Is it the dogs? Or the Owners?

Last week, there was a pretty major attack in SeaTac, WA  -- where two 'pit bulls' mauled a 71 year old woman.  The attack of course spurred several news stories about potentially banning 'pit bulls' (something the Seattle city council has no appetite for doing) and 'pit bull' hate groups to speak up of saying "see, we need to ban these dogs."

But it's a bit interesting when you look deeper at the case.

This week,a bit more information was released about the owner of the two dogs responsible for the attack of Huong Le.

Turns out the dogs were owned by Travis Cunningham.  Cunningham has a felony record of burglary and illegal possession of a firearm.  When police searched his home this week, they found two more dogs, drug paraphanalia and another firearm (which is yet another felony offense for Cunningham of being a felon in possession of a firearm).

So here you have someone who's been convicted of at least one felony -- and now has at least one more (being a felon in possession of a firearm) that he's committed, maybe two (drugs) and has dogs that attacked a woman (which could be another).  So I have a couple of questions for the people that say they want a breed ban to protect someone like Huong Le -- someone who does deserve to be protected.

1) Do we think that Mr. Cunningham, who has violated multiple felony laws at this point, would obey a ban on a certain breed of dog if one were in place?

2) Do we think that even if Mr. Cunningham had no access to "pit bulls", he would not instead end up with a Doberman, Rottweiler, Presa, German Shepherd, Bull Mastiff or some other dog that he intended to be aggressive?

3) Do we think that someone else, who owns a dog that did nothing and is not aggressive, should be punished for Mr. Cunningham's wrecklessness?

It's always about the owners folks.  Pass all the laws you want, but until you deal with wreckless owners there will not be public safety from dogs.  Mr. Cunningham provides yet another shining example.

Comments

[budgie]

Brent,

I'm not sure how it is that you can conclude that the owner's criminal background and his dogs biting somebody correlate.

A lot of people in the U.S. have felony records - too many, in my opinion - thanks to the draconian and racist War on Drugs.

This idea that dog bites are caused by bad owners has no foundation to stand on. How many American dog owners have a salaried job, no criminal record, got their dog from a breed rescue, took their pup to doggie pre-school and then to Petsmart obedience class, etc.? I'm guessing not too many.

Most dog owners aren't "responsible". So, how can you conclude that a lack of owner responsibility, or a criminal record, cause dog bites?

[Brent]

Budgie,

It is in most dogs' nature to be friendly to humans. So even a bare minimum level of responsibility will kee your dog from bighting someone. Many of the simply irresponsible people are the ones you see with infants and toddlers getting bitten. Major attacks are just so rare that it seems that it would be difficult to create one even if you tried to.

This is a guy who had a felony background (and a couple of other charges) for pretty violent types of crimes (guns, drugs). It might also make sense that this person got the dogs and trained the dogs in such a way to encourage violent behavior...which is what we have here. We certainly don't know that for sure, but a lot of signs point to a pretty violent lifestyle, so the behavior of the dogs shouldn't be a huge surprise.

[budgie]

Brent,

Possession of paraphenalia and burglary are pretty violent types of crimes? Maybe he taught the dogs how to roll a joint and break into a house?

The idea that people with criminal backgrounds train their dogs to be aggressive is nothing but a steaming, reheated plate of HSUS urban thug pitbull owner profiling b.s.

Assuming that we can predict dog bites based upon the owner's rap sheet, then what is the solution? Do we make it illegal for felons to own pets?

[Brent]

Maybe you missed the felony possession of firearms also.Plus, it's not like there was merely one instance of a bad person here...we've had several things.

I'm not meaning to imply that all "criminals" are guaranteed to be owners of violent dogs. However, is it really a surprise that this person had dogs that attacked someone? Really? And do we think that dog laws would have prevented it from happening (we know this person has no problems with breaking the law)? Or that you or I should have restrictions put on us because of Mr. Cunningham's behaviors?

This has nothing to do with profiling "pit bull" owners -- as much as noting that there is nothing a "dog law" would have done to prevent this attack...

[Selma]

Owner carelessness and/or the acquisition of a dog for protection (without the necessary training) seem to be the primary causes for serious dog bites.

I don't know where Budgie gets the information that most dog owners are irresponsible, don't have jobs, etc. I'd like to see the sources for those statements.

But yeah, too many things are felonies these days that shouldn't be.

[kathy@irvine personal injury attorney]

Lack of responsibility leads to dog attacks and dog bites. I am not sure a criminal record has anything to do with it.

[kathy@irvine dog attack bite attorney]

One such examples is a man that had a fence with a hole in it. The dog got loose and attacked a child. What did he do after the attack ? Nothin. Left the damn hole and the dog got out again ! It is only a matter of time before it bites again. Then the dog will of course get destroyed.

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