Why Breed Specific Legislation is Stupid

I have had it up to my ears with the person known as Colleen Lynn and her site, dogsbite.org.  It advocates for the euthanization of Pit Bulls and Breed Specific Legislation. I’m going to quote the Huffington Post article by Arin Greenwood for this information:

The newest comprehensive examination of dog bite statistics, put out in December by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, looked at what factors tended to lead to fatal dog bites. These include a dog not being spayed or neutered, dogs being “kept isolated from regular positive human interactions,” away from the rest of the family, and dog owners having histories of abusing their pets.

Some pit bulls bite, of course, just like some of any breed of dog will bite. And the media may be more likely to report a pit bull’s bite, or the person bitten may be more likely to think the dog that bit them is a pit. What the JAVMA study shows, though, is that breed is specifically found not to be a factor in the likelihood of a fatal dog bite.

There you have it; breed really is not a factor of fatality.

So what is?

I’ll tell you what is, the American News Media and how it destroys the image of the breed in its attempt to get ratings.  I went to school for journalism, and I can tell you right now that all this does is give an article hype. If the media throws the words “Pit Bull” in front of an article, the ratings go up.

And that is all the media outlets want.

A woman on the thread of “The Problem with Pit Bulls” that was poorly written in TIME Magazine, posted a list of articles for the world to see.  I think the world needs to see this list:

Baby killed by Catahoula Hound
http://m.clickondetroit.com/news/infant-mauled-to-death-by-family-dog/26400472

Infant killed by a Pomeranian
http://articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/09/local/me-34015

Baby killed by Black Labrador
http://m.newson6.com/story.aspx?story=8746561&catId=112042

Infant killed by a Retriever/ Chow Mix
http://alldogsbite.org/2013/08/2009-case-highlights-the-risks-of-dogs-and-new-babies/

2 yr.old girl killed by Great Dane
http://www.unchainyourdog.org/news/Roebuck.htm

Infant killed by Golden Retriever
http://retrieverman.net/2012/04/25/golden-retriever-mix-kills-baby-in-south-carolina/

79 yr. old woman killed by Mastiff mix
http://www.wirefm.com/news/local/two-jailed-over-liverpool-dog-attack/

One year old boy killed by Rottweiler
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmyfox8.com%2F2014%2F05%2F05%2F1-year-old-boy-dies-after-rottweiler-attack%2F&h=2AQHMKdrf

Infant killed by Jack Russell Terrier
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmetro.co.uk%2F2013%2F04%2F09%2Fharry-harper-inquest-docile-pet-dogs-bite-killed-baby-boy-asleep-in-his-cot-3590392%2F&h=MAQE8320o

Elderly Woman killed by a Cane Corso
http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2014/02/fatal-dog-attack-in-dayton-oh-on-breed-the-media-common-denomenators-reckless-owners-and-ineffective.html

A newborn baby killed by Shiba Inus
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2013%2F12%2F11%2Fmia-gibson-killed-dogs_n_4425476.html&h=EAQFLEIcY

Elderly woman killed by Rottweiler
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myfoxal.com%2Fstory%2F25020271%2Fleeds-couple-sentenced-for-dog-attack-that-killed-neighbor&h=rAQHD0D0s

7 yr. old girl killed by Malamutes
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.therecord.com%2Fnews-story%2F4416501-seven-year-old-manitoba-girl-dead-after-dogs-attack%2F&h=VAQEE-xoP

13 yr. old boy killed by Mastiff
http://www.northjersey.com/mobile/news/answers-are-scarce-in-paterson-fatal-dog-attack-1.730543

4 yr. old girl killed by Labrador/Husky mix
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/28/ala-girl-4-dies-after-being-att

2 Mastiffs attack a jogger
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au%2Fnews%2Fjogturns-nasty-as-dogs-rip-intotimo%2F2269158%2F&h=gAQE_-wiZ

Labrador-Shepherd Mix attack elderly woman
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/local/x1760077341/Wilson-woman-needs-57-stitches-after-being-attacked-by-neighbors-dog

Mastiff bites young man
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1406/S00408/whitianga-dog-attack-owner-comes-forward.htm

