#i love how 2012 used the mask tails usually but the one time they had super pretty and long ones they didnt really show them at all

[matryoshkalex]

HAPPY TMayNT!

for day one: my favorite turtle, believe it or not, has always been leo!! raph is clearly my favorite to draw but i love every iteration of leo so so much.

i also had a HUGE crush on 2012 leo when i was like. 13 so hes Very Special to me

i wanted to draw something special for the first day of TMayNT but after a series of unfortunate events and a very No Energy day, i will Not. so instead take this 2012 leo in the super ninja outfit that i never posted bc i never finished the rest of the guys

i really need to draw him more

tmaynt masterpost

[doxiedreg]

A tribute to my dogs

This piece depicts our first dog Spock guiding Zorro (who passed away yesterday) to the afterlife

Me and my family like to think Spock helped us find Zorro in the first place when he saw how sad we were without him. Spock had been there for me since I was born and I was absolutely inconsolable when he passed. He was the first death I had to cope with and I was like 13 when he passed (spock was 16.5 when he died). His death was traumatic as he had a really bad seizure (he had epilepsy and had dementia as well as a bad back) before my dad and sister rushed him to the vet while me and my mom stayed home. The vet decided to put him down then and there, it should have happened years ago but I was so attached to him, as was my dad, and we didnt want to let go. So my dad and sister returned home without a dog..I had been unable to say goodbye to him. I have felt bad for a long time once i realized how long he had been suffering and i hadnt let go. But in the end I forgave myself because I was a vulnerable lonely kid back then and I didnt want to lose my biggest support

In 2012 (I think?) we adopted zorro from his old owner we found through a dutch online marketplace (We often joked he was a second hand dog). She loved him a lot but she didnt have time for him anymore due to her job and she wanted him to go to a loving home. His old name was Gijs but one of my highschool bullies was called Gijs and we also didnt think the name suited him. So after some brainstorming we decided on the name Zorro (because he was fast and his black fur made me think of the masked hero). He was nervous and sad the first few days and didnt want to be touched but slowly but surely he warmed up to us and he soon felt right at home. He had sooooo much energy. He was super playful, was obsessed with tennis balls and he wanted to be friends with everyone, including cats though they didnt like him. He loved laying on your lap, laying on the couch or accompanying you upstairs. His presence and support has helped me through my horrible time at high school, my burn out and depression, my anxiety. He helped me go outside. He made me smile and laugh with his curious and funny behaviour. He followed me between my parent’s houses when they divorced, and when I went to live in a clinic for people with autism to stabilize for 7 months, he was always overjoyed when I came to visit home every two weeks. A few years ago though, health problems started to arise. First it was a sudden onset of back pain which was really scary. He was treated and after a long recovery he seemed to be okay. Then he started to get restless at night, crying and whining and wandering around. During the day he was fine and he was still able to be happy and cuddly. Slowly his health got worse. We found out he had kidney stones and a vet advised us to get it removed. We agreed with the surgery, though we were nervous due to his age. The vet cut him open, took an xray to see where he had to cut and then didnt see the kidney stone so he closed him up without removing anything. So my poor elderly dog went through surgery without being helped by it. My dad is still really mad about it and i am too but not much you can do about it. The vet said it wasnt his fault. We left that vet. We had moved to that vet because a. This vet was super close to our house and b. My dad was unhappy with our previous vet because they couldnt find out what was wrong with zorro or how to help him. In the end we ended up with the vet that helped him during the backpain emergency and taken great care of him. But his health just kept getting worse, he started to lose his mind, he started to be unable to be left alone or he would howl. He then didn’t want to be picked up anymore and the last few months he got more and more aggressive and he just wasnt there anymore. He would wander around the house, lost and confused. His tail was always between his legs. His back was bent. He walked strained. My dad denied it for a long time because he loved zorro so much he didnt want to let go..but me, my mom and my sisters didnt want Zorro to suffer like Spock had. We were finally able to convince him to make an appointment for the vet to come to our house to put him down. He made the appointment monday. We gave Zorro lots of snacks. My mom came to visit Tuesday to spend time with him and us..and she came again on Wednesday to be there with us. When the vet came, zorro was in his basket. So my dad got him out of there and held him in his arms on the couch. As usual Zorro growled and barked and snarled. The vet put the first injection in his bum and though he first still growled a bit he quickly went under. He was even snoring and his tongue was hanging out of his mouth. Then my mom took him on her lap so she could hold him for the final injection. I still sort of expected him to wake up snarling when my dad handed him over but he continued to sleep and was all floppy. Once in my moms arms and after the second injection, he took a few quick breaths and then he was gone..I cant continue typing because I will hit the text limit but im just happy I was able to properly say goodbye this time..

