KC DOG BLOG

Inherantly violent nature

While I'm on the subject of the "inherantly violent" nature of pit bulls, there are two links to other blogs that I think you should see.

First if from KC Soil -- it's a great, 30 second-ish video that shows a pit bull in action.  Joe, who writes the blog, is a good friend to the animal community.

Second, is from a blog I've recently discovered called dog-tails.  This post describes one of the blog's writer's experience with a dog that came into the animal hospital after being a victim of a dog fight.  You'll notice the love this dog showed, in spite of even how it had been trained. 

People who don't get it

I hate idiots.  I don't have a problem with ignorance -- let's face it, there are thousands of subjects out there that I am completely ignorant about.  Everyone is that way.  But idiots are the people who are proud of their ignorance, stating their point of view with no knowledge of the subject whatsoever, and really being proud of their lack of knowledge.  It makes by blood boil.

As it was with this editorial from the weekend.  Go ahead, read.  I'll wait....

The writer is very proud of her ignorance, and completely doesn' t get it.  And if she had thought about her words a little bit, she's almost answered her own question.

There are two main points here:

1) Why do people use pit bulls as fighting dogs vs other breeds?

2) Why do people have to go through such great pains to make these supposedly aggressive dogs violent?

The writer completely misses point number 2.  If there was "something different" about these dogs that made them naturally dangerous, why do dog fighters have to go through such great pains to make them fight?  Why must they inject them with steriods, chain them with heavy chains so that they can almost touch the dog next to them, but not quite, to build up a ton of frustration in not being able to meet (sniff) the dog next to them?  Why do they have to use treadmills to amp them up?  If these dogs were so naturally vicious, as the author implies, why not just cage them up and turn them loose?  Why all the extra work?

The reality is that these dogs aren't naturally this aggressive. They have to be made trained this way.  And pit bulls make great fighting dogs for a lot of the same reasons they make great pets.  Sure, they muscular dogs.  And as working dogs, they contain the stick-to-itivness that they will work until the job is done.  This  would make for a better fight than if you had Italian Greyhounds fighting I suppose.  They're also much smaller dogs than non-knowledgable people thing -- which makes them easier to handle if a fight needs to be broken up (differentiating them from much larger breeds like Presas and Rottweilers).  They are also very people loyal -- which means that even in the midst of a fight, they will seldom turn on their handler. 

This loyalty works very much against pit bull type dogs.  This makes them great pets.  My bullies will do almost anything I ask of them for just a little affection.  This also makes them great candidates to be police dogs and service dogs, which many of them are used for.  But this loyalty, and desire to do whatever pleases their owner, can also make them be savages if they are owned by someone that wants that.  They will attack something -- because their owner wants them to, and it pleases their owner. 

But make no mistake -- they have to be trained that way.  That's why there is always the "paraphenalia" surrounding dog-fighting busts.  It's all a part of the training.  If they were naturally fighters, this wouldn't be necessary.

I don't know that I would send this woman any letters or emails.  The reality is that she seems pretty proud of her ignorance -- and I doubt she'll read or listen. In fact, I think she enjoys the attention.  Just like the pesky kid in grade school that spent all his time in the corner -- just happy to get the attention.

Weekly Roudup, must be springtime

It must be springtime -- as there was a ton of stuff going on this week.  This is the downside to good weather.

Rottweiler attacks in UK in a day of Terror for the City

Proving once again that their breed ban that includes four different breeds does nothing to increase public safety because it doesn't address the root cause of the problem. Nice literary hyperbole in the headline too I might add.

Man upset when police kill his pit bull

I would be too.  Some basic education of police personnel on how to read and handle animals is very much needed to stop the spray of bullets each time a dog is near.  From looking at the pictures, my guess the "charging pit bull" was looking to give a hug vs attack, and then got a little ticked off by the pepper spray. 

Pit bull horror in the UK

Have I mentioned that the Dangerous Dog Act isn't working there?  And can I also add how excited I am that newspapers are now wanting to use the word "horror" to describe attacks?  Lovely.

