KC DOG BLOG

Dangerous Dog Act's Results from Scotland

Yesterday I had a post about the 50% increase in major dog attacks in the UK following the upgrade of the Dangerous Dogs Act in 1997 (a law that essentially banned 4 breeds of dogs in the UK).  Apparently, the results have been even more of a disaster in Scotland, where they have seen a 150% increase in dog attacks between 1999-2000 and 2006-2007 from 239 to 623.  Yikes.

To combat the increases, Scotland is looking at new legislation that would allow officials to intervene if someone has an "out of control dog" even in their own home or a relative's home.

"Any dog can be dangerous in the wrong circumstances," said Alex Neil, the bill's sponsor.  "That's why any dog acting dangerously, anywhere, would come under this legislation."

Doreen Graham of the SSPCA agrees with the new legislation:

Ms Graham said the Dangerous Dogs Act only covered certain breeds and, instead, it should apply to the behaviour of all dogs, and should also lay the responsibility on owners, not the animals. She said: "This highlights the need for all owners to be in control of their animal at all times."

Once again, the UK provides us with a beautiful case study of the ineffectiveness of breed specific legislation.

Grandmother and toddler attacked by dog

In another case of mistaken identity, there is a story out of San Jose of a grandmother and a toddler being severely attacked by a dog.  The story originally broke as them being attacked by a "pit bull" and was then picked up in multiple news sources.   However, newer information has come out that authorities are now calling the dogs a "boxer mixes" (The San Jose Mercury is also calling them Boxer mixes now but I can't get the link to work).

The 20 month old child, Ana Leigh Cinco, will live, but had a huge amount of skin pulled off from her lip to her chin that will need to be reattached.  The48 year old  grandmother Elizebeth Cinco was injured when she jumped in to protect the child and suffered bites on her arms, legs and neck.  Apparently the dogs got very excited over something when the attack occured.

It's a shame that so many of the early stories were focused on the dogs being "pit bulls" instead of using the space lead people to realize the real causes behind dog attacks so people could become truly informed so we can start cutting back on the number of children who are attacked by dogs. 

Child killed by dog in the UK and another look at the Dangerous Dogs Act

Earlier this week, a 1 year old boy was attacked and killed in his home by a pet Rottweiler in the UK.  This attack ends a year in the UK that actually began with the fatal mauling of 5 year old Ellie Lawrenson. 

In 1991, after a series of serious dog attacks, the UK passed the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991 that essentially banned four breeds of dog:  Japanese Tosas, the Dogo Argentinos, American Pit Bull Terriers and Fila Brasileiros (Brazilian Mastiffs). 

The ordinance was updated again in 1997.

Since the passing of the 1997 update, the UK has seen a 50% increase in the total number of people admitted to hospitals because of dog attacks.  In the past year, 4,574 people were admitted to hospitals in the UK due to dog bites -- a 10% increase over the year previous.   1/3 of these victims were children under the age of 14. 

Critics of the Dangerous Dogs Act call it a knee-jerk reaction that did "nothing to address the real issues of responsible pet ownership.  Another critic noted that "Any dog can be trained to attack, so a breed-specific ban misses the point."

In fact, in a BBC radio poll earlier this year, the Dangerous Dogs Act was the single UK law that the majority of people wanted to repeal.

This is the type of law that is being discussed in other areas of the US as I type.  A state representative in Minnesota is wanting to look at a state-wide ban on five different breeds of dogs (Am. Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, Akitas, Chow Chows and Dobermans).  The UK should serve as an example of what happens when you create poorly thought-out laws that ban breeds of dogs instead of human behaviors that lead to the dogs being aggressive. Until we start focusing on the human problems, people will never be safer from dog attacks.  A 50% increase in 10 years is NOT success.  It's complete and utter failure - -and what happens when you focus time and resources on trying to solve the wrong problem.

