City Councils and State Laws
Following an attack last week in which a Rottweiler fatally killed a child that was living in foster care, an Illinois state representative is considering a state law that would provide restrictions on laws on dogs being allowed in foster homes. Nothing says "over-reaction" like creating a law for a once-in-a -lifetime accident that, while traic, could lead to many children not only not having access to foster care, but also many will not have the luxury of knowing how great life is with dogs.
The county commission in Riverside, CA spent several hours hearing testimony this week about a proposed law that would mandate the spaying and neutering of all animals in unincorporated areas of the county. I understand why people THINK they want mandatory spay/nueter laws, but they continue to prove themselves to be ineffective at solving the problem of unwanted animals dying in shelters. The county ended up passing a law mandating microchipping, and if a dog gets picked up 3x, it requires the dogs to be altered.
As would be suspected, the sheriff in Thomasville, GA, and the father of Cheyenne Peppers, a 5 year old girl that died while being attacked by the three 'pit bulls" owned by her family, are now pushing the city toward banning 'pit bulls' from the county. There is not talk of the need to educate people on socializing their dogs, not chaining them up and leaving them under-socialized, or on parents watching their young children when they are with larger dogs. It's amazing how one act of irresponsible parenting and dog ownership is causing all 'pit bulls' to get lumped into the same category.
A citizen in Moses Lake, WA is having trouble meeting all of the requirements of the city's breed restrictions. The man built the enclosed kennel for his dog (that has never had any aggression issues), but is having a problem finding a sign. One sign he found was a warning for a dangerous dog, and by using it, his insurance company would drop him from the insurance (which is ridiculous). The other one, which the insurance company would accept, had a picture of a German Shepherd on it, which was misleading because the man really owns a Rottweiler. Cities often make laws with very little awareness of the unintended consequences of their law, or the impossibility of complying with the law, and end up just providing unnecessary hardship on people who's dogs were never a problem in the first place.
The El Paso, TX sheriff's department and animal control departments are planning to work together to effectively deal with the large number of animals that are running free in the community following an incident where 2 women were attacked last week by two off-leash 'pit bulls'.
The small community of Strafford, MO is looking at how to deal with the growing number of animals in their shelter. Through the work the city has done, and through the work of a lot of volunteers, the city has not had to euthanize any animals in nearly two years. As the shelter becomes more crowded the city is looking for more ways to find homes for the dogs.
The city of Lowell, MA has tabled the issue of breed specific legislation following a meeting to talk about the possibility of requiring muzzling for these dogs. The city is going to form a committee of experts from the animal welfare community to help form an ordinance that would work best for all residents.
Lancaster, CA is looking at a law that would mandate the spay/neuter of pit bulls and Rottweilers in the community...and the city admits that they are doing it for slightly illegal reasons. "We are doing this to deliberately harass a certain group of people because that's what the citizens want us to do," said Mayor R. Rex Paris. Any one still think that many places that pass BSL really do so because of dogs?
Dog bites and attacks
A six year old South Carolina girl was attacked by several dogs that were running in a pack. The girl had just gotten off the bus and the dogs bit her on the face, head and neck. The dogs mostly appeared to be mutts according to authorities, although one is being called a German Shepherd mix. The girl is expected to make a full recovery.
An 86 year old woman that was attacked by more than a dozen mixed-breed dogs in Georgia hopes that her pain leads to some results in her community. She said that she ha complained to authorities about the pack of dogs being aggressive dozens of times but authorities never dealt with the isse.
A 49 year old North Carolina man was severely attacked by four loose dogs while he was out tending to his cattle. The dogs jumped on the man and created several large bites. The dogs appeared to be living in "deplorable" conditions, in pens with no water and filled with feces. The dogs were apparently in bad condition. The dogs are being described as two mixed breed dogs, a German Shepherd mix and a "pit bull."
A UK woman is looking at plastic surgey after she and her dog were attacked by 2 Alsatians. The UK breed ban continues to prove to be ineffective because it sought to deal with dogs instead of dealing with irresponsible dog ownership.
Toledo
Giving Tom Skeldon his own spot this week, following a news story about a woman who's dog was mauled to death by a group of her neighbor's dogs. The woman says that the neighborhood is being held hostage by these dogs. Tom Skeldon asys he has investigate at leaast 10 complaints in the past 5 years at the residence involve "boxers and other non-violent breeds". The complaints ranged from unlicensed dogs, to dogs running the streets to dogs attacking other dogs. Maybe Skeldon would be a bit more successful if he realized that individual DOGS are aggressive, irresponsible OWNERS allow their dogs to roam the streets and terrorize neighborhoods, and that BREED doesn't matter in the slightest.