A Samoyed Husky attacks middle-aged woman
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/Walker-left-in-state-of-shock-following-dog-attack-20140519104357.htm#ixzz32CyIPrPr

A 4 year old is nearly killed when a Labrador attacks him
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/boy-4-recovering-after-dog-bites-him-while-playing-at-the-spits-dog-beach/story-fnihsrk2-1226793584839

Black Labrador Retriever attacks girl
http://www.news10.net/story/news/local/davis/2014/06/06/children-attacked-by-dogs-in-davis/10110165/

French Bulldog-Labrador mix bites 8 year old girl
http://globalnews.ca/news/1369543/dog-seized-after-biting-9-year-old/

A pregnant woman’s lip is nearly torn of when she is attacked by a Rhodesian Ridgeback
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirror.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fuk-news%2Fpregnant-womans-lip-bitten-horror-3481529&h=yAQFHfGWt

Chesapeake bay Retriever mauls woman
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/05/attacked_over_backyard_fence_p.html

A teenager is mauled by a husky
http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirror.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fuk-news%2Fcharlotte-edmondson-dog-attack-teen-3469091&h=BAQHAMT2g

You can read her full list here at the article: http://time.com/2891180/kfc-and-the-pit-bull-attack-of-a-little-girl/

Need any more information? Check this out:

Does that help paint a picture of how the media has wrongfully created a monster? There are many more articles to post with various breeds, but you, my readers should look that up for yourself. This is why there should be no breed specific legislation. Dogs can and will bite if provoked or if they are in fear of something.  But when a media outlet throws the words PIT BULL in, even wrongfully, it makes the situation worse.  Remember that viral video of a kid that was saved by his cat? The media immediately said pit bull, then it had to retract that statement because the dog was a CHOW mix. I’m calling out every single media organization to change its standards and stop this stupidity. I’m telling you to do your job instead of creating a mess. All breed specific legislation does is make potential dog owners afraid of a dog because the media has made it that way.

Colleen Lynn, you are a terrible human being. But, what can I say? You come from a species that has enslaved African people for the color of their skin. You come from a species that kills for sport. You come from a species that herded Native Americans onto reservations.  You come from a species that put Jewish people into camps for practicing their religion and tortured them before killing them. You come from a species that abuses anything and everything that it can so it can feel “powerful.” The species has a glowing record for turmoil, despair,and negligence.  That’s putting it nicely.  There have always been people like you. There always will be people like you.  People that think they’re doing the world a favor by eradicating a species they deem to be inferior. How do you put it? “It’s in their DNA.”  I can see that a long line of hatred and ignorance is in your DNA.

To be honest, I feel sorry for you and your pathetic excuse for a life.  If you have this much hatred in your heart, you don’t know real love.  I feel sorry for your heart. I feel sorry for your soul, but given your hatred, I’m not entirely sure you have either a heart or a soul.

But you can be sure that there have always been people like me that make it their mission to stop people like you.

 

Advocating for Man’s Best Friend

Early in December, my fiance and I decided that we wanted to make a difference in the world. We both love animals and we thought it would be an excellent idea to adopt a dog from our local shelter. In the second week, I was working and I had a customer come in and tell me about his family and how they had a dog named Dallas. All through that night, I thought, “That is very interesting name for a dog.”

I went on Petfinder.com and I put in my zip code.

That’s when I found Dallas at my local shelter, the Gateway Humane Society.

She was listed as a golden retriever and hound mix. They said she was three years old and looking for a home. She looked like my other dog at my mom’s house, named Bella.

And I knew she was the one for us. I’m not one to argue with fate when it hands me signs like that. I decided to email the shelter that night about coming out to see her on Saturday afternoon. When we went out, I asked to see her and they brought her out to me. She immediately kissed my face and I was in love. However, I was scared because quite a few families had asked about her as well. I was just hoping and praying that we could impress the staff enough for us to take her home.

Sure enough, they called us and told her she was ours. And we’ve never looked back.

Dallas is perfect. She knows how to do everything and barely ever gets into any mischief. I can tell by her demeanor that she had a rough life before the shelter rescued her; she falls to the ground and covers her face if we correct something minor that she does. I can tell she had at least one litter of puppies. She will get in the truck but she freaks out if we go anywhere near the woods. Which, given the fact that she tested positive for Lyme’s disease and anaplasmosis, makes me consider that she may have been found near the woods.

