Al Dempsey - Dog Kill

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Al Dempsey - Dog Kill (TOR, June 1987: © The Moorings of Nassau, Ltd., inc. 1976)

Jon Ellis

Blurb:

Man's best friend may be his most deadly enemy ...

Ninety-five pounds of rippling muscle and razor sharp fangs, the vicious Doberman had left behind a trail of bloodied foes during his months of aimless wandering. Then he met the Pack. They were alone - a lost Labrador, a strayed pointer, a harrier "liberated" from a lab, and a beagle - and like him, unloved and unwanted. But the deadliest of them all was a sleek and powerful boxer, whose owner felt that he "should sow his wild oats."

Now some of them live off the scraps of man, but others have tasted blood, thrilled to the frenzy of the kill, and gone feral. Soon they will leave their hidden lair to roam the surrounding farmlands and suburbs, killing at will. Man's best friend has suddenly turned into his worst nightmare; the Pack takes what it wants, when it wants. They no longer need your love or kindness ... now they have tasted your blood.

"Mr. Dempsey ably shows that feral and uncontrolled dogs are a national problem ... many of the most shocking scenes are, tragically, based on actual incidents." - Don Hegg, American Humane Association.

The cover artwork so cheers me up, I won't even care if Dog Kill turns out to be the most boring novel ever published, unlikely as that seems to be the case.

In place of the customary prologue, a full page message from Dennis J. White, Director of the American Humane Society's Animal Protection Division, confirming that Dog Kill is no mere alarmist "It could happen!" trash horror cash-in but an impassioned "It's already happening!" wake up call to the world's [trans: America's] irresponsible pet owners.

Our novel/ documentary begins in the Colorado Timber Woods with the mauling of Mel Ryan of the Vail Animal Control Center. Mel is surprised by a crazed German Shepherd which burst into the cab of his pick-up truck as it's rogue colleagues, a pointer and a St. Bernard, tear apart a stricken bull elk. In twenty years service, Mel has never been frightened, let alone bitten by a dog - until now. Much as it sickens him, Mel grabs his rifle, blasts the Shepherd full in the face then blows away the St. Bernard. Bizarrely, the pointer lays down before him, wags its tail as if expecting a pat, before loping off in the snow. Mel is fortunate to make hospital before he bleeds to death.

Bad feeling on the campus at Indiana University where the students have learned the vivisection laboratory of the Loventhal Medical Research Centre is being used for military-orientated research. At least twenty abandoned dogs have already died on the operating table. Mary Ellen Crawford, who works at Loventhal, throws in her lot with angry young animal rights activists Reggie, Clark and Dolly to release the eleven remaining test subjects into the wilds. Only one, a harrier once known as 'Blackie,' survives beyond the first week. As winter falls, Blackie teams up with a Doberman.

Mel Ryan's reward for good as losing his leg to the canine equivalent of Jaws is the sack. Turns out the St. Bernard was owned by the major shareholder in Colorado's biggest ski resort. Its not all bad news. He lands the job as wildlife officer at the Brown County State Park. Seems a quiet kind of place ...

TBC ...

[Jojo Lapin X]

That is a very tasteful cover.

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The Noel Roberts family lose Beau, the family Labrador, at a service station while on holiday. Beau teams up with a young beagle bitch. Over the course of the following chapters we encounter dogs dumped, absconded, abandoned, not always through the fault of negligent owners. Some, like Jake, a ferocious Dobermann guard dog, simply resent captivity.

Circumstances lead several of these strays to Brown County State Park, where Mel Ryan has befriended a young equestrienne, the one-off animal rights activist, Mary Ellen Crawford. Small world. While out riding, they discover the grisly remains of an entire warren, butchered for the hell of it. Ryan recognises the MO, and report's back to chief wildlife officer, Oscar Korteen. "We have a major dog problem in the park."

It's an election year, and Sheriff Greasy Fowler is looking for another term in office. Hugely popular with Evansville folk, the law man intends to keep it that way. Theirs is a quiet, essentially law-abiding community, where nothing much ever happens. Maintain the blessed tedium, he'll romp home unopposed. But not everyone is his best mate. Fowler is gun-happy where stray mutts are concerned, which has led to a falling out with Korteen. Two years ago, Greasy shot down a couple of strays - needlessly so, according to Oscar, who maintains they were harmless. The men are no longer on speaking terms.

Duke, Mary Ellen's dumb, playful Boxer, has been playing up of late. For a moment there tonight, she thought he might turn on her. What's got into him, anyhow? It'll have to keep. the car's arrived. She's off out on a date with Mel.

TBC P. 100 of 200.

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"The Pack had formed, only Duke was missing as the dogs began milling around the lair."

Our canine answer to the Sawney Beane clan now comprise Jake, Blackie, Beau, Clum and Mitzie, with Duke joining their forays whenever he can evade Mary Ellen. An attack on ol' Luke Amoury's chicken coup has severe repercussions. Blackie, sole survivor of the vivisection lab breakout, is shot. The incandescent farmer dumps the wounded harrier on Sheriff Greasy and demands action. Blackie's torso still bears three of the Teflon sutures, the wounds now infected to vomit-inducing degree. Greasy gives the order that the dog be put to sleep.

The pack now invade the playground of Nashville Elementary School while a volleyball game is in progress. Two children are seriously injured, one girl suffering a slashed throat. A boy, savagely mauled in the attack, dies in hospital.

The locals arm for a battle.

The most so-so novel I've read in months. While it held my attention throughout, after about 150 pages I was wondering if and when something, anything was going to actually happen beyond a bunch of dogs sniffing one another's private parts. Anti-climactic finale seems wholly appropriate in the circumstances.

But that cover painting is genius.

[bluetomb]

I'm really intrigued by that copyright notice. I'm familiar with writers who are registered businesses and have certainly seen a few in which the business name doesn't resemble the writer's, but Moorings of Nassau has a distinct offshore holding company in a crime movie ring to it.