any of the ridiculous talk of Laporte getting his wires back! "Bing and Bee" as they are known, meet every week for "coffee" with their Moms Helene and Elizabeth G. It's a kind of therapy session for everyone. When the wires think of what they have suffered, they get very very sad. In fact they cannot bear to even think about going back to that life again. They are very grateful to all the humans campaigning against such a notion and appear on the blog today to beg you to sign the petition and write letters to Elizabeth Pierce on their behalf (119 16th Street, Roxboro, Québec Canada H8Y 1P1). And speaking of their friend and protector Elizabeth Pierce, here is a photo of her with Honeybee.

All the foster moms explained to the journalist how excruciatingly difficult it was caring for Bingo and Honeybee after they were rescued - they had so many scars from their life with Laporte, it took so much love, patience, medicine, training and effort to nurse them to health. One thing they pointed out to the journalist was that most of the rescued wires have/had conjunctivitis and some are blind because they had lived their little lives in the dark at Laporte's puppy mill.
Can you imagine? I, Axel G, am afraid of the dark, I do not like to go for walks when its dark out, so I shudder to think of what those wires endured living 24/7 in the darkness.

Bingo's Mom told me that when she first acquired Bingo (after one foster family gave up on him), he could not be taken outside! He yelped non stop and at first she had to carry him and put a blindfold on him. One day she lost patience and yelled at him to be quiet, and believe it or not, he responded. After that breakthrough, he made giant leaps of socialization.
"He is so happy now!" she tells me, "He likes old people and children the best. He has other dog friends. He still doesn’t understand toys and if a job is too difficult he easily gives up (eg. a Kong with a cookie that doesn’t come out, gets left there). "

Sometimes she says, he stresses and starts to “make circles”. And not surprisingly, he has nightmares! He sleeps in his Mom's room, in her bed, and when he starts crying and yelping she tells him it’s ok and he calms down.

"I think I have a harder time with his beginnings that Bingo does. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about the hell he lived in. "

Well, friends, there is no doubt about it, Bingo is one lucky chap to have found such a great home and Mom. Can you just imagine Bingo having to leave this loving home and return to Laporte?! No we can't either and we won't allow it to happen!

Our story has now hit South Florida thanks to the valiant efforts of my Florida pals Jake and Just Harry. Ellie Brecher, general assignment reporter, best known as the Pet Lady for The Miami Herald, blogged about our Laporte campaign after being notified by the Barkalot Boyz and their Mum J1. You can see it here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/crazy_for_critters/
Well done chums - hopefully all the Montrealers vacationing in Miami will see it!

AGC

"FERMEZ LAPORTE" Update and Don't I look dashing?

Mom and her friends continue the crusade against Marc-Andre Laporte - the convicted wire fox terrier abuser in Montreal, Canada who has the gaul to ask the court to return the very dogs he abused back to him on February 22, 2008. To all sane humans and dogs, this is clearly an INSANE proposal, so the petition, aptly called "No Dogs for Laporte" or "Fermez Laporte" continues. Signatures now stand at close to 1500! If you haven't signed yet or told all your friends to sign, please do now at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/no-dogs-for-laporte

We also ask you to write a letter of protest and mail it to:
Elizabeth Pierce
119 16th Street
Roxboro, Québec
Canada
H8Y 1P1

We are hoping that both the petition and the letters will be presented to the Judge Sirois, and that as a result, Sirois will say, "No dogs for you Laporte, get your pathetic ass to jail!"

And now in other, more cheery news - I got a haircut Friday just in time for the holiday bash at Asta's place in NYC. As you recall, I had a horrible haircut courtesy of Pet Stupid a few months ago - they destroyed my coat by shaving it. Color and texture went out the window. But thanks to new groomers, Pooches Choice, I have been restored in two sessions over 3 months, to my former glory. This is what I looked like before my session on Friday:

I do look cute as can be in my scruffy mode and you can see that the colors were starting to return on my shoulders and back. But look how dashing I looked after my appointment:

Mom and Dad did a jig when they saw me, they keep oohing and ahing about how handsome I am, and who am I to protest their praises?

