PennyT Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 In Slate.com sometime in February, 2005, Jon Katz wrote a piece about Fly, a border collie stolen from a farmer by an over zealous rescuer, I think in Florida. The dog travelled north via other rescuers. At the end of the article, Katz said he will be Fly's new owner. In MainToday.com about a month later, a dog writer said she had spoken to Katz, he has Fly, and he had sent money to the former owner. That was almost a year ago. Does anyone know what happened to Fly between then and now? Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Wait a minute - I am confused...if Katz found out who Fly's owner was, and Fly was stolen, why didn't he return Fly?? Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 I think the real story was that the dog was stolen by animal rescuers because they didn't like the way the dog was being treated. Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 I think the real story was that the dog was stolen by animal rescuers because they didn't like the way the dog was being treated.Right, I went and read the story he told about her. Still, accepting stolen property and supposedly paying for it "after the fact" not a bright idea, much less publishing the story. Sad that they called the people who took her "rescuers" instead of thiefs. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 I totally agree! Barb S (I was upset when I first read this online and feel no differently now.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT Posted December 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Yeah. Yeah. Who could disagree? Nonetheless, Katz said that Fly would be arriving at her new home on his farm, not a foster home there. Apparently he got Fly. My question is what happened to her? Does anyone know? Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 He has a new book out; maybe the answer will be there...I refuse to buy it tho! Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT Posted December 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 Yes, the border collie world is very small. Funny that no one knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueyedmule Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Originally posted by Barb Scott:He has a new book out; maybe the answer will be there...I refuse to buy it tho! Barb S Because. . ..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Stein Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Here and here are a couple of threads that might help answer your question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DixiesDad Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Could you give the locations of those threads again. When I clicked on them all I got was the old login page. I've read Katz books and I have to say I'm very disturbed about Devon/Orson's fate in the last one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.php?showtopic=44&hl=katz Could you give the locations of those threads again. When I clicked on them all I got was the old login page. I've read Katz books and I have to say I'm very disturbed about Devon/Orson's fate in the last one. Maybe it's this one? Katz or this one [post=http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.php?showtopic=44&hl=katz]Katz's 2[/post] I also got the old logon screen - then did a search on "katz Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painted_ponies Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 PennyT - you'd be surprised how many people would disagree that stealing a dog is unacceptable. I had a similar situation in my neighborhood - BC puppy tied to tree beside busy highway, had food and water and a junk vehicle to get under to escape the worst of the sun and rain. Most people advised me to either steal him or have him stolen. I refused, tracked down the owner, pleaded with her to release the dog to rescue, all to no avail. Finally I offered to buy the dog. The owner named a price above what I had in my wallet, moved the dog while I was at the cash machine, then claimed someone else must have stolen the dog. Just about everybody thought I should've either stolen the dog at the outset or stayed out of the situation altogether. They felt my ineffectual attempt at intervention only made a bad situation worse for the dog. But I think stealing dogs just gives folks like Katz more ammunition in painting rescue folks as looneys with a hero complex. The slate article is a good example. Anyway, I look awful in state-issue orange. But I couldn't drive past that poor dog everyday and do nothing. I hope Fly fared better than poor Orson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clara Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 I emailed Mr. Katz at some point after that article asking how Fly was doing. He told me that things hadn't worked out with her and that she was living "elsewhere". I'll have to go scour my computer to see if I saved it. He was pretty vague, and mentioned nothing about paying the original owner or why she didn't stay with him. Clara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK dog doc Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 Strange how, for such a self-proclaimed BC expert, he can't seem to make it work with any of his dogs.... even Rose would have to go with the sheep if he decides it's too much work to keep the flock. And yet, all of us who he has tarred as "BC snobs" seem to do so well with them. Clearly we are missing the point and should have placed all of OUR dogs at the first sign of trouble, just as he