There has been a lot of interesting stuff going on -- and there just aren't enough hours in the day to getting to it all. But some good, interesting stuff. Some, again, may not make the roundup this week because I think the stories deserve their own headline. Hopefully it will all happen this week.
But here are some good stories and good blog postings from the week that are worth the read.
Cities and Laws
A new proposed law in Kennett, MO would put harsher restrictions on 'pit bulls' in the community -- and potentially ban them. Even though the media coverage of this law has been a little misleading, but this law has NOT been passed yet and is only under discussion at this time. So if you live in or around Kennett, please contact your local politician to let them know why such a law is unnecessary and will actually make the community less safe, not more safe.
The Town Lake (TX) Animal Shelter and Austin Humane Society are joining together to push the community toward becoming a No Kill Community following a new initiative passed by the Austin City Council.
A new breed-specific law in Poplar Bluff, MO requires owners of 'pit bulls' or 'pit bull mix" dogs to microchip and register their dogs. The ordinance will also prevent any new 'pit bulls' from entering the community. It's an ill-advised policy that will not improve public safety in their community.
Dog Bites and Attacks
A 7 year old Florida girl was attacked by a Bull Mastiff while she was out riding her scooter. The attack took place in Dade County-- which has a breed ban on 'pit bulls'.
Mobile, AL is getting to test our their new Dangerous Dog law following an incident where a three year old girl was viciously attacked by two Labrador Retrievers and a Blue Heeler.
In what is a horribly written article, a family in Colvis, NM says they are "unsure" about what triggered a dog attack. Apparently the family had two dogs in their backyard that were together with the intent to breed them, and had children in the yard jumping on a trampoline while they were out feeding the dogs. There were enough warning signs here that you don't have to wonder too much about possible causes. The dog is being called a 'pit bull', although it really doesn't look much like one at all. Rinalia has a good take on this story.
In Indianapolis, a young boy was bitten by a dog that was in the shelter. Apparently the 6 year old boy ignored a sign on the door that said "I'm not feel well; please don't enter" and the boy entered the room where there was an injured 'pit bull' that ended up biting the boy in the cheeck and then the leg. The family says they are conisdering suing the shelter, but this case leads to a whole lot of potential "learnings" if people would choose to actually pay attention to them -- like a) if you are in a shelter ,don't let your 6 year old wander around unattended b) me sure said boy understands that "do not enter" means do not enter and c) be sure children understand to not approach strange dogs or injured dogs on their own. Good commentary by Pet Docs on Call.
A six year old child in Dakota Dunes, SD was bitten when he was playing with a black Lab and attempted to grab the dog and was bitten. The dog was one of two that was roaming free.
Abuse Cases
A Gastonia (NC) teenager was charged for trying to feed marijuana to his 'pit bull' in an effort to try to get the dog high.
This week, nearly two dozen 'pit bulls' were seized from a 'dog breeder' in Oakland. While the dogs' owner insists he's done nothing wrong, it turns out that the man had previously been convicted of dog fighting. It sounds like the dogs are in good shape and will get a fair evaluation, meanwhile authorities said the dogs' owners will likely be charged with animal cruelty.
A Garfield, PA dog breeder has been accused of allowing his dogs to freeze and starve to death. The man says a winter storm prevented him from getting to the pens in the back yard to feed the animals.
Positive Press
The DC Examiner Writer has a good interview about pit bulls and stereotypes with the guys from Rescue Ink.
A rescue group in Buffalo, NY is working on an aggressive adoption campaign -- part of the goal is to improve the image of 'pit bulls' in their community.
Pictures from Friday Night's Pin Ups for Pit Bulls event in Kansas City -- and news coverage from KSHB.
A Spokane, WA man was saved by his service dog this week. The dog, a bully-type dog (even though the media fails to call that out), woke him up when the house caught on fire and helped him get out of the house. The dog was working with the man who had been on bed rest or 5 months because he had broken both of his legs.
Breed Specific Banning? Not a Chance - a good editorial in Philadelphia Weekly.
435 South Magazine - an upscale lifestyle magazine for those who live in Southern Johnson County, KS (suburban Kansas City) has a feature on Animal Haven, the area's largest no kill shelter.
