Caveat

IF YOU LIKE CINCINNATI, YOU ' D LOVE ONTARIO

I'm blown away by the logic shown when legislators such as Dalton McGuinty  receive very bad advice and bring in a 'breed' (ha ha) ban.

Here's an example of what happens when stupidity meets ignorance:

Seized dog died; owner suing SPCA

EAST PRICE HILL - After Paulette Evans' husband died, her son didn't want her to be alone, so he bought her a puppy named Rock.

The brindle - a brown color - American Bulldog was precocious and friendly, filling the hole Evans had in her heart.

"I just treated him like he was my baby," Evans, 54, said from her East Price Hill home. "Rock and I went everywhere. I slept with him."

Cincinnati officials, though, seized the dog last summer, insisting it was a pit bull terrier, a breed banned in the city. They took it to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Cincinnati. Police charged Evans with three crimes involving the banned breed.

While there, officials refused to let Evans visit the dog and didn't tell her the pet had died until weeks later, when she showed up in court to defend herself against the criminal charges.

Now, she's suing the SPCA.

"That was not just a dog. That was my companion," Evans said.

I've never understood the comment that it wasn't 'just' a dog.  Dogs are important and they are almost all somebody's friend.

Anyway, here's where things get really wacky:

Since 2003, Cincinnati laws ban pit bull terriers, viewing them as vicious and dangerous, unless they are registered with the city and have appropriate insurance. The city defines pit bulls as American Staffordshire terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers or any dog that is a mixture of the breeds.

So, let me get this straight.  A dog is dangerous because of his looks but if he's registered with the city he isn't dangerous because of his looks.

These laws give way too much power to animal control officers and when you add in a very vague, subjective and frankly nonsensical set of regulations that amount to nothing more than a witch hunt, you erode the the rule of law.

Laws should be clear, not open to interpretation by untrained, inexperienced civic employees.  If grass can't grow higher than three inches, you can measure that.  If you can't exceed a particular decibel level, you can measure that.  If a dog is running at large or otherwise being a nuisance or is biting someone, there is no doubt about what's happening.

When you say that a dog that vaguely looks like a combination of other kinds of dogs is automatically dangerous, when the opinion of a lower-tier civic worker carries enough weight to seize and kill good dogs and persecute good owners, you either don't understand or don't care that you are legislating against citizens, not on their behalf.  Furthermore, you are not protecting anyone in either a meaningful or equitable manner.

The redneck legislative fad - the banning of shapes of dogs - must end and it must end soon because too many dogs are dying and too many people are crying.

I wish Ms Evans success with her lawsuit and admire her tenacity.

HEY DALTON!

Dash Chewing A Tree Branch
Just like the scary 'pit bull' in this bit of
Committee Testimony

Chew on this.

TROUBLE IN NEW MEXICO

Pit Bull NM has an alert today about impending death and destruction for 'pit bulls' (whatever they are) and 'rottweilers' (any dog that is black and tan seems to be the rule).

We all know that Albuquerque's pet bylaw is one of the worst in the country.  Not content to stop there, brainwashed officials seem determined to continue down the wrong road, staggering and mumbling incoherently every misstep of the way.

Details are available here.

ONTARIO: THERE ' S NO PLACE LIKE THIS

Update:  Great editorial in the Mississauga News today.

---

[...]

Oddly enough, Bowser’s master, 21-year-old Danny Truong, finds himself trying to prove the impossible – that his dog is not something that, technically, doesn’t exist.

Confused? So are many residents when asked about the law that prohibits ownership of pitbulls, a slang term for a number of cross-bred animals that carry some of the traits and genetic lineage of dogs such as those of the Molosser canine family.

The legistlation refers to bull terrier breeds and dogs that have “an appearance and physical characteristics that are substantially similar” to those breeds.

Both the legislation and its definitions are vague, about as clear as mud, leaving residents and law enforcers alike to wrestle with its application and to prove the unprovable.
[...]

