KC DOG BLOG

Feline Claw Snipping Law works against No Kill Goals

Ok, so this is a topic I often don't discuss here at the KC Dog Blog -- but this particular case I think is very disturbing, and I want to call some attention to it.

It appears that there are several groups in California that are frantically trying to push for laws that ban the practice of declawing cats.

Now, I admit, the practice of declawing cats is somewhat controversial. I personally don't like the idea of declawing cats any more than I would like the idea of my own fingernails being cut out of my fingers. 

However, as an owner of two cats, I can say, in spite of our best efforts, the tricky little buggers do claw at things -- and often they're things I don't want them clawing on. It's sort of hard to keep really nice carpet, rugs and couches around when you have a couple of cats.  And so while I am not a fan of the practice of declawing cats -- I do understand how frustrating it is to have your stuff torn up from time to time.  I do get it.

Now, some proponets of a ban on declawing would say, well, then you just shouldn't own a cat then if you want to declaw it.  I guess that's one way to look at it. But here's a reality.  Every year, some 2.5 million cats are killed in shelters every year - -most of them very lovable -- simply because it is difficult to find homes for all of the available cats.  As far as I'm concerned, as long as we're STILL killing homeable cats in shelters because we can't find good homes for them, then we shouldn't be in the practice of eliminating perfectly good homes because someone prefers to have nice carpet. 

And while I personally wouldn't love the idea of having my own finger nails cut out of my fingers, if give the choice between that, and being killed, I'm 100% sure which one I would choose for myself.  And that's the route I would choose for the cats too.

While all of this is a bit crazy enough, there is one other thing that really strikes me here -- and I'm going to post Gina's opening statement on the topic word-for-word because she succinctly handled the this issue for me:

"I am struck by the disconnect between the legislative agendas of some very vocal animal advocates: They want to force EVERYONE to surgically remove he reproductive organs of all dogs and cats, and at the same time, they want to allow NO ONE to surgically remove the claws of cats."

My hope is that many of these people -- most of whom I think are well-meaning -- will really look at these issues closely and determine to do what is in the greater good of the animals.  And while I don't love the practice of declawing, I love it a lot more than the practice of killing animals in shelters because we cannot find homes for them -- and denying potential new homes because they choose to declaw a cat. Talk to them. Reason with them. But if it's the difference between the cat having a home and ending up in a shelter where death is a likely option -- then by all means, we should not prevent that cat from having a home.

This decision, like so many others, should be left to a pet owner and their licensed veterinarian.

Tragic Fatal Attack in Orange, VA

Update 10/1/09:

The little girl has been identified as Jasmine Deane.  And according to one report, there has been apparently "conflicting information" on the attack -- which is probably why information has been so slow to trickle out with more details.  Sheriff Mark Amos noted in multiple articles that the girl's mother told deputies that she had been preoccupied for a short period of time and then noticed the child was not in the house.  Officials could not specificy how long the girl had been gone.

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I'm going to go ahead and post this even though very little information is known about the attack at this point -- but the story has already been picked up by the Associated Press and is spreading like wild fire across the news media this morning.

Last night,a 23 month old girl in Orange County, VA wondered outside her home unattended and up to a dog owned by the family that was chained up in the back yard.  The child was fatally attacked by the dog.  Because there were no adults present, the specific events that led up to the attack are unknown at this time.  Even though the media reports indicate that the dog had "lived with the family for 10 years" -- there is little indication here that the dog was anything more than a resident dog.  Initial media reports are calling the dog a "pit bull".

This attack represents the 22nd fatality of the year -- the 7th involving a young child.  There have been three nearly identical attacks as this this year, where a toddler has wandered outside of the home unattended and up to a chained dog that was in the back yard. 

The attack occurred in a rural area not far from Orange, VA. The community of Orange has a population of about 4,500 people -- over 21% of which live below the nation's poverty line (the VA state % is 9.6%).  Over 10% of the community lives at an income 50% below the poverty line (compared to 4.3% of the entire state).  Income and education continue to be contributing factors in the knowledge people have about how to care for dogs and thus the safety of their children when it comes to those same dogs.

I'll post more about this as information becomes available.

