KC DOG BLOG

Cincinnati BSL and setting priorities

In November of 2003, Cincinnati reinstated its ban on 'pit bull' type dogs.  According to an article in today's Cincinnati Enquirer, it's become quite a mess.

In spite of the ban, Hamilton County (Cincinnati is the largest city in Hamilton County) put down 1,121 'pit bulls'.  This is the most represented 'breed' in the 8,000 dogs taken into the Cincy shelter, as authorities say that German Shepherds (and mixes) are more prevelant.

The city has estimated that it spend more than $86,000 in 2006 while they were handling the prosecutions for the just 50 'pit bulls' that were taken from homes because they were illegal.

So,

1) In spite of the ban, 'pit bulls' are prevelant.

2) Other types of "guarding type dogs" are becoming more popular.

3) The city taxpayers are paying a lot of money prosecuting only a small number of people for owning a "banned breed".

So what's the city to do?  Councilman Cecil Thomas is now recommending that police officers get trained in breed identification so the ordinance will be easier to enforce. Talk about some messed up priorities.

In 2006 (this is the most recent year I can find), Cincinnati actually had the 8th highest murder rate per capita of any city in the country.  It's also among the top 20 in most other major crime categories.

In a city that clearly has its public safety issues (in terms of murder), is using police resources to identify breeds of dogs.  Is spending $100,000 a year on holding dogs for their breed ID cases really the wisest spend of money for a city that clearly has other crime issues? 

The ordinance is not working.  Enforcement is a huge issue.  And taking resources from another major need is not a recommended solution to this problem.  Repealing the law would be.  It will be really interesting what recommendations the task force group that is studying the ordinance comes back with later this year.  I can assure you it won't echo Cecil Thomas' recommendation.

*Note:  For the life of me I cannot figure out why the mediots out there continue to quote Merrit Clifton's information as being valid research.  His statistics represent only the less than 1% of major attacks that have appeared in newspaper stories over the past 25 years.  It's not a random sample. It's not even an accurate sample. How they continue to publish this as "fact" is totally beyond my comprehension.

Berkeley, CA Approaches "No Kill"

The folks over at Bad Rap posted some great (and amazing) numbers from the Berkeley (CA) Animal Shelter.  In 1998, the city of Berkeley put down a staggering 607 dogs and 743 cats.  This is an incredibly high number for any community, but especially one with barely over 100,000 residents.  Over the past 10 years, the community has made some amazing changes in the way they handle adoptions, increased the marketing of the shelters, provided free owner education and training, and increased their voluntary spay/neuter programs.

In 2007, the shelter euthanized 50 dogs and 87 cats -- a 90% decrease in animals killed.  You can see all of their numbers here.

What Berkeley has done is institute many of the programs that Nathan Winograd has been traveling the country talking about with the No Kill movement.  It's these same prinicples that are echoed by the smart people over at the Pet Connection.   It's a similar system to the one instituted in Calgary that has seen almost no dogs or cats euthanized for reasons other than due to extreme health or behavioral issues.

It's a sytem that works.  It's a system that relies on voluntary low-cost spay/neuter programs instead of mandatory ones.  They are systems that rely on enforcing ordinances against owners who are causing problems, not putting out overly-inclusive breed specific ordinances that do nothing to improve public safety and only increase the killing. They are systems that rely on a dedicated effort of strong, smart volunteer groups and gives them the opportunity to get involved.

Let's get behind programs and ordinances that have a proven track record of public safety and actually WORK to decrease the killing that takes place in our shelters. The road-map is there.

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 4/11/08

Well, it's definitely springtime, with the sound of dog bites in the air.  There has been a lot of news the past couple of weeks (I missed the roundup last week).  I'm going to try to cover off only only the most important stuff...  Plus, I'll get some of the stuff from two weeks ago also if the links still work.  I also have a coupl of other stories that will get their own post later that are all related and worthy of their own segment. Anyway, enjoy, and sorry I've been away.

Salsbury, DE begins dog bite panel

This group of three people from different backgrounds are going to work for the city and investigate all of the facts surrounding dog bites in their city.  They will investigate bite severity and circumstances surrounding the bite and can recommend whether or not a dog should be euthanized following the attack.  This seems like a good idea to me -- and most cities could probably get a group of volunteers to do this.

15 Year old Washburn Island (Ontario) Girl bitten by dog

The dog was described as a 'lab-shepherd cross'.  The dog is believed to be a stray running loose on the island.