People are more aggressive toward pit bulls, than pit bulls toward people
There was some scary stuff out there this week. And as the media in certain places continues to create the mythical image of pit bulls being savage beasts, humans are now putting pit bull's lives, and pit bull owner's lives in jeopardy.
In Clarksville, TN, a man shot a pit bull 7x with a shotgun. The dog apparently came up to the man and the man fed him treats, but the dog apparently acted aggressively when he tried to put a roap around the dog's neck to use as a leash. When the man decided to get in his pickup to get away from the dog, the dog jumped into the truck. The man then went inside, got his shot gun, then opened the truck door, and shot the dog 7x when the dog got out of the truck. The man is being charged with discharging a firearm in the city limits.
Meanwhile, two men were out walking their 'pit bull' in Riverside, CA and a random gunmn leaned out of a car window, shot and killed the dog and wounded both the men. A 'pit bull' and a mastiff -mix were blamed last month for killing a 69 year old man in Riverside...and many articles have run about the topic.
Court Cases
A trial date for the court case in Arkansas has been set for July 20. The lawsuit centers around the communities of Jacksonville, Lonoke, North Little Rock and Beebe and claims that their breed restrictions may be unconsitutional.
Miscellanious
A group of Tacoma, WA 'pit bull' owners are working to polish the image of the breed with what they are calling the "Responsi-Bull Project". The project offers free spaying/neutering, a free workshop for owners and a four-week basic obedience course.
A week after the RSPCA in the UK came out with their best movement in a long time by speaking out against the nation's breed ban, the organization is now speaking out against pets wearing clothing. They are trying to make it grounds for prosecution to force an animal to wear clothing in some instances -- stating that they want to crack down on canines becoming fashion assessories. Don't they have something better to do? While I'm not a fan of using dogs as fashion assessories, there are certainly many very practical reasons for dog clothing.
The community of Bend, OR seems to be embracing a 10 week old 'pit bull' puppy that is still recovering after being beaten by his owner, nearly to death, for defacating on the carpet. The puppy had a collapsed lung that was full of blood, difficulty breathing and cuts and swelling on its head. The dog's owner is facing charges of aggravated animal abuse and first degree felony animal cruelty witnessed by a minor.
A Seattle area dog is on two sides of a legal dispute. After spendnig two years in the Whidbey Animal Improvement Foundation's shelter, the mixed breed dog, Smiley, has apparently developed some aggressive behavior (likely due to frustration and lack of exercise). A couple of former WAIF volunteers want to take responsibility for Smiley and rehabilitate him but the shelter wants Smiley to be killed. I hope for the best for the dog and that he is at least given the opportunity to be rehabilitated. We have seen several instances sort of like this in Kansas City recently, and a few weeks in a good home, and a lot of walks is usually good medicine for such cases.
This is a good article from out of Montana on how to tell if your dog is sick, and how a sick dog can sometimes show signs of aggression when it is not feeling well.
One of the best blog postings I've read in awhile over at One Bark at a Time -- comparing the likelihood of a human shocking another human for no reason other than that they were told to do so by an authority figure...and why that has led to the spread of ban canine legislation. Be sure to check it out.
Re: the Skeldon Story...
LMFAO @ you Tom Skeldon... as long as it's not a F&%*ing pit bull right? I feel very bad for the residents of Lucas county, you are really working wonders up there increasing public safety, slaughtering all the dogs with short hair and muscles. Shame on you.
Need a shovel?
Posted by: Adam | January 19, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Your days are numbered Skeldon. Better start practicing for your next career - repeat after me: "Would you like fries with that?"
Posted by: MichelleD | January 19, 2009 at 01:08 PM
So I guess if your dog is a "non-aggressive breed" (!!!) it's OK if it attacks people and dogs? That is the craziest thing I've read yet, next to being shot while walking your dog.
Concerning the post on One Bark at a Time, I remember learning about the Milgram electroshock experiements in school. It also seems like a component of the experiment dealt with the fact that the subjects did not know the qualifications of the "authority figure" who was instructing them to shock the "learner." The "scientist" was simply wearing a white lab coat, and produced no credentials, and they assumed this person was legitimate. This is what I remember, correct me if I'm wrong. I think that says a lot, too -- the assumption that someone is a legit authority because they are in a position of power or are dressed as such. To relate it to the dog issue, or gov't in general, just because a person was elected to city council, doesn't mean they are smarter than the average citizen, it just means they may have more drive / money / support.
Posted by: linskykitty | January 19, 2009 at 04:06 PM
Thanks for the weekly update like always. By the way, I love the picture of you with your 2 dogs.
Posted by: Nashville Pet Sitter | January 20, 2009 at 01:27 PM