[arcticdementor]

There was something grandma said when you said “My heart is broken.”

“Make your guts into a new heart, and go on.”

…

I’ve been accused many times — accused being the right term — on this blog of being an optimist.

I’m not.  I’m actually a dark, despairing pessimist, which feeds wonderfully into my depressive tendencies.

…

This is why I tend to avoid, like the plague, both horror stories and the sort of despairing thriller where you fight and fight and fight and in the end it’s maybe slightly better, but not much. Or you become what you have fought.  That is the NORMAL pattern my mind tries to make. i had to train myself out of it.

So I’m very very good at seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and determining it’s not an oncoming train.

And guys, I’m having trouble. Real trouble.

I look at “70% of the country” including places like Texas and Utah will be voting by mail.  And I know what happens with fraud by mail. And early fraud, and all the various corruptions of “voting” that are not on the day, after you registered a month earlier, at a verified address (you know, the sort of thing they make you do to get a checking account, say?) and on paper, and then carefully watched.  All of those, btw, are run by the same people now demanding vote by mail, to save them from a (granted particularly severe) variation of the cold virus. Which mostly kills people over 80 who are already in poor health. (To be fair, just about anything kills them.)

And I don’t see how we turn this.

And everything the left is doing, in their spiraling insanity seems to confirm it.  Kamala? Biden? That necrotic convention? The idiot rumors about Trump (possibly personally) stealing mailboxes? All of it adds up to “We’re just making it credible enough that Biden wins. We have the votes taken care of. It’s in the bag. Like the communist countries of old, we don’t even have to run a credible show.”

And I can’t do anything.  I’ve tried.  G-d knows I tried. Years ago — 2012? — when I first talked about how all those “conveniences” in voting increased fraud, I got ON THIS BLOG a barrage of “You just hate me and don’t want me to vote because I have to work.” Or “I love voting by mail. It’s so convenient.”  And of course, the usual idiots said I was against the military voting, apparently failing to see the difference between unavoidable, carefully watched situations, and just mailing out ballots to every person, cat, dog and imaginary character at an address.  I tried to point out because of motor voter a lot of permanent residents THINK they can (and should) vote. Because no one explains you have to be a citizen. Or insist on registering you even if you show as ID, say, a Japanese passport as has happened.

Now no one is saying any of that when I mention fraud by mail and early fraud. But now it’s too late. Most states have same-day registration. The early vote tells the left how many new voters to register, even if their names are Mickey Mouse and Milk Jug.

And because crooked election after crooked election was accepted, so long as the left does a little dance and pretends they have massive support, and the press sings along in the choir, well….  How do you dispute one? Will anyone even dispute one? Even try to? Or will the right be afraid of the mythical “uprising of the people” if they do?

I don’t know if it’s the circumstances of this horrible year, but I feel myself future blind.  I usually have a sense of what’s coming assembled by my (despite myself) rational processes beneath the surface.

I don’t now.

I don’t see past the beginning of November. If the left wins, the country as we know it will be gone within a year.  And if you think that’s impossible contemplate what they’ve done to our cities and states in five months. FIVE MONTHS.

They want to open borders wide and confiscate and redistribute property.  After that, there is no America.  And like with NYC (which I always loved, despite everything) there is no coming back from that. The people themselves will be broken.  Why create, start, work really hard, dream, do anything, when it can all be taken away at a whim?  The East Germans haven’t recovered. Russia… well, Russia is Russia.  But America, put through that won’t be America. Whatever emerges on the other side will be just a country of serfs. In my dark hours I think we’re halfway there.

And don’t tell me we can rebel and fight. Guys, we can’t go to the store without masks.  The left revived their monopoly on information in the shutdown. By trying to get information on the plague, they are glued to the TV night and day, and even though it’s lies and frankly outright nonsense, people are being gaslit into believing them.  Which is why the panic fear of the unmasked person, and the mob that forms at grocery stores to form an asthmatic to mask up. Even though masks — if they do anything — are a net negative, and the virus is nowhere near as lethal as advertised.