Weekly Roundup - Week ending 9/27/09

It was a more active media week this week.  Because I have quite  afew other things gong on I'm going to cruise through the headlines pretty quickly today.  I have one post in the hopper for tomorrow about a fairly controversial subject, and then, I think (please don't hold me to this), on Tuesday or Wednesday I'm going to begin a pretty signifcant series of posts that I'm really looking forward to.  I hope the series will create some good dialogue on some pretty important topics.  For now, let's look at the week's top stories:

Cities and Laws

A woman in Horn Lake, MS is seeking a ban on all 'pit bulls' because she is having some problems with here neighbor's dogs. From what I hear, it doesn't sound like the city has a lot of interest in pursuing this, but if you are in the area of Horn Lake, it might be good to keep your ears open.  I could go on a huge rant about the ridiculousness of the situation.  If the neighbor's dogs are truly a problem, then it seems ridiculous that animal control cannot take care of the situation. However, casting a wide net across an entire breed of dogs because of one house is an equally ridiculous solution.

The residents of Jacksonville, TX are continuing to circulate petitions to try to overturn the state law  that forbids breed specific laws following a fatal attack that struck the community earlier this year.

The community of Senath, MO met to discuss the possibility of a ban on pit bulls in their community. The city says they want to do something about aggressive dogs in their town -- and would be well advised to look at some type of breed neutral ordinance that would target aggressive dogs based on behavior -- not breed.

A ban on multiple breeds of dogs in NY City Housing has been leading to the mass killing of these dogs as owners have nowhere else to go with the dogs. So far, 113 pets have been turned into officials and 49 have been killed because of the law.

Royal Oak, MI is looking at revising their dangerous dog laws. While some talks have been had about making it breed-specific, the city attorney is working on a report that he thinks will show that the city would be better served if it focused on all vicious animals rather than applying it solely to specific breeds.

Three dogs in Sarnia, ON were set free this week. The dogs were confiscated because officials thought they looked like 'pit bulls' but their "experts" disagreed.  The amount of time, effort and energy dedicated to enforcing breed bans on dogs that are not aggressive (and not even 'pit bulls') is astounding -- and yet another reason why residents are safer WITHOUT breed specific laws so these energies can be focused on dogs that pose an actual threat to communities.

Elgin, IL is going to renew conversations about a potential breed ban in the community.

Ft. Dodge, IA is reviewing their dangerous dog ordinance -- at least one city councilmember says he is opposed to banning specific breeds from the city and wants the ordinance to focus on owners - not breeds.

Dog Bites

An 8 year old Bluetick Coonhound has been banned from Nantucket after it was found to be responsible for biting four different people.

A 3 year old boy in Worcester, MA needed 100 stitches after being 'attacked' by a "Pit bull" that was less than a year old. There is no word on whether the child was actually bitten -- it sounds like, and appears from the would like, the dog may have just been an overly excited puppy that jumped up on the boy and scratched him with its toenails. 

A six year old boy in lle A La Crosse Saskatchewan was attacked by a free roaming pack of dogs.In response, the community has hired a part time dog catcher to round up the stray dogs in the community.

A Yuma, AZ woman was attacked by two dogs that were roaming at-large.  The dogs are being described as either mastiffs or Rottweilers.

An 8 year old Willowick, OH girl was bitten by a neighbor's 'pit bull'. The girl apparently jumped the fence to get into the neighbor's yard to play with the dog.

An Omaha woman was seriously bitten by a 'pit bull' in Omaha last weekend. The dog was apparently chasing a little boy, and the woman went out to intervene.  Last year, Omaha passed major restrictions on owners of 'pit bulls' and several other 'bully' type breeds -- which created a lot of loop holes for responsible owners to jump through but never dealt with the reality that it is a small number of irresponsible owners that are causing the problems who weren't going to abide by the law anyway. Omaha's law focused on entirely the wrong things and the city is worse off because of it.  Incidentally, there was a separate incident in Omaha this week as well.

Afive year old Mount Airy (NC) boy was attacked this week by up to five Rottweilers at a relatives house. Apparently, animal control officials have been to the home before where there were "in excess" of 20 dogs at the home -- many of which were kept chained in the back yard.  Authorities don't suspect it was a breeding operation, or that illegal activity was going on.

