Weekly Roundup -- Final week of 2008

  It's been quite the week. Thirty or so dogs saved from Oklahoma.  The Vick Dogs story came out in Sports Illustrated, with some PR on Anderson Cooper 360.  Pretty impressive stuff.  Those were easily the week's highlights, but here are a few stories that may bave been overlooked.

Cities and Laws

The Oshkosh Kennel Club had a letter to the editor this week expressing their concerns about a breed-specific dangerous dog ordinance in Oshkosh, WI.

The mayor of Pocatello, ID wants to create a vicious dog registry that tracks animals when they owners move from one juristiction to another. The move is prompted after a dog with a long attack history attacked an animal control officer earlier this month but officials were unaware of the dog's history. The state of Virginia did this recently.  I'm not sure how the ordinance is working, but I do think it is a fair rule as long as the dog was declared vicious in the former juristiction based on a behavior.

Allen Park, MI passed a ban on pit bulls this week. Current owners of pit bulls will be allowed to keep their dogs. Owners of the affected dogs can avoid certain containment restrictions, like muzzling, if their dog's pass the Canine Good Citizen Test.  The law comes with a 5 year sunset clause -- as well as a promise to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the law in two years.

Whatcom County, WA is looking at an ordinance that would require owners of more than 4 dogs or cats to obtain licenses.  If someone owns more animals than that in the county, they would have to apply for either an animal enthusiast license (5-10 animals) or a kennel license that would range from $65-$200 depending on the number of animals they owned. 

Dog Bites

A postal worker in the UK was suffered a major attack by a Rottweiler this week.  The postal worker spent 6 days in the hospital in intensive care and for a while, and authorities felt for awhile that he may lose his arm. The postal worker's union is starting a campaign to overturn the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991 that banned four breeds of dogs, including American Pit Bull Terriers.

"The 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act has done nothing to reduce attacks. It provides little protection for Postal and communication workers," said Dave Joyce, head of the postal worker's union.“We want to see more realistic penalties handed down by the courts when prosecutions take place with owners of aggressive dogs being held to account. My Union is not anti-dog or anti any specific bread of dog, the overwhelming majority of which cause no problem at all. However, there are a significant number of aggressive dogs and irresponsible owners which need to be dealt with.”

Speaking of the UK, Dangerous Dogs Act failure, a 13 year old UK girl is having plastic surgery following an attack in which a Bull Mastiff tore off her lower lip and chin.  The Dangerous Dogs Act was, and continues to be a failure because it focused on the breeds of dogs instead of on owners of aggressive dogs.  The breed is irrelevant.

An 11 year old boy was attacked by two American Bulldogs.  The dogs had been friendly with the boy before, but one of the dogs became aggressive and they both began attacking the boy.

There was a newstory in Oneonta, NY this week with a headling "pit bull attack injures woman." As it turns out, the woman was housesitting some friend's dogs while they were out for the holidays, and showed up at the house intoxicated -- apparently something happened and the dogs began fighting and the woman was injured trying to break up a fight between the two dogs. No one is quite sure as the woman is described as "dazed" and "confused" about the events that led to her injury. If you're going to be dog-sitting for someone, don't show up drunk...

Four people were injured in a dog attack in Boca Raton, Fl. The incident began when a "mastiff-pit bull mix" attacked a woman walking her poodle. The owner was then attacked upon trying to restrain her own dog. Two other people were injured when they tried to restrain the dog. Of course, at least a couple of the media outlets have reported this aspurely a 'pit bull' attack., and I've found a couple of others that originally reported it as a pit bull attack, but then changed it online. No one appears seriously hurt, although the poodle owner did require surgery on her wrist. 

This one crosses into a few categories, but I'm going to just put it here. On Christmas Day, a 21 year old Molalla (OR) man was attacked by two 'pit bulls' (one, from the picture, doesn't appear to be one), The attack, of course, has prompted talk of new dog laws in the city. Adam Goldfarb from HSUS has some good quotes in this one that are worthy of note:

Goldfarb said that while many pit bull owners are responsible, a notorious reputation perpetuates bad treatment of many of the dogs -- which results in more aggressive behavior.

"Unfortunately there's this cycle that develops," Goldfarb said.

Why people complain about bad media reporting

During a traffic stop in Lothian, MD, officials found 82 grams of crack cocaine, $5,800 cash and a .357 caliber handgun - -and a dog in the back of the car's trunk. What is the headline? "Pit bull found hidden in trunk of car during traffic stop in Lothian."  The headline features the only item it was illegal for them to have in their possession.

KHOU reported a story about a 'pit bull' that attacked a Harris County (Houston, TX) Sheriff's deputy.  Apparently a couple of deputies opended a gate at the scene and two dogs came from "out of nowhere" (or from inside the fence) and charged the officers. One of the officers was bitten by one of the dogs. The Houston Chronicle later reported that the officer had orginally thought that he was bitten by the pit bull, but later, after assessing the situation, determined that it was a Rottweiler that bit him "athough a pit bull also was involved."  This may not have been the media's fault -- but KHOU never did go back and change their report.

Miscellanious

Here's another article about how the economy is affecting animal shelters. As the economy worsens, people are often forced to downsize from homes to apartments where they can't take their pets and unlikely to be able to afford vet bills when they come up.

More good news stories

The Fox affiliate in Monterey, CA has a followup on three of the Mike Vick dogs that made their way down to Monterey at the SPCA facility there and the success that they are having.

A story about a Latrobe, PA woman who adopted an abused, pit bull with a shattered broken leg, nursed her back to health, and trained her to become a therapy dog.

A story about a Rottweiler in Pittsburgh, PA that is a palliative therapy dog that visits patients once a week.

Rachael Ray, and her 'pit bull' Isaboo were on the cover of Modern Dog magazine, providing more positive exposure for the breed among dog owners.

A high school student in Washington, Kendra Goetz, decdided to spend her holiday giving pit bulls something to chew on. She set up collection bins at three local businesses to gather chew toys for pit bulls in foster homes as part of her senior project.  Well done.

 

Comments

[Kara]

ahh.. I hate the media..

any one read the review/comments on the rachel ray article? how she's trying to "kill" dogs.. dont know what to say about that..

i didn't even read the shelter article.. of fear it would be too depressing..

I have a local friend who has a Rottie Therapy dog, registered through Delta Society. He's great, they do wonderful things, and they visit all the time.

soo.. i have over the limit of dogs allowed in my city.. I've checked my cities website, but they do not meantion any extra licensing.. But i'm sure there is...
Any help on where i might find this info?

[Anon]

A retraction has been issued on one of your stories.(Molalla)

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_123008_animal_pit_bulls_molalla.21bdba44.html

[quote]....Initially, authorities said they were Pit Bulls, but it was later determined that the dogs were an American Bully mix. [/quote]

Of course they`ll all "know" what the mix must be and that would be the part that bit???

[btoellner]

Kara, I would send over an email to the city attorney -- send it anonymously so they cannot target you later. Ask what the pet limit is and if there are any concessions for being over the limit. The city attorney's office should be able to provide that info for you...

[LuLu and LoLLy!]

We are 2 Maltese dogs, and LoLLy is rescue. This is a great site -- and a great service you are doing. Two Paws Up to you for taking the time to scrutinize the media along with everything else. Your PaLs, LuLu and LoLLy! http://www.luluandlolly.com