News

When you read this, don’t think you cannot do anything about it. You can! And not only am I going to tell you the problem, I am also going to make a suggestion on what you can do to help, because I don’t believe in complaining if I cannot offer a suggestion on how to improve something. So here it goes, the problem and suggested solutions, even if you don’t live in Denver. Yup, Denver Colorado.
Did you know that everyday dogs are being killed just for being or even resembling a pit bull? (Please do not get me started on how poor most people are at recognizing a breed of dog, especially if it is a mix). Yes, they are. The goverment of Denver has decided to wholesale ban and slaughter of dogs. They are conducting searches and destroying dogs for no good reason! It has to stop.
There is no evidence that breed specific legislation stops dog bites. None! Nada! Yet a few politicans in an effort to look like they are doing something enacted this stupid law! And it has to stop, quickly. Today it is pit bulls, and don’t you believe it won’t spread. Some idiot will take it into their heads to start banning other breeds and more dogs will die a needless and senseless death simply for having the misfortune to be a specific breed or look alike. It is bad owners that usually result in bad dogs. Lets start by aiming at the right place instead of enacting foolish laws that are wrong.
So you are wondering what can you do? First of all vote. You would be surprised how many people don’t. Your voice does make a difference. I wish I had kept the article someone sent us on a town in Indiana. The City Council and Mayor had passed an ordinance that allowed the shooting of cats on sight. Feral or not! I so want to applaud the people of that town. They voted the whole group out and voted more sensible and thoughtful people in and the ordinance was recinded. Instead, they opted for a management program for the ferals. Lets hear it for the good folks of Indiana!
So to the folks in Denver, vote em out! You can do this. Politicians should know better than to embark on a stupid course of action that has no logic. Help get better folks elected. Even if you do nothing more active than maybe stuff envelopes for a canidate, every little bit helps! At the very least, vote!
A better strategy would be to first educate people, especially children, on what NOT to do. Do not approach strange dogs, do not run from dogs. When faced with an aggressive animal, stand still, do not look them in the eye instead stare at their front feet, slowly cross your arms over your chest and then slowly back away. Running is the worst thing you can do. This could be taught as part of safety week in schools. It would take what, twenty minutes?
Second, a low or no cost spay/neuter program would be a benefit, and there is scientific evidence to suggest that altered animals are less aggressive. Make it a mobile van and people flock to em. Check out www.bestfriends.org for info on theirs. They will even give you info on how to start one in your own community.
Third, and this is for politicans, try thinking and doing a wee bit of research before you legislate. You got staffs, they should be able to find you info on any topic. Ask an expert in the field for information. Try getting facts and being intelligent rather than reactive and ignorant.
Third, work harder at eliminating bad owners, which is where most bites occur! Heavy fines and jail time will do more to deter someone from mistreating an animal than anything else. Require vets to report suspected animal abuse. How about a nice anonymous hotline for citizens to report too? And there is evidence, that animal abusers are often child abusers. So it might just save a child in the process!
If you don’t live in Denver you can still help! Write the mayor of Denver! Let him know how wrong you think this legislation is! Here is his info: E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Address: Mayor John W. Hickenlooper Denver City and County Building1437 Bannock Street, Suite 350 Denver, CO 80202 . Tell them the truth. You will not move to Denver. You will not be coming to Denver. You will not visit that area and will encourage everyone you know to boycott it until a more sensible legislation is enacted. Your money speaks, so make it speak in a good cause. It is often the only thing politicians listen too.
There are things you can do in your own area too! www.aspca.com lists by state, laws that are being considered and will tell you whom to contact to make your voice heard, heck they even automated the process so you can email in a letter to the correct politican. So does www.bestfriends.org make available information on animals and proposed legislation.
For those who think I don’t know what it like to bit by a dog, I do! When I was a child my friend Donna’s dog bit me in the face. My mother was not very sympathetic. She is the one who taught me how not to approach a dog. I got bit because I scared the dog and she reacted like a dog does. She bit me. It was my fault, not the dogs. The next time we met I was more careful and we eventually got to be friends too. (And I too have bitten someone who scared me, so I know it from that side also. Next time someone is overly aggressive physically towards you and tries to kiss you, bite em in the lip. It works.)
And I have been bitten by my own dog. Fred, who has been gone many years now, was acting sluggish. So I bent down to pick him up and got bit through the hand for my trouble. I didn’t realize he had a blocked intestine and was in pain, so he let me know the only way he knew how when I squeezed his tummy. I don’t blame him a bit! He got to go to the doctor before I did. It was a simple fix for both of us fortunately. So I do know what it is like to be bitten.
Lastly, I am tired of seeing the same things over and over. Really! We hash and rehash old issues in new ways. I can remember when it was Doberman Pinschers that were getting all the press and German Shepards for bites. We seems to go around and around on the same issues. The reason you hear more about one breed than another is the breeds popularity and how slow a news day it was. (I will save my rant on news and profits for another day).
And did you know that most dog bite statistics include police dogs who are doing what they are trained for? They don’t seperate them. So numbers on bites may be inflated. There should be a more logical breakdown. Police dogs in one category, a second for human stupidity (the neighbor kid who is poking a dog with a stick and gets bit type) and those where it is dog aggression that was not initiated by a person. That would be a true picture of what occurs.
And for those who say we are not rehashing old issues I can prove that too. Did you know when movies first came out people were convinced there would be an upswing in crime and sex because people could see it on screen? The same was said when handheld cameras, VCR’s and Polaroid cameras came out. People would be commiting obsenities in their homes. The Internet is the current target.
Ggay marriage. But I can remember the arguements over interracial marriages in the 1960’s. How it would erode the fabric of society. How it was wrong and God never meant it. Think I am kidding? Try your libraries archive of old newspapers. States actually had laws banning those marriages.
Music is ever a perenial target. In the 1920’s it was Jazz that was going to be the ruin of the world. Rock and Roll had it’s turn. Now it seems to be rap music. Didn’t you know it is corrupting? It was then and is now apparently.
Drive by shootings in the 1800’s. Or I should say ride by shootings. Seems drunken teenagers on horse back would ride into town and shoot randomly. Sound familar?
Bombings of schools. Someone upset with taxes in the early 1900’s threw dynamite into a packed school house here in St. Louis. So it is old issues again and again. And unfortunately, people do not seem to learn enough from history to not repeat it. There really is nothing new under the sun, unfortunately.
What did they blame it on then? Before penny dreadfuls (inexpensive fiction books for those unfamiliar with the term), movies, television, the Internet, comic books and video games? Whom or what was responsible for the supposed fall and decline of society? It wasn’t moral decadance that cause the old Roman Empire to collapse. It was actually taxes, ignorance and foolish laws. As the middle class was taxed out of existence the whole thing crumbled. Read How The Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill for more on that.
So the real whole point of this rant was to save some dogs. I still hope you will help save them. Please, spare the ten minutes it will take to write a letter. Help influence society for the better, not the worst. See your voice make a difference. Then pat yourself on the back for me.
Darla
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you want to tell me how wrong you think I am.