It has been a really hectic week for me on a variety of personal and professional levels -- and thus, posting hasn't been as frequent as usual. Things should get back to normal soon.
Some interesting news for the week -- and obviously some great news stories coming with the Topeka BSL repeal. There is still a lot of work to do, but I do feel like the tide is changing ever so slightly.
Cities and Laws
Douglassville, GA is set to vote on proposed breed-specific regulations on Monday -- the vast majority of the people that have spoken about the ordinance -including many canine experts from around the community have opposed the ordinance -- so continued support for dismissing this bill is needed.
Tiffin, OH is set to pass a new dangerous dog law that focuses its attention on dangerous dogs based on their behavior, not their breed.
Sterling Heights, MI continues to talk about potential breed-specific legislation.
Sheboygan, WI is also looking at breed-specific legislation. They looked at it about a year ago and did nothing, but the conversation has come up again.
Bermuda is looking at potentially repealing their ban on specific breeds of dogs -- the new law, that then places the banned breeds and several other breeds on a restricted list is still no good....but is better than the current law.
If you are in any of these areas that are looking at potential breed-specific laws, rally the experts in your communities to fight against this ridiculously poor legislation.
Dog Bites/Attacks
Dogs are amazingly safe. But at times they do bite and attack. As you go through the stories, note the wide variety of different breeds of dogs that are involved in these bites -- and the irresponsible owner, and sometimes the poor victim reaction (particularly this week many of the children) that led up to the attack. Educating children on how to behave with dogs, and going after reckless owners are the way to solve the dog bite issues that are out there. And also note the number of these incidents that occurred in cities that have laws focusing on the dogs, not the owners - these types of laws are destined to always fail.
An Independence, MO police officer was attacked this week by a Blue Heeler that was owned by a someone the officer was trying to apprehend. A few years ago, Independence passed a ban on several breeds of dogs, but obviously the focus on dogs, and not on reckless owners, has not had the desired affect.
A Yakima, WA animal control officer was seriously injured by a dog that attacked him while he was inspecting a hole in the fence the dog's owner had been told to fix. No breed of dog is mentioned, but it should be noted that Yakima has had a breed ban for two decades -- again, without the desired affect.
A young Colorado Springs girl was bitten by a "Shepherd Mix" as she was walking home from the bus stop.
A Roanoke, VA officer was apparently attacked by two American Bulldogs that were roaming at large -- one of the dogs knocked the officer down and forced him to discharge his weapon to shoot and kill one of the dogs.
A Golden Valley, MN woman was attacked by a German Shepherd that will leave her face with permanent scarring. The victim notes that it's the dog's training (or lack thereof) that led to the attack, not the dog. This statement is very true, but one has to wonder if the headline would have been the same if a different type of dog had been involved.
A Clearwater, FL deputy shot a Chow mix after it bit a woman and became aggressive toward animal control.
A Summit Township (MI) woman was bitten by a 'pit bull' that was running at large that had apparently developed a rap sheet after being involved in 2 other bites.
A 12 year old Richmond, NC girl was bitten by a 'bull dog/boxer" mix as she was riding away on her bicycle -- the girl required 18 stitches following the attack.
A 6 year old Van, TX boy was attacked after climbing a fence to get into his neighbor's yard where he was then bitten by the St. Bernard/Bernese Mountain Dog mix.
The UK breed ban keeps failing
A man in the UK was bitten "down to the bone" by a Great Dane -- no action will be taken against the dog or the owner following the attack.
Birmingham, UK is admitting that enforcing the nation's ban on "devil dogs" is bankrupting the city's animal control budget.
A girl was attacked by a friend's bull-mastiff mix that drug her off the couch and ripped off part of the girl's lip. The girl's grandmother blamed video games for why the dog attacked - but it seems more likely that it was because the girl kicked the dog.
A 10 year old boy was attacked in a park by a "large black dog" -- that authorities believe to be a Labrador cross.
The UK's breed ban has been no cakewalk for Wales either -- where bites are also up.
Positive Press
Pit bulls get bad publicity -- Really good article from out of Massachusetts
ADA Ruling could alter Denver Pit Bull ban
Federal Law leashes pit bull restrictions -- more on the ADA ruling
Blogs You Need to Read
Lessons from the 90% club: Reject excuses and just do it -- from O is for Onward.
Owners accountable for public perception of pit bulls - The Atlanta Pit Bulls Examiner takes a look at ownership vs breed traits and the ineffectiveness of breed-specific policies
Fixing Shelters by Renaming them? - Dog spelledForward has an interesting post that is worth the read (and yes, marketing is important to animal shelters.
Pit bull bias in the media - a good overview from Goodfordogs.org
Memphis: Killing 16,000 pets a year isn't enough - YesBiscuit! discusses Memphis Mandatory Spay/neuter ordinance. I plan to write more about this this week as well.
Growling at kids is ok -- Doggone safe has a good post about the misconception that growling is a bad thing. Teaching kids to respect the warnings is vitally important.
Some great forward thinking and future planning from the Wisconsin Watchdog
The needle and the damage done - YesBiscuit! has a great post on the damage of euthanasia -- and if you read only one link from this week's roundup, read this one.
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