The weather has been really great here in KC. In honor of that, I'm going to declare Saturday's my day off for the summer (unless something just can't wait). Traffic has been way down on Saturday's lately anyway, so it looks like everyone else is thinking the same thing. Onto the roundup:
90 Year Old With Alzheimer's Gets Attacked by pit bulls
This was a really odd story this week as a 90 year old San Antonio Man had two dogs break INTO his house and attack him. The story in the headline link says the man was asleep, but a later story says the man had a tendency to open doors when he was nervous. The dogs were owned by the man's daughter-in-law, who had recently moved into the house. And they were apparently quite close as her 5 year-old daughter referred to him (her grandfather) as "the man". Strange story, and there's been very little followup on this one.
New Bedford, MA pushing for the state to mirror their ordinance with their own
"Ours is working" says Manny Maciel, the New Bedford Animal Control Officer. What a novel concept to use an ordinance that is working as a guide...instead of the UK's model ordinance that has led to a more than 100% increase in dog attacks since its inception. New Bedford's law sounds similar to Olathe, KS's ordinance that is 100% behavior based, and includes the ability for animal control to declare a dog dangerous (but not vicious) based on behavior, without an actual bite taking place. I think it's a great strategy, and it's working in Olathe also.
Owners that Cause Problems continue to cause problems
Two pit bulls in Indianapolis attack a 61-year-old man this week. The dogs' owner has been cited for having his dogs attack four times in since 2004. "His dogs are very aggressive," City Prosecuter Teri Kendrick said. "Whenever they attack other dogs, they have to be shot or Tasered (by police) to make them stop." How many times has this happened? And why is it allowed to continue?
Pit bull mauls two youths in Baltimore, owner fined $500
I'm a huge fan of holding owners accountable for the actions of their dogs. $500 is a small slap on the wrist for owning a dog that led to a boy being hospitalized for 2 weeks. Laws must hold owners accountable, regardless of what breed of dog they own.
"Pit bull dispute leads to shooting"
Apparent gang-related violence, that led to the shooting of a 17-year old girl (who may or may not have been a bystander) and we get an article headline from WFAA in Dallas that makes it sound as if the dog pulled the trigger.
Jacksonville, AR looks at banning Pit bulls and Bulldogs
Apparently several small communities neighborhing them have also banned them, proving that BSL spreads like cancer that once it gets started, it's tough to stop.
Indianapolis Mayor Bart Patterson Favors Pit Bull Ban
It doesn't appear as if he has much support. Pit bulls make up only about 15% of their reported dog bites in Indy, which is a small number given the number given that many dog bites don't get reported and "pit bulls" encompass a huge number of animals because it covers many breeds of dogs.
Girl attacked by family dogs in Hillside, NJ
If you read far enough into the article, you find out that the dogs were reported as a Mastiff Mix and a German Shepherd...but apparently those breeds aren't interesting enough to make a headline.
Boy recieves 450-600 stitches from dog attack
This one by an Akita -- it says so in Paragraph 4. The dog was apparently routinely chained up and bit the victim's 6 year old sister two weeks earlier. Chained dogs, history of aggression, and kids going up to strange dogs unsupervised...yeah I'm a broken record...
Albert Lee, MN looks into banning pit bulls
The law would affect 14 people who cared enough to register their dogs at pit bulls. Laurie Remakel, the head of Animal Control is pushing for a ban, and doesn't understand why Cincinnati can do it, but they're meeting discrimination resistance (apparently Laurie isn't familiar with the Toledo vs Telling case that may force Cincinnati to change their law also).
200 lb Great Dane attacks 14 year old girl in Braintree, MA
The owner had to pry the dog's mouth off the girl's head (yet no comments about "locking jaws, or "biting and holding"), Animal Control says there are only about 2 or 3 in town (so 33% are attackers) and that Great Danes have no history of being aggressive (which isn't true either as they used to have that reputation in the 70s). It's a sad case, and certainly I don't want to demonize Great Danes (as most of them I've ever met are great dogs), but it is interesting how different the story is when it's about a 200 lb Great Dane vs a 50 lb pit bull.
Derrick Lee of Kansas City KS to be retried for his "pit bull" killing 71 year old woman
This case was a hung jury last month, but will be retried. I hope he gets the slammer for this one, but I question whether they have enough evidence to convict him.