We’re back to where we were in the seventies and eighties, where if the right commits any violence (even violent words) they are the aggressors, and evil bad, and must be destroyed. Look at the whole “your words are violence.” Hell, even our silence is violence. Even their violence is our violence. Look at what they did to JFK’s assassination. That’s what they’ll do to any (real) resistance.

Grandma said to make your guts into a new heart and I’ve been trying.  It’s not working markedly well.

…

The loss of wealth, health and ultimately life these past five months, not from Covid-19 but from the stupid attempts to destroy us, disguised as attempts to stop the virus, is incalculable. It might be more than all the wars of the twentieth century, worldwide.

And the loss of American spirit is far, far worse than that.

I want to believe we come back. I want to believe we recover. I want to believe this insane clown posse of grifters and corruptocrats (anyone notice this started JUST as the whole Russiagate was about to be nailed to Obama’s tail? Or that everyone running this crazy psiops on the virus has their pockets filled by China?) will be gone after this last final spasm.

But I’m holding on by my fingernails, while I look at the election approaching and a massive Game Over blinks in my head.

[dansnaturepictures]

08/09/2020-Magpies in the garden, butterflies and more at Lakeside and Ring-necked Parakeets flying over seen from my window 

I had a treat early this morning when I saw two birds I still don’t often see in the garden, one in particular with two Magpies coming in I took the first picture in this photoset of one which was nice to see the other a Blue Tit feeding in there. It was a day of crows rather enjoying as I have a lot lately the three common species Magpie, Jackdaw and Carrion Crow. At Lakeside later on in the day I was thrilled to spot and hear all three at once on one scan around with my eyes and see and photograph one I tweeted Magpie and Carrion Crow together in one tree. As I went out for my lunch time walk I noticed the lovely tree in the second picture in this photoset one I took of in full autumnal flair a few weeks ago now looking very green adding to what I said yesterday about a lot of the earlier coloured leaves being blown off by August storms leaving green ones next. I also loved looking at the flower patch on the way to Lakeside in the estate by the painted stones in honour of the NHS and key workers, which I have enjoyed before and all spring and summer this year I took the third picture in this phootset a zoomed out one this time rather than a macro of some of the flowers. 

When out and into Lakeside after a few autumnal and cooler days of late I noticed how hot it was today and it was a very nice throw back to summer in a relative heatwave, and it brought out notably more butterflies and dragonflies on the walk. I loved seeing Speckled Woods including the one in the fourth picture I took in this photoset on vegetation along the northern path. This was lovely to be so close to and I enjoyed a throw back to big butterfly days this year. 

I also took the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth pictures in this photoset of a view, a tree with some autumnal colour, another view over the lake, a Black-headed Gull by beach lake and some of the regular Stock Doves again in the fenced off field. When home I saw some more pigeons in another strong day for them and with lots of pictures taken of them I took the tenth and final picture in this photoset of of Rex and Violet the Feral Pigeons that visit our garden regularly. 

And just as I was finishing off working in my room tonight I had one of the most magical moments of wildlife out of my window whilst working from home when I heard a familiar screeching sound from our trips to London parks Richmond and Bushy coming through the window. I had to get up and investigate looking right out the window and I was so happy when I did to see six or so green and long-tailed Ring-necked Parakeets fly overhead. It was a brilliant moment I could not believe I could see these birds, one of the best birds I have ever seen from my bedroom window. I have known these birds have been coming to the parks of Southampton nearby for a long time but to actually see them and have them fly past our house was just amazing. In our usual annual visits to Richmond and Bushy Park which has made me so used to them and how to spot them I find these one of the most enchanting bird species I see all year knocking big nuts off trees and screeching along in an emerald flash even if they are introduced they are beautiful, characteristic and lovely birds. I was so happy to see them, they were my first of the year taking my year list to 177 levelling my 2014 total making my year list my joint fifth highest ever and I am not far behind the milestone 180 and the 181 birds I saw in 2016 now either. I am very happy to achieve this consolidating my run of year ticks lately. 