Miscellanious

A Mississippi man says he owes his life to his loyal 'pit bull' who saved his life by snagging a copperhead that was about to bite the man.

A newspaper editorial talks about how meeting a 'pit bull' and bringing it into her home changed her entire opinion about pit bulls. 

Best buylaws target owners, not breeds.

Have a great week everyone.

Denver BSL Redux

The Denver Westword -- an Alternative Newspaper in the Denver area -- has a great article today on Denver's 20 year old ban on pit bulls -- wondering if it's time for a recount on Denver's declaration of 'pit bulls' as public enemy #1.

The article tells some of the stories of the people who have been affected by the law. Kevin O'Connell had his Presa Canario that got out while a friend was watching his dogs and attacked a neighbor's Chihuahua.  When animal control officers arrived, they confiscated not the dog that actually attacked the other dog, but the other dog that was in the yard minding its own business because they said it was a 'pit bull'. It also tells of his signing of a document that declares his dog a 'pit bull' in order to get his dog out of doggie prison -- which is a forced signature of guilt in order to get his now sickly looking dog -- which is a violation of the 5th amendment of the US Constitution.

It also tells the story of Heidi Tufto -- an army staff sergeant -- who was held at gunpoint while authorities confiscated her dog they thought was a 'pit bull' while she was walking her dog in the park in 2002. Tufto ended up being flown out of the state on a military transport to get out of the city. 

The article also talks about the costs associated with Denver enforcing the ban. Since 1992, Denver has impounded 5,286 pit bulls.  In 2005 and 2006 alone (right after Denver won its lawsuit against the state of Colorado in order to keep its ban), 1900 pit bulls were confiscated -- of those, 1,453 of them were killed. In total, 3,500 'pit bulls' have been killed by the city - -at an estimated cost of roughly $256 per dog from pickup to killed.   In total, about $900,000 has been spent by the city killing pit bulls -- mostly in the past 3 years.  The city has indured three lawsuits (one is still ongoing) and even levied its own lawsuit against the state (which doubles the taxpayer expense since they're paying for both ends of the suit) in order to keep the law.  The city pays six full time evaluators just to determine breed identification. 

In total, the city has spent millions of taxpayer dollars enforcing the ban, and killing dogs -- all at a time when the city is facing a $160 million budget shortfall -- with no measure of success.

According to the report:

Denver has never done an audit of the pit bull ban, never conducted a study of how effective it has been, never established a commission to determine whether one of Denver's most controversial policies is actually accomplished what it was created to do.  But evidence from other sources suggests that after two decades of classifying pit bulls as public enemy number one, it could be time for Denver to redo its math.

While proponents of the city's ban point to the fact that since the ban was put in place no one in Denver has been killed by a "pit bull", that is a really narrow focus.  Someone has been killed by a dog in Denver since the ban was put in place -- just by a different breed of dog -- which is actually pretty amazing given how rare such attacks are.

Meanwhile, a study by the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment notes that a person bitten by a dog in Denver is much more likely to go to the hospital than a person bitten in many neighborhing counties that don't ban pit bulls -- and a separate study done by the Coalition on Living Safely with Dogs notes that the bite rate in Denver is much higher than it is in neighboring communities.

So how is it that the city of Denver has been allowed to spend millions in taxpayer funds to enforce and defend a controversial ordinance with no study on its own part to determine the effectiveness of such a law?  It almost seems criminal.

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What makes it worse is that this all started after an attack by a 'pit bull' on Wilbur Billingsly -- a 58 year old evangelical pastor.  Billingsly was severely mauled.  It turns out that in spite of the owner's assertion that the dog had never been a problem before, this wasn't the dog's first run in with trouble.  In fact, the dog had bitten three people in three consecutive years - -including one incident in which a child was bitten so badly that a child spent 3 weeks in the hospital.  Animal control let the dog that attacked Billingsly stay with its owner - -who continued to leave the dog chained in the back yard. Just three days before the attack, the dog had broken free from his chain and nearly attacked an 11 year old girl.  Had animal control done anything at all to remove this dog from the situation -- and prevented the dog's clearly irresponsible owner from continuing to own, and mistreat the animal -- Billingsly may likely have never been attacked -- creating what then council president Cathy Reynolds still recalls as "the hysteria of the moment.  It was emotional, there was no way you could stop it."

