It's been an odd/interesting week in the canine legislation world this week. The top story of the week is one out of Brampton, Ontario -- where two dogs were confiscated from homes under Ontario's Dog Owner Liability Act because they were declared to be banned 'pit bulls' - -however, the dogs appear to be nothing resembling 'pit bulls'. I'll have some follow-ups on this story in the weekly roundup -- as well as some of the other stories you may have missed.
Cities and Laws
Exeter, CA is considering a proposal that would regulate particular breeds of dogs, including 'pit bulls', chows, Rottweilers, Akitas, Anatolian Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers and Wolf Hybrids. I believe it would be illegal for Exeter to pass such a law under the California state law, but citizens in Exeter need to be sure their voices are heard and educate commissioners that breeds aren't problems, negligent dog owners are.
Another story about the city of Dallas trying to confiscate 17 well cared for and homed pets from a family because they were over the pet limit.
Jones County, GA is looking to revamp their animal control ordinances. All of the language appears to be behavior-based, which is great, but if you live in or around Jones County, it would be wise to keep an eye on things there.
A new plan in Austin that would mandate that the shelter make necessary steps in order to achieve no kill status.
Dog owners in Glendale, AL our outraged over the city's decision to ban 'pit bulls' in the city.
The debate goes on in one New York neighborhood on what to do with the large number of Feral Cats in the neighborhood.
Sturgeon Bay, WI appears to be looking at potential breed restrictions in the community even though pretty much everyone in the community admits that 'pit bulls', the target of the law, haven't ever been a problem there.
Liberty County, GA is looking at a possible law that would mandate that all pets be altered in the community.
Dog Bites and Attacks
A 'pit bull' in Hoboken, NJ bit several people in an apartment builidng this week. Apparently, one of the victims had been bitten by the same 'pit bull' a week ago and had attacked another dog in a dog park a few weeks ago. Major bites and attacks are almost never a dog's first sign of aggression...and it is up to owners to properly train and deal with aggression issues when they are minor, vs waiting for a major attack to happen.
An 11 year old Port Angeles boy was hospitalized after being attacked by his father's Labrador.
Two sisters in Hagerstown, MD were bitten by two loose 'pit bulls' that were usuually chained. The girls sustained only minor injuries and will be fine.
In Suburban Cleveland, a black lab approached a couple who were walking their dogs and attacked their dogs and the couple.
An 11 month old child in the Town of Norway, WI, was viciously attacked by the family's Labrador Retriever. Apparently the dog had a history of food aggression having "aggressively bitten" other dogs in the past while it was eating. The grandfather put food in the dog's dish shortly before the incident and then left the toddler alone with the dog. Even though no one saw the incident, the child apparently got too close to the dog's food and was attacked. Repeat after me, dog owners are responsible for curbing their dog's aggression issues and should never leave a young toddler alone with a dog.
A Jack Russell Terrier mix that bit a two year old boy in the face has been declared dangerous by the Kitchener, IA animal control.
A two year old boy in San Antonio was hospitalized after the child was riding his tricycle through the house and ran it into the back door -- pushing the door open, and allowing the family's two mixed-breed dogs to attack the child. The dogs had a history of aggression...
No Kill News
A great Q&A with Bonney Brown of the Nevada Humane Society (Reno) about the success they've had in Reno in saving animal lives without burnout, bitterness or bankruptcy. Reno has been No Kill for three years.
Follow Up from Brampton
Citizens in Brampton organized a protest outside of the Brampton Animal Shelter yesterday -- Someone caught the event and posted on Youtube. Ontario PM Cheri DiNovo, who has proposed a bill that would end breed discrimination in Ontario was also on hand for the event.
One Bark at a Time has follow-up on Brampton -- including a great quote from DiNovo: "This is what happens when you unleash badly written abusive legislation onto a public and then put it into the hands of bureaucrats who make it their own and use it to terrorize people."
A letter from Rambo's owner to her dog that is being held in captivity. Heartbreaking.
Three Fatalities in other countries this week
You'll notice that some of the major root causes of major attacks can be found in these incidents...and all were done by different breeds.
In Vienna, Austria, two Rottweilers attacked and killed a 78 year old woman. The dogs were used as guard dogs for the family business. A dog's function is often associated with its aggression.
In Slovenia, a dog owner was attacked and killed by his three Bull Mastiffs. At least one of the dogs had been in trouble for attacking someone back in 2006.
A 10 year old Saskatoon, Saskatchewan boy was killed by a pack of four or five stray dogs. The boy's father is blaming the government for the attack because residents had complained about the dogs before, but the city officials did not address the problem.
And the most popular story of the week came from San Bernadino County, when a family was attacked by 5 dogs, leaving a five year old girl in critical condition. The evolution of the story has been interesting to watch, as originally all five dogs were reported to be 'pit bulls'. Then, it was said that they were a Mastiff and four "pit bull mixes' -- with the Mastiff causing the most damage. And has since evolved to being a Mastiff, a 'pit bull' and three 'mixed breed' dogs. Not that breed of dog has anything to do with why the dogs attacked (clearly there is some bad ownership going on here), but it has been interesting to see the transition. The child remains in serious condition and I wish the best for her recovery. For the Pit Bulls has a great blog post on this "The Tragedy of Inaction".
Abuse Cases
A Hoosick Falls, NY animal control officer plead guilty this week to shooting and killing dogs that he picked up -- and then burying them in a manure pile on his farm.
