Weekly Roundup -- Leep Week 2008

Another busy week.  I've got two editions this week, the US version (today) and a special UK Version that I'll publish tomorrow.  For the US version, there were quite a few attacks this week, and a big tip of the hat to the person who can name the overarching trend behind all of this week's bites.

Police Chief saves woman from attack

Blythe, CA police chief Robert Whitney rescued a woman and her dog as they were being attacked by two off leash American Bulldogs.

North Platte Council Agrees Dog is Potentially dangerous

The Rottweiler that had bitten a dog trainer in the face was rulled potentially dangerous by the city council in a unanimous decision.

5 year old Arkansas girl left badly hurt after dog attack

Two Labrador retrievers, one described as a stray that has been roaming the neighborhood attacked the young girl who was out playing in her yard.  It should be noted that last year the city of Lonoke, where this attack occured, banned 'pit bulls' in the name of public safety.

More dog attacks in Lubbock, TX

A person was bitten with minor injuries and three pot-belly pigs are dead when when loose dogs attack in the area.  Lubbock held a dangerous dog meeting earlier this week too.  Most of the residents seemed to understand where the problem was:

"Terrible dog attacks of recent weeks are a law enforcement and people problem, not a pit bull problem."

"The neglect of animal control across the city is a ticking time bomb that has already exploded."

"There is a way to fix it and we realize there is a way to fix it and I think that's it education as much as anything else, education and awareness."

"We can't afford to not hire new help, Kevin. We have to have emergency staff at Lubbock animal services."

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

Meanwhile, a pro pit bull group begins in Lubbock

The group calls themselves BARK (Being Aware, Responsible and Knowledgable) and they're forming a group so that people realize these are people problems, not dog problems.   Unfortunately their leader, 30 year old Eddie Gamez, noted that he thinks that 'pit bulls' should not only be contained behind a fence, but also chained behind the fence as well.  Hopefully the group will get together and get this figured out...

Lawrence KS weighs Changes to vicious dog law

A Labrador Retriever has gotten loose and bitten people on two different occassions in the past couple of weeks, but keeps passing temperament tests, so there is little the current law can do to declare the dog dangerous.  So the executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society, Midge Grinstead (one of the truly outstanding people in the animal welfare community) recommends also instituting a two-bite rule, where a dog that bites twice unproked can be declared dangerous regardless of the temperament test.

"Dog" attacks Boulder, CO Woman

A large Weimaraner was running loose in and out of an open aprtment and attacke the woman.

"Dog" Attacks 2 men, animal control officer

An 85 pound off-leash German Shepherd attacked two men and then an animal control officer in Gaffney, SC...including biting the tires of the animal control officer's vehicle.  The dog was owned by a former officer with the Animal Control Department.

Man Hospitalized after Bloody "Pit Bull" Attack

Note the difference in the headine between this and the previous two articles.  In this one, a loose 'pit bull' that attacked a 51 year old Shreveport, LA man that was out walking at 4 am.

Elderly Shreveport Man Attacked by "pit bull" dogs

It appears the two attacking dogs were strays that were living in an abandoned house in the neighborhood where the man was attacked.  The man was treated at the hospital and released.

Macon GA woman attacked by dogs

The woman was attacked by a pack of 7-10 unleashed dogs.

Dog Attacks 4 Year Old

The boy was playing with the dog, described as  'pit bull/Rottweiler mix"  in the back yard of his grandfathers house.

Jim Crosby the New Top Dog at Bay County Animal Control

Bay County Florida is very lucky to have him as their head of animal control...

"Naughty Dog" Ordinance comes before Waterloo Council

The ordinance would declare a dog potentially dangerous if it causes injury to a person or domestic animal or if the animal is found running at large if its owner has been cited by animal control 3 or more times within a 12 month period.

Cookeville & Putnam County TN Create Dangerous Dog Ordinance

The seven page document defines a dangerous animal as one that causes injury to a person or domestic animal, chased or menaces a person or animal in an aggressive manner, runs at large and is impounded by animal control 2 or more times in a 12 month period or acts highly aggressively within a fenced yard or on a chain and appears able to escape. 

Putnam County Animal Shelter Director Laurie Green helped craft the ordinance noting that "breed specific" bans don't work, "but we do need a dangeorus dog ordinance."