---

Update: Danny's got a Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=7406&post=26375&uid=61941358224#/group.php?gid=61941358224


Remember I said I was in court last Friday?

The Mississauga News came down to cover the story.  I was a bit crabby about that (sorry Julia) because I hoped that the City would see the light before the screaming started.  Oh well, it's their party and they can cry if they want to.

Another innocent dog owner has been tagged by the Mississauga Christmas 'Pit Bull' Program. 

This time, a bargain-basement neutering-only clinic took it upon themselves to:

a)  Try to determine the ancestry of a mutt;
b)  Call Mississauga Animal Control to rat out the owner because of an alleged  illegal 'pit bull'.

Seriously, does the term 'prohibited dog' bother anybody else, or is it just me?

It is of some concern that almost every person charged in Ontario has belonged to an ethnic minority or has lived with a member of an ethnic minority.

Danny never thought his dog was a 'pit bull'.  None of his friends at the dog park, where he's been a regular since Bowser was little, ever said they thought he looked like a banned dog.  They're all furious and are writing testimonials for him.  His regular vet never mentioned it.  He's been all over the place, his dog is trained, socialized to play with other dogs, and is friendly with people.  He walks him every day.  Most of all, he loves him.  Bowser is the first dog Danny's ever owned.

People have a right to know whether or not they are breaking a law, in other words, to understand a law.  I defy anyone to accomplish that to any degree of certainty with DOLA. This law is not based on behaviour, it's based on appearance alone.  It's all guesswork and vagueness and the subjective opinions of unaccredited people based on unmeasurable qualities - which is why this law is completely rigged against a dog owner right out of the gate.  The government could never, ever win any other way.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  The only owners of short-haired dogs who are safe in Ontario are the owners of the extremely rare banned purebreds.  They are the only ones who know exactly where they stand.  The rest are easy meat for any wannabe gunslinger or ignoramus on the street who thinks he knows his stuff.

Welcome to the Formerly Democratic Republic of Ontaristan, where we say one thing and do the opposite.  Of course, bilge trickles down and it doesn't get much more rancid than the effluent that oozes from Queen's Park these days.

Public safety, my ass.  What about our safety?  Danny's safety?  Oh, I forgot, dog owners are second-class citizens in this place now, especially if their dogs are mutts - like 90% of the dogs in Ontario.

They still have time to come to their senses in Mississippi Mississauga and face the fact that Bowser is not a 'pit bull' within the meaning of the law - enforcement of which is entirely optional, anyway.

If not, this case will go to court to prove that.  I guess Mississippi Mississauga will blow, oh I don't know, fifty grand or so of the taxpayers' hard-earned money trying to take a good dog away from a good owner who loves him because he might vaguely resemble another mutt in another part of the province that had an irresponsible owner many years ago. 

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

I didn't vote for McGuilty the first time, let alone the second time he ran for office, even though I am extremely liberal in outlook.  In case nobody's noticed, these guys are not liberal in any sense of the word, despite their name.  I didn't trust McGuinty.  If I were still in St Paul's I would not have voted for Bryant - didn't trust him either.  Yet both were elected and worse, re-elected.  Now everybody is whining about the nannying and the secrecy and the fiscal mismanagement and the overall failure.

Hey, where have you been?  They started at pathetic and have descended into abysmal.

Unless you're a fan of discrimination - then they're world-class.

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE SHAPES OF ' PIT BULLS '

(Updates at the end)

I was just over reading KC's excellent Weekly Roundup when it occurred to me that there's something supernatural about 'pit bulls'.  Those l'il devil dogs are masters of disguise, shape-shifters no less.

How else can we explain these pictures?  It couldn't be misidentification of dog types by media and others, could it?