St. Paul Woman attacked by pit bulls

This sounds like a pretty horrible attack. Also turns out that one of the dogs had just been released back to the owner from the pound after a previous incident -- but the dogs once again jumped the three foot fence used to "contain" them and attacked again.  Three foot fences aren't tall enough to keep a mid-to-large sized dog contained, and once again, history of aggression is the most certain sign of future aggression, regardless of breed.

Dubuque Letter Carrier Attacked

This "Greyhound-mutt" mix (doesn't that mean it's just a mutt?) broke off its chain.  As if chaining isn't bad enough, chaining a dog that was bred for running seems even more cruel. 

Hysteria about pit bulls is starting to get pricey

A 13-year old girl in Ft. Lauderdale got hit by a car while running from a pit bull.  Statistically, she's about 1000x more likely to die from the car hitting her than the dog bite, but you'd never know it from reading the newspaper.

Former Hollywood Stuntman has pit bull service dog

Again proving pit bulls are what you train them to be.  This one is worth reading just for the picture.

Shouldn't be news, but is

Girl "bitten" by a pit bull on her way to school.  The dog bite was described as a minor puncture wound that looked like a bee sting. For any other dog that is a "nip", at worst.

Paul Wesselhoft is at it again

After two failed attempts to try to get a bill passed in Oklahoma to allow local governments the rights to ban pit bulls, he is now wanting to push it to a state vote by the people.  At some point, if you looked around and couldn't get any co-sponsors for bills, or any support, you might think "Maybe I'm wrong?" -- no Wesselhoft, it just means he's the only person that isn't "chicken".  Who's voting for this clown in Oklahoma?

The other big dog-fighting bust this week

28-year old Maxwell Landry was supposedly taking in $5,000 a month in organized dog fighting activities.  He was busted with 43 dogs (all presumed to be used for fighting) in St. Charles Parish, LA.  Police also found steriods that they injected into the dogs, treadmills, and weigh-in scales.  Obviously other signs of neglect were found also.  Just horrible, and I just can't understand how some people think that is "fun".

Four Year Old boy attacked by a dog "of unknown breed" in the UK

How's the Dangerous Dogs Act Working for them again?  And why do people in the states continue to look at the UK ordinance as a model ordinance? 

German Shepherd attacks 7-year old in Somerdale

Of course the headline only says "dog".  Boy has several bite marks and a broken arm to show for it.  Of course the boy's mom say that dog owners should be responsible -- and uses herself as an example as her dog is kept chained in the back yard.  Ugh.

Bluefield West Virginia Group wants to Ban Pit bulls

Citizens are looking to push the council into a vote.  Anyone out there, beware of this.

Rhodesian Ridgeback attacks 7 year old blind boy in UK

Do I really need to comment?

St. Paul reacts to attacks with instituting a new ordinance

They say they're not reacting, but seems more than coincidental that they enacted it after the 4th major attack in the Twin Cities area this year. They're ordinance is actually a really good one  (which may prove it wasn't knee-jerk) in that it prevents previous violators of animal control laws from getting further dogs.  It's a good law, because confiscating someone's abused dog is usually just a way to ensure that some other poor pup will suffer the same fate soon.

Council member Dave Thune has a great quote on the matter in this article.

Husky-German Shepherd Mix attacks in Blacksburg, NC

Again, the headline reads "dog". 

California legislator pushing for Mandatory Spay/Neuter of all dogs

Which is basically a good way of saying that you want to be sure that 20 years from now, nobody can have a pet because they'll be extinct...and the ones that do exist will be bred in basements. 

Minneapolis stepping up enforcement of animal control ordinances following attacks

Always a good first step.  Head of AC is calling for people to be aware of aggressive signs and to socialize their animals. 

San Diego pit bull gets selected for law enforcement

Was a stray picked up by animal control, but personality, character, mean he gets to go to police dog school to be trained to be a scenting dog to help the police. Very good feel-good story.

Serious Allegations seem to be being taken that way

Michael Vick is an amazing athlete.  He ran a sub 4.3 - 40 in his initial NFL combine.  For those of you who don't know, a 4.4 time in the 40 yard dash is considered incredibly fast.  Sub 4.3, is like lightning.