Weekly Roundup - 2007 Closes

2007 is rapidly coming to a close and I, personally, am looking forward to the new and improved year that I think 2008 will become.  I'm always the optimist I suppose.  The last week of 2007 ended with a bang...just as it began when a little girl was mauled and killed by a dog in the UK on New Year's Day.  It turns out that cold weather where dogs aren't getting out enough, coupled with excited kids (and in many cases relatives dogs that aren't as familiar with the said kids) aren't a great scenerio -- but you'll also note that breed has nothing to do with this large number of dog bite stories.  Here's a look:

"Pit Bull" Attacks Woman and Child in Canton, MS

Everyone is fine and escaped this "potentially vicious" (whatever the heck that means) dog attack. The piece of note here is that the dog "served as the family guard dog" and was left chained up to a tree in the back yard of the house and broke free of his chain.  If you want protection, get an alarm system.  Dogs do not have the ability to learn good people from bad people and will end up hurting good people.  Oh, and leaving your dog chained up in the back yard isn't the best option either.

Kim Gotti bit by Pit Bull

For the life of me I can't figure out why this is a headline, but it ran in a LOT of media outlets.  Anyway, her "wound" was treated with a little Neosporin and she's fine. 

"Dog" attacks boy the day before Christmas

Eight-year-old Elias Fields, of St. Helen's Oregon was bitten in the face by a visiting friend's black Labrador -- which of course is a "dog" in the headline.  The boy will be ok, the may need to have reconstructive surgery to repair his lip that was partially torn off.   The family wants the dog to be put down following the attack.

Clifford Indiana woman saved from "dog" attack

The woman was attacked by her pet dog, an English Mastiff/Labrador mix.  The dog was shot by local authorities and the woman will be ok.

"Dog" taken into custody for attacking woman and another dog

This German Shepherd escaped from its fence and attacked the small dog, a Miniature Pinscher, and the woman picked up her dog and got bitten also.

City plans to seize couple's two dogs

This Midwest City, OK couple is in danger of losing their two pet Bull Terriers because Midwest City, OK has a ban on four breeds of dogs, American Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Bull Terriers.  The ordinance was enacted in 1987 and is exempted from the State law forbidding breed specific laws because Midwest City is a "home rule" city.

City Attorney Katherine Bolles says "To our City Council it's a matter of public safety, there's anecdotal evidence again and again that "pit bulls" and bull terriers are a different breed of dog".

  I don't know about you, but I'd prefer my cities to make decisions based on facts and expert opinion and not based on "anecdotal evidence", which is most often very wrong.  The people seem like nice people, and the dog seems like a good dog, and the folks sound like they're planning to move from Midwest City in order to keep their dogs.

Armour for your pit bull

Seems like a dog lover with some craftmanship has designs body armour for "pit bulls".  It's kind of cute, and maybe this can help some of us protect our dogs from getting shot by area police who are getting more and more trigger happy.  Picture to the left.

"Dog" attacks meter reader in Tulsa

An Oklahoma Natural Gas Company meter reader jumped a fence into a back yard to read the gas meter, and the family's 140 pound Bull Mastiff ended up biting him in the arm.  The bite was strong enough to break the man's arm and the dog only let go after the man was forced to stab it several times with a screwdriver he was carrying.

Collision kills pet at off-leash dog park in Seattle

A greyhound was fatally injured when it had a collision with a Golden Retriever when the two dogs were chasing the same ball.  The Greyhound apparently was thrown into the air by the collision and suffered a fatal spinal injury.  What a horrible and freak accident...

"Dog" bites two year old girl

This story from Austrailia, where the girl took the family Labrador's bone and got bit for it.  People, teach your kids to respect dogs and their bones.  While it's important to teach a dog to not be possession aggressive, it's equally important to not let 2 year olds test their skills in this regard.

Mineola TX Woman Seriously Injured in "dog" attack

The American Bulldog was new to the family (they had just gotten him this week) and it attacked a 55 year old woman who was visiting the family.

