Weekly Roundup

A lot of interesting stories this week -- I'm just going to jump in.

Man attacked by dogs in Prince Georges County

This article is a bit hard to follow as there are a lot of dogs involved and it's not immediately clear who owns which dogs.  As it turns out the man was attacked by two Cane Corsos, and both of his dogs ended up dead (although one was shot by a police officer, the other hit by a car).  Prince Georges County spends about $600,000 a year enforcing its ban against pit bulls...too bad they aren't focusing on dogs that are not safe, regardless of breed.  Apparenty there were many witnesses to the attack that simply watched and yelled at the dogs until authorities arrived.

Wichita, KS decides against BSL

They had discussed an ordinance that would limit owners to no more than two pit bulls, but due to concerns that the law would be unfair to "breed enthusiasts" and bad owners would likely just create bad dogs out of other breeds they voted against the breed limits.  The new ordinance allows them to determine a dog is dangerous without a bite taking place and allows them the ability to euthenize a dog after its first bite.

Why are pit bulls the most hated of all breeds?

An interesting look from a publication called the National Ledger on the media's portrayal of pit bulls.  The article concludes:

Between the media’s search for ratings, popular myths and pig-headed politicians, Pit bulls and other “vicious” breeds don’t stand a chance. The only ones fighting for them are the loving owners that take care of them, nurture them and know exactly how wonderful they really are. It may seem trivial to a lot of people, but to the thousands of Pitbull owners in the U.S., it is an everyday struggle to keep their families from being torn apart by something as ridiculous as a bad reputation.

Wrong info once again from the Kansas City Media

KCTV5 decided to cover the attack that happened in Detroit late last week -- where a pack of American Bulldogs attacked two people and killed them.  KCTV5 of course ran it as a "pit bull" attack and has never bothered to update the info on their website - -once again contributing to the hysteria that pit bulls are worse than other dogs through false reporting.

Arkansas passes state wide vicious dog law

The new law allows them to bring criminal charges upon negligent owners of attacking dogs.  It's modeled after a similar Texas law (that had stiffer penalties).  I'm a huge proponent of holding owners responsible for the actions of their dogs.

Youngstown, OH still trying to figure out who will enforce their Pit Bull Ban

The city lacks their own animal control, and relies on the county dog warden to enforce their dog ordinances and the Mahoning County Dog Warden has decided he doesn't want to enforce their stupid new law.

Great story about a Massachusetts Shelter Worker who rescues pit bulls

Some great stories and quotes in the article from both the rescuer Donna Bishop and Massachusetts SPCA deputy director Scott Giacoppo.

Tuscaloosa, AL Shelter changes its rules on adopting out pit bulls

Yet another shelter has changed a log-standing policy of not adopting out pit bulls and now working toward finding homes for them.  This one had a shelter worker attend a conference in Oakland (BAD RAP likely?) where she learned how to better evaluate temperaments.

"A lot of people are afraid of pit bulls, and Michael Vick didn’t help at all," Strickland said. “Pits are very intelligent and bond well with people. For some people, a pit that had had a good up-bringing is the ideal dog."

NJ Senator drops idea of BSL

The editorial from the local paper is thrilled because it targeted the wrong end of the leash.

The bill was not only potentially illegal, but misdirected. It targeted the wrong species. The problem isn't a specific breed of dog - it's a specific type of human. That's what lawmakers and police should be going after - not someone's pet pit bull that's well-treated and friendly.

6 year old boy attacked by German Shepherd in Enid, OK

Sounds like a really bad attack.  The really frustrating part of this is that the dog had bitten a young child before because the dog was food aggressive.

Man captures cats to feed to pit bull

This was everyone's top featured news story of the week it seemed, but a sicko 21 year old, Tye Hilmo, was arrested for animal cruelty for capturing cats and feeding them to his dog.   Hilmo was already in jail for violating his probation and on drug and firearm possession charges.

Can we all agree to lock this guy up for a while?

This is why I'm a huge supporter of harsh punishment for animal cruelty...guys like this don't belong out on the streets.  I do think it's interesting that the "pit bulls" were such a major part of the headline, but are completely inconsequential to the actual story.

Toledo vs Tellings revisited

Christine over at Bad Rap has a great blog posting about one of the judges in the Ohio Supreme Court commenting publicly on the case in spite of it still being up for review. She does an excellent job of breaking down a lot of the issues with their ruling -- it's a great read -- here's an taste:

Judge Pfeifer confirms, "there is no evidence that pit bulls bite more frequently than other breeds," but then reports, "The trial court cited the substantial evidence supporting its conclusion that pit bulls, compared to other breeds, cause a disproportionate amount of danger to people."

Is no one else scratching their heads at this contradiction?

Sundusky, OH looking at adding back Breed Specific Language

Apparently they took out breed specific language in 2006 following the original Toledo v Tellings ruling, but now that it was overturned by the state Supreme Court want to add it back into their ordinance.  No word was mentioned if bite rates or anything had gone up because of taking out their breed specific language (I'll work on that).  Their county animal control officer of course has believed everything Toledo dog warden Tom Skeldon has ever said (without proof or confirmation) about pit bulls.

Because of the dogs' powerful jaws, pit bull bites tend to cause more fatalities than those of other dogs, Knapp said.  There is no evidence that has ever shown that pit bulls bite with more force than other breeds of dogs.

Originally bred to be fighting dogs, pit bulls will often go for the throat of other animals and, unlike most dogs, will fight to the death. There was a great story in an academic journal a while back that noted that all breeds of dogs attack at the throat -- so this is not a unique trait among pit bulls (I'll dust that off at a later date).

"They were bred for fighting," Knapp said. "It's in their genes.  I'm still looking for the geneticist that has isolated the "dog fighting gene".

Pit bull helps man preach the Gospel

This Huntsville, AL minister has a love for pit bulls -- and apparently people's love for his dogs often give him opportunities to connect.  "People will talk to me about my dogs before they talk to me about Jesus," he said. "That gives me a chance to say, 'These dogs are this way because they were raised in a good, Christian home.' "

That's it for this week.

Comments

[morgan]

Your good Brent!
You need to own your own news station so the general public can hear the truth!
I love reading your blog I visit at least twice a day.

[MDog]

Thanks for the roundup, Brent!
It was nice to see a few positive stories in there this week.
But, did you notice that in the Prince Georges county attack story, the reporter mentions pit bulls about three times, though the attacking dogs were Cane Corsos. The reporter says twice that the man thought the dogs were pit bulls and then says that Cane Corsos "look like giant pit bulls." I'm surprised their little tagline didn't read "Man Attacked by Dogs He Thought Were Giant Pit Bulls."

[MichelleD]

lmao - I noticed the same thing- it even said something like "because of the size he thought they were pit bulls" - they range from 90-130lbs!! Only 30-70ish pounds more than APBT breed standard.

Another point, this area has a pb ban and the AC said CC are "increasingly popular" and can be "bad in the wrong hands, like any other breed." F'IN REALLY!?!? I wonder if the powers that be will get that the AC just said their breed ban is stupid and the bad guys are switching to a new breed - JUST LIKE WE KEEP SAYING! How many times does history have to repeat itself?