Had animal control simply done their jobs -- Wilbur Billingsly would likely have never been mauled -- and a ban that has cost the taxpayers of Denver millions of dollars with no measurable success would have never taken place.

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The after affect has been equally tragic. Dogs ripped from people's homes. People forced to move. Armed services officers held at gunpoint. Thousands of dogs killed for no reason at all.

The article has an accompanying pictoral of Denver's "Pit Bull Row".  It's extremely powerful. 

Please check out both articles.

For Two decades, pit bulls have been public enemy #1 in Denver. But maybe it's time for a recount.

Denver's Pit Bull Row.

And while you're at it, check out denverkillsdogs.com. 

And alsoFor the Pit Bulls blog on the same subject.

The Shelter Pet Project Released

The national Advertising Council, in a partnership with HSUS and Maddie's Fund, just launched the first ever national public service advertising (PSA) campaign to encourage pet lovers throughout the country to make shelters their first choice for aquiring a new pet.

The Ad Council is responsible for dozens of campaigns over the year to drive public awareness to different issues, including littering, drinking and driving, childhood obesity and dozens of others. And now, the Shelter Pet project.

Each year, about 4.5 million pets are killed in US Shelters - -and this PSA is designed to encourage more people to adopt first -- and is focusing on the reality that a lot of the pets in the shelter are there not because they're bad, or damaged pets, but because they have negligent owners.

The spots are humorous and fun -- and I think a positive way to promote pet adoptions. 

Here's the press release.

The Shelter Pet Project Website.

And a link to one of the TV commercials -- the other one is embedded below.

Nice work by the Ad Council, HSUS and Maddie's Fund for bringing public light to the plight of shelter animals in the U.S.

An interesting article on DNA Testing

 The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on DNA Testing for dogs (thanks to reader MG for the hat tip).  The story centers around a dog named Parrot (pictured) and the author takes Parrot through all four major DNA tests to see if she cang get an idea of what Parrot's breed is.  He was adopted from the Shelter as a "pit bull/Weimaraner mix". 

The results are very kind of interesting...the bottom line seems to be that many of the tests seem to be pretty suspect because they don't have a very large list of breeds in their database (one has only 63 of the world's 400 some breeds).  However, the Mars Wisdom Panel test -- the one that has the largest list of breeds available to date (157) seems to be at least somewhat accurate.  It only makes sense that a test is going to have issues if the breed your dog is is not included in their database.

While all of the doggie DNA testing is new, it's interesting as we learn more about the actual DNA tests resultshow poor we really are at labeling mixed breed dogs.

It's an interesting read.  If only biology classes growing up had been this fu.

Weekly Roundup -- Week ending 9/20/09

Is it really late September?  Man, the late Labor Day this year has really screwed up my internal clock. It was a pretty slow news week this week, so fewer links and comments than normal. This is a good thing of course....fewer cities considering BSL, and fewer reported dog bites and abuse cases are good things.  Hopefully this trend continues.

Cities and Laws

South Charleston, WV has removed all references to specific breeds in their new dangerous dog ordinance and instead will focus on the behaviors of the individual dogs.

Senath, MO is now considering making it illegal to own or harbor 'pit bulls' in the community. There is no mention of why the discussion is even taking place.

Independence, KY is looking at strengthening their dangerous dog ordinance because of resident concerns over dogs that are running loose in their neighborhoods. No comment on whether or not the ordinance will be focused on particular breeds, although mention of specific breeds is brought up in the article.  It sounds like they need to be enforcing the city's leash law as much as anything. There is more on this here.

Dandridge, TN is looking at breed-specific restrictions in their community following two bites that have occurred over the past year.

Elkhart, IL is holding a series of public meeting about whether or not they should consider banning 'pit bulls' from the community.  Public comments will not be accepted.

Well, it's official, Whitehall, OH city councilwoman Jackie Thompson will have an election to be recalled in November.  Thompson has made quite a spectacle of herself in two different attempts to try to ban 'pit bulls' in the city and the citizens are tired of it...after two short years.  This is how you affect city action against negligent politicians.