This is a 'pit bull' in Jackson, Tennessee:

This is a western 'pit bull' from  Oregon - he weighs over 100 lbs:

This Toronto  'pit bull' was killed by the Ontario government (poor pic, sorry) last year:

In KCMO, Nikko was a 'pit bull' who spent almost a year in jail:

 

Who could forget those two 'pit bulls' in Virginia that were involved in a child's death in 2005:

This 'pit bull' puppy was threatened with death by Mississauga Animal Control - he was lucky, his owners had papers (Mum was a purebred Boxer, Dad a purebred Bullmastiff):

 

This famous 'pit bull' escaped from Mississauga to the east coast after spending over half his life in jail - his name is Rambo and here he is at his new place:

Is it any wonder that there are so many news reports about 'pit bulls'?

What was that Brytler said?  I think it went like this: 

" If it looks like a 'pit bull' and it walks like a 'pit bull' and it wags its tail like a 'pit bull' then it's a 'pit bull' Psnorzle...Honk...Kaweet....Urrrrp....Fap" 

I think it would be more accurate to say that on a slow news day if you run a dog story make sure it's about a 'pit bull' or nobody will bother reading it.  Don't worry about accuracy, they're just dogs, man.  It won't be a big deal if you get it wrong.

UPDATE:  Brent's got a good one - a whole pack o' breeds are implicated in one dog-on-dog attack that made it all the way to Oz, where they dug up a file photo to add some punch.

The inimitable Luisa over at Lassie, Get Help joins in.  Check out that scary 'pit bull' - hide your kids, they could be next!  Vladimir Putin, you're not, kiddo - you're more like the Scarlet Pimpernel to me.

I like this game. 

I forgot about Faith, the big, bad, 'pit bull' in London, Ontario who was shipped to Montreal so she didn't have to be killed.  It's a sad but typical story around here.  Here she is, the pit-bulliest of 'pit bulls':

KILLING DOGS TO SAVE THEM: IT ' S THE ANIMAL LIBERATION WAY

If you like this badge, please scoop it and use it
You can make your own here: 

http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/

I wasn't going to post about the bizarre situation in Lancaster, CA.  It's all over the place and others are covering it.  However, I can't resist commenting.

Lassie points out that early neutering isn't quite what it's cracked up to be.

KC has a good piece about what's really going on with breed-specific laws.

Fred has a good one about the warped thinking of the animal extremists at Peta.

Despite overwhelming opposition, Lancaster City Council passed a new bylaw mandating the muzzling, leashing and juvenile neutering of all 'pit bulls' and 'rottweilers' in the city.

Notorious dog-haters such as Newkirk of Peta support the ordinance.  It's the old "we have to kill all the dogs and render them extinct in order to save them" thing.

You know, we have to kill all the kids because some of them are abused and neglected.  That will prevent the abuse and neglect of children.

What's especially amusing about the situation is that the Mayor made no attempt to hide his true agenda.  He stated to the press that the law was designed to specifically target a certain demographic in Lancaster.

He sees nothing wrong with this kind of thinking and even justified it by saying:

“I want to deliberately harass the gangs. We will take their dogs; we will take their cars,” said Mayor R. Rex Parris, describing gang members walking pit bulls through neighborhoods to intimidate residents. “We are doing this to deliberately harass a certain group of people because that’s what the citizens want us to do.”

Oh, well, that's alright then.  Citizens want you to reinforce the 'us and them' angle and cave in to mob mentality.  Got it.

Because, you know, actually investigating criminal activity or enforcing local pet bylaws is hard, man.  We'll just libel and slander dumb animals because they don't read or write and they can't sue us for discrimination.  Anyway, thanks to the propaganda campaign, nobody cares about 'pit bulls' and 'rottweilers'.

We all know by now that 'gangs' is just a dog whistle for ethnic minorities.  This guy sounds as though he was coached by our former unmissed caricature of a martinet Michael J Bryant, originally from Victoria BC but now infamous for eroding democracy in Ontario and promoting himself on the backs of helpless dogs.

It seems that the demented Newkirk, the poster kid for irrational thinking, has also been whispering sweet nothings into Council's ears.  Here's an old chestnut that is so past its sell-by date it's practically walking around on its own:

“You can kick a vicious Chihuahua out of the way. You can’t kick a vicious Rottweiler out of the way,” Councilwoman Sherry Marquez said.