It joins (on New Year’s Day) Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Pied Wagtail, Jackdaw, Black-headed Gull, Starling, Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Goldfinch and Robin and Swift on 4th May as year ticks from my bedroom/from the house this year and some of my best birds seen from the house this year surely the highest amount of year ticks from inside the house in a year aptly for the year its been which is a nice thought. The Ring-necked Parakeets which might not always be so but was very different and notable to see in Hampshire is my fourth earliest ever sighting of one in a year. That doesn’t sound too notable but when you consider the three earliest were when we saw them at London WWT centre in the British stronghold for them instead of Richmond Park when going to the reserve in the first three months of the year in 2011, 2012 and 2014. We usually see them at Richmond and Bushy Park in the annual October visit we do there and have done this in later September once but 8th September was quite something and obviously my first sighting of one out of London/Surrey which was interesting. 

It makes a good opportunity for me to say things will be rather different for our Richmond and Bushy Park annual visit this year, in that if we can safely go there for a walk and to watch wildlife and take photos in line with the government COVID-19 conditions at the time we will only be going to Bushy and not Richmond where we have been every year since 2010. We just feel with restrictions as they are now going to these royal parks is going to be so different to going to the New Forest or something in that they are naturally populated areas. Whilst we will obviously socially distance and wear masks as required, even so in these times with those restrictions you are going to come into contact with people and you just never know. So with Red Deer seen at Knepp and in the New Forest by me so far this year the main stars of the visit, Ring-necked Parakeet now today and other stars of the visit each year seen elsewhere this year, we do not feel it would be necessary taking into account safety factors to go to both royal parks on the outskirts of London in a day this year. My beloved Richmond really is the busier of the two being popular with cyclists etc. whilst Bushy is not exactly secluded. Richmond is just a bit closer into London I believe so on the basis that the further out slightly the less people. Bushy is also in previous years a better bet for the other target of ours there the Red-crested Pochards now my main year tick target that day there always seem to be some on each lake so it feels the one to go for with plenty of Red and Fallow Deer action and parakeets there too. Its sad like the Bird Fair and Rutland Water that hosts it we won’t be able to go to Richmond Park this year for the first time since I was a boy but in all the years we have gone we have been so lucky to see so much extraordinary wildlife and views and have fantastic autumnal days out a key part of my autumn and curtain raiser to winter in the capital very often and I have loved it so much its one of my favourite wildlife trips of the year. But we will be back, and Bushy Park which we discovered in 2014 is very similar and we have often thought of exploring the idea of doing a solo Bushy day trip to explore a bit of it more. Needless to say with only going to the one the plug could perhaps more easily be pulled on this Red Deer rut trip in the autumn if the COVID-19 cases continue to rise and we feel its safer or if indeed national measures or local lockdowns prevent us by law from going. As the safety of everyone comes first. I am hopeful though, and getting to see these Ring-necked Parakeets today a star of Richmond and Bushy put me right in the mood. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary today: My first Ring-necked Parakeets of the year, one of my favourite birds the Great Crested Grebe, one of my favourite dragonflies the Emperor, Mallard, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Stock Dove, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Starling, Speckled Wood, Large White, an orangy/red butterfly I couldn’t quite see what either Comma, Peacock or Red Admiral one of my favourites, Common Darter, Bee, Wasp in my room earlier and I heard Chiffchaff at Lakeside. 

[sinscaught]

;files

Name: Noel (last name unknown) Age: Unknown, died when eighteen Date of Birth/Date of Death: December 24th/February 12th Place of Birth: Unknown Gender: Male (DFAB) Race/Species: Demon/Reindeer Language(s): English, Latin

Physical Description Height: 4′6″ Weight: Unknown

Sin: Envy

Eternal Punishment: The soft jingling of bells whenever he moves.

Weapon of Choice: Christmas tree shaped Shuriken stars/blades

Body Type: Slender, wide hips, thick thighs Eyes: Light blue irises, pupils are darker blue and so is the sclera Fur: Off white/gray, and light blue

Occupation: Part-time secretary, searching for a new job

Personality/Attributes Personality/Attitude: Bubbly & extroverted, a bit of a daredevil & prankster, ill tempered, gets jealous easily Mental illness(es)/disorders: borderline personality disorder, PTSD Sexual Preferences: Asexual Demiromantic Place/Type of Residence: Family: Winthrop & Cadence (parents), Hollie (twin sister)

Trivia:

-his favorite holiday is Christmas.

-LOVES to sing holiday songs!

-loves to play pranks on others, no matter how cruel the prank.

-rarely leaves Hollie’s side.

-is a HUGE Alastor fan.