Dog Attacks

 A 39 year old St. Petersburg, FL area woman was injured when she was attacked by one of three dogs that was living in her backyard. The dog is described as a "100 lbs pit bull" -- which is either a major exaggeration on the size or the dog is not really a 'pit bull".  No reason is give for why the woman was attacked...she lived in the same home with the dogs.

A six year old boy in Decatur, IL was the neighbor's "German Shepherd mix" that jumped the fence and attacked the young boy. This apparently isn't the first time the dog has bitten the boy.

A 12 year old Winnepeg boy was attacked in the face by an American Bulldog which belongs to his neighbor. Winnepeg banned 'pit bulls' from the community several years ago...but irresponsible owners have simply turned to other breeds of dogs to own because they never focused on irresponsible owners, only dogs.

Apparently there were no consequences for a dog owner in Kansas City who's dog broke free from it's leash and attacked a woman who was walking home from church.

Abuse Cases

An Independence, MO woman was arrested and charged with 17 counts of animal abuse after authorities found a house full of cats and dogs that were dead, starving, and covered with flea bites.

An Eldon, MO man has plead guilty on federal charges for his role in a dog-fighting conspiracy and for selling dogs for fighting purposes. Jack Ruppel now faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $500,000.

Four eastern MO men have pled guilty to charges in large dog fighting ring sting.

Miscellanious

Much pit-bull rhetoric is not based in experience.

From America's Hero to America's least wanted -- a little history in the evolution of how people perceive 'pit bulls' in the US.

 The Humane Society of Southwest, Missouri is getting a new facility this week that will greatly improve the conditions of the animals that end up there.

Muncie and Deleware Counties (IN) are getting blasted by animal welfare experts in their community and the media for their complete failure in coming up with a viable solution to animal control problems in their community.

An interesting look at inner-city dog-fighting in Chicago -- and a program that is run by Tio Hardiman up there that encourages the city's youth to come up with constructive ways to train their dogs and take pride in them.

An article about inner-city dog-fighting in Philadelphia and attempts to clean that up there as well.

A good Q&A by someone who went to the shelter to adopt a dog, fell in love with a 'pit bull', but was hesitant to adopt it for fears about it growing up into some kind of monster based on media reports. The answer person does a great job of fielding the question -- but this really points out the problems that lie in adopting out 'pit bulls' from shelters because many people, even when they meet great dogs, have an underlying fear that has been created by all of the media drama over the past couple of decades.

Cesar Millan is launching a new bi-monthly magazine for dog owners entitled "Cesar's Way'.  The first issue came out on September 15th.

A great listing of Kansas City Metro-area dog events.

Welcome to the community --No Kill Baton Rouge.

Consumer confidence in the media is diminishing

A new Pew Reseearch Study of people and the press notes that now, 63% of the people now report that they feel like the information they get from the media is often off base -- this is up from 53% of  people who doubted the accuracy of the media in 2007.  This is the least confidence people have had in the media since Pew began this study in 1985.

According to the full study, currently, only 29% of Americans feel that the news organizations generally get their facts strait, and only 21% say that the media will admit their mistakes while 70% of people say they regularly try to cover up mistakes.  74% of people say that news organizations tend to favor one side or the other when it comes to dealing with political or social issues. 

Much of the survey is centered around partisan politics, but overall it is showing that by and large, people in general trust what they hear in the media less than they have over the past nearly 3 decades.

Given that the single largest category of posts I've made on this blog over the past 3 years has been misleading reporting by the media, none of this comes as much of a surprise....but I'm glad that the general public is starting to realize what is going on.

Breed ID, DNA Testing, and why BSL is faulty and failing and the ridiculousness of it all

In Salina, KS,a pet named Lucey owes her very life to DNA testing.

A few weeks ago, when someone was pet-sitting Lucey, they made a mistake and Lucey got free. When animal control officers found Lucey, they demed her to be a 'pit bull' -- a type of dog that has been banned from the city since 2005.

If Lucey was a 'pit bull', she would be killed by the city. It didn't matter that she was loved by her family, that she wasn't aggressive, and that she didn't bite anyone. She would be killed...because when cities discriminate against breeds of dogs, good behavior no longer matters.