Three ex-employees of the Memphis Animal Shelter were indicted on animal cruelty charges. The shelter was raided late last fall after reports of healthy animals being starved to death in the actual shelter - and when the shelter was raided, more cruelty incidents were discovered.
A grisly discovery in Madison, County Indiana where eight beheaded dogs, likely greyhounds, were found in a creek.
Speaking of Memphis, after the raid, the city put video cameras up in the shelter so animal welfare activists could monitor the situation at the city shelter...which this week showed dogs just running around loose in the shelter and one giving birth on the video.
Blog Postings for the week
One Bark at a Time has some awesome puppy pics -- Cuteness. Overload.
Killing, What THEY Do Best -- from PJ Boosinger, about animals that were confiscated from a suspected cruelty case to be killed only hours later.
The Good Cop. The Bad Cop. And those Between Them...A look at Maddie's Fund Director Richard Avanzino and No Kill Advocacy Center's Nathan Winograd and how they approach the message of No Kill Differently. But together, they are making a difference in how animal welfare advocates speak about solving the problem of homeless pets in this country.
Most pet owners dramatically underestimate the number of homeless pets in this country.
A good idea for a fundraiser by the Sula Foundation (New Orleans)-- getting people to pledge money for every Saints Touchdown, ever Saints field goal and an extra $10 for a Saints win on Super Bowl Sunday.
Solving the Pit Bull Problem - by Maddies Fund. I'll be writing more about this in the very near future.
A Modest Proposal: PETA should 'euthanize' only animatronic dogs and cats -- a clever idea from an Examiner writer in response to fringe animal rights group PETA's proposal that Punxsatawney Phil be replaced with a robotic groundhog -- because somehow having an actual ground hog pop its head out of the hole in front of the audience is some form of animal cruelty. The writer's suggestion: That PETA start merely "euthanizing" robotic animals which would save the lives of thousand of REAL animals that they are systematically killing.
And some great conversation about Debarking this week - -two good overviews and discussions are at Dolittler and YesBiscuit!
Have a great week everyone.
Winograd's hysterical fact-free rantings have really worn thin with me, though I support the vision of "let's kill as few as possible" (the term "no kill" itself is a lie). And his biological illiteracy in a recent post rivals PETA.
Posted by: EmilyS | February 07, 2010 at 12:54 PM
Jones county, GA is ripe for some changes. In 2007, their kill rate was 84% (http://gvaw.org/Documents/GVAWReport.pdf). Liberty County's was 49% (http://gvaw.org/Documents/GVAWReport.pdf), which meant that they killed about 1000 animals. I'd rather see them open a low-cost clinic, improve customer service, and in general, reform their shelter than pass any form of MSN. Their gas chamber was shut down in 2006 after a hound named Grace survived it. Grace's Law is in the House this legislative session, and I'd like to see that one passed (http://www.examiner.com/x-35783-Atlanta-Animal-Welfare-Examiner~y2010m1d16-Graces-Law-HB-788-would-ban-the-gas-chamber-in-Georgia-animal-shelters.
Thanks for mentioning my PETA article. I'm serious about the robots. They may still have the cat robots (which to me look like bad taxidermy)from the cat sex video. I'm sure that they can be reprogrammed to keel over dead rather than hump each other.
Posted by: Valerie | February 07, 2010 at 01:53 PM
Emily,
I can somewhat understand -- but I do understand where he's coming from. The guy has been repeatedly attacked by many of the high-powered, deep-pocketed organizations that are doing it wrong for nearly a decade now. Meanwhile, he's been trying to show people a proven way of ending the senseless killing of dogs and cats and is being criticized for it and ignored by the orgs with all the $$$. While at times he does go on tangents, I admire the compassion, and respect that the message is right and how frustrating it would be to have people not listening...
Posted by: Brent | February 07, 2010 at 03:24 PM
Emily, I am a real fan of Wingrad and what he is accomplishing, but I cannot claim to be up on all that he is doing now.
So, in all innocense and ignorance, I am asking you about his 'hysterical fact-free rantings'-- because that does not sound like the Winograd that I met and whose book I have read.
Please tell me what rants he has gone on that are fact free. We need to know.
Posted by: Becky | February 07, 2010 at 10:02 PM
The woman whose maltese mix was killed by pit bulls who is spearheading the move to effectively ban a whole suite of breeds in Exeter, CA may have a slight problem on her hands.
That "Labrador mix" in her lap looks a hell of a lot like "pit bull" to me.
As a professional, I'd be willing to testify to that effect.
FYI, California passed a bill about three-four years ago that allows for this nonsense by municipalities.
Posted by: H Houlahan | February 08, 2010 at 03:50 PM
H. Help me out with the California law. I know that it allows for cities to mandate the spay/neuter of dogs based on breed (it was essentially passed because San Francisco wanted to do MSN) -- but I didn't realize they could do all of the other nonsense within that law....
Posted by: Brent | February 08, 2010 at 03:58 PM
Emily, when you accuse someone of making hysterical fact free rantings its probably good to include some "facts" in your own.
All I can say is without Winograd pounding the drum we'd not be NEAR where we are now. The animal welfare community would continue to be lapping up animal rights bullshit without anyone to protest.
Posted by: MichelleD | February 08, 2010 at 08:07 PM