Shame on You Houston!

      I am angry! I am pissed beyond belief! Why? Because 187 dogs were killed for being nothing but pit bulls in Houston, Texas. Let me be clear, I am not addressing the people of Houston but the leadership.  The Houston SPCA, the Law Enforcement and the Attorney Generals Office.  I know that there are responsible pit bull owners in the city of Houston and the state of Texas. 

     Houston, let us be honest. Denver, Colorado and any other community practicing Breed Specific Legislation have a least been up front in their discrimination and ignorance about the pit bull. They have legislation, rules and procedures in how to deal with a threat that they perceive. YOU, on the other hand Houston, just kill the dogs out of hand. There is little or no evaluation, but to say you are protecting the public.

     FROM WHAT? Dogs that have been abused? Dogs that are confused, frightened and in circumstances way beyond their control, therefore they are reacting as an animal is prone to do? By barking, baring teeth, and lunging. Trying to defend what little dignity they have left. Dignity stripped from them by the hands of the ‘people’ who where suppose to care for them, feed them and give them shelter.

     So, instead of investing time, patience and training, Assistant DA Belinda Smith chose to euthanize the dogs as a ‘gift’ to them.

    Wow. That’s some gift. The Houston SPCA, the city of Houston in general, has a vendetta against the pit bull. Pit bulls that go into the system DO NOT come out. They are euthanized. They are NOT put up for adoption.

     This sounds a lot like some sort of ethnic cleansing. Kill all the pit bulls. Once they are all gone what breed will be next? What breed will be the next boogeyman?

     I am against Breed Specific Legislation, but at least the communities practicing BSL are honest. Houston is operating in the shadows and picking and choosing who should live and who should die.

     Shame on you Houston.

Tempered Advocacy

I would like to thank the city council of Monroe in Washington State in for being forward thinking and not reactionary.  They averted what could have been a tragedy in the making.  A man was trying to testify to the brutal assault of his mother by two pit bulls in the Seattle-Tacoma area .  Does the man have every reason to be angry and upset?  Yes.  His mother is disfigured, injured and traumatized.  In the end, the city council leaned toward NOT creating a BSL, but instead creating laws that targeted bad owners and not the dogs. The council will revisit the situation in six months.

 

A tragedy has occurred.  We have a family that will never look at dogs in a confident light again.  If they see a pit bull in the street, they will be terrified.  Do I blame the man for his anger and his desire to try and control his fear the only way he knows how by asking for some sort of legislation? No.  Can I blame them for having fear? No.

 

 

You see, fear is a powerful motivator.  Fear is what closes doors in our hearts and our minds.  Fear is what causes rocks to be thrown.  Fear is what causes people to run from the unknown. 

 

The two pit bulls who attacked the woman are as much victims as the man and his mother.  They were in an environment where there was no discipline, no boundaries and no responsibility on the part of the dog owner. 

 

As dog owners, of ANY breed, it is our responsibility to raise and create well-mannered dogs.  As pit bull owners, we have a responsibility to show the world that our dogs are not symbols of machismo or fear, but are the family pet they have historically been.  We know how loving and wonderful the pit bull can be, and every time we read about irresponsible owners, we get ever so angry. 

 

But we must also let compassion temper our advocacy.  Our best weapon are well trained, well behaved dogs who are ambassadors to the breed, owned by people from all walks of life.  People will always say ignorant and stupid things.  As human beings, that’s what we do. But it is our actions and deeds that define us.  And so it is with the animals in our care.

 

As for the family of the woman attacked, we can only hope and pray that their souls will heal and their fears will lessen as time passes.  Let us hope that the pit bull advocates in the SeaTac area are praying for the healing of their souls as well.

More Attempts to Regulate Pit Bulls

So Omaha has decided to punish dogs instead of irresponsible people.  Let me clarify, with the help of the local Human Society, the great city of Omaha has decided that all pit bulls, American bulldogs (because they share the same characteristics as pit bulls), and any mixes will, effective January 1, 2009, have to wear muzzles while walking in public places.

 

The only way to circumvent this piece of legislation is to go to special behavioral assessment by the Humane Society of Omaha to determine whether or not the dog would be exempt from the law.  This behavioral assessment would not just happen once but yearly at the cost of $75 initially and $50 for every year thereafter.  These costs are on top of the harnesses, insurance, muzzles, and a myriad of other costs that the legislation is piling on the owners.

 

The good owners are being punished for the deeds of uneducated, irresponsible bully breed owners. 

           

Wow, sounds to me like Omaha just started registering races for genetic purity.  I know that this sounds incendiary, but the days of people kicking in doors and raiding homes for breeds deemed inappropriate won’t be all that far away.  

 

Breed Specific Legislation of ANY kind is DISCRIMINATORY, whether it is animal or human.

 

            I am disturbed on a deeper level that the Humane Society is participating in this heinous legislation.  Their mission statement on their website says “The Nebraska Humane Society acts as a voice for the animals, and through them, enriches the communities we serve.” So they are picking and choosing the animals they will have a voice for.  What arrogance.  (Please Note: The Humane Societies are independently run and have no national over-sight structure. So my comments are directed solely at the Nebraska Humane Society.) Why aren’t they speaking for the pit bulls and educating the public?  Instead, they have backed a piece of legislation that will effectively reduce what they consider an ‘undesirable’ dog in their community.  The Nebraska Humane Society will determine if a dog 'looks' like a pit bull or has the characteristics of a pit bull, it will be subject to the legislation.  So the quality of life of an entire segment of dog breeds fall into the narrow gaze of biased observers who won't be able to be fair in their judgements. So much for being a fair voice. 

 

            Oh. Apparently the Nebraska Humane Society isn’t fair. 

 

Are they that hard hit by the economic down turn that they have to make money this way?  According to their own numbers they estimate 6,000 pit bulls in the Omaha area and only 1,400 are registered.  Apparently, this will be a great source of steady income for them. 

 

The ironic thing is that a dog is a dog.  They have good days and bad.  They don’t necessarily like to be approached or touched all the time.  People look at a dog and say “Oooo, what a cute dog” and immediately make-a-move to pet the dog.  They rarely ask the owner for permission or observe the dog for warning signs. 

 

So when the dog snaps and bites, the people freak out.   A responsible owner will immediately ask a person not to approach their animal and wait for proper introductions to be made.  That being said, a person walking up to a dog needs to ask for permission to approach the animal.  This is simple common sense, but given the BSL going on common sense has been replaced by governmental interference and lack of responsibility.

 

Breed Specific Legislation is never the answer.  Responsible pet ownership is.