Pit bull attacks child in Detroit
It's a shame I have to use pit bull articles for making all points, but since they're the only ones that make the news any more, I get forced into it. But this young boy saw the dog and screamed and ran away. There are pretty much six things that experts say you should not do when you see a dog -- and scream and run are the top two. It'd be nice if articles would focus on that so that we could PREVENT dog attacks, vs reinforcing the "pit bulls are evil" mentality that encourages people to run for their lives when they see one.
Pitbull attacks toddler in Hesperia, CA
This one sounds really gruesome. The dog was new to the family, and left chained up in the back yard. The two year old wandered out of the house unsupervised. I feel like I've read this story before...
American Bulldog attacks kids in Nipomo, CA
Caveat beat me to this story last night, expectely, the headline went from being about pit bulls to about girls being attacked once the dog breed changed. While "pit bull" was a headline, "American Bulldgo" was bulletpoint 2/3 of the way through the article. It's another case of mistaken breed ID (because all dogs that bite are now thought to be "pit bulls"). Meanwhile, I've also noticed a huge increase in stories about "90-lb pit bulls" lately...most of which are probably Mastiff Mixes, Presa Canarios, American Bulldogs or something non-pit-bull as most "pit bulls" are less than 65 lbs. Not that we want facts to get in the way of a good story.
Woman bitten by a stray cat in Overland Park
I'm waiting for OP to start banning cats too... you can never bee too careful.
Leave it to the weekly roundup to keep my nice days from being perfect ones.
Posted by: Tony | May 20, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Re: 200lb, 3-legged Great Dane
If that Dane's 200lbs, I'll eat my hat. I just love when news agencies just print whatever sounds good.
Some Great Danes are 200lbs and above. It's not exceedingly common, but it does happen. Invariably, those heavy Danes have all 4 legs and they tend to be a bit on the plump side. That skinny, 3-legged Dane would have to be 4 1/2 feet tall to weigh that much.
Kinda reminds me of the oh-so-proud Rottweiler owner who was dumping his "much loved" pet at an animal shelter because he was off to jail. He boasted how the dog weighed over 180lbs. Being so obese, it was possible. But when the dog was finally weighed, it was only 121lbs. Not quite the wildly out-of-standard hulk the guy claimed. He seemed a bit deflated by this news. Poor guy. All that time in prison to ponder how he'd been lying to everyone about his dog, all this time.
Having been involved with Danes for so long, I will say this: many Dane heights and weights are over-reported; people always remember past Danes they've known as being much bigger than they actually were; and many owners of tall (out-of-standard) males from other breeds like to claim their dogs are "the size of a Great Dane" when only compared to the (typically smaller) female Danes. ...No, your male Bouvier/King Shepherd/Newfoundland/etc. is not as big as the average male Great Dane... ;-)
Posted by: Marjorie | May 20, 2007 at 12:51 PM
What's with these politicians who favour 'pit bull' bans while lacking support? I guess they aren't up to speed.
And Marjorie, the 200 lb Dane caught my attention as well. That's a good weight for a very large English Mastiff, a much heavier dog than a Dane (not taller).
Brent, these 90+ pound 'pit bulls' were mentioned in an article I read from Las Vegas (can't remember if I kept it). Apparently, the backyard boys are mixing in all kinds of breeds and have taken a 40 - 50 lb dog and doubled its size with no concerns for health, temperament, etc, all in the name of making a few bucks and impressing their buddies. Twits, I call them.
Great roundup this week!
Posted by: Caveat | May 20, 2007 at 04:04 PM
Marjorie,
Whoa. Are you saying that the media/bistanders might exaggerate?
I looked at that pic...there aren't a lot of Great Danes in KC, but I thought that dog looked pretty skinny to be 200 lbs, but didn't say anything because I'd be venturing a little too far from my knowledge comfort zone...but yeah, I figured like most media things, the size was greatly exaggerated...similar to the Frankenstein-esque monsters that end up being described in "pit bull" articles.
Caveat, I've seen those dogs. My wife calls them hippos because they usually seem to be Blues, and more resembling a hippo than a dog. How do they create those things anyway??? There may be a few of those that account for the 90-lb pit bulls, but I think it's more likely a case of mistaken identity.
Tony, sorry to ruin your perfect day...
Posted by: Brent | May 20, 2007 at 08:28 PM
Don't worry, its cheaper than driving to Metro North Mall...now that's depressing!
Posted by: Tony | May 21, 2007 at 04:48 PM