Kudos for both Waterloo and Putnam County.

Terribly injured 'pit bull' found

The dog had clearly been mauled by another dog and was left chained to the front gate at the Marion County (WV) Humane Society.

"Vicious Pit Bull Attack" in North Minneapolis

The person was treated at the hospital and returned to work the next day.  The Minneapolis media continues to try to build ratings off of the fear they've created and ill-advised legislation specifying that certain breeds are aggressive.

5 Arrested for Dog Fighting in Houston Area

3 more arrested for being spectators

Donations for Pit Bulls Helping

The Pima County Animal Care officials are doing the best they can to make life better for the 150 'pit bulls' that were confiscated from a supposed fighting ring in Arizona.

Starving Abandoned Pit Bull Gets New Life

The six month old Milo was found starving and dehydrated and is being rescued in the Seattle area.

Cousins attacked by 'pit bulls" in Lancaster, SC

The boys were both treated at the hospital, but neither really appears to have life-altering injuries, unlike earlier reports.

Courts throw out Reading, PA Dangerous Dog Law

After the city spent about 2 months trying to figure out if 'pit bulls' would be banned based on what numbers they would use to determine if they made up 40% of the city's dog bites.  I'm not going to get into specifics on this -- but Katie has a great take on this one that is well worth the read.

Comments

[S. kennedy]

I am guessing that the majority of the stories are not necessarily pit stories, but just dog attacks, and that it would appear more people are beginning (gee! light bulb going off?!) to get the drift that a dog is a dog. But a bad owner is something else.

[MichelleD]

I think the media is realizing their fear mongering can be expanded to other breeds as well!

[MAC`s GANG]

I`m also noticing more "attacks" by other Breeds and they`re actually mentioning the real Breed in a few cases.
Are they the next "demon" dogs?
I think Labs are in for some trouble.The Press can always fall back on that Face Transplant story if all else fails.
Lucky Bay County Animal Control and congrats to Jim!
I really appreciate what Pima County is doing to help these dogs and I wrote to them about it.
I really like the spectators being arrested at dog fights.I think this is almost sicker than the fighters themselves,if that`s possible.
But I really have to wonder..aren`t there a few wars and other important things happening around the world?
Are most of these dog stories even newsworthy?
When exactly did dogs morph in to such "evil" creatures?
Looking back at photographs of our family dogs over the years...a few would be in trouble in todays world.
I always look forward to this roundup because I keep hoping I`ll visit one time and all it will say is "There`s nothing this week"

[MichelleD]

I was thinking the same thing MAC...that most of these stories shouldn't have even been covered. I'm wondering if the papers have gotten enough crap from people about only covering pit bull incidents that now, they're going to try to show how unbiased they are by covering other incidents. I'm sure PETA and H$U$ LOVE it - they'll use this to push MSN.

[S. kennedy]

I'm sure Michelle is right. After all, they told Ohio they plan to extinct certain breeds if they can't BSL them out, and Los Angeles (Charlotte Laws) said the same thing prior to the SB861 deal in SF.

[Becky]

In light of the fact that most of these stories should never have made the news, BUT they DID, in fact, terrifies me.

Yes, these stories and these facts prove exactly what we have been fighting to prove.

However, knowing the American Public and our city governments, who refuse to consider all of these facts, may gradually, eventually and possibly use these very stories to 'pull in the reigns' on dog ownership, eventually ending our future companionship with dogs. Too much hype and hoopla. Much as the GP relies on the media for education, I fear we will end up w/ a lot more troubles than pit bull bans.

Please tell me I am probably wrong -- because rather than experiencing relief because of the fact that many other breeds are attacking, we may end up fighting a fierce battle to save this companionship altogether, regardless of the breed.

[S. kennedy]

For whatever reason, the public likes to know about dog attacks. Probably due to the "man's best friend" thing, it seems contrary to what most dogs do. It IS contrary to what most dogs do;however, if they can only eliminate the actual dangerous dogs (breed/size irrelevant)then I would rather see that, than see many dogs go down for no reason at all. ARs will have a hard time eliminating dogs because for one big thing--the dog millers aren't going anywhere. And most AC do not have enough manpower or funds.

However the BSL is slowly eroding. And hopefully if they think they can MSN them out of existence, go ahead and try. They will never make it.