"Guard Dogs" seized from K-9 International, LLC in Florida

[AbbyK9]

Guard dogs placed in custody of Animal Care and Control in danger of being put down

Excerpt. (Ignore the bad reporting...)

From July through September, the county confiscated 18 dogs from Royal Palm Beach-based K9 International LLC and its owner Augustin "Gus" Artiles. One of the dogs died in custody; another gave birth to a single pup.


In a three-day custody hearing last week, veterinarians and animal control officers for the county described the dogs seized as being severely underweight, tick-infested and suffering from a multitude of infections.
Artiles unsuccessfully argued that the dogs were not victims of neglect but healthy specimens lean from the rigors of working in boat yards and car lots.


The county will be trying to collect the daily cost of care from Artiles, but that does not cover future surgeries or treatments the dogs could need.
Weisman had emailed Sauve asking whether her staff had to deal with issues of aggressiveness in the former guard dogs.


Only one dog, Gunny, a former police dog with an aggressive record, has proven too dangerous to be adopted.


"He will be euthanized once we receive the signed court order," Sauve said.


Another point of concern is the group of Belgium Malinois, a type of German shepherd.


While Sauve and her staff say they are careful not to stereotype dogs by their breed as all good or all bad, they say they are proceeding with caution with these dogs.


"These dogs have been very over-bred and many Belgiums exhibit unpredictable behavior and health problems, especially in the type of environment they were living," Sauve wrote. "They are highly intelligent and thrive on meaningful work with their handlers."

[Konotashi]

That's so sad. I hate seeing stuff like this....

But... Belgiums? Really? :/

[AbbyK9]

Yeah, not terribly impressed with the reporting on this one, especially the "Belgium" Malinois who are "a type of German Shepherd." FAIL.

I feel bad for the dogs, too. I looked up that company's website, and they do narcotics and explosives dogs, too. I wonder if anyone has looked at the dogs to see whether any of them are trained to do narcotics or explosives and would be suitable to go to a law enforcement agency, rather than being PTS?

[KZoppa]

thats horrible. which then points to another problem... a type of german shepherd?! seriously now its going to lead to over breeding of mals because some idiot didnt do research for accuracy in his article. I feel bad for these dogs.

[AgileGSD]

Originally Posted by KZoppa

thats horrible. which then points to another problem... a type of german shepherd?! seriously now its going to lead to over breeding of mals because some idiot didnt do research for accuracy in his article. I feel bad for these dogs.

I never know what people mean by "overbreeding" but unfortunately, Mals are already being carelessly bred. There are more Mals in rescue than the other varieties combined. It is different from GSDs because Mals aren't as numerous or as popular, so there aren't a lot of pet breeders of them advertising in papers. What there is, is a number of people carelessly breeding them under the guide of breeding "working dogs" and thinking police departments will want them. Someone I know recently spoke to a Mal breeder who was many states away. She asked the breeder lots of questions but the breeder provided little info. Puppies are $600, they can ship them any time, have lots of drive so would be good for agility and they show no signs of animal aggression (at 8 weeks old...). They didn't ask her anything and didn't answer quite a few of her questions. These were working/sport bred Mals, she had no experience with Belgians of any sort and would need to have the puppy shipped to her. Such scenarios are not uncommon with Mals though. It's a sad situation but I doubt this article or event will change things for Mals one way or another.

[CaseysGSD]

This is like 10 miles from my house! I cannot foster because I have young children and these dogs may be unpredictable but if rescue needs help pulling any of the dogs I can help with that!

[DFrost]

The Mal is a shepherd, it's just not a German Shepherd.

DFrost

[BowWowMeow]

I hope they can get the mals into mal rescue. I met a couple recently who were gaga over Rafi. They had wanted a mal and had called a breeder on the east coast and he refused to sell them a dog. Told them they weren't for everyone. These people definitely were into Rafi b/c he's was good looking, well trained and sporty but they really didn't know the first thing about dogs. That made them think twice about whether they really wanted a mal and instead they bought some sort of little thing.

Mals are all over Ohio (lots to buy and in shelters) and I've seen them up on Craig's List here listed by a guy who buys Mals cheaply from down south and brings them up here to train and sell to police depts. Sometimes he doesn't have time for all of them though and ends up just selling unsocialized 6 mo puppies to people over Craig's List.

[KZoppa]

Originally Posted by BowWowMeow

I hope they can get the mals into mal rescue. I met a couple recently who were gaga over Rafi. They had wanted a mal and had called a breeder on the east coast and he refused to sell them a dog. Told them they weren't for everyone. These people definitely were into Rafi b/c he's was good looking, well trained and sporty but they really didn't know the first thing about dogs. That made them think twice about whether they really wanted a mal and instead they bought some sort of little thing.

Mals are all over Ohio (lots to buy and in shelters) and I've seen them up on Craig's List here listed by a guy who buys Mals cheaply from down south and brings them up here to train and sell to police depts. Sometimes he doesn't have time for all of them though and ends up just selling unsocialized 6 mo puppies to people over Craig's List.

well thats definitely no good!!! poor dogs. I wouldnt even get a mal until my kids were in school all day just so i could have the larger amount of time to dedicate to them but even then i'd get a dutch shepherd first.

[robinhuerta]

Chris...I agree with you.
*Also...before anyone jumps to conclusions about the "true" condition of these dogs....remember, most AC have no idea that slim, muscled dogs are in fact healthy...most think that any dog this is not over weight...is under weight, and starving.*
The flea & tick issue can also be because Florida has one of the highest epidemics this year...
I will never condone animal cruelty "on any level"...but before I would base an opinion...I would need more facts & pictures.
This was an animal business....and their "housing & care" is not generally the same as companion animals. I just can't see the businesses "paying" for their services IF the animals were in fact in such poor condition.
I've visited "training facilities" and dogs were kept in runs, were lean & had food /water......but I could easily imagine that someone would not think that their "care" was suitable by some people's standards.
JMO