does. Obviously we are deluded. Gah. The man makes me ill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Stein Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 Could you give the locations of those threads again. When I clicked on them all I got was the old login page. I've read Katz books and I have to say I'm very disturbed about Devon/Orson's fate in the last one. I have no recollection which two of the many, many Katz threads I cited here, and unfortunately the links are different now than they were then. But here are a handful of new links to old Katz threads (in addition to the ones posted above by Karen), in no particular order: http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.p...t=0&start=0 http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.p...c=8683&st=0 http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.p...st=0#entry94247 http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.p...t=0&start=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BayouBC Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 So long as Fly ended up "elsewhere" ALIVE (with him, you never know), she's probably much better off. Honestly...I can't imagine any BC-specific rescue in their right mind placing a BC with that man. With Fly "elsewhere", how many border collies does that leave him with now? He still has Rose (so far as I know) and hadn't he mentioned another BC in one of the articles post-Homer, post-Orson? I don't remember if it was ever named in the article or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 With Fly "elsewhere", how many border collies does that leave him with now? He still has Rose (so far as I know) and hadn't he mentioned another BC in one of the articles post-Homer, post-Orson? I don't remember if it was ever named in the article or not. Last I heard, he had Rose, a rescue named Izzy or Issy and a third BC. Not sure where he got the third BC. You'd think the breeder he uses might balk at selling him another dog, given his track record with first the three he obtained from her. He also has 2 labs and these must all be young dogs with Rose being the oldest. Personally, I am very interested to see if any of his dogs pass the age of 8 while living with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheRuffMuttGang Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 Last I heard, he had Rose, a rescue named Izzy or Issy and a third BC. Not sure where he got the third BC. You'd think the breeder he uses might balk at selling him another dog, given his track record with first the three he obtained from her. He also has 2 labs and these must all be young dogs with Rose being the oldest. Personally, I am very interested to see if any of his dogs pass the age of 8 while living with him. Posted by Katz on the Barnes & Noble message board, on Oct 23, 2006: "I just took in Emma, a dog who was left in a fence upstate for six years and who seems desperate for a home and some humans of her own. She was never even indoors before, not housebroken and riddled with health problems, from incontinence to parasites. She seems so content to just be here - if she could talk, I have the feeling she would be saying "just give me a home, okay?" So I have. And the gift she has given me, like Karen's dog, is the gift to take her in and love and care for her." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 "...And the gift she has given me ... is the gift to take her in and love and care for her." Yeah, just like Orson and the others, right, Jon? Maybe you just love them to death, while you make money and gain fame with their sad stories... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK dog doc Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 He doesn't love them. His version of "love" is mere sentiment. As soon as it becomes inconvenient, he starts looking for an excuse to bail out. As soon as he finds an excuse that he thinks makes him look good, he abandons the animal (via placing it or killing it). Actual love is not so fickle - nor so self-serving. Anyone in doubt of this has only to look at someone like Melanie, who really DOES love her "difficult" dog Solo, or any of the other people on this board (and elsewhere) who have managed to work it through with a dog who has had a health problem, grown old, or maybe just turned out not to be what they thought/hoped/expected/dreamed it would be. Those who really DO love their dogs dedicate themselves with humbling grace and courage to their canine loves, and do so without desire or need for the public accolades that seem so essential to Katz's ego. Many of us do it under disapproval or even outright condemnation from others, who may mean well, but don't understand what it is to really love their dogs. But we do it anyway, because it's not about what others think of us. It's about the dog. For Katz, it isn't about the dog; it's about him. That isn't love, it's narcisism. He's big on publically thrashing around in the throes of his supposed woe over the hard decisions. But love? I really don't think so. It's just ego gratification for him. He gets to feel noble about "taking in and loving" the dog - and so long as she is easy for him and requires nothing of him, I'm sure it'll go fine. But woe betide her if she ever DOES need anything beyond a sentimental and self-agrandizing owner. She'll be out the door in a New York minute - either to another home, or in a body bag. Gah. The hypocricy makes me ill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubzoe Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 You said it! Check out the comments he makes on the Amazon.com in the book review section of "A Good Dog". It is just pitiful! What worse is he is self-righteous in his self-defense!