Weekly Roundup - Week Ending 6/13/10

I missed last week's roundup - so a lot of stuff to cover this week. Because of that I'm going to skip a lot of the dog bite stories and only link to the ones that for some reason I feel are especially pertinent to something.

Also, I want to call out special attention to the blog section of the roundup. Four years ago when I started this blog there really weren't that many good blogs out there - and now, there are dozens of people writing great blogs on the subjects of No Kill, Sheltering, Pit Bull Advocacy and canine behavior. These people are making accessable a lot of great information so be sure to check them out.

Cities/States and Laws

The Lucas County Dog Warden Advisory Board voted 9-2 to forward on their recommendations to the county for their new animal control policies for the county. The law will no longer be breed specific, will have restrictions on tethering, higher fines and mandatory pet ownership classes for dog owners whose dogs were involved in unprovoked bites, and mandatory spay/neuter for dogs caught running at large more than once. I don't love all of their new recommendations, but getting rid of their breed specific legislation is a great first step.

North Carolina appears to be looking at 'puppy mill' legislation in the state.

San Bernardino County, CA is looking at a proposed ordinance mandating the spay/neuter of all 'pit bulls'.   The ordinance is being proposed under the promise of public safety after a two year old boy was killed by a 'pit bull' in his back yard a few weeks ago after being left alone in the back yard with the dog. Focusing on the breed of dog, instead of the parenting that left a toddler alone with a dog in the back yard is irresponsible by the city -- not to mention similar ordinances have had mixed results in San Francisco and disasterous results in Little Rock and Kansas City, MO. 

San Francisco is now looking at a law that would not only ban the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores, but also hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, mice, Chinchillas and birds. If anything points to a desire by Animal Rights groups to end pet ownership in this country, this sure seems like it.

Center, MO, a community of 644 people, has passed a ban on 'pit bulls, in the community. This is one of the communities where everyone knows everyone, and everyone's dog, and one has to wonder if this is targeted at one person with one dog.

Canfield, OH has passed a ban on 'pit bulls' - a law that similar to the one that was recently struck down in Lucas County, OH for violating the state law. The city manager Joe Warino notes that as far as they know, there are no pit bulls within the city.

The Clarksville, TN shelter policy is to not adopt out several breeds of dogs -- including 'pit bulls', Chows, Shar pei, akita and Malamutes.  Policies like this doom all dogs of certain types to be killed at the shelter, regardless of temperament.

Decatur, Al has updated their dangerous dog law so tha the standard "one bite" rule does not apply. The law wisely remains focused on the canine's behavior.

Denmark ignores that similar legislation has failed miserably in other parts of Europe and bans 13 breeds of dogs.

A letter from a person in Ontario that say she is constantly harassed by a neighbor because the neighbor thinks her dog is a dog that is banned under Ontario's breed ban -- even though it is not. Never mind that the dog does not appear to be aggressive in any way...

Dog Bites/Attacks

You have to love a headline that reads "Pit bull reportedly attackes 3 year old" that in the lead sentence notes that the boy didn't have a scratch on him.

For the Pit Bulls has an interesting failed breed identification by the media as a story that was originally reported as a German Shepherd attack turned out to be done by a Golden Retriever. Breed ID by newspapers is disasterously bad - -and yet, there are people who will base dog bite 'data' on media information. And one has to wonder if the story would have been covered at all if they had been aware that it was a Golden Retriever in the first place.

In Kearns, UT, a retired police dog Belgian Malinois, badly attacked a 2 year old boy. The dog had been a police dog, but had a degenerative eye problem that was causing its vision to go -- and thus had to be retired from its work as a police dog. The dog, which had been in the home for less than a week, was left alone with the child in the back yard and the mother came out to find the dog standing over the boy in a "playful" manner although the boy was badly injured.

In Baltimore, a group of teens were apparently taunting a 'pit bull', when the dog got upset, it started acting aggressively toward the children (go figure) and a police officer decided to shoot the dog -- but in his effort to shoot the dog, ended up shooting one of the teens. On every level this story is so messed up and shows exactly how over-reaction to a situation can be dangerous.

