[RP TownTalk] URGENT loose pit bull

Fri Jan 11 22:12:16 UTC 2013

Sorry, Ms. Rogers, but I could not get past "Prince Georges County has an
embarrassing “pit bull ban” on the books" before my hair caught on fire.

In the 80s when I was a WashPost reporter in "PeeGee County," I had the
gruesome task of writing news articles about small children being bitten --
repeatedly -- by pit bulls. Have you ever had a conversation with a parent
whose small child has been malled by a dog? A number of  children died, not
just in this county but all around this region. Vice President Biden
yesterday spoke of elementary children being "riddled with bullets." Well,
that is pretty-much what those assault weapon dogs do.

The '80s pit bull stories were a lot like the other horrible story we all
covered: "Stray Bullet Kills SE Grandmother Holding Baby on Front Porch."
The first time it happens, it's a Page One, lede piece. The second time it
happens, the stories land on the front of Metro. After that, its three
grafs in "Around the Region." Pretty grim how these horrors become
"typical," "usual" and hell, acceptable.

But Prince George's County they were not acceptable. The people and the
politicians quickly got tired of these dogs. Even when a youngster wrongly
went into the dogs fenced yard and brought the trouble on to themselves,
there was mass outrage.  Ms. Rogers, the people determined then, as I
suspect they still do, we just don't need that horror. We can eliminate it
without much real pain to anyone. That was one time I was PROUD of this
beleaguered county. Prince George's County set a "born-by date"  for that
breed and at some point there after, the dogs would be gone. At lease gone
legally speaking.

No real evidence has been presented so far that proves that the dogs
mentioned in Town Talk were in fact, pit bulls but the level of banter does
indicate how much fear that breed generates. Pit Bulls are legal beasts in
other jurisdictions  but voters and their leaders there can and should
follow Prince George's County by setting a "born by date" for these animals
and they make their neighborhoods and communities safer.

Too bad it won't be that easy with assault weapons.

Jeffrey Yorke

On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 3:40 PM, Amy Rogers <amyrogers1 at live.com> wrote:

>
> 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:
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TownTalk mailing list
> > To post to the list, send mail to TownTalk at riverdale-park.org
> > TownTalk-request at riverdale-park.org is for automated subscription
> processing only
> > http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk
> >
> > For more information about Riverdale Park, visit
> http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info
>
> _______________________________________________
> TownTalk mailing list
> To post to the list, send mail to TownTalk at riverdale-park.org
> TownTalk-request at riverdale-park.org is for automated subscription
> processing only
> http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk
>
> For more information about Riverdale Park, visit
> http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info
>
>

-- 
Jeffrey Yorke
Yorke Property Management, Inc.
Yorke Partners
Jeffrey at YorkeRents.com
301-502-1243
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://riverdale-park.org/pipermail/towntalk/attachments/20130111/9a5a3806/attachment.html>