He has a cannon for an arm and is amazing to watch on the football field, even if his ability doesn't translate into wins the way it does for other talented players like Peyton Manning.

But Vick has never been a model citizen off the field.  From his Ron Mexico incideent where he gave a false name to a woman when he gave her herpes, to his arguing over a water bottle that airport security found to have a "secret compartment" with "residue" in it, to his showing of the finger to fans that booed him after a poor performance, he's always had some issues.

However, his most recent stir with the law has many in a fuss -- and honestly, I'm a little surprised that more people aren't calling this "no big deal."  Yesterday, in a search of one of the homes Vick owns (Vick himself does not supposedly live there, but his nephew does) for drugs, police investigators found 50-60 animals, most of them pit bulls, emaciated, chained, and with signs that they had been used for dog fighting (not to mention other dog-fighting paraphenalia.

I won't spend a lot of time on this story -- a quick Google Search offered up over 200 different media vehicles where you can find up-to-date details.  I've read a couple of columnists, and even sports columnists (who likely not very aware of the dog issues many of us face every day) who understand the severity of what Vick is being accused of here.

Dog fighting is a major problem in this country. With a subculture of society that glamourizes dog fighting, and the drug problems that usually coexist, a high-profile incident like this provides our country an opportunity to make a statement about how wrong these activities are.  Several other NFL players, including Chris Henry and Pac Man Jones, have received hefty fines and supsension following the NFL's new off-field character rules.   Vick is far more high-profile than either of these players. 

There is also a chance that the sheer mass of this incident could cause Vick to have some jail time.

PETA and HSUS have already started pressuring authorities in this regard.  While I find both organizations to be horribly frustrating, the political power they can have in this matter could be helpful in making sure this case is prosecuted to its fullest.

Most dog fighting cases like this are not high profile.  Handing down a severe punishment in this case could send a very clear message about how serious the criminal act of dog fighting is. I just hope it's not so high profile that the message doesn't get sent.  It would set a bad example for others involved in this subculture who look up to people like Vick, and could encourage more to get involved in this heinous activity.

An editing desk classic

The Wichita Eagle is on a roll recently (which is easy to do when you're heading downhill) with their coverage of events, but they've got an all new classic.

Last night, this story appeared on their website with the headline "Standoff in Wichita Ends without Incident".   Apparently a man threatened some people with a shot gun, then holed himself into his home and fell asleep when the SWAT team came in and apprehended him.  When the SWAT team entered the house, they shot the man's dog.

Meanwhile, the overnight editing desk adjusted the story with a new headline "Pit bull killed South Wichita Standoff" and changed the lead to the dog getting shot (Editor's note: the headline has changed again to say "dog killed").  Again, the inverted pyramid of what is important in a newstory seems to have gotten reversed on the editor's desk. 

"Man's Best Friend" still welcome

Well, there are a couple of "wins" in the area recently as last week, Peculiar, MO passed their new breed-neutral dangerous dog ordinance.  I've only seen a draft of the final ordinance -- but there were some really interesting (good) elements in the draft I saw that I will point out if I can ever get my hands on the final ordinance.  Peculiar came a long way from their original proposal that declared 6 breeds of dogs as dangerous (and a curious selection of six breeds).  So congrats to them for working with the animal welfare community in coming up with a great, fair law.

Meanwhile, Warrensburg, MO just had the first reading of their ordinance last night, and it also appears as if it will be a solid breed-neutral law.  It's actually amazing that Warrensburg, MO, the home of the phrase "A man's best friend is a dog", spent so much time contemplating potentially banning some of man's best friends.

Yes, this was news to me, even though I've lived near Warrensburg my entire life, that it was the home to this popular phrase.  But the story comes from "eulogy of the dog" that was in honor of a man's dog, Old Drum (a statue of Old Drum stands in the town). 

Here is a quick blurb from the Eulogy:

"Gentlemen of the jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow, and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens."

Good stuff.