Miscellaneous

A new 'pit bull EDU" class has been set up by local organizatoin Game Dog Guardian. The idea is to educated owners, foster parents and shelter organizations about bully-type dogs.

Info about a documentary about Miami's failed Pit Bull Ban.

The Nebraska Humane Society failed to respond to a call for over 6 hours about a dog that was left in a hot car -- the dog died due to the slow response.

Pics from Paw Prints Magazine from Animal Awareness Night at the Kansas City T-Bones.

Blogs

Rx for a No Kill LA- From Nathan Winograd

The Responsibility of Rescue - Fearfuldogs' Blog

Struggling Gulf Families - HSUS to the Rescue? - YesBiscuit! -- or are their attempts misleading, again? 

Why Western Australia's new cat laws will mean death for millions of animals -- Saving Pets - The law would require microchipping, registration and sterilization of all cats -- and Saving Pets shows the numbers as to why the law will have the opposite impact of what is intended.

Why we can't just 'get rid of' free-roaming cats - Saving Pets -- Trap/Neuter/Return is the ONLY solution for free-roaming cats.

Helping Pets without Homes - Why some shelters and rescues do a better job - PetDocs On Call

Breaking the Chains: Chaining dogs has behavioral Consequences - Pet Connection

My Dog is Aggressive On Leash - Dog Spelled Forward - Eric helps people work through the reasons why many dog owners struggle with this very common problem.

The New Toronto Humane Society A-Team - One Bark at a Time - a look at the new leadership of the Humane Society in Toronto -- and sometimes the good guys do win.

Daisy finds her people - Bad Rap - more success stories from the great folks at Bad Rap showing that dogs really are a product of their environment (and they provide great environment for dogs).

HSUS spends $20 million on Local Shelters? - YesBiscuit! wonders if Wayne Pacelle's claim in the Coloradoan involves some funny math.

Why Doggy DNA Testing isn't Conclusive - For the Pit Bulls links us to some information on DNA testing from NPR that notes that DNA tests are only as accurate as the markers that are found for each breed.  It doesn't make them wrong, but accuracy may vary by breed of dog tested.

A breader is a breeder is...well, maybe not - For our Entertainment has a thoughtful view of the difference between 'good" breeders and bad ones.

Is it already too late for the animals of the Gulf? - The Pet Connection

Karma and the Dogs Saved by Michael Vick - Change.org with a story of one of the large number of fight-bust dogs that have been allowed to be saved after awareness that rehabilitation is possible following the high-profile Mike Vick case. Our Pack has a story of one of their dogs saved as well.

The Need for a Canine Innocence project - Change.org - Dog owners should be afforded the same due process as other people in our justice system.

Profiling has gone to the dogs -- Change.org

Teaching your dog to come when called (Recall) - by Wooftown - maybe the most important thing you can teach your dog.

Keep Your Dog Cool this summer - tips on beating the summer heat from Pet Tips & Tails

Effects of Mandatory Spay/neuter laws - From the Houston Animal Shelters Examiner

Mike Vick and H to the S to the U to the S - HumaneWatch.org has some thoughts on how HSUS's acceptance of Mike Vick into the fold has enhanced dog fighting vs put a stop to it.

Ohio: Show us your balls - Bad Rap on all of the changes in legislation that will be good for bullies in the state of Ohio

Comments

[YesBiscuit!]

"San Francisco is now looking at a law that would not only ban the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores, but also hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, mice, Chinchillas and birds."

So, pray tell, where are hamster seekers supposed to seek their hamsters - the local shelter? A USDA licensed hamster breeder? The black market?

[Brent]

Exactly.

[Eric Goebelbecker]

Thanks for the shout-out!

That San Francisco law is scary. The pendulum is in full swing.

[Katie]

I don't know if the hamster fancy is like the rat fancy, but it's extremely looked down upon among many rat owners to purchase from petstores. Same thing as puppies- rats there are generally milled. Less healthy, less socialized, frequently raised in ugly conditions.