Man not guilty in dog death Not guilty

RALEIGH - David Lance Upchurch was found not guilty Monday in the death of Noah, a small dog with a brave, but apparently diseased, heart.
The case of the coddled Chihuahua divided a Southeast Raleigh neighborhood and drew big interest from the general public and members of the legal profession. And it may not be over.

Upchurch, 38, of 1028 Cookwood Court, was found not guilty of cruelty to animals after Wake District Court Judge William Lawton ruled he could not conclude Upchurch caused the death of the 12-year-old, long-haired dog.

Wake prosecutor Boz Zellinger had contended that Upchurch fatally injured Noah on Aug. 30 by holding him down and squeezing him between his breastbone and neck.

Upchurch, who works in the information services department of The News & Observer, has said he was defending his black Labrador retriever, Sasha, from a growling, teeth-baring Noah. He maintains he did not apply enough pressure to kill, but Noah died within the hour at Knightdale Animal Hospital.

Zellinger described the loss suffered by Noah's owner, Betty Richardson, as tragic. Richardson doted on her pet, dressing him in tiny outfits and giving him annual stays at a pet resort. She has planted a tree in his memory.

"Noah was a member of her family for 12 years," Zellinger said.

Noah's death so divided Upchurch's neighborhood that Lawton called it a case of minor tribal warfare. He said he hoped his decision Monday would not aggravate an already tense situation.

Noah's death pitted neighbor against neighbor in a cul-de-sac where all but one homeowner owns a dog. On the day that Noah died, angry neighbors -- some who claimed that Noah was choked and kicked -- gathered at the homes of Richardson and Upchurch. T.W. Bowen, a Raleigh police animal control officer, testified Friday that the Cookwood Court residents were "a mob."

On Friday, Lawton ordered supporters of Upchurch and supporters of Richardson to leave the courtroom separately.

On Monday, more than half of Zellinger's fellow prosecutors from the Wake District Attorney's Office showed up in the fifth floor courtroom to hear Lawton's verdict, which he announced after reading an 11-page opinion he wrote during the weekend.

Two small-animal veterinarians testified last week that any trauma Noah might have endured at Upchurch's hand could have worsened an existing heart condition, but they could not testify that it led to Noah's death.

Lawton said Monday the law required an acquittal, despite his "gut feeling and love of small animals."

"The defendant definitely acted without justifiable excuse," Lawton said, questioning why a 170-pound man could not put himself between a 6-pound dog and the 100-pound dog he said was protecting.

Even though Upchurch was found not guilty, he was still smarting. He said he was especially peeved by news reports that quoted him as saying to Richardson: "This is what another dog would do if he wanted to kill your dog."

"I said, 'This is what dogs do to correct each other.' I never used the word 'kill,'" Upchurch said.

"I'm innocent. It's what I've said all along," he said. "Heart disease killed the dog."

Upchurch also disagreed with the judge's observation Monday that he could have resolved the August confrontation between Noah and Sasha without touching the smaller dog. "That's his opinion," Upchurch said. "I would say otherwise."

After the verdict, Noah's owner returned to her home and sat crying in a darkened room.

"My heart is aching right now," Richardson said. "We are going to take it to the next level, just like the O.J. case. We're going to take civil action."


thomasi.mcdonald@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4533

Cox Communications helps local animal shelters place pets with 'Pet Connections'

Posted by kburns October 22, 2008

Cox Communications will partner with local animal shelters to help place animals into homes through "Pet Connexion." The program, which will be part of the Community Bulletin Board on Cox 45, will include pictures of pets available for adoption from local shelters.
"Pet Connexion" is a result of Cox's recent customer survey. The survey showed an overwhelming desire to see programming supporting local animal shelters.

Cox45 reaches more than 75,000 viewers. Animal shelters interested in participating in "Pet Connexion" should contact Dan Monroe at dan.monroe@cox.com or (216) 535-3358.

Doctors: No hamsters or exotic pets for young kids

By LINDSEY TANNER

CHICAGO (AP) — Warning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets — or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter — because of risks for disease.

That's according to the nation's leading pediatricians' group in a new report about dangers from exotic animals.

Besides evidence that they can carry dangerous and sometimes potentially deadly germs, exotic pets may be more prone than cats and dogs to bite, scratch or claw — putting children younger than 5 particularly at risk, the report says.

Young children are vulnerable because of developing immune systems plus they often put their hands in their mouths.

That means families with children younger than 5 should avoid owning "nontraditional" pets. Also, kids that young should avoid contact with these animals in petting zoos or other public places, according to the report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The report appears in the October edition of the group's medical journal, Pediatrics.

"Many parents clearly don't understand the risks from various infections" these animals often carry, said Dr. Larry Pickering, the report's lead author and an infectious disease specialist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For example, about 11 percent of salmonella illnesses in children are thought to stem from contact with lizards, turtles and other reptiles, Pickering said. Hamsters also can carry this germ, which can cause severe diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps.

Salmonella also has been found in baby chicks, and young children can get it by kissing or touching the animals and then putting their hands in their mouths, he said.

Study co-author Dr. Joseph Bocchini said he recently treated an infant who got salmonella from the family's pet iguana, which was allowed to roam freely in the home. The child was hospitalized for four weeks but has recovered, said Bocchini, head of the academy's infectious diseases committee and pediatrics chairman at Louisiana State University in Shreveport.

Hedgehogs can be dangerous because their quills can penetrate skin and have been known to spread a bacteria germ that can cause fever, stomach pain and a rash, the report said.

With supervision and precautions like hand-washing, contact between children and animals "is a good thing," Bocchini said. But families should wait until children are older before bringing home an exotic pet, he said.

Those who already have these pets should contact their veterinarians about specific risks and possible new homes for the animals, he said.

Data cited in the study indicate that about 4 million U.S. households have pet reptiles. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, all kinds of exotic pets are on the rise, although generally fewer than 2 percent of households own them.

The veterinarian group's Mike Dutton, a Weare, N.H., exotic animal specialist, said the recommendations send an important message to parents who sometimes buy exotic pets on an impulse, "then they ask questions, sometimes many months later."

But a spokesman for the International Hedgehog Association said there's no reason to single out hedgehogs or other exotic pets.

"Our recommendation is that no animal should be a pet for kids 5 and under," said Z.G. Standing Bear. He runs a rescue operation near Pikes Peak, Colo., for abandoned hedgehogs, which became fad pets about 10 years ago.

From
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ha3U4JlgnDXYw7PiAzCGj_Gsvt0QD93KUGC80