-has normal demonic powers/magic, but also has the power of shadow manipulation.

VA: Hikaru Hitachiin (Todd Michael Haberkorn)

Name: Hollie (last name unknown) Age: Unknown, died when eighteen Date of Birth/Date of Death: December 24th/February 12th Place of Birth: Unknown Gender: Female Race/Species: Demon/Reindeer Language(s): English, Latin

Physical Description Height: 4′6″ Weight: Unknown

Sin: Envy

Eternal Punishment: The soft jingling of bells whenever she moves.

Weapon of Choice: Peppermint stick shaped scythe

Body Type: Slender, slightly wide hips, thick thighs Eyes: Light red with darker red pupils & sclera Fur: Off white/gray, and light red

Occupation: Part time secretary, searching for a new job

Personality/Attributes Personality/Attitude: A little more reserved than her brother, impish, gets jealous easily, sensitive Mental illness(es)/disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, borderline personality disorder Sexual Preferences: Asexual Panromantic Place/Type of Residence: Family: Winthrop & Cadence (parents), Noel (twin brother)

Trivia:

-like Noel, her favorite holiday is Christmas.

-she knows how to ballroom dance.

-she adores Christmas songs.

-rarely leaves Noel’s side.

-is a HUGE Alastor fan.

-has normal demonic powers/magic, but also has the power of shadow manipulation.

VA: Kaoru Hitachiin (Greg Ayres)

BACKSTORY:

* The twins were born in a quiet town on the eve of Christmas. Winthrop & Cadence named them ‘Noelle’ & ‘Hollie’. Noel was physically born female, choosing to go by the ‘male’ version of his name when he came out at age fourteen. The twins adored Christmas, just as their own parents did. The family was incredibly loving and close, nothing could break their bond.

* Sadly, their mother fell ill one night and for four months was bedridden. On Christmas day, Cadence revealed to the twins… that she was dying. Lung cancer, perhaps if it’d been detected earlier things would have turned out better. Not wanting them to be sad on such a special holiday, Cadence ignored her pain to ensure they all had a wonderful Christmas. Tears were shed, of course, but the twins didn’t resent the holiday even though they should. No, it made them appreciate it even more. Later that night… Cadence passed in her sleep.

* The twins, though still had Christmas in their hearts, no longer had kindness. Because of their mother’s death, they decided the only friends they needed were each other. They grew bitter and envious of others, especially those who had mothers, and chose to delve into rather… illegal practices such as theft, street fights, and arson.

* Their poor father couldn’t stop them no matter what he did or said, and soon after turning eighteen both twins were chased down by police. Because of their resistance and criminal record, they were shot and killed.

* Sent to Hell for their crimes, they now work as secretaries for some boring company.

____

Name: Maven Age: Unknown Date of Birth/Date of Death: Unknown Place of Birth: Unknown Gender: Male Race/Species: Demon/Cat Language(s): English, Latin

Physical Description Height: 5′0″ Weight: Unknown

Body Type: Slender Eyes: Green, very dull yellow-green sclera Fur: Dark green, has gray-green skin

Nose: Black

Occupation: Demon-for-hire

Personality/Attributes Personality/Attitude: Crude, pushy, stubborn, wild, fun loving, daredevil Mental illness(es)/disorders: borderline personality disorder Sexual Preferences: Demisexual Demiromantic Place/Type of Residence: Lives in a small apartment somewhere in Hell Family: Unknown

Trivia:

-was a con artist during his mortal years.

-can shapeshift.

-can make deals.

Voice Claim: Alex Brightman 

----

Name (and Mortal Name): Chiffon / Colette Dupree Nickname(s): Age: Unknown, died in her mid-twenties Date of Birth/Date of Death: Unknown Place of Birth: Nice, France Gender: Female Race/Species: Demon/Dog (specifically, a Papillon) Language(s): French (native), English (fluent)

Physical Description Height: 4′2″ Weight: Unknown

Body Type: Hourglass, petite, has soft plush thighs Eyes: Deep purple and light purple Fur: Pastel pink for the most part, has incredibly light pink freckles on her face and very light pink stocking markings on her arms. Tail has a heart shaped marking tipped a darker pink.