Every day this dog shows me a love that is unlike any other that I have received from a pet. I have had five dogs in my lifetime including Dallas. Two of these dogs passed away and the other two live with my mother, though the one is near her end. We had those four from the time they were puppies. I will say that having a dog from a shelter is different from having a dog since they were a puppy. A shelter dog will love you more for the simple reason that you saved him or her from a life of loneliness and possible death. Dallas was fortunate enough to be taken to a no-kill shelter, but many dogs and cats are not so lucky.

It makes me sick that human beings abandon animals so carelessly without any consideration. What kind of species thinks that it’s okay to just throw another away for no reason? It makes me really disappointed and disgusted with the human race. What is even more appalling is the lack of punishment for those that abuse animals. In Pennsylvania, most offenses are merely summary offenses and get minor fines. I am a fan of a group on Facebook called Justice Rescue. They just rescued a dog last week that had a litter of puppies. The owner had left her and her puppies to die, after abusing the mother by beating her and attempting to burn off her tail. The work these gentleman do is so exceptional that it brings tears to my eyes that such caring people actually exist.

I also follow a group called Urgent Part 2, which follows the Animal Control and Care Center of NYC’s death row animals. They advocate for these animals that are going to be put to death for no reason and try to find them adopters. I am appalled that organizations like this kill shelter exist. Daily, dogs come across my feed that are about to be killed. Some of these animals are only six months old. Yet, this shelter will kill them anyway if no one comes forward within their roughly 12 hour period to adopt these animals. Then they give these adopters 48 hours to show up to the shelter to get the animal. Sadly, some of these animals are only in this shelter for a week or two before the staff decides to kill them. It’s disgusting quite frankly. I understand they have limited room, but this Animal Control Center has been under scrutiny for years. Recently, they have had to self evaluate because a dog was choked to death in their care. The fact that this center exists and is legally allowed to operate like this is a disgrace to the United States of America.

I am sick of the lack of punishment for animal abusers and the lack of care for life that people can show. I am appalled that a center can kill animals as young as six months that have been residing there for as little as a week and still be operational.

 

THIS NEEDS TO STOP.

I’m calling out everyone that reads this blog. I’m calling out the representatives in Washington. I’m calling out the Senate.

President Obama…..I’m calling you out on this too.

How can all of you sit idly by and let these situations happen? How can you continue to allow the animals of this country to be disregarded? You’ll spend billions on things we don’t need, but you can’t save the lives of those that depend on us? It’s disgraceful. I want change. I want all of you to go to these pages I am posting at the end of this blog and look into the eyes of these animals. I want you to justify what is being done. We, the people, have a duty to protect and we are failing. YOU, the government, are allowing us to fail by not holding people accountable for their actions.

Stop the Kill Shelters. Stop the Puppy Mills. Stop Breed Legislation.  Stop the NONSENSE.

It’s time we blame the human beings for the way animals act. Because it’s always been the human that can’t properly train. Dogs in general have a caring demeanor. It would probably surprise people to know that “Pit Bulls” as everyone refers to them as, are a group of rather loving animals. Any animal can bite if not taught to. It’s called training…learn how to do it! Also, consider doing research on the Bully breeds as well as every other breed. Quite frankly, breed legislation is the same thing as racial profiling, and it’s just as stupid.

For every human being born, there are 15 dogs born and 45 cats born.

It’s time for us to do our part and be the voice of the voiceless.

Here is a link to the Urgent Dogs site: http://urgentpetsondeathrow.org/dogs/
Here’s some Facebook links: https://www.facebook.com/Urgentdeathrowdogs
https://www.facebook.com/urgentdogsofmiami

This is the Facebook for Justice Rescue: https://www.facebook.com/JusticeRescue

Locals of Western and Central PA, here is where I got Dallas, http://gatewayhumanesociety.net/

 

 

Please. I beg of you, consider making a difference in the world. Adopt an animal. You will be doing something for someone who can’t repay you.

And you will feel like a brand new person and gain a friend that will love you for the duration of his or her life. If you can’t adopt, advocate and donate. These animals cannot speak for themselves, it is our job to speak for them.