Greely CO Man in Hospital Following "pit bull" attack

The man went out to feed the dogs because one of the dogs owners said he "couldn't handle" the male dog. In other words, the man was badly attacked feeding a dog with known aggression issues. Folks, if you have a dog that you "can't handle", get some professional help. Please.

Dog Bites Child in Park

I'm only posting this story because it reinforces the notion that all dogs are pit bulls.  The boy was bit in the park by what is described as a "small pit bull or similar type dog, possibly a puppy, all black with some white on the face".    Does that sound like a Boston Terrier or French Bulldog to anyone else?  Except if it bit, it must be a pit...

Nampa, ID to address Dangerous Dog Ordinance

It doesn't appear that the council is leaning toward breed specific laws -- only holding all dog owners accountable.

Underdogs are the Top Dogs at Huntington Shelter

This is a good story about the Huntington, NY shelter and the work they're doing trying to adopt out all the dogs they receive.

"Dog" bite to child brings supervision into question

The young Louisville child was "severely bitten on the ear" by a blue tip hound mix. The Louisville metro animal services people say it is important to keep a close eye on your children when they're with the family pet.  Isn't it interesting at the difference in coverage when some dogs bite kids vs others?

Dogs bite people almost daily in Montgomery County

Montgomery County, TN animal control officers respond to an average of one bite call every day.  So which one did the newspaper report on?  Yeah, the 'pit bull mix'.  The dog broke its chain and bit a 7 year old kid.

Dog caught in man's truck engine

They're not sure how the dog got there, but the man popped open his hood and saw a 'pit bull' staring at him. The dog tried to free himself by chewing through a lot of wiring on this truck.  I'm a little surprised at how much national attention this story received, but it is sort of an odd story. 

Boy on School Bus Bitten by Pit Bull

So apparently, a boy's dog followed him onto the school bus (kind of sweet).  Then, the kids on the bus started yelling and getting excited, which is speculated that this excited the dog and the dog bit a boy in the ankle.   Morals to the story: 1) Don't let your dog run loose and 2) teach kids how to act around dogs.  It's amazing to me the number of kids that will run around flailing their arms whenever they see dogs.  Kids need to know that if they stay calm, the dogs most often will too. 

Young pit bull mix found set on fire in Southern California

I hope they find the person responsible and prosecute the heck out of them.

Idaho boy attacked by Rottweiler

The boy reportedly received a "substantial" leg injury. This isn't the first time that the animal has been responsible for biting someone as it also bit a neighbor a little over a year ago.

Woman attacked by vicious dog in Great Falls, SC

The woman required more than 100 stitches when the "mixed breed" dog attacked her.  From the video, the mixed breed dog is very furry with long hair.  The dog had apparently bitten someone before when it broke its chain and bit a child in the street.   The dog's owner used the dog for protecting his property following several break ins at his house.

People who train dogs to be watchdogs are asking for this type of situation.  Dogs do not have the ability to tell a good stranger from a bad one. 

Dog bites injures woman

In this case, you have an extremely rare incident where someone was bitten by a dog that was being walked by its owner.  The dog apparently lunged at the woman and bit her.  The owner of the attacking dog got the dog off of her and then fled the scene.  It turns out that they found the dog, a 'pit bull', tied to the rail in the Jones Motors Sales lot -- where people in the office said the dog belonged a man that was hired to do security for the business.

Sad story from the Peoria Journal Star

Telling the story of the 14 animals a day that are euthanized at the city shelter form the shelter worker's point of view.

Pennsylvania State Trooper attacked by 200 pound dog

Authorities were trying to arrest a woman for forced entry and when they tried to take her into custody, here large dog, described as a Cane Corso, ran out of the house and attacked a trooper.  People who are not good people (as evidenced by the fact these people were arresting the woman in the first place) will naturally gravitate toward bigger, more aggressive dogs.  Even if we go through and ban some types of dogs (which they may or may not follow the laws), they will still find a big dog to teach to be aggressive.  It is not through breed bans that we will solve these problems...

More than 115 dogs put down in Arizona

More than 140 dogs that were taken into custody from a supposed dog fighting ring in Arizona (there has been some speculation that it may have just been a breeding operation).  Authorities say that only about 25 will be rescued from euthanasia.  Not all of the dogs are "pit bulls", some are mastiffs or other breeds.  This is a sad end to a sad story of abuse and neglect.

Another mutilated dog found in Kansas City Cemetery

Local police have found at least 10 dead dogs in cemetery's over the past six months -- all of the mutilated bodies appear to be related.