Occupation: Fashion Model

Personality/Attributes Personality/Attitude: Mood can change at the drop of a hat. Affable upon first meetings but will turn sour if she dislikes someone. Dramatic, sensitive. Spiteful and vengeful. Mental illness(es)/disorders: Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, anxiety, depression Sexual Preferences: Pansexual Panromantic Place/Type of Residence: Lives in a penthouse in Pentagram City Family: Bastien & Maribel Dupree (parents), Capucine & Delphine Dupree (older sisters, known now in Hell as ‘Satin’ & ‘Silk’)

Death Caused By: Poison

Death Year: 2012

Sins Committed: Murder, Conning

Abilities: ‘normal’ demonic abilities, can shriek/scream so loudly that it bursts/shatters eardrums

Weapon(s) of Choice: Boomerang bows (some of the bows she wears are sharp enough to make someone bleed), three distinct daggers

Trivia:

-teeth are a deep pink shade. One tooth always sticks out.

-absolutely despises her sisters.

-embraces Pastel Goth fashion / aesthetic.

-used to have an incredibly heavy accent. Hired a vocal coach to learn how to get rid of it.

-sounds like Darla Dimple. (Antagonist from C/ats Don’t Dance).

-much like Satin & Silk, Chiffon was raised to be a con artist. Her parents were con artists and wanted their children to be ones as well. It wasn’t too long before the family became wealthy because of this.

-she knows how to pickpocket, pick locks, and how to hotwire cars.

-murdered quite a number of people, including her parents.

-grew up learning how to play the piano.

-----

Name (and Mortal Name): Hazel / Unknown Nickname(s): Age: Unknown Date of Birth/Date of Death: Unknown Place of Birth: Salem, Massachusetts  Gender: Female Race/Species: Demon/Bat Language(s): English, Latin, French

Physical Description Height: 5′6″ Weight: Unknown

Body Type: Petite, hourglass

Occupation: Apothecary 

Personality/Attributes Personality/Attitude: Calm, stubborn, quiet Mental illness(es)/disorders: Borderline Personality Disorder Sexual Preferences: Homosexual Homoromantic Place/Type of Residence: Lives in a penthouse in Pentagram City Family: Unknown

Death Caused By: Burning

Sins Committed: Murder, Sacrifice, ‘Dark Magic’, Arson

Abilities: ‘normal’ demonic abilities, necromancy, shadow manipulation

Weapon(s) of Choice: 

Trivia:

-was ironically burned at the stake because she was a witch. 

-----

Name: Jasper Age: 24 Date of Birth/Date of Death: Unknown Place of Birth: North Dakota Gender: Male Race/Species: Demon/Fox Language(s): English, Latin

Physical Description Height: 6′8″ Weight: Unknown

Body Type: Slender Eyes: Light pink and darker pink Fur: Deep orange, tail is tipped deep red, inside of ears are deep red

Nose: Pink

Occupation: Ringmaster / Ringleader

Personality/Attributes Personality/Attitude: Charming, manipulative, polite upon first interactions, stubborn, deceitful, violent, power hungry Mental illness(es)/disorders: borderline personality disorder Sexual Preferences: Pansexual Panromantic Place/Type of Residence: Lives in a small apartment somewhere in Hell Family: Unknown

Trivia:

-was a ringmaster when he was mortal. Tortured his workers and even murdered some. Now is a ringmaster in Hell.

-was killed by one of his workers who had enough, stabbing him six times.

-his mask is removable but ONLY by him; if anyone tries touching it he won’t be too happy.

-without the mask he has a fox’s face, and his ears are usually hidden beneath his top hat. Has a light pink scar across his eye.

-has a soft spot for children.

Voice Claim: Ryan Reynolds

-----

Name: Pyxie Age: 27 Place of Birth: Imp City Gender: Female Race/Species: Imp Language(s): English, Latin

Physical Description Height: 4′9″ Weight: Unknown

Body Type: Curvy

Occupation: Lead Singer of Wild 0nes, a band made up of her and her brothers Bruiser & Butch

Personality/Attributes Personality/Attitude: A bit of a wild child & daredevil, hot headed, loyal, stubborn, determined to prove herself Mental illness(es)/disorders: borderline personality disorder, depression, PTSD Sexual Preferences: Bisexual Biromantic Place/Type of Residence: Lives in a small apartment somewhere in Imp City Family: Parents are unknown, Bruiser & Butch (older brothers)

Trivia:

-was raised by her brothers; their parents died when she was born in a random accident.

