[RP TownTalk] URGENT loose pit bull

Fri Jan 11 20:40:51 UTC 2013

Loose “pit bull” type dog, a great reminder of the importance of
responsible pet ownership

Warning: This informational email got very LONG very QUICKLY.
Apologies...

Hi Kate,

I’m glad you pointed out this important issue facing dog owners in the Riverdale
Park area and all of Prince Georges County. Prince Georges County has an embarrassing
“pit bull ban” on the books, which forces the PG Animal Management Department
(animal control) to discriminate against owners of American Pit Bull Terriers,
American Staffordshire Terriers, “pit bulls,” “pitbull” mixes, and pit-bull
type dogs. Of course, the majority of the animal control staff (including
Director Rodney Taylor and Assistant Director Terry Littlejohn), the shelter
workers, and humane society employees and volunteers oppose this breed-discriminatory
legislation and do not judge dogs based on the way they look. However, they have
the incredibly difficult job of trying to protect animals while being required
to enforce an archaic, ineffective, costly, inhumane, unconstitutional “Breed
Ban” that requires these animal control and shelter workers to kill family pets
based on the way they look and the subsequent breed identification the shelter
assigns to the animal. 

Members of the Prince Georges Animal Management Department recently
attended a task force hearing to voice their opposition to the breed discriminatory
laws in Prince Georges County. They cited the extensive cost to the county
(taxpayers) necessary to fund housing and euthanizing pitbull type dogs at the
shelter, and defending their practices against legal challenges by dog owners victimized
by this type of discrimination. They also cited the fact that the number of dog
bites has increased on average each year since the “breed ban” was enacted, suggesting
that this policy is not just ineffective, but has a negative effect on public
safety. Each time the animal control department has to investigate a complaint
about a “pit bull” type dog in the county, time and resources are wasted and
diverted from activities that have been shown to improve public safety and
animal welfare, including investigating complaints of animal neglect and cruelty,
dogs allowed to run at large, and dogs that have actually been involved in aggressive
incidents or have shown aggressive behavior. 

“Prince George County Maryland did very intensive research into their
current ban on Pit Bulls last summer. They formed a large taskforce to review
their vicious dog law. After months of research they produced a 300+ page
report and one of the recommendations was to lift the ban because of cost,
ineffectiveness, and it punishes the responsible dog owners and does nothing to
the irresponsible dog owners who are the problem.” Source: http://www.understand-a-bull.com/BSL/FACTS.htm

Additionally,
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the National Animal Control
Association (NACA), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (ASPCA), the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the
National Canine Research Council (NCRC), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC),
the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and virtually ALL local and national animal
welfare organizations oppose breed discriminatory legislation and instead recommend
breed-neutral animal control ordinances (leash laws, encouraging spay/neuter,
etc) and dangerous dog laws. These are the experts in the fields of veterinary
medicine, animal welfare and protection, and public safety. They all recognize
that pitbulls do not differ significantly from other dogs.

 A dog’s breed is not a reliable indicator of future
aggressive behavior. Breed is not a factor that significantly affects a dog’s temperament
or likelihood to bite or behave aggressively. There is more variation in temperament
and behavior WITHIN each breed of dog than between the averages of individual
dogs of a certain breeds. Dogs are dogs. Pit bulls are dogs: no more, no less.
They are NO MORE aggressive; they are no more capable of inflicting serious
injury in the case of a bite incident. They are not “super dogs” with unique behavioral
traits. They are NO LESS worthy of respect, humane treatment, and protection.
Like all dogs, they are members of the family and require responsible care from
their owners.