Animal control took Lucey to a vet to get a second opinion -- and the vet did a DNA test on Lucey.  Lucy came back as a DNA certified mutt -- with 12% Staffordshire Bull Terrier, 12% Boxer, 12% Bull Terrier and 25% Bernese Mountain Dog.

Lucey's life was spared.

In a similar incident, a dog that was labeled as a 'pit bull' and set to be killed because of Ontario's ban on 'pit bulls' was saved by some rescuers who didn't believe that the small, pointy-snoited dog was really a 'pit bull'. The dog had a brindle coat - and even though over 20 different breeds of dogs can have brindle coats, most seem to get labled in shelters as 'pit bulls'. 

However, the well-natured dog was saved -- and moved to Nova Scotia which does not have a breed ban.

Incidents like this underscore the whole failing of breed specific legislation.  BSL is based on the misconception that dogs that shared certain genetic traits were more prone to aggression -- and thus, needed to be banned or regulated in some way.

Not only is the premise untrue -- but we're finding out very quickly that the datapoints often used to justify this action is based on faulty information:

    -- Most of the dogs that are called 'pit bulls' in the shelter seem to have very little genetic ancestory in common with any of the 'pit bull' breeds

    -- Meaning that most of the dogs that are labeled as 'pit bulls' have little to no genetic relationship to each other

    -- Every dog bite study that was performed without DNA testing (which is all of them at this point) are based on visual IDs of dogs.  We're finding that this visual identification is most often wrong and that there is little genetic linkage among the dogs -- which means hundreds and thousands of dogs are being called 'pit bulls' because of how they look - -and not because of any genetic linkage.  The idea that looks cause aggression, and not genetics, is even more ridiculous of an idea than the genetics one.

And none of this even points out that even IF the information the bans were based on was legitimate (which it's now clearly not), the idea of taking a non-aggressive family pet and killing it because of how it looks just doesn't make sense.

The solution seems so simple.  If the dog is aggressive, then deal with that situation.  If the dog is not aggressive -- quit wasting animal control resources on it and leave it (and its owners) alone.

Meanwhile, DNA testing is going to become very expensive for cities. If they want to insist that a dog is a 'pit bull', they are either going to have to prove it by paying for the DNA test themselves (at a cost of $160 or so apiece).  OR, make the dog owner pay for it, which would be a violation of the US Constitution that makes the government prove your guilt instead of making us prove our innocence.  Remember:  Innocent until proven guilty.  Violating that will subject dozens of cities to legal suits for violating the Consitution - a very costly situation for taxpayers.

So how is it that cities still continue to entertain the idea of BSL --when time and time again it shows:

    1) that we don't really know what 'pit bulls' look like

    2) determining whether or not a dog is a 'pit bull' is costly

    3) every dog bite study in existence right now is based on what a dog looks like, and not genetics - and we've just seen in #1 that that makes them innaccurate

    4) That even without the first three problems, science doesn't support that genetics makes dogs aggressive.

    5) and that because of all of this, BSL has not one single case study of having been successful in improving public safety.  Anywhere.  Ever. 

It is time to put the focus on the behavior of the dog in determining its aggression. The idea of killing a friendly family pet because of how it looks is absurd...and everyone should be dismayed by it.

    

Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 9/13/09

With the holiday weekend last weekend (at least here in the states), I didn't get a weekly roundup out last week. So once again, I've got two weeks of stuff. It always looks overwhelming when I put two weeks worth of stuff together. 

There are a lot of articles -- but as you read through I want you to notice how in all of the bite reports, some very common themes start popping up that led to the dog bite -- regardless of the breed of dog that is involved. You'll also notice quite a bit of difference in how the media reported these bites. Also, a lot of unnecessary incidents where police shot animals over the past couple of weeks.  Have a great week everyone.

Cities and dog laws

Eastpointe, MI is going to introduce a revised animal control ordinance next week that will not be breed specific. Increasingly, cities are wisely creating ordinances that are centered around the dog's behavior, not their breed.

Salem, AR is looking at a possible new law that would create restrictions on  'pit bulls' and rottweilers in the community.

In Kingsport, TN, officials are looking at breed neutral legislation after their research has shown pit bull bans in other places to be unsuccessful.