Four people bitten in two separate dog attacks in South Bend, IN

In one of the attacks, a German Shepherd mix escaped a back yard and bit the owner's son's friend. In the second attack, two men were attacked by a 'pit bull' mix. 

85 year old woman bitten severely on her face

The attack came from a Cocker Spaniel  that attacked the woman while she was scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees.

Boy recovering from dog bites

The 11 year old Waynesboro, VA was bitten in the face by the neighbors 'pit bull/lab mix'.  The boy's mother describes the attack as "random", however, the boy was in the neighbor's back yard and the dog was chained up in the back yard.   Now the mother wants the dog to be euthanized.  Now listen lady, I'm not a fan of dogs biting children.  But if your kid is on someone else's property and playing their dog on their property without supervision, the dog's owner isn't completely at fault here.  And yes, this is yet another reason not to leave your dog chained up unsupervised, as now the dog's owner may have to fight for her dog's life because it was put in a situation to fail.

Arpin, WI bans "pit bulls and pit bull mixes"

The "city" has only 337 residents. There can't be more than 4 or 5 of these types of dogs in the entire city.  Do we really need a law enforced on 4 or 5 people?  Can't we just deal with them if they are problems?  Yet another ill-advised law from a community.

Nine year old boy survives 'pit bull attack' in Phoenix

The boy says he "tripped and fell" next to the puppies of the mother dog.  The mother dog attacked the boy trying to protect her dogs.

Chicago to look at mandatory sterilization for all dogs

Alderman Ed Burke has introduced an ordinance that would require all dogs and cats over 6 months old living in Chicago be spayed or neutered.  Please call your city councilperson and tell them that you don't want Chicago animal control personnel wasting time on this unenforceable ordinance.  The city's animal control division has already said it doesn't have enough workers to respond to dog-bite cases.  Giving them MORE legislation to enforce will not help their cause.

Trigger-happy Toledo Police shoot yet another dog

Seems like I read a story every week about Toledo police shooting a dog.  Here's another one.

Camden NY boy attacked by "pit bull mix"

The dog broke free from its chain and attacked the 9 year old boy.  Prolonged, unsupervised tethering continues to show itself to be a recipe for an unsocialized, underexercised and frustrated dog.

Abandoned pit bull pup dies in shelter care

A couple weeks ago, a pit bull puppy was found on the side of the road with injuries and sickness.  The dog was rescued and brought to the animal care facility but was not able to survive its injuries and illness.  Rescuers are now pushing for more people to report suspected dog fighting or other abusive situations in the Memphis area.

Animal Control Officer wants to give bylaw some bite

This is another one of those stories you can't make up.  Stoughton, MA ACO Kristin Bousquet wants to make some changes to their animal control ordinances. "We have a lot of unlicensed pit bulls in town," she said.  "A lot of them are constantly loose".   So now the city officials want to enact an ordinance (at Bousquet's suggestion) to limit the number of pit bulls per home.  So let's see.  We can't enforce the licensing laws.  We can't enforce the leash laws.  So let's enact a NEW law. Genious!  Folks, there are two laws on the books that would already solve your problem of unlicensed loose dogs.  Enacting another law is not going to do away with the problem of people breaking other laws.  Sheesh.

Program designed to put best paw forward

Here's a story about a program that is really working toward adopting 'pit bull type' dogs into the community.  It's a pretty good story overall, with a couple of exceptions.

#1) They are failing dogs on what appears to be the slightest level of dog aggression.  It would be awesome if we could get to the point where dogs with minor socialization issues were worked with and rehabbed to become non-aggressive (which is fairly easily done for most cases). 

#2) WHEN WILL WE FINALLY GET RID OF USING THE STUPID RUBBER HAND FOR TEMP TESTING!!!!  The picture makes me want to vomit on myself.

Long Island Group holds conference dealing with 'pit bull' issues

Guest speakers for the day-long conference dealt with issues such as dog fighting and abuse, caring for pit bulls in shelters, and public misperceptions about these types of dogs.  There are a lot of these types of conferences popping up now days...I am hopeful that these people are talking about real truths and not different types of myths that further harm the cause.  Guest speakers included people from the ASPCA and Adam Goldfarb of HSUS (who noted that NY State was "lucky" to not have breed specific legislation -- well, it's not luck, it's that their state has outlawed breed specific ordinances).  Anyway, I'm glad more people are trying to learn more and improve the situation of these types of dogs in our society.

Have a great week.

