Weekly Roundup

Kind of a nutty week in the world of dogs this week.  A lot of strange stuff - -so let's jump to it:

Dyer, TN places bans on "pit bulls"

According to the ordinance:  "The mere possession of pit bulls posses a significant threat to the health, welfare and safety of Dyer's citizens." 

I have no idea of the rationale that led them to that decisions...

Pit bulls are America's Sweetheart

This is a good guest column from the Texas A&M student Newspaper The Battalion.  She discusses a lot of the history of pit bulls and concludes: "In Texas, dogs are defined as dangerous based on their previous behavior, not simply because of what breed they are.  Because pit bulls make loving family companions for countless Texans, and because a dog of any breed can be dangerous, breed specific legislation is unjust, illogical and needs to stay out of the state."

Baltimore Rejects Pit Bull Restrictions

This story has gone on for a while, but Baltimore's County Council voted against the bill for more restrictions on "pit bulls" by a vote of 6-1.  Only councilman Gardina, who proposed the bill, voted in favor.

Baltimore has many, many problems -- and the "pit bull problem" is only a symptom of much bigger issues in their overall crime/poverty issues and overall lack of law enforcement. 

Whodunnit?  Surprising Inmates

This is sort of a funny column that looks at a pretty large group of dogs taht are guilty of "murder" -- with Beagles, Labs,  Dachshunds, etc all in the mix.

Court sides with Pit Bulls in Leesburg, VA

The courts have imposed an injuntion on the Loudon County(VA) Department of animal control because they have been putting down "pit bulls" in the shelter based on the breeds of the dogs (not based on health or temperament issues).  The courts ruled that this was counter to the Virginia state law that outlaws making specific policies based on a dog's breed.

"Dog" bites postal worker in Lynchburg, VA

The tv report never mentions a breed of dog, but one of the commentors who lived in the neighborhood says it was  a "very friendly labrador" that apparently "wasn't having a good day."  It's always interesting to me with the breed of dog is left off of these labrador attacks.

Dog bites preventable with simple precautions

This is a good editorial out of Nova Scotia.  Rule #1: Always ask permission of the dog's owner before you pet the pooch.

A closer look at pit bulls, friend or foe?

This is a pretty good story from the NBC affiliate in August, GA.  Watch the video and you'll get some great footage of a well trained and socialize bully.  There's also a great quote by Priscilla Crisler of the Richmond County Animal Shelter:

"Animals don't turn on their owners, it's a process of behavior they were allowed to do from early on and now it's escalted to being very dangerous."   I think this is a great quote because too often people will say "my dog just snapped" when the reality is, the dog has most likely shown signs of this behavior building for months or years and nothing was done to re-establish right and wrong...

South Sioux City Iowa Looking into potential pit bull ban

Like most other cities that consider knee-jerk legislation, this one comes just three weeks after a boy was attacked by a "pit bull" in the city.  This is how most cities get their bans -- making knee-jerk reactions based on a fairly isolated incident that had many other factors involved other than breed of dog.

Lawrence, KS law cuts down on number of vicious dogs

The results speak for themselves as they've had great results in weeding out dog-fighting, animal abuse, cruelty, and thus, the number of attacks in the city.   Through this, the number of abused pit bulls that have entered the Lawrence Humane Society shelter over the past 10 years has gone from aroudn 600, to 2.   They did it all by focusing on cruelty/neglect and a series of breed-neutral ordinances that targeted the people responsible for the cruelty/neglect, and not wasting time on people who were not a problem (ie targeting particular breeds).  Case studies like these with RESULTS SHOULD be the roadmap for other cities making their laws...

Boston Court of Appeals says pit bulls are no reason for no-knock search warrant

Local authorities in Boston were using the mere ownership of a pit bull to get a "no-knock" warrant that would allow them to enter the owner's property without having to knock and show the warrant.  The article starts with "score one for pit bulls" but the reality is it should say "score one for the consitutional right to illegal searches and siezures."

Good for the courts in Massachussetts

Athens, OH considering pit bull restrictions

Athen's Law Director, Garry Hunter, proposed the ordinance after an Ohio pit bull rescue contacted the city to find out the standing the city in regards to pit bulls.  Now that the rescue knows that the city doesn't restrict pit bull ownership, Hunter fears that the shelter will start placing dogs in the city.  "I don't want a proliferation of pit bulls (in Athens)," he said.

This may be the single dumbest reason I've seen to try to push through restrictions.  They've had no problems, and a rescue group contacted them to find out what the laws were.  Generally speaking, people who want to know what the laws are aren't the type of people you need to be worried about...

Six jailed for organizing larged dog fight ever uncovered in England

There are a lot of pretty graphic photos over at this one.  The only reason I'm highlighting this is because I want to reiterate that the UK passed the Dangerous Dogs Act in 1991 to stop this type of activity.  And yet, nothing has changed - -in fact, in most cases, things have gotten worse: more dog fighting, more dog attacks, etc.  It is unrealistic to expect a dog law to stop people from doing felonous activities like dog fighting...if they don't care about the felony laws, they're not going to care about the dog ownership law either.  The only way to get to these people is by enforcing the dog fighting laws already on the books...

Dogs attack Pekinese in Liberty, MO

Of course, all of the conversation is over whether or not the dogs were pit bulls.  The owner claims they were Presa Canarios (which Misenhelter, who I believe is with law enforcement, said he had never heard of the breed).  It's a ridiculous situation that the entire story is talking about what breed of dogs these are instead of focusing on what the punishment should be for a dog owner who's dogs attacked and killed someone else's dog?