Palestine, Tx ACO seizes chained "pit bull" dog Friday

Notice how "pit bull" makes the headline?  Anyway, this dog was taken from its owners after the dog was found emaciated, tethered on a short, thick chain and without any shelter.  Animal Control had been to the home multiple times this week and none of the dog's conditions had improved.  Because the family wasn't home, the ACO did go to the judge to get a seizure warrant -- which always makes me happy when they do this the Constitutional way.

Pit bulls an issue for area shelters

This is a fairly balanced story from out of Jacksonville, FL where the area shelter does not adopt out 'pit bulls' because they have liability concerns.  They note that the dogs are a liability because people want them for all the wrong reasons.  Jim Crosby was also interviewed for the story. Here's a snippet:

When owners don't properly socialize the dogs, don't spay or neuter them, and keep them chained up in the yard, the likelihood of a dog bite increases, Crosby said. Pit bulls are also often the victim of abuse or neglect, something that exacerbates violent behavior. And, he said, many of the maulings involve children left unsupervised with a dog, something that experts say is unwise.

Pit Bulls played a big part in local/national news

I saw this article earlier in the week, but Donna did a great job of summing up my thoughts on this for a great read over at Bad Rap's Blog, so check that out.

Dog Bucks the Stereotype

This is a cute story about a therapy dog that is making the lives of senior citizens better.  This isn't an uncommon story, just one you don't hear about all that often because these aren't the dogs that make the headlines.  It's a great story, and worth the read and there's a short video of Ruby's interactions with the folks at the center that is worth watching also.  Here's a taste:

It took a few minutes for Herb Isakson, 81, to smile as he sat in the hobby room at Croixdale with about a dozen other senior citizens last week. But his face split into a huge grin when Ruby crawled o his lap and snuggled in.

Ruby is a pit bull. She also is a certified therapy dog.

Those two statements seem incongruous, but Ruby's owners, Pat and Lynn Bettendorf of Scandia, are trying to change all that.

Media competition, bias, and suppressed information

Here is an interesting paper written by Jeremy Burke, a student at Duke University.

The basic premise of the paper is that as competition increases and people have the ability to receive news from a variety of news sources, news sources have been increasingly forced to focus on bottom line pressures vs reporting "news".  "We don't ask 'why' -- or 'why not' as much as we should" notes one staff writer.

Because in order to maintain the media outlet's "reputation", they may be likely to suppress the information that is revealed.  Meanwhile, the emergence of imperfectly informced sources of news, such as blogs, can decrease incentives of traditional media outlets to provide information, however they may overall be good for society with information is being suppressed by the traditional media.

One great quote begins the paper:

"I am completely exasperated by this approach to news. The idea seems to be that we go out and report but when it comes time to write we turn our brains off and repeat the spin from both sides.  God forbid we should attempt to fairly assess what we see with our own eyes. "Balanced" is not fair, it's just an easy way to avoid real reporting and shirking our responsibility to inform readers." Ken Silverstein, the LA Times.

The paper is a bit clunky for those of us who are not economists, but it's interesting nontheless.  I think we've all seen this inability to actually inform readers of the realities when it comes to dog bites, abuse and breed specific laws has become increasingly evident.  The sooner we can get public officials, and the public at large, to realize that the media is not living up to its responsibilities to accurately tell stories, the better off we'll all be.

Here's the complete paper. 

Hat Tip:  Marginal Revolution

Roscoe makes it home

Roscoe has returned home.  About 2 months ago, I noted this story where Roscoe was taken from his family in Kansas City, KS because animal control officers thought he was a "pit bull", which are outlawed in KCK.  Even though the Cockrum family produced paperwork that they had adopted Roscoe from the KCK City-run animal shelter as a Shepherd Mix, the authorities still took Roscoe.  Only after some help from some a lawyer, the new crews, and some behind the scenes dog advocates, has Roscoe finally returned home.

The Cockrum's had to pay a fine for not having Roscoe Spay and Neutered and for not having him licensed.  Roscoe spent the day at Spay/Neuter Kansas City, a place that offers low cost spay/neuters for people who can't afford the higher prices at vets offices handled him getting fixed.