-she has a tail, but it was mangled during a fight with a higher class demon. Now, it’s just a stub.

-has a metallic bat as a weapon.

-small but fighty-- I mean, mighty. 

Voice Claim: Amy Lee

[ezatluba]

Is This Dog Dangerous? Shelters Struggle With Live-or-Die Tests

Dr. Sara Bennett administered a behavior test to a pit bull mix named Elsey at Indianapolis Animal Care Services in May.

Jan Hoffman

July 31, 2017

Bacon, a cream-colored retriever mix, took a behavior test recently at an animal shelter here. He flunked.

Bounding into the evaluation room, Bacon seemed like an affable goofball, ready for adoption. But as he gulped down food, Dr. Sara Bennett, a veterinary behaviorist, stuck a fake plastic hand attached to a pole into his bowl and tugged it away. Instantly, Bacon lunged at the hand, chomping down on it hard.

Shelters have used this exercise and others for some 20 years to assess whether a dog is safe enough to be placed with a family. For dogs, the results can mean life or death.

“If you failed aggression testing, you did not pass go,” said Mary Martin, the new director of Maricopa County animal shelter in Phoenix, which takes in 34,000 dogs annually. Between January and June 2016, 536 dogs were euthanized for behavior, most because of test results.

But now researchers, including some developers of the tests, are concluding that they are unreliable predictors of whether a dog will be aggressive in a home. Shelters are wrestling with whether to abandon behavior testing altogether in their work to match dogs with adopters and determine which may be too dangerous to be released.

In January, Ms. Martin stopped the testing. By late June, only 31 dogs had been euthanized for aggression, based on owner reports and staff observations.

“The tests are artificial and contrived,” said Dr. Gary J. Patronek, an adjunct professor at the veterinary medicine school at Tufts, who roiled the shelter world last summer when he published an analysis concluding that the tests have no more positive predictive value for aggression than a coin toss.

“During the most stressful time of a dog’s life, you’re exposing it to deliberate attempts to provoke a reaction,” Dr. Patronek said. “And then the dog does something it wouldn’t do in a family situation. So you euthanize it?”

Dr. Bennett, left, with Bacon, a retriever mix, during one of several behavior tests to evaluate whether a dog is safe for adoption.

The debate over how dogs should be evaluated arrives as efforts to generally improve outcomes for shelter animals are on an upswing. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, annual adoption rates have risen nearly 20 percent since 2011 — a period during which owning a “rescue dog” acquired something of a righteous hipness. Euthanasia rates are down, although the A.S.P.C.A. said 670,000 dogs are put to death each year. Some veterinary schools even offer shelter-medicine specializations.

Shelters are helped by a burgeoning network of rescue groups. They shuttle dogs from high-kill shelters, usually in the South and Southern California, often to foster homes and adopters in the Northeast and Northwest, where spaying and neutering campaigns have reduced puppy availability. (What Times readers had to say about the tests.)

It is impossible to know how many euthanized dogs scored false positives on behavior testing. Though rare, false negatives also can occur and have proved tragic. In December, workers at Animal Care Centers of New York City saw nothing remarkable on a standard behavior test of a dog named Blue, but noted that he had been surrendered for biting a child. A rescue group retrieved him. Blue eventually wound up in a retraining center in Virginia. On May 31, he was finally adopted; hours later, he attacked and killed a 90-year-old woman.

Some high-volume shelters cannot afford time for evaluations, much less daily walks for dogs; others have begun de-emphasizing their significance. Even Emily Weiss, the A.S.P.C.A. researcher whose behavior assessment is one of the best-known, has stepped away from food-bowl tests, saying that 2016 research showed that programs that omit them “do not experience an increase in bites in the shelter or in adoptive homes.”

Still, Jennifer Abrams, head of the behavior and enrichment staff at Animal Care Centers of New York City, which sees 8,900 dogs a year, said that anxious adopters needed assurances. “People want to know what they’re getting — that a dog won’t bite, yell and scream at other dogs on a leash,” she said.

But predicting an animal’s behavior belies the nature of dogs, Ms. Abrams said: “A dog’s behavior is based on stimuli in the moment.” Ms. Abrams’s team conducts assessments, considering them snapshots, while gathering information throughout the animal’s stay.