UK Dangerous Dogs Act
A BBC investingation in London shows exactly how easy it is for people to buy 'pit bulls', illegal under the Dangerous Dogs Act, on the streets of London showing not only how unenforcable the Breed Ban is, but also that they have actually increased demand for the dogs by making them illegal. They also highlight now people who want dogs like this are starting to cross different breeds of dogs with Mastiffs and selling them to try to get the same effect. The UK is currently looking for new options to deal with dangerous dogs in their country after the country-wide breed ban has failed miserably.
Mediots
The headline of this story is just ridiculous "Hardin County Teen in Coma After Pit Bull Attack". Sounds like a horrible attack by a dog, right? Well, turns out the Nashville area girl and her sister were both riding their horses when three dogs (all said to be 'pit bulls') came out and "attacked" the horses. There is no mention if the horses were at all injured. The girl's younger sister go off her horse and then the older daughter went to get off her horse and got her foot hung up in the stirrup and fell, causing her to go end up in a Coma. None of the dogs actually attacked the girls, or the Chow Chow that is credited with protecting the girls from the dogs, and it's unclear whether the horses were actualy really attacked either. I do hope the girl is ok and it is a scary injury for a family and the owner of the dogs is clearly at fault for not having the dogs contained and allowing them to roam free and causing commotion in the first place.
Miscellanious
An interesting story about a Puggle that is being used to sniff out bedbugs.
Blog Postings worth reading
For the Love of the Dog Blog has a great article about Animal Abuse -- and that it's Time to Draw the Line on punishing abusers. At least a Richmond, VA circuit court judge is taking it seriously.
Winograd has a post about a hungry dog that was destined to be killed just down the street from the ASPCA.
Utopia Animal Hospital has a conversation with herself about the thought process she underwent to try to decide if she was supportive of a newly proposed law in Memphis that would mandate the spay/neuter of all pets there. Here end result is that she doesn't support the ordinance. I still hope she looks at results from places like Los Angeles and Kansas City so she understands why so many organizations don't support MSN -- it sounds like a good idea, but executionally ends up leading to more animals being killed. Apparently a lot of people who attended the meeting earlier this week supported the ordinance -- even though a large part of the city's problem appears to be that the shelter has a euthanasia percentage of more than 80%.
To Kill Animals in New York, the ASPCA goes after them in California - Winograd criticizes the most recent efforts by the ASPCA to kill Oreo's law.
PETA offers killing advice to the shelter manager in Los Angeles -- more on PETA encouraging Killing from Winograd.
The Emperor's Striptease -- Raised by Wolves takes a look at the failings of the AKC in the US -- including a dramatic decline in AKC registered dogs since 1992 (we're now at half the number of AKC registered dogs as we were 18 years ago). This comes at a time whe both the total US population, and canine population, are growing. More at DVM Magazine. I want to cover this more at some other point, but these are great reads...
you know there is ZERO evidence, other than "an email that came across my desk" that ASPCA intended to kill "Lucy". Of course neither Winograd ... nor anyone else.. bothered to contact APSCA and ask. In fact, ASPCA transferred the dog to a rescue.. isn't that the way Winograd et al are clamoring for their system to work? Oh, BTW, the supposedly well known and reputable organization that supposedly was prepared to care for the possibly dangerously aggressive "Oreo".. no longer listed as a member of the Mayor's alliance and in the news for failing to maintain required NYState credentials.
Posted by: EmilyS | March 21, 2010 at 06:59 PM
Emily, you're of course right -- it's not like there was a big media story about this. I tend to trust the source on it. And yes, in the end, the dog was transferred to a rescue -- which is exactly what SHOULD happen -- which is
a) why they've proposed Oreo's law in the first place
and
b) would not exactly have been the first time a major AW organization did the right thing only upon being pressured into it.
As for Pet's Alive, I've never claimed to know a lot about them -- and it's not as if they lost their credentials permanently or because of some big scandal. They were late getting paperwork sent in. It probably happens hundreds of times a year in different places but no one ever pays much attention unless they happen to be involved in a controversial state law.
Posted by: Brent | March 21, 2010 at 09:29 PM
This comes as no surprise, but it still disheartening to see the differences in the articles concerning the "pit bull" attack and the attacks involving labradors. Neither of articles covering the incidents with the labs shows a picture, and they are both barely more than a paragraph. The article covering the "pit bull" incident shows the dog behind a chain link fence with a "biting dog" poster, is many paragraphs, and, of course, includes the whole "he's never shown aggression before" nonsense.
Frustrating beyond belief.
Posted by: Julie | March 22, 2010 at 03:24 PM