[RP TownTalk] Dog Issue

[Sue Collins]

RE the pitbull debate; as I always say, ALL purebred dogs look/act the way they do for a reason.  These types of dogs were bred for guarding and fighting.  And yes, it's definitely possible to get pitbulls and similiar breeds which have been bred for good temperment and I've known people who've had such dogs.  But they paid out big bucks for those dogs and made sure the dogs had top-of-the-line training.  However, lots of people, esp. those who DO get these dogs because of their supposed 'bad' reputation don't usually invest that kind of time and money in their dogs.  Too, when any breed becomes popular, as these dogs are now, the puppy mills and low-end breeders go into overdrive.  They are NOT concerned about producing high quality animals, only in profits.  As a result, the market is flooded with highly unstable, unhealthy animals.   As an animal lover, I'm definitely NOT in favor ot taking someones' family pet, if the animal IS in a stable
 environment and doesn't have a history of vicious behavior.  Perhaps there should be stricter laws in place as to who can own pits, rottweilers, etc.? However, realistically I know that laws regarding the dogs are like any other laws; decent people who love animals and care for them will obey the laws.  Those people who live outside the law will go on breaking the laws they've always done.  
 
(RE "PeeGee County" not being a politically correct term; nonsense.  I've lived here for most of my over-60 years and I will start saying "Prince Georges County" every time I refer to the County when everyone else starts saying "District of Columbia" all the time instead of "DeeCee." )  

From: Euniverz <euniverz at aol.com>
To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org 
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2013 8:57 PM
Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Dog Issue


I couldn't tell if I sent this to the right email address, so this might be the second time it goes to the list...



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.

"PeeGee County".  Ouch.  One of those thinly veiled euphemisms for the county when it was a scary, high crime, drug riddled place?  Isn't that the euphemism that one is practically forbidden to use "in polite company" around here?  When used in the context quoted above, coupled with the (false) implication that children have died in this county as a result of a particular breed of dog supposedly only owned by those bad "PeeGee County" residents, it is very easy to raise the irrational fear level into the red zone.  Unnecessarily.  

If one allows one's dog to do something bad and hurts someone, we already have laws that deal with that sort of thing, regardless of the breed, and they're pretty good laws.  The more topical questions are, for me at least, have you ever had a conversation with a dog owner whose dog was taken away simply because of what it looked like?  Simply because people with opinions think its ok to compare their benign family pet to an assault weapon?  There is a kind of "-ism" that people feel when they are unfairly vilified because of the dog they own, especially when that dog is an innocent, treasured family member.  I have had those conversations with dog owners.  Too often.  Many times, after those dogs are seized and ultimately killed simply for looking a certain way, those dog owners are never, ever the same. 

And seizing and killing innocent dogs has been proven to be ineffective in keeping the public safe.  In this county particularly.

I would never want to do that to my neighbor.  I would hope my neighbor would never want to do that to me. 

Adrianne Lefkowitz, 
Madison Street

Executive Director
Maryland Dog Federation 
marylanddogfederation at yahoo.com 
http://www.marylanddogfederation.com/ 
Concerned friends of man's best friend

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