Whispers of BSL in the state of Texas.

Hutchinson, KS will not ban pit bulls from the city after city officials realized that doing anything about 'pit bulls' would only cover a small fraction of the dog bites in the community. 

Liberty, MO is considering raising their pet limit to allow ownership of more than 2 dogs.

Prosecutors in Toledo lost evidence that was intended to be used to prosecute 2 men on charges of dog fighting.  Toledo has a ban on pit bulls that they told people was to help them stop dog-fighting, but don't have the ability to not lose evidence when a dogfighting trial comes up.

Nackawic, Canada has finally repealed their animal control bylaw that singled out pit bulls, rottweilers and their mixed breeds.

Dog bites

There was an incident in Salinas, CA where a 'pit bull' that was being walked by a 14 year old boy and saw a man with three small, barking Chihuahuas. The dog pulled away from the boy and bit one of the dogs and the man who was trying to protect them. Donna over at Bad Rap has a great commentary on this story -- which did do a good job of using the media to educate owners on training and maintaining control of your dog and that well trained, stable dogs, of all breeds, make great family pets.

A three year old Porter, TX girl was injured this week when she was attacked by a 'pit bull'.  The child was visiting her aunt's house, and went into the backyard by herself to feed the three dogs that lived on chains in the back yard. The media certainly made this a 'pit bull' issue, instead of focusing on the reality that three year olds should be sent out to feed chained dogs by themselves under any circumstance. 

A 7 year old Kansas City boy was attacked this week by a Rottweiler that lived in the family's back yard. The attacked occurred in a very tough neighborhood in Kansas City -- where dogs are often kept as protection dogs.  The dog was one of two that was usually kept chained in the back yard. Neighbors said the attacks were just a tragedy waiting to happen because the dogs seemed aggressive.

A teenage girl Windsor, Ontario was viciously attacked by a Chesapeake Bay Retriever -- that it sounds like is usually kept chained in the back yard.  Windsor would fall under Ontario's ban on 'pit bull' type dogs. Even with this article they focus on the fact that most Chesapeak Bay Retrievers are good dogs (as are most dogs of all other breeds) -- failing to realize that bad behavior is almost always an owner-specific problem that has nothing to do with "breed".

A two year old toddler in Waynesboro, GA was attacked by a 'pit bull' when the toddler ran off into a wooded area after a ball.  Officials say they believe the dog was living in the woods and was likely hungry.  No word on why a two year old is running off into a wooded area by themselves.

Two children in Milwaukee wer bitten by a neighbor's Akita.  The breed of dog involved falls in paragraph 4 of the story.

An 18 month old Tupelo, MS girl was attacked by her "family's pit bull".  The toddler went outside to play with the dog by herself while the dog was chained up to a post in the back yard.

An Idaho Falls (ID) boy was hospitalized after being attacked by a Bull Mastiff - -that had apparently attacked someone before. Again, the breed of dog falls in paragraph 4.

A three year old toddler in Kingston, TN is mounting up large medical bills after being bitten by a stray dog a few weeks ago.

Two young girls in Rome, GA were attacked by a dog described as a "coonhound" that was apparently defending her puppies.

A three year old Fullerton, CA girl was attacked by the "family pit bull". In this one, the girl and her mother went to take food to the dog -- which was chained up in the back yard -- and then the mother went inside leaving the toddler outside with the chained up dog that had just been fed.

A Fergus Falls, MN delivery man was bitten by a Dalmation.

In Glade, Spring, VA, a four year old boy was hospitalized after the boy went outside to play with two large dogs that were tied up in the back hard. The boy was attacked by Rottweiler. 

A mail carrier in German Village, OH was hospitalized after being bitten by a Boxer.

A two year old toddler in Albuquerque was bitten by her grandparents  Chow mix.  The dog was apparently pretty unfamiliar with the child (the toddler did not live there) and a toy the child was playing with ended up too close to the dog - -who was chained up in the back yard -- and the dog attacked the child.

Dogs remain among the most safe animals on the planet. But in spite of this, parents still need to be responsible about watching and monitoriing their children when they are around dogs (or just wandering around outside). Safety can be more readily assured if people actually monitor their children. Honest discussions about how we keep dogs will help too...as so many of these attacks happened with dogs that were chained in their backyard (and appeared to be kept their as their primary form of containment).