"News" as entertainment

Marketing Guru Seth Godin has an interesting post on his blog from yesterday regarding the media.  He pulls out the front page of CNN.com (following the North Carolina and Indiana democratic primaries) and puts a check by everything that may be true, could easily be considered irrelevant in the world of what is truly news.

Here is the money line:

The goal is to sell newspapers, not to report the news.  There isn't media bias in favor of Hillary. Nor is there media bias in favor of floods. There's media bias in favor of drama.

I gave a long time ago that the true journalistic integrity that was taught to me in Journalism School is a thing of the past.  The words here are probably a great reminder not to take the news too seriously and realize that they are indeed selling "drama" instead of "news". 

Lawsuit $$$

I'm certainly not one to sound like Wayne Pacelle over at HSUS and use everything as an opportunity to raise money, but hey, some things need to be done.

BSL is threatening the Constitutional rights of law abiding citizens everywhere.  Illegal searches and seizures.  Forced signings of guilt.  Guilty until proven innocent decisions.  And failed ADA compliance just to name a few.  Dozens of dog owners are winning their freedoms back, but it's taking some money to do.

My friend Lee was out paying her utility bill a year ago, and was challenged that her service dog, Friscoe was a 'pit bull' -- which are illegal in Kansas City, KS.  Friscoe is indeed a Staffordshire Terrier (covered under KCK's ban).  Friscoe is also a trained and certified service dog.  Lee is fighting the system to keep her registered service dog and not have to sell her home.  The KCK judge (judge Ryan), ruled that service dogs were subject to the city's pit bull ban (a clear violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act).  Her appeal to the state level is costing her thousands of dollars and she is living on a fixed budget income due to her disability.

If you can spare some change to help Lee out you can do so here.

While you're at it, the folks in Ontario at Banned Aid are collecting funds to help them fight the Constitutionality of the BSL in that Canadian Provence.  They are coming down the homestretch and every dollar helps.  You can help them here.

Meanwhile, this post would not be complete without mentioning the Endangered Dog Breeds Association who have helped with many lawsuits here in KC and continue to find great cases and get wins for dog owners who have been unfairly treated everywhere.  You can find out more about them here as well as make a donation.

Urban Legends

I been thinking a lot about the urban legends recently.  You know, the superhuman jaw strength of a 'pit bull', the 'locking jaw' myth, etc.  I was thinking about these things when someone on a chat board somewhere was commenting about the ridiculous 1600 PSI bite strength (really, she started with 3,000, then caved to 2,000, and then admitted that she'd just read it in a few places with no real evidence but believed it to be true).  Sigh.

People who think they have the best interests of dogs at heart often believe in ridiculous urban legends and make a lot of decisions based on them. They heard a story about someone who knew someone and then all of a sudden it was true.

Thus is the case with some well-meaning folks in Oklahoma.

According to an article today from the Tulsa World, there is an ongoing debate on whether or not the shelter in Tulsa should adopt out 'pit bull' type dogs.  The currently policy is that any 'pit bull' that enters the shelter is killed after three days.

On the one side, many dog trainers are pushing for them to be adopted out noting that the dogs are very easily trainable and make great house pets and companions (note: pit bull type dogs are legal throughout Oklahoma as it is against state law for communities to ban them).

On the flip side, Ruth Steinberger of the Oklahoma Alliance for Animals and Nancy Atwater of Spay Oklahoma don't think 'pit bulls' should be adopted out because the they are too frequently used for dog fighting. 

"There is no other breed where people go to the shelter to victimize the animal," said Steinberger.

Atwater later adds that the animals that are taken to the shelter and euthanized have a more humane death than they would if they were adopted for fighitng.

Laura Morris, a dog trainer, recommended a policy so people could adopt the stray  pit bull terriers.  She said she'd be willing to help check for temperament and even proposed a 10-week long dog obedience class for people who wanted to adopt the dogs (she offered to teach the class for free) and that the shelter could then deny the people the right to adopt the dog.

Atwater and Steinberger said that the class wasn't practical because people could complete the program and still train the dogs to fight.

Let's make three  assumptions here really quickly that are standard at most shelters and should be at all of them.   Assumption #1: All dogs that leave the shelter are spayed/neutered  Assumption #2: All adopted dogs have an adoption fee of somewhere in the neighborhood of $100.  #3 Dogs have to pass a basic temperament test to be sure it's not super-freaky aggressive before being adopted out.