There are
several factors that do increase the likelihood of dangerous behavior in dogs
and that can be used to reliably predict aggression. These factors include lack
of early socialization, lack of training, allowing dogs to run at large,
allowing animals to remain intact (not spayed or neutered), neglecting or
abusing the animal, and chaining/tethering a dog outdoors. Most dog bites
involve intact male dogs. Maintaining a dog solely outdoors in a yard, pen, or on
a chain is a perfect way to create a dangerous animal. Neglect and abuse,
including harsh punishment and aversive training techniques, contribute to many
cases of dogs biting and injuring humans and other animals. These are the types
of issues we need to be educating our neighbors about and reporting to animal
control in order to maintain public safety and encourage humane treatment of
companion animals.

As an animal
control officer, I investigated countless dog bite reports. Dogs identified as
pitbulls do not bite more frequently or more severely than other types of dogs.
 Additionally, many of the severe dog
attacks involved animals that were incorrectly identified as pitbulls by the
person filing the bite report and then by the news media, who often fabricate
the story of a “family dog” “turning” on the victim. Most often, dogs that do
serious damage during a bite are large dogs (not pitbulls, which are a medium
sized dog) that are being used as guard dogs or “resident dogs” (dogs who
reside on the property but are not maintained indoors as part of the family). These
errors are corrected in the animal control records, but the public is rarely
made aware of the facts and many people remain afraid that certain breeds of
dogs are somehow prone to attacking suddenly and without warning, which is of
course a ridiculous idea and unsupported by behavioral science and statistical
evidence.

 Legislation that discriminates against owners
of certain breeds of dogs unfairly punishes dogs and dog owners based on how
their pet looks, not how they behave. It does nothing to protect the public
from animals who are truly dangerous based on their previous behavior.  

Luckily, we have a community of dog lovers in the Riverdale Park area.
I’m confident most of us are not manipulated by the fear mongering the media
employs, creating panic of random dog attacks (which are very rare) in order to
increase their viewership. However, I must admit I was disappointed to see a
subject line in our town forum that reminded me of the inflammatory newspaper
headlines we sometimes see when the media describes a dog bite incident,
warning of “dangerous animals,” exaggerating the facts by describing
undesirable dog behavior as an “attack” and jumping at the opportunity to use
the term “pit bull” to describe an animal of unknown breed origin. Of course, I
used to follow the same pattern of thinking before I spent time with pitbulls
while working in the veterinary, animal welfare and animal control fields. I quickly
realized that pitbulls are no different than any other breed or type of dog.
This article, which describes some of the myths and misconceptions about breed
bans, contains an interesting video that does a great job at describing how and
why we sometimes develop prejudices based on fear of the unknown and what we
can do to become more open-minded and better informed: http://stubbydog.org/2011/03/the-psychology-of-breed-bans/

Some other great sources for information on pitbulls and the discrimination
they face include the National Canine Research Council, Stubby
Dog, Animal Farm Foundation, and Best Friends Animal Society.

Here are some great articles and websites for more information:

“Breeds and Behavior”

http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/Breeds_and_Behavior_-_Bradley_reprint_from_Bark_NEW[1].pdf

 “ ‘Pit bull’
not implicated in controlled Studies of Dog Bite Risk, Experts Report”

http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/blog/%E2%80%9Cpit-bull%E2%80%9D-not-implicated-in-controlled-studies-of-dog-bite-risk-experts-report/

 “World-Wide
Failure of Breed Specific Legislation”

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/World-wide%20Failure%20of%20BSL.pdf

“Pit Bull Majority
Project”

http://animalfarmfoundation.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/i-am-the-majority-project/

 “A new pit
bull study”

http://stubbydog.org/2012/03/a-new-pit-bull-study/

 “The Pit
Bull Placebo” (a book by Karen Delise available for free download online)

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/publications/ncrc-publications/

 > Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:26:51 -0500
> From: lking at knob.com
> CC: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
> Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] URGENT loose pit bull
> 
> Thank you Kate.
> 
> Lou
> O< ascii ribbon campaign - stop HTML mail - www.asciiribbon.org
> 
> Kate Sharpe wrote, On 1/11/2013 1:53 PM:
> 
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