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borderbob Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 i e-mailed this goof about a yr ago and told him to try goldfish.then,i proceded to send him a list of every fish breeder with a website in n. america.he responded by telling me i love my bc,s more than people...............yeah and? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czrabbit Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 I don’t post here often, but have been a member for a few months. I generally stay on the BCRescue board and just lurk here because you have some very interesting articles and tons of information, but this subject has come up here and I notice that some of the posters on this thread are also on the BCR board. Since coming to these boards I’ve questioned why some people post to the point of nauseum, reasons they may need to rehome a dog, whether it be they cannot afford a chronic condition, or the dog is too silly and doesn’t get along with the other dogs or bites or for whatever reason it just doesn’t fit into their life or existing pack or family – they agonize and apologize and carry on for pages, then after “standing trial” they happily announce that the dog has found it’s perfect forever home, everyone claps and calls it a day. I’ve also read many accounts of people who agonize and finally decided Fluffy’s time had come and they put their dogs down. That’s a fact of life and humane and seems to be ok with everyone – as long as the decision is played out on these pages and the person is deemed adequately heartbroken. Now I get it. If one DOESN’T go through this “day in doggie court” one runs the risk of being accused of killing or “dumping” the dog. In my 50 plus years, I’ve owned dogs from 8 weeks old through to their natural death of old age in the double digits. I’ve also had foster/rescued dogs that have lived out their lives with me. I’ve also had dogs that for whatever reason – did not work out, and I either returned him/her to the rescue from which they came, or returned him/her to the owner who was seeking to re-home them and in one case I rescued a very sick dog that died an untimely death shortly after I got her from what was found to be an incurable disease. I’ve recently been accused on the rescue board of “dumping” a dog that I returned to its owner (after 4 days in my home and with a damned good reason), and in a private email I was accused by a member of killing a particular dog that I no longer have. I will not go into details about their circumstances other than to say that both dogs are alive and being VERY well taken care of. The accusations understandably shocked me. But now I get it. Apparently, unless a person pleads his/her case on the boards and gets total approval from the members, then suspicion is sufficiently raised to call that person a dog murderer – or someone who dumps dogs. Of course everyone has a thought process, but to speculate and draw the worst conclusions about what one doesn’t really know – I think - is the worst of diplomacy and maturity. You may say my situation is different from the subject of this thread…..ok, I didn’t write a book. Otherwise, it looks the same to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 czrabbit, have you read Jon Katz's books? I can see your point about "doggie court," but the reason Jon Katz is being questioned about his rehoming Fly isn't because he isn't giving a "good enough reason" or because he isn't a member of this forum who posts six-page apologetic essays explaining why he makes any major decision concerning his border collies. The only reason why there is a post asking if anyone knows what happened to Fly in the first place is because after reading about the way he's treated his other border collies (not to mention knowing his opinion on rescue dogs in general...), it's hard not to fear for all of the animals under his care. Jon Katz's actions are being questioned because he's Jon Katz. He's not being bashed because he rehomed a dog and didn't reveal the cause or didn't seem to be "adequately heartbroken." I'm sure if an unfamiliar poster showed up on this board and discussed a dog that was rehomed, these board members wouldn't be so quick to suggest that the dog was dumped, killed, or euthanized. I may be just a kid compared to you and most of the other posters here, but I've read all of Jon Katz's books and even I found them to be pretty ridiculous. That changed when I got to the end of A Good Dog. His reasons for having Orson euthanized made me so angry that my eyes were watering and I was shaking. Even though I never liked Jon Katz, I didn't think he was capable of deluding himself to the degree where he could have Orson, his "heart dog," put to sleep for what seemed to me to be no reason at all. I guess it hurt so bad because I live with and love a dog with issues similar to Orson's, and I know that if he had ended up with Katz, he would have put him to sleep as well, an option that never even crossed my mind when I was dealing with my border collie's problems. I'm sorry you were wrongly accused (and that is truly awful), but I don't think your situation is the same or even similar at all. At least, I hope it's not... I don't post here often either, but I have been reading both forums for years and I understand where you're coming from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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