Thursday, August 04, 2005

Denver Pitbull Ban...My Thoughts

My sister told me the other day that since Denver is starting to enforce their Pitbull ban, 350 have been confiscated and another 257 have been euthanized. That's 557 dogs that are being killed just because of their breed. That's so...racist. Breedist?? Anyway...people are basically smuggling their dogs outside of city limits in order to save their lives. I think they should have at least given them a year to put them up for adoption or move out of the city..just some time to figure out what to do, you know?

Here's my thing..ok, so yeah, you hear more stories of Pitbulls biting people than any other breed, but German Shepards are actually the ones who've bit more people..it's just not televised as much. That doesn't include police dogs...that's just the general Shepard pet population. Ok, ok..so pitbulls have a higher fatality rate b/c of their strength, but it's not a reason to kill off all the ones in Denver. They euthanized dogs that have had no violent history or even any inclination to bite someone. What they did is like saying.."Well..we've discovered that 8 out of 10 robberies is committed by a black man, so we're just going to throw them all in prison." That's not right. I at least think that they should maybe do behavioral screenings on the dogs to see if they have violent tendencies or not. That way they're not killing perfectly good pets.

Also, there's been problems here in NC w/ dog fighting rings. In Randolph County, the shelter had to take in 13 pitbulls from a dog fighting raid. They're having to be kept in individual pens until the trial is over (a year or more) and the shelter is having to euthanize adoptable animals due to lack of space. To top that off...the SHELTER is having to pay for their care. WTF!?!? I think whoever owned them should have to pay the costs and they're trying to pass a bill that states just that. They pay for their care throughout the trial and if they fail, the dogs are euthanized then instead of at the the end of the trial. I don't understand why they don't do that anyway...a fighting animal can't be adopted as a pet. One man was required to pay for the dogs' care, but he would only send $5 a month. Finally, the court ordered him to pay a certain percentage of his income. The whole thing just makes me want to cry, you know?

Plus, dogfighters don't tend to follow the laws anyway, so even if you banned all pitbulls from ownership across the country, they'd find other breeds. Hell..you can make Yorkshire Terriers and Pomeranians fight..so nothing will stop the dogfighting...including killing pitbulls. I think Pitbulls get a bad rap. I think the problem is that there are too many irresponsible people owning them who don't know how to handle them. Large breeds require experienced dog owners. I don't think I'm even qualified enough to own a Pitbull..and I have 4 dogs. Anyone who owns dogs with an aggressive tendency should be extremely experienced in how to handle them. Dobermans, German Shepards, Pitbulls, Rottweiler's, Alaskan Malamutes, Huskies, Chows, Wolf Hybrids, Boxers...I can't think of any more at the moment, but you get the point.

All of this comes from the fact that my sister and her fiance own 2 pitbulls. Ok..one Pitbull and one Am. Staff. They are both sweet, sweet dogs. I wouldn't want to piss one of them off...but I'm not afraid of them. Padme is high energy, loves to play, loves to groom the cat and is spoiled rotten. Bane thinks he's a lapdog. Bane is more aggressive than Padme is and Kelly told me recently that he's growled at her when she tried to correct him on something he did wrong. I'm not sure if he really growled..or if he just grumbled over being punished. It still scares me because he's huge. I've never seen a head so big in my life! Actually I have, but that was on a Mastiff, so it doesn't count. It seems like he just gets more aggressive when he gets older...or maybe it's just because he's in an apartment all the time instead of having a yard to play in, who knows..but I'm terrified he'll just snap one day and hurt her. I know she thinks that's ridiculous, but most owners who've been attacked say their dog never showed any tendency towards violence.

To sum up: Denver sucks, not all Pitbulls should be killed--b/c it sucks, Dogfighters suck, and I love my sister....who does not suck.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

YOU MADE SOME GOOD POINTS THERE, I AGREE THAT DENVER'S LAWS ARE RACIST. A "DOG" SHOULD NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OR HER OWNERS STUPIDITY. IF DENVER WERE TO REALY WANT TO STOP AGGRESIVE PITBULLS FROM KILLING PEOPLE, IT SHOULD PASS A LAW FOR HARSHER PUNISHMENTS ON STUPID OWNERS. IF THEY GET COUGHT WITH DOG FIGHTING RINGS, PERAPHANELIA, SCARRED DOGS. THEN GIVE THEM A FIVE YEAR MANDITORY SENTENCE. NO CHANCE OF BAILING OUT, OR GOOD BEHAVIOR, B/S LIKE THAT. THEN YOU WILL SEE A DEACRESE IN VICIOUSE PITBULLS. THIS LAW WOULD BE WORTH THE TROUBLE INSTEAD OF KILLING 287 DOGS TO THE DATE. A DOG IS A DOG WHO WANTS NOTHING TO MAKE IT'S OWNERS PROUD. I ALSO DONT KNOW HOW OVER 200 OWNERS WOULD LET THIS HAPPEN. I KNOW MY WIFE AND I WOULD FIGHT TO PUT OUR PIT UP FOR ADOPTION OR JUST FIGHT TO KEEP OUR DOG, MOVE, ANYTHING. KILLING ALL THESE ANIMALS WILL NOT STOP PEOPLE FROM COMITING THE TERRIBLE CRIME OF ABUSING DOGS WHO ARE JUST DOING WHAT THEY ARE TOUGHT. G

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Anonymous said...

Hey Dana K. Lane! Just thought I would write a brief note pertaining to Denver Pitbull Ban...My Thoughts. I usually lurk, but your post caught my eye while I was looking for info on Teacup Yorkshire Terrier. My focus is generally Teacup Yorkshire Terrier, and while this is not a perfect match, I liked what you said. Like I said, I usually lurk rather than comment but I couldn't help sympathize. Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

Hey Dana K. Lane! Just thought I would write a brief note pertaining to Denver Pitbull Ban...My Thoughts. I usually lurk, but your post caught my eye while I was looking for info on Yorkshire Terrier Breeders. My focus is generally Yorkshire Terrier Breeders, and while this is not a perfect match, I liked what you said. Like I said, I usually lurk rather than comment but I couldn't help sympathize. Thanks again!