It's pretty frightening, actually, that legislators are willing to undermine the principles of democracy - equal treatment before the law, an equal voice for all citizens - just so they can throw a bone to the slavering minority that loves to hate.

Oh well, let's see how they do when somebody sues them for discrimination and ignorance of the US Constitution.  Heaven forbid that a Golden retriever mauls someone - then what?

If you have a problem with criminals, try investigating criminal activity.

If you have a documented (there's that word again) problem with lax enforcement, isolate the problem areas and address them in a meaningful, non-discriminatory way.

Otherwise, take your 'breed' ban and shove it.

Politicians aren't elected to pander to the cheap seats or to further their own interests.  They are elected to serve all citizens and to be informed, objective and fair when enforcing and writing law.

If measures are considered effective, they should be applied to all dog owners across the board.  Bringing in an outdated, failed policy that will waste public money, affect only law-abiding citizens, target a minority for unequal treatment and use innocent animals as scapegoats should surely be out of fashion by 2009.

If not, then we are just opportunists who have not progressed at all and therefore have no right to call ourselves civilized.

CAVEAT ' S FIELD TRIP

I was in court in Mississauga today with yet another innocent person who has been turned into a criminal for no reason.  We were there to set a date to set a date.  The wheels of pseudo-justice grind slowly indeed.

The JP said, only about this case and no others  "These are very serious charges".

That's right.  Owning a dog you got as an 8-week-old puppy as a gift from a relative, training him, socializing him, caring for him and taking him to be neutered at about the right age is a serious crime in the Formerly Democratic Republic of Ontaristan.

I'm ashamed of what this place has become and I'm sure my Empire Loyalist ancestors are screaming in their graves.  Not to mention my gang-bangin', mutha-humpin' lowlife forbears who were Irish back when that meant you were automatically a second-class citizen.  You listening, McGuinty?

More later.

ARE WE THERE YET? MONTANA REJECTS BSL

UPDATE II:  The Bill wasn't just rejected, it was crushed with a vote of 17-1.

9:00 pm UPDATE:  We win.  Let's see how Rep Driscoll deals with rejection.
Good job, folks!  Take the rest of the day off.

---

I admit it, I've been refreshing the screen obsessively since 3:00 pm Montana time to see if HB 191, the proposal by Rep Driscoll to ban 'pit bulls' statewide has been sent to the shredder yet.

It's heartening to learn that the Committee room was packed with people opposed to the plan.

Oh, and somebody call the Waaaahhh!mbulance for Driscoll, stat.  Apparently, her inbox was jammed with insulting emails. How many were there, 5,000?  I hope she didn't find mine insulting, since it was intended as informational.  Heat, kitchens and staying out of them come to mind.

Anybody who says things like this:

Rep. Robyn Driscoll of Billings says the pit bull has been banned in a number of cities and in some other countries.

is not very logical.

They've banned elections in some countries, freedom of speech, property ownership, freedom of religion, and a whole lot more.  Are we onside with that, too?  I guess the question is this:  If your friends were going to jump off a cliff, would you jump with them, Driscoll?

On the other hand, remarks like these:

“This is similar to the differences between a firecracker and a hand grenade. No one may be able to determine the precise statistical odds of either one detonating by accident, but it is clear that one will cause more damage.”

while equally silly, sure sound familiar, don't they?  (Hint - here's a quote from an article about one of our fave dog-killers:  "Nelson uses this analogy: Other breeds are to firecrackers as pit bulls are to hand grenades.")

Kory, Mike - stand up  and take a bow, fellahs.  I said, stand up guys and - what's that?  They are standing?  Get them boosters then, or get them to stand on their chairs so we can see them in the crowd.  We want a good shot for the brawdcaast.

She also forgot to mention the part about the lawsuits.  You know, those pesky cases that drag on for years while wasting taxpayers' money on defending something that is indefensible and unnecessary.

This is exactly why we must get the Ontario law overturned - and the others.  Politicians reference other jurisdictions when they need support for half-baked ideas so as not to lose face with more rational legislators.