Police shooting animals

Police in Troy, NY came to a woman's home in search of the woman's brother in law who did not live in her home. The woman tried to get her dogs out of harmss way and put them in the back yard only to find out officers were in her back yard (where they shouldn't have been without a warrant). The dogs ran out into the back yard and police shot and killed one of her dogs. The dog did not attack or bite anyone, but is now dead because police over-reacted and were not following proper policy.

A family in Raymore, MO is upset after police shot the 18 year old cat with a shotgun. Police were called to the scene with reports of an "aggressive cat" -- and according to the police report, the cat was sick, wild and had its claws extended. However, the dead cat was declawed 10 years ago.  After shooting the cat, the police apparently responded by throwing the cat's body into a dumpster. 

A 'pit bull' in Grand Forks, ND was shot by police for "terrorizing" a neighborhood. The dog reportedly was barking and chasing kids on bicycles.  No one was bitten - -but the dog was killed.

A three year old Milwaukee boy was bitten in the face by the neighbor's American Bulldog. Apparently the young boy went into the neighbor's back yard and let the dog out of the kennel.  The neighbor told the boy to put the dog back into the kennel and that's when the dog bit the boy. Why was the three year old over in the neighbor's yard letting the dog out unattended?

Two 'pit bulls' were shot by a Sioux Falls, SD police officer.  The officer had stopped on a call about a parking violation, but then found two 'pit bulls' running loose. The dogs weren't being aggressive toward anyone and there had been no reports of them being aggressive.  However, when the officer approached the animals, they growled at him so he would stay away. When multiple officers cornered the dogs, they became aggressive toward the officers, and an officer shot both animals with a shotgun, killing one.  This is a classic case where the dogs were clearly not well socialized with people -- but also were not being aggressive unless cornered. Unfortunately, one of the dogs was needlessly killed.  No one was bitten or injured in the incident.

Chicago police fatally shot a 'pit bull' while they were serving a search warrant - -and in the process, bullets grazed two children that were in the home.  The dog was not responsible for biting anyone.

The number of dogs that are not involved in bite incidents that are shot by police is starting to become alarming...

Media Reporting

Police apparently tasered a dog in McFarland, CA that was supposedly chasing children. The dog is being called a "pit bull" and said to weigh 120 lbs -- which would be about twice the weight of a large 'pit bull'...which seems as if their breed identification was all wrong.  No one was injured in the incident, and police just secured a stray dog, but it made headlines because of the breed of dog supposedly involved.

In Memphis, an 11 year old boy was reportedly "attacked by a pack of pit bulls".  Now, I don't know about you, but being attacked by a pack of dogs sounds really scary to me. However, if you read the story, you find that the boy only received what are being reported as "superficial" wounds -- which wouldn't be consistent with an attack at all.  Media drives fear. Fear drives attention to the media. It's a vicious cycle.

Animal Cruelty

A man in Onslow County, NC is being held on $105,000 bond after authorities found both marijuana and 51 'pit bulls' on his property that were apparently in awful conditions.

Miscellanious

Dog Breed bans ignore the realy problem.

Canadian Expert Bill Bruce will be hodling a forum on the tactics Calgary is using to reduce dog bites in their community.  Calgary has long been a successful model for not only creating a no-kill community, but also for minimizing dog bites, without breed specific laws or mandatory spay/neuter.

A good video that shows aggressive manerisms by a dog, along with very submissive behavior toward the dog, that still led to the larger dog biting at the smaller dog.  The more people can learn about the body language of their dog and how to control/react to that body language, the better off we'll all be.

Poochmaster has a good blog posting on how we define "vicious" for dogs in this country. Our paranoia over dog bites has really caused a lot of non-aggressive dogs to be euthanized due to very small, understandable incidences.

A great video from Knock Out Dog Fighting  - the video stresses the importance of giving high-energy dogs a "job" to do.  And if this energy is channeled in an appropriate way, the dogs will be great pets.  Great stuff.

The greatest dog breeds you only think you know -- pit bulls and greyhounds top the list.