Meanwhile, the taxpayers of KCK just spent a small fortune on their animal control officer's time, court costs, and the costs of boarding Roscoe for 2 months while this all took place so this dog could just not be a part of his family.  The dog is clearly not dangerous (watch the video), and clearly not a 'pit bull' (although your guess is as good as mine about what he really is).  But this is a prime example of what happens when you have poorly conceived laws, that are not enforceable, and a poorly run animal control office that is more concerned about making numbers and jacking with people than they are about public safety and animal welfare.

Special thanks to those at KC Dog Advocates that helped out the Cockrum family.  Here's a link to the news story by KCTV5 -- who thanks to them for covering this story.

Roscoe, welcome home. 

California Woman Dies from Dog Mauling

It wasn't a Merry Christmas for one Yermo, California family.  Apparently, on Christmas night, a woman was found dying in the street in San Bernadino County, California where she was attacked by several dogs (it appears as if there were three, although it is not clear).  The woman, 45 year old Kelly Caldwell,  later died at the hospital.

Two of the dogs involved in the attack have been shot and killed.  The dogs are being reported as being "pit bulls", although it's very unclear who actually identified them as such.

The story has gotten a lot of coverage so far -- 194 news stories including the Associated Press and Fox News.

I'll update you more as more info comes out on this as investigations have been pretty vague up to this point.  It does appear as if one of the dogs did have some history of aggression.

The Best of KC Dog Blog

I'm nearly 500 posts into the KC Dog Blog's history, and I used the snowy day off from work today to go through and add a "Best of KC Dog Blog" section on my side bar. These 30 or so posts represent my basic positions on key issues, some great case studies, some of the best discussions and overall, the types of posts I wish I had time to write every day.  You may agree, you may disagree.  But for some of the newer readers to the blog, I thought these might be entertaining and helpful. 

Enjoy.

Pet ownership increasing, as is how we care for our pets

The AVMA has released its census that comes out every 5 years on pets and pet owners. The USA Today picked up a story on the release of the census.

According to the study, 7.6 million more households own pets than during their last census in 2001 -- raising the grand total to 59.5% of all homes owning a pet.   By comparison, only 35% of US households have children under the age of 18. 

Of those houselholds with pets, 66% own more than one pet, and just over 20% owned at least 5.  That's aproximately 13 million households that have 5 or more pets.   In total, this leads to 81.7 million cats in the US, and 72 million dogs.  Vermont and Idaho have the highest % of pet ownership.

Overall, people spend $24.5 billion in medical care for these pets, leading pets to live longer lives.

All of this is great news for a lot of people.  Vets will continue to have a lot of customers, and shelters should have a huge number of potential adopters as pet ownership increases.

Meanwhile, cities should be making note of the trends too.  As more and more people own dogs -- and own multiple dogs -- public policy should reflect these changes in how people live.  Cities need to be investing more money into dog parks, and walking trails.  Ridiculously low pet limits should be  gotten rid of (as 13 million households would be violating the law in the majority of Kansas City's cities and suburbs with their 5+ animals).   With more dogs, cities are going to need to invest more money into their animal control departments to be sure they are keeping up with the times -- and work toward making their animal control departments self funding.  They'll also improve policies that allow for outside seating at restaurants so restaurants can more easily allow pets to dine with their human patrons.

Meanwhile, in most cities and states, pet owners represent the MAJORITY of voters....which should make them more demanding of more pet-friendly policies -- including dog parks, cruelty cases, and anti-BSL. 

Society is changing...cities that don't notice and keep up with these trends will be left behind as people will prefer to move to their pet friendlier counterparts.

Hat Tip: Pet Connection Blog

Merry Christmas

I probably won't post much of anything today or early tomorrow in celebration of the Christmas Holiday.  I've got several days off this week and several stories in the hopper, so I'll be back in fine fashion on Wednesday.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas Eve and Christmas.  Enjoy the time you get to spend with family -- regardless of how many legs those family members have.

Merry Christmas.