Given these two assumptions, let me ask, are dog fighters coming in to pay $100 for a spayed or neutered dog really a huge issue?  Most cities have a surplus of dogs, so there are many unaltered dogs available in these neighborhoods for $50 -- and come completely intact. Why would they pay more for an altered dog that has already had some type of temp-testing done to know it's not aggressive?

Now, in Tulsa, they're adding a new layer, and forcing them take a 10-week training course (offered for free). 

So do we really, REALLY, think that a dog fighter is going to pay $100 for an altered, non-aggressive dog AND take a 10-week training course, to then, turn around and fight the dog when he has the option of buying an unaltered dog for $50 from Joe down the street or from the many listings over the past few days on Craigslist (There were 10 free ones posted on May 3 alone - which really is a potential problem)?  I'm not buying it.

I'm not going to say that it hasn't ever happened. I'm sure it's happened somewhere.   However, this is another incident of an urban legend where the worst case scenerio gets played out as if it is the norm, and rescue person passes the story on to rescue person (and dare I say AR person passes it on to unsuspecting person wanting to do the right thing) as if it is a HUGE problem.  I've seen no evidence at all that it is. 

But for the one dog that slips through the cracks (which would no doubt be tragic), there would be hundreds of dogs that would bypass "humane killing" and get the opportunity to experience a loving, happy household.  As a society, I think we should be past the point where "humanely killing" is perceived to be our best option.  It's not. We can and should do better.  And adopting out 'pit bulls' is one way to start doing that.  It's one way to start eliminating the killing that is going on in our shelters. 

Let's take the steps necessary to be smart and cautious.  Taking advantage of the 10-week training course would have HUGE benefits to eliminating the possibility of a dog getting into the wrong hands (and let's face it, having people learn how to train their dogs would have huge benefits well-beyond just the dog fighting question.

Let's get past the urban legends and start coming up with practical solutions to real problems instead of creating potential problems in our mind that really aren't there. 

Unbelievable story

I'm still trying to get caught up from the weekend.  In the meantime, I wanted to direct you over to MABBR Blabber for a great story about a dog that had been used as a bait dog that ended up finding love and a family.

More to come from me later in the day - -but I was really touched by this story...

Denver Lawsuit and thoughts on Constitutionality

Several weeks ago, I posted that the Pit Bull Band group had their court cased dismissed by the US District Court.  I particularly noted that this was a dismissal of the court case -- not a ruling that BSL was indeed Constitutional.

Because I've been pretty busy on other things, I haven't gotten a chance to go over this ruling and what we can learn from it regarding Constitutionality, or lack thereof, of breed specific legislation.  So with the caveat of the "I am not a lawyer" speech, here is the dirt.  The suite challenged the Constitutionality of the Denver law on primarily three different platforms. Here they are -- here are the courts comments on them -- and my comments on their decisions:

1) Procedural due process -- Sonya Dias' group challenged the due process based on two main criteria.

a) One of the criteria was that dogs were seized prior to a trial and that the dogs were seized before a guilty verdict could be levied.  The court ruled that a post seizure hearing was sufficient.  Strangely, one of the statutes they used to uphold this ruling was a case where foxes were seized and tested for rabies because and a post-seizure hearing was deemed sufficient because it was "necessary for the protection of its citizens". The thinking was that the state must act quickly because rabid foxes posed an iminent danger to citizens.  I think it is clearly arguable that a dog that shows no aggressive tendencies creates "imminent and immediate" danger to citizen living in a community and not sure how "pit bulls" can be compared to rabid foxes, which are not domesticated animals and are carrying a disease that is nearly 100% fatal.

b) Unwritten policies - Apparently, once a Denver Animal Control Officer seizes your dog, the only way for someone to get their dog out of doggie prison is to sign a waiver ADMITTING THAT THE DOG IS A PIT BULL.  Kansas City KS has a similar unwritten policy.  The forced signing of guilt is a clear violation of the 5th Ammendment of the US Constitution that frees us from self incrimination.  This was dismissed by the court because none of the defendents had actually signed this waiver.  The reality is that no one with any understanding of the Consitution would ever sign such a waiver, meaning that no one who is smart enough to actually sue for unconstituionality of this law, would actually ever self-incriminate themselves.

2) Vagueness -- based on Colorado statutes, a law is unconstitutionally vague if: a) people of ordinary intelligence have a reasonably opportunity to understand the conduct it prohibits or b) it authorizes or even encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.  The court ruled that the AKC standards were sufficient enough to not make the law arbitrary or subjective -- but has clearly never had to deal with the subjectiveness of actually having to make decisions based on these criteria.  I think this one would have been easily won in court once judges realized how difficult and arbitrary such judgments of 'breed' are. As for the arbitrary enforcement, I hope the folks in charge of the Aurora lawsuit read this.