Hanukkah continues, sans latkes - my mother is very lazy indeed. Today is the family party at our cousins and I am NOT invited because they have a new Yorkie pup and I guess they're nervous I might mistake it for a hairy, yappy latke? Harumpf! So I get to stay home - at least Mom gave me a juicy marrow bone to enjoy to assuage her guilt.

Thank you to Bigfoot Fletch and Maxie for the cute Hanukkah gift that arrived on Thursday. It's a blue Hippo with his name "Zaftig" embroidered down the side. Mom explained that "zaftig" means "FAT" in Yiddish. Amazing that they're making Yiddish/Jewish Hanukkah gifts in China! Mom went holiday shopping yesterday for today's party and was dismayed to see that practically everything she picked up to buy is made in China! We are trying to boycott due to their terrible record in animal rights and environmental issues - but holy cow, it's difficult!

Now, don't forget to sign our petition!

AGC

500 Signatures and still counting

Thanks to everyone who has responded so enthusiastically to our "No Dogs for Laporte" campaign. We are thrilled to see over 500 signatures to our petition and many promises of letters being mailed to Canada. Please be sure to include the zip code on those letters (H8Y 1P1) - if you already sent one without it, don't fret, it will get there, it will just be delayed.

Every minute Mom hits the refresh button on the petition page, she whoops in delight and we do jigs around the living room. We are amazed at the countries represented - from Australia to Greece, Costa Rica to Poland, Malaysia to Italy, South Africa to Sweden and on it goes. It is good to see such evidence of love and concern the world over.

My astute Canadian Buddy Dean-O has been helping me a lot - today he sent me some links to videos of the coverage of the case in Montreal TV.
Click here to see a report in English:
http://montreal.ctv.ca/cfcf/video_popup?news_id=17190
Click here and here to see reports in French.
We understand some French but those folks in Montreal have funny accents. But you don't need words to explain horror at Laporte's house and you sure as heck don't need words to see what constitutes a happy wire in a safe home on her Mommy's lap!

Please continue to tell all your friends about our campaign - to sign the petition and write lots of letters.

With all this activity going on, we've scarcely prepared for Hanukkah. We promise to do a special Hanukkah installment tomorrow, as the holiday begins at sunset tomorrow.

AGC

And now, on a serious note...

Calling all fox terrier and dog lovers!
Wire survivors in Canada need our help!

See that photo at right? Believe it or not, that is a wire fox terrier like me! An abused, horribly neglected wire who was one of 97 fox terriers found at a Monreal puppy mill belonging to Marc-Andre Laporte. Laporte was found guilty of two counts of animal cruelty at the St. Jerome courthouse in Montreal this week. Click here to see more photos

Almost 40 foxies had to be euthanized. The surviving dogs were cared for by the SPCA and later, with the help of devoted fox terrier lovers, found wonderful foster homes where they have been living for the past 2 years, unable to be adopted until the case is finalized. Laporte is only facing six months of jail time and up to $4,000 in fines. I find that disgusting - he should be locked in a cage forever or put to sleep - he murdered 40 dogs and abused 57 others!!

But it gets worse friends.
On Feb. 22, 2008 he will be sentenced.
And at the same hearing, the judge is to decide if Laporte is to get any of his fox terriers back!

Yeah, you read that right...get his dogs BACK! Are they insane in Canada? Are they blind? What is wrong with these people!? To even consider removing ONE wire from the safety and care of their loving foster families back to Laporte is OUTRAGEOUS!

WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN.

So friend, today we are launching a two-fold campaign to prevent Laporte from getting his dog/s back. We know we can count on you to take action and spread the word:

1: Please go to the online petition. Once all the signatures are entered, we will print it out and hand it over to our friend in Montreal who has been instrumental is saving and caring for the Blainville wires, for distribution to the media (unfortunately it is illegal in Canada to hand petitions to the court).

2: Please take a few minutes to write a letter to Judge Jean Sirois imploring him to prevent Laporte from ever taking possession of his former fox terriers or of owning any dog again. If you can, include a photo of yourself and your foxie/dog. All the letters received will be put in a file and also handed to the media.

Letters should be mailed to:
Elizabeth Pierce
119 16th Street
Roxboro, Québec
Canada
H8Y 1P1

Please disseminate this information on your blogs, to your fellow dog owners and friends.
Thank you for your support in this important matter.

A sad AGC and his very angry Mom