Garfield, OH bans pit bulls

At least one city councilman is upset because he doesn't feel like the constituents got a chance to speak their mind.  One resident is thrilled that they passed it quickly - -he apparently knows all the answers already without public input (the people who know all the answers without discussion seldom know any of the answers, those who favor public discussion usually know the facts are on their side).  According to city prosecuter Tim Riley "We found that people were not complying with the old ordinance, so we felt the only way to protect the safety o the people of Garfield Heights was to pass this ordinance."

Sooooo, people weren't obeying the old ordinance, so we're going to make another ordinance that they likely won't obey and we probably won't be able to enforce either....but at least this one affects innocent people too.  Great logic out there in Ohio these days.

Emotional Attachment to pets is undeniable

This is a great story about a family that spent 8 months searching for their lost pit bull.

Oklahoma Lawmaker wants to make dog attacks felonous

Apparently Paul Wesselhoft doesn't have a lot to do.  But after a couple of years of trying to get Oklahoma's law not allowing breed specific legislation overturned (with zero other support from his fellow lawmakers), Wesselhoft is back in the news wanting to follow Texas's law that can make a major attack by someone's dog a felony. 

I haven't read the law he is proposing, but honestly, this type of law only makes sense to me.  If I beat someone with a billy club, I can be brought up on assault charges.  I don't see any reason why if I own a dog, I shouldn't be held to the same standard if my dog assaults someone.  Obviously it's important to distinguish the difference between doggie assault and a small bite, but overall, I mostly support this type of legislation even if I'm no fan fo Wesselhoft.

Man sicced dog on officers

The attacking dog?  A labrador retriever.  People will dismiss this as "oh, the owner made it mean".  Which is true.  But they never dismiss it as an owner issue when it's a pit bull that the owner sicced on officers.  Nor, does the breed of dog first show up in paragraph 4.

Hat tip to Caveat for this one.

Minnesota Group fights against BSL

The group is A Rotta Love Plus -- and they are proposing solutions outside of breed specific measures to make neighborhoods safer.

Dog fighting laws gaining support

Apparently Idaho is starting to get support to make dog fighting a state-wide felony.  Idaho is one of only two states that don't call dog fighting a felony right now.

Arkadelphia passes restrictions on pit bull owners

I had hoped that there was enough council support to oppose these restrictions, but alas, the bill went through.

Boxer mix breaks chain and attacks letter carrier in Torrence, CA

Have I mentioned before that chaining dogs 24/7 is a bad idea and that breed of dog has nothing to do with attacks?

Comments

[Marjorie]

"'Animals don't turn on their owners, it's a process of behavior they were allowed to do from early on and now it's escalted to being very dangerous.' I think this is a great quote because too often people will say 'my dog just snapped' when the reality is, the dog has most likely shown signs of this behavior building for months or years and nothing was done to re-establish right and wrong..."

Personally, I like to put it this way, "A bite is never the first sign of aggressive behaviour in dogs. It's the last."

The scale of escalation for aggressive behaviours in dogs is relatively predictable. What starts off as a dog wishing to manipulate its environment (which all do) or who feels uncomfortable in a situation, and who demonstrates this by staring or stiffening its body will, if left unchecked, likely escalate those behaviours to menacing barking, growling, raised lips, lunging, attempted bites, and finally successful bites.

This explains the all too common (but completely erroneous) claim that some dogs involved in unprovoked attacks had never behaved aggressively before. At best, what their owners mean is they'd never successfully bitten previously. More often, the owners either ignored, or are denying, previous aggression incidents, especially those that didn't involve successful bites.

Augmenting this attitude of apathy or denial is the extremely common public belief that aggressive behaviours in dogs are "normal", "expected", or even beneficial. Many people acquire dogs with the expressed hope they can encourage them to behave aggressively (often naively believing this aggressive behaviour will be limited to "bad" people, and never directed at innocent people or animals).

A dog that is manipulating its owners today, via stares, growls, attempted bites, etc., is a dog in the highest category for potential to bite unprovoked, in the future. Conversely, despite years of dog bite research, I've never come across an unprovoked biting incident involving a responsibly-owned dog (with no history of aggressive behaviour).

[Caveat]

Good quotes from both of you.

You also get the twits who purchase what they believe to be an 'attack' dog, then attack it. Bad move.

Dogs don't 'turn' on their owners one day (the way people often do) unless they are diseased, in pain or disordered in some way. They are consistent and completely trustworthy - if you know how to read and handle them.

Too many twits have dogs who shouldn't and the lack of active enforcement of protocol regulations is allowing them to proliferate.

Dogs don't want to bite anyone, that's what isn't widely understood. It's a last resort for them as social animals and even then, most bites are not worth mentioning.

Abuse, neglect, enabling behaviours and deliberate training are what will make a dog nasty, they aren't wired to be that way.

[Caveat]

I meant people will turn on their friends, not their owners....I should read before hitting 'post' more often...

[Tony]

Keep me updated on the story in Liberty, although I think somehow that Pit Bulls will get blamed for it or Liberty will try to ban Presa Canarios next, followed by INDY, then Sugar Creek, then Grandview and so and so as usal. Oh! And KCK will inform us on their 100 year old ban on Presa Canarios that never was inforced.