You can read the entire story and eulogy here.  And congrats to Warrensburg for not making a mockery of their claim to fame.

Stuff you should know about

I'm getting caught up after being caught up in my real job for a few days.  Here are a few things you should know about.

1) Save the date: September 15-16, - The Canine Legislation Conference at the Westin/Crown Center in beautiful Kansas City, Mo.  I'll pass along more information about this fabulous event as we get it, including a list of guest speakers (we have an impressive list so far).  This is a fabulous event sponsored by Kansas City Dog Advocates and the Indy Pit Crew -- the first annual event was held in Chicago last summer.  Anyone interested in getting more information about the conference so they can attend, or co-sponsor the event (more $$ means even more and better guest speakers) can contact me at [email protected] and I'll be sure to get more info passed along.

2) The Kansas City Pet Expo will be held this weekend, April 28-29th at the American Royal Complex.  This is a great expo with tons of animal welfare organizations, rescues, and resources on pets in the KC Area -- as well as a lot of entertainment.  It should be a great event.

3) In a non-event-related note, I wanted to let everyone know about this little guy.  Elliott is another sad abuse case in Kansas City.  I have no idea why dogs that are treated as horribly as this guy was love people so much, but he's just another example. If people would only realize that if pit bull-type dogs were really vicious by nature, how many more dog attacks we'd have with all of the abuse we see in guys like this guy.  But Elliott is in urgent need of a permanent or temporary home.  So please help if you can.

Pit bull kills young child in Charleston, SC

Apparently a pit bull attacked and killed a 1 1/2 year old boy earlier today.  Not a lot of info is available about the attack right now, although it appears as if the attack follows all of the typical signs: The dog had shown recent, previous signs of aggression, the child was left unsupervised and the dog (while not chained) was isolated and "contained" in the laundry room.  I'm sure that the news reports as this spreads across the country will focus on "pit bulls" vs the other, more telling factors.  I'll keep this up-to-date as more is known.

The Upside to the BSL Hearings

Last week, I posted about how most "pit bull people" got into "pit bull" ownership and politics merely by accident.  They found a dog (or the dog found them), they fell in love with it, and ended up fighting to keep their pet at a city council meeting.  We didn't in any way set out to become "pit bull people" or political activists, or bloggers.

However, I will note that one good thing has come out of the recent public hearings in the Kansas City area regarding BSL. 

Approximately a year ago, almost none of our Kansas City Dog Advocates members had ever been to a city council meeting of any type.  Several probably didn't really even vote regularly.

Since then, our members have become politically involved.  They've discovered the power of their voices in local government -- and it's a pretty cool thing to watch.  Not only have they found their voices, they're using them, and becoming very politically active.

There's Casey from our group, who was scared of public speaking a year ago.  Yet, found her voice to the point that she gave one of the more stiring presentations I've seen at the Raytown public hearing back in November.  You can read her story here.

Peggy has also never been to a public hearing -- and had to be encouraged to even get up and speak at the Raytown meeting in November.  Within 6 months she was not only speaking to public officials, but was involved in the mayoral campaign of the new mayor David Bower, and was invited to the farewall party for the outgoing mayor Sue Franks.  Her before and after party conversation are logged here where she hob-nobbed with many area politicians.

We have one member serving as the head of animal control in a small area city.  Another that is on one of the mayor's advisory boards in Lee's Summit.  We have many more that have served in a campaign capacity in the recent elections. 

Finding your political voice is a very powerful thing. I've never understood why more people didn't get involved locally -- because your voice can be heard so much louder in a local setting than in national politics....and honestly, local politics probably affects my life much more than national politics.

I'm proud of our members -- they have found a power that they can carry with them for life.  So if there is a benefit to really crappy public policy being proposed, that is it.  And these politicians are now going to have to deal with us for life.

Good Laugh

Most of you all may not be familiar with one of my favorite blogs out there called Indexed.  Indexed is the brainchild of Jessica Hagy and is just clever humor at its finest.  I point this out because last week she had a great index card on dog "breeds" that I thought was fun.  Enjoy.