In the surge to modernize shelters, tests were an attempt to standardize measurements of a dog’s behavior. But evaluations often became culling tools. With overcrowding a severe problem and euthanasia the starkest solution, shelter workers saw testing as an objective way to make heartbreaking decisions. Testing seemed to offer shelters both a shield from liability and a cloak of moral responsibility.

“We thought we had the magic bullet,” said Aimee Sadler, a shelter consultant. “‘Let’s let Lassie live and let Cujo go.’ From a human perspective, what a relief.”

Dr. Bennett inspected the kennel area at Indianapolis Animal Care Services. The transition to a shelter can be traumatizing, with its cacophony of howls and barking, smells and isolating steel cages.

The 10- to 20-minute tests, developed by behaviorists and tweaked by practitioners, ask two basic questions: Will the dog attack humans? What about other dogs?

Evaluators may observe the dog react to a large doll (a toddler surrogate); a hooded human, shaking a cane; an unfamiliar leashed dog or a plush toy dog.

But these tests have never been rigorously validated.

Dr. Bennett’s 2012 study of 67 pet dogs, which compared results of two behavior tests with owners’ own reporting, found that in the areas of aggression and fearfulness, the tests showed high percentages of false positives and false negatives. A 2015 study of dog-on-dog aggression testing showed that shelter dogs responded more aggressively to a fake dog than a real one.

Janis Bradley of the National Canine Research Council, co-author with Dr. Patronek of the analysis published last fall, suggested that shelters should instead devote limited resources to “observing the many interactions that happen between dogs and people in the daily routine of the shelter.”

But Kelley Bollen, a behaviorist and shelter consultant in Northampton, Mass., maintained that a careful evaluation can identify potentially problematic behaviors. Much depends on the assessor’s skill, she added.

In fact, no qualifications exist for administering evaluations. Interpreting dogs, with their diverse dialects and complex body language — wiggling butts, lip-licking, semaphoric ears and tails — often becomes subjective.

Indianapolis Animal Care Services, which admitted 8,380 dogs to its municipal shelter in 2016, is often overcrowded and understaffed, yet faces intense scrutiny to save dogs while protecting the public. Last year it euthanized 718 dogs for behavior, based on testing and employee interactions. The agency consulted Dr. Bennett, a shelter specialist, to better manage that difficult balance.

Even as she demonstrated assessments for staff members, Dr. Bennett noted another factor that renders results suspect: the unquantifiable impact of shelter life on dogs.

Dogs thrive on routine and social interaction. The transition to a shelter can be traumatizing, with its cacophony of howls and barking, smells and isolating steel cages. A dog afflicted with kennel stress can swiftly deteriorate: spinning; pacing; jumping like a pogo stick; drooling; and showing a loss of appetite. It may charge barriers, appearing aggressive.

Conversely, some dogs shut down in self-protective, submissive mode, masking what may even be aggressive behavior that only emerges in a safe setting, like a home.

Little dogs can become more snippy. But no matter what evaluations may show, they always seem to get a pass. “I’ll warn, ‘He nips and snarls,’” recounted Laura Waddell, a seasoned trainer who does volunteer evaluations for Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City, N.J. “And I get back: ‘I don’t care! I’m in love!’”

One way to reduce kennel stress, Ms. Sadler, the shelter consultant, said, is through programs like hers, Dogs Playing for Life, which matches dogs for outside playgroups. Shelter directors say it is a more revealing and humane way to evaluate behavior. The approach is used at many large shelters, including in New York City, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

The most disputed of the assessments is the food test. Research has shown that shelter dogs who guard their food bowls, as Bacon did, do not necessarily do so at home.

The exercise purports to evaluate “resource guarding” — how viciously a dog will protect a possession, such as food, toys, people. Common-sense owners wouldn’t grab a dog’s food while it is eating. But shelters worry about children.

Dr. Bennett suggested that Bacon’s bite of the fake hand didn’t necessitate a draconian outcome. With counseling, she said, a household without youngsters would be fine.

The shelter workers dearly wanted to save Bacon. But they were so overwhelmed that they did not have the capability to match him appropriately and counsel new owners.

So Bacon remained at the shelter for several weeks, waiting. Finally, Linda’s Camp K9, an Indiana pet-boarding business that also rescues dogs, took him on. He settled right down and recently was adopted. Linda Candler, the director, placed him in a home without young children, teaching the owners how to feed him so he wouldn’t be set up to fail.

“His potential made him stand out,” Ms. Candler said. “Bacon is amazing.”