Another busy week is ahead. Omaha is going to discuss their ordinance more on Tuesday -- I'll update that story tomorrow. I continue to be amazed at how many politicians think they know more about this subject that all of the expert organizations out there...sigh.
Cities and Laws
Sioux city has decided to wait until January before the look at potentially more restrictions on dog owners. The city began discussing even more restricitons just days after passing their apparently not-well-thought out breed ban.
After several months of researching successful animal control ordinances across the country, Forsyth, NC has passed a generic dangerous dog ordinance that targets potentially aggressive dogs regardless of their breed. The local newspaper in Forsyth seems very impressed with the new ordinance in this well-thoughtout editorial.
The Fultondale (AL) city council passed a dangerous dog ordinance that includes APBT, SBT and ASTs as automatically dangerous.
Livonia (MI) is looking at making adjustments to their dangerous dog ordinance. The article also focuses on a lot of other areas in the Detroit metro that are also considering different types of dangerous dog ordinances.
Moses Lake, WA has opted against seeking a ban on pit bulls. Indstead, they're going to try to sit all parties together to come up with a workable solution. The newspaper actually had a fairly good editorial on the matter. The city is talking about this after a supposedly 130 lbs pit bull (pit bulls seldom get above 65-70 lbs) attacked a child in the area.
Dog Bites
A 22 month old child in Baxter, TN was mauled by a chained Akita mix. The girl wandered awayfrom her tricycle and back to the chained dog. The girl's injuries required 100 stitches and she had to repair a fractured skull. Dogs that are perpetually chained are often a recipe for these types of attacks..as are unsupervised young children often the victims.
A boy's family is suing owners of a Bull Mastiff that attacked the boy in WI.
An Idaho man was attacked by two 'sheep dogs' that were used to protect the sheep. The man was mountain biking and apparently attacked when he got too close to the heard. Dogs kept for the function of protection are often responsible for attacks.
Two Dobermans attacked a dog walker in the UK. The 67 year old woman was out walking her poodle when the dogs attacked her dog -- and her in the process. The UK of course passed a well-known ban on four different breeds of dogs in 1991 but still have problems with attacks like these because they never focused on the irresponsible ownership issue.
A letter carrier in Frederichton, New Brunswick was attacked while on her route by a Rottweiler.
I'm still really confused by this story. Apparently a'pit bull" attacked both a mother and her daughter at a gas station in Bradenton, FL last week. The mom makes several statements about how it was the "worst fight she's ever been in" and that she thought "the dogs was going to rip my daughter's head off". The story goes on and on about the attack -- including convenience store surveilence footage that shows the woman and the little girl but the dog never gets close to them in the video (in fact, the only time you see the dog in the video is through the windo as it runs away. The girl was take to the hospital with what were called "scratches".
Who are the really abusive creatures?
Man bites off a woman's ear in North Carolina.
A California man uses 'pit bulls' to assault police officers....not by siccing the dogs on the officers. Nope, by picking the dogs up and throwing them at the officers.
Nebraska man accused of beating a dog with a golf club for barking. The dog had to be euthanized for massive skull fractures.
A German Shepherd named Scooby had his leg amputated when the owner of the dog attacked the animal and slammed it to the ground for getting out of the yard. The dog's leg was shattered and had to be removed.
A pit bull puppy in Bridgeport, CT had to be euthanized when it was apparently hit on the head by a Machette or shovel.
In Penn Hills, PA,authorities found several neglected pit bulls in a deserted house. Apparently the dog's owner just walked away and left the dogs there. The dogs had heavy chains around their necks and most of the dogs were heavily scarred.
An Iron Mountain Lake (MO) woman was charged for dog abuse after authorities seized six dogs from her flea-infested property. In 2004, the Missouri Humane Society says it seized 119 animals from her residence. Can someone explain to me why this woman would be allowed to own any animals ever again after 119 counts of animal abuse?'
The Allen County (OH) animal control is working on ways to deal with animal abuse following an incident where a puppy's mouth was taped closed, doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire.
Let's include "pit bull" in the headline because it sells
A Charleston, WV woman was driving under the influence of booze and was busted for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. The woman had a toddler and a pit bull in the car but for some reason the 'pit bull' made the headline.
"Drug search turns up 2 malnourished pit bulls" is the headline. The dogs were left chained in the back yard with no food or water, one dog was so malnourished it could barely stand. Authorities found a couple of guns in the home that were illegally owned by the convicted felon that owned the place.
"SWAT team finds pit bulls" -- is the headline. Authorities went into an Anderson, SC home and found crack cocaine, but the majority of the story is about the 21 dogs that were found on the woman's property. Sadly it was more than one media outlet that covered the story the same way.
Miscellanious
Local Lake County (WI) family is trying to give 'pit bulls' a voice by starting the Brew City Bully Club with the idea of working to change the perceptions of 'pit bulls' in Wisconsin.
Stereotypes overshadow the positives of pit bulls. This is a really nicely balanced article from the Suburban Times in Chicago.
Kansas City
Lawrence KS is seeing an increase in abuse cases in the area. The animal control in Lawrence has become in many ways a victim of their own succes. After passing a law several years ago that restricts the amount of time dogs can be tethered, the city immediately saw a dramatic decrease in the number of dog bites in the city. Unfortunately, the city administration saw the decrease in bites as an opportunity to cut the budgets from the animal control department -- which has now seen them lose the ability for proactive enforcement of cruelty laws in high-risk neighborhoods. The net result has been more abuse cases reported...
The Dog Whisperer, Ceasar Milan, was in Kansas City this week visiting with our local weatherman and dog lover Gary Lezak -- working with his dogs Stormy and Breezy. The article also contains video of Cesar working with Gary and the dogs.
From the "sheep dog" story: If these dogs can't distinguish between a wild animal and a mountain biker, that makes for a dangerous situation."
Huh? Generally speaking, livestock guardians aren't expected to distinguish between a mountain biker and a wild animal. They're expected to be livestock guardians and a mountain biker, as silly as it sounds, poses as much of a concern to a highly territorial dog as does a loose dog, raccoon, coyote or mountain lion. And when that concern starts flinging a large, metal bike at you, I imagine a normal response might be to bite the holder of that metal bike. Just saying. (I'm not arguing either way whether the dogs should have been there or not).
Though I think the best quote in that article is: "Maybe it is the wolves that are making them this way"
Yes. It is the wolves making the highly territorial guard dogs - you know - guard. Just like it's the wolves eating grandmothers and blowing down houses. I'm sure the wolves are responsible for our failing economy too! I'm surprised he didn't add on a think of the children bit.
Posted by: Rinalia | September 28, 2008 at 05:36 PM
I enjoy your roundups. I can't believe the one about the 130-pound "pitbull." It was obviously a mix or some other kind of dog.
Posted by: Lindsay | September 29, 2008 at 01:10 PM