MULTIPLE DOGS, NASTY NANNIES, A SAD STORY AND OMAHA

A suspected dogfighting operation was busted in Steele, MO  the other day.  Police found five dogs described as 'pit bulls', $1,100 in cash (about enough for two large crates or a reno trip to the local building centre) and some sticks.

Here's a quote from the lead investigator:

"If you have five pit bulls they are either selling them, or training them to fight," [Captain] Alexander said.  "People in the county need to start being responsible."

Maybe these people are guilty, maybe they aren't.  That will be decided in court.  If they are, I hope the book thrown at them is a big one indeed.

However, if you have five dogs people might think are 'pit bulls',  don't be surprised if officers come knocking.  I wonder if two or three might be enough to generate interest?

Just saying.

*

Christina Blizzard at the Toronto Sun laments the escalation of government interference so nicely orchestrated by Dalton McGuinty and his friends in a piece entitled "Nanny State Clouds Our Lives".  No argument here.

She will be on TV Ontario's The Agenda tonight at 8:00 pm discussing the issue.  TVO broadcasts online, if you're out of the province and interested.

http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=779417&ts=2009-01-21%2020:00:35.0

*

Although Canada had no fatal dog attacks in 2008 and has had none so far in 2009, the US has experienced five dog bite-related fatalities in the past three weeks.  In Pennsylvania, eight-year-old Brianna Nicole Shanor was killed on January 19 by a 'rottweiler mix' owned by people she had been staying with since 'around January 6'.

The story is a sad one about a child who deserved better.  Is there anybody out there who still thinks these incidents are about dogs, or breeds?

*

In Omaha, they are handing out citations under their new ordinance.

Dog owners issued citations
BY MAGGIE O'BRIEN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Animal control officials say that 70 citations have been issued to Omaha canine owners since the city's new dangerous-dog restrictions went into effect.

One man's Labrador retriever was taken away and destroyed after he didn't comply with the rules.

They claim they wanted to avoid BSL but 'pit bull' owners are subject to muzzling their dogs (or using harnesses, which is rather odd) unless they can pass a temperament test.  If the dogs pass, the owners don't have to abide by the muzzling requirement.

I actually get where they're coming from but if legislators are serious about wanting to reduce dog bites and attacks, they should apply the regulations to all dog owners across the board.  Otherwise, it's nothing but theatre for the cheap seats.

In other words, start upholding your own damned constitution(s).

*

I have to go make some curry, like right now!  I've held out for as long as I can today (which is all day as usual) so now it's time to eat.

Back later with an update on how the fundraising is going and who has jumped onboard.

HSUS USING RENT-A-COPS IN FLORIDA

Uh-oh.  Our friends at the 'Humane Society' of the US are snowing way too many people, especially those who are elected to serve the interests of citizens, not religious fanatics.

HSUS Sics Private Security Firm on Dog Owners

Florida's "humane" war on pit bull owners is the best money can buy.

Wayne Pacelle kicks the killing machine up a notch

Old news: HSUS rules the world when it comes to "training" the public on how to spot a dog fighter. Here's John Goodwin, HSUS Dogfight Czar, running through his paces.



Lowering the bar on probable cause

The strategy here is to convince the public, including judges who sign warrants, that the presence of multiple pit bulls, springpoles and other so-called fighting paraphernalia, etc., is probable cause for search warrants. HSUS needs to make it easier to search the property of pit bull owners and breeders and kill rescue their dogs.

Mouthing off on the internet: grounds for search and seizure ?

Then there's words like "game." Debates on innumerable pit bull b-boards rage on (and on and on) about "gameness", what it means, how to identify it, whether its really dead. . .

Whatever.

What's in a word?

But regardless of your choice of language, get this straight, pit bull owners: Czar Goodwin is no philosopher, and no breed historian. His expertise is store bought and paper thin. He don't give a shit about what you meant, or how much of what you said was bullshit.

Here's the rest at Blue Dog State.