3) Substantive Due Process - The complaint here was that a dog owner could arbitrarily have their dog (property) taken from them and destroyed when there is no evidence that the animal posed a threat to public safety.   The courts agree that dogs are accorded property status (that's important) but argue that dogs are subject to the police power of the state to protect the safety and welfare of the public (we're back to rabid foxes again).   There is a huge difference here between the precedent the courts used and the reality of the two scenerios.  Rabies (in the case of rabid foxes) are undeniably and inarguably a safety risk to the citizens of a community.  Being a "pit bull" is definitely an arguable "immediate" safety risk.

In a nutshell, I think the courts missed a huge opportunity to discuss some pretty serious issues:  the lack of Constitutionality of breed specific laws based on their vagueness, failure to provide due process and clear violation of the 5th Amendment.  There's always next time...

How many wrongs does it take to get it right?

Well, here's a messed up story for the day from KSHB News.  Video here.

Apparently yesterday, police showed up at a man's (Jim Conaway) property to issue a warrant to a handiman that was doing repair work on the man's house.  While the police were serving the warrant, that man's dog, which he describes as a "Labrador Retriever Mix" (even though police and neighbors say the dog looked and acted like a "pit bull", whatever that means) became agitated, and broke his chain.  Police officers then shot the dog 5 times and killed it. 

The dog was then taken away by animal control -- who apparently had a good day yesterday and responded faster than their normal 4 hour response time.

The dog was taken to animal control, and incinerated.  The man made says he made several attempts to contact animal control so he could get his dog's remains back and pay his last respects, but animal control says they have no record of the calls and the dog was incinerated before he got a chance to get the dog back.

"The incinerator is fired up as soon as possible" said Animal Control Spokesperson Teresa Clark.  Those are never the words you want to hear from an animal control department that euthanizes kills 70% of the animals that enter the shelter.

Meanwhile, Conaway is upset that he was never contacted. Animal control says that because the dog wasn't wearing tags they didn't know who the owner was -- although Conaway points out that the dog was on killed on his property, so they actually knew where he lived and could have made an effort to communicate with him first. 

This whole event took place on the 3600 block of Roberts -- which should be noted is in a tougher area of town where the average HH income is about $25,000 and nearly 30% of the people that live in the zip code live below the poverty line.

Here are some of my thoughts/lessons from this little keystone cop episode:

1) Don't leave your dog chained up unsupervised. Not only does it tend to make the dog more aggressive but it leaves your dog vulnerable to strange situations that are beyond your control and could be harmed.

2) Having dogs that are around to protect your property (which Conoway admits that this one was)  is a recipe for a bad situation.  This is why I think (even though the research is incomplete) that high crime areas generally have higher dog attack incidences because people are using their dogs as security systems.

3) Hire reputable handymen.

4) Can we paleeesse train  police officers how to deal with dogs in a manner other than just shooting them?  Pretty please?  This dog was on his own property and the police officers were actually intruding there.  This is really unfair that this guy's dog got shot over this.  I'm seeing WAY too many police-shoot-dog stories these days that appear as if they could have been avoided.

5) Is compassion too much to ask for from animal control/police when they kill someone's dog to at least make an effort to contact the owner before the dog is incenerated?

6) If you're spokesperson for an animal control division -- one that has been under fire for killing too many animals of late -- you may want to watch your wording and not say "the incinerator is fired up as soon as possible".

7) Apparently any dog that is aggressive "looks and acts like a 'pit bull' according to neighbors and police, which is one of the many reasons breed ID issues are so rampant in news stories and these types of dogs are over-represented in press accounts. 

Ending Dog Fighting in Chicago

This is a great video about work that is being done in Chicago to encourage young men in the inner city to take pride in their pit bull type dogs for reasons other than their fighting ability. Hat tip to Mac's Gang at Barking Mad for pointing to this.   I'm going to post it here too (sorry Mac), just because I think it's really important for a lot of people to see this.

The video features Tio Hardiman, who was a guest speaker at last year's Canine Legislation Conference that we held here in Kansas City.  He's running a great program in Chicago and it's great to see some of the video of what's going on up there.

On another note, we're also starting another session of "Pit Bull University" here soon -- I'll post the details once we get this all worked out.  PBU is our Kansas City version of helping high risk dog owners (we welcome all breeds) with basic obedience training.