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Editorial: The Oregonian Editorial Board Responds to Recent Attacks
Toothless Laws for High Risk BreedsPortland, OR - After several recent pit bulls attacks in the area, including Happy Valley, Portland, Madras and Vancouver, The Oregonian newspaper responded with a gutsy editorial aimed directly at policymakers: "Oregon shouldn't sit on its bureaucratic haunches until the next attack." The language of the piece is biting -- exactly how an editorial should be written. DogsBite.org hopes city councils within the State of Oregon respond with the same vigor and common sense. Shorter Leash for Pit Bulls
Multiple recent attacks by pit bulls in the Northwest underscore toothless laws for this higher-risk breed| "It's the deed, not the breed." This is a nice slogan, but it irresponsibly silences reasonable conversations about prevention and risk. Oregon shouldn't sit on its bureaucratic haunches until the next attack. |
A pit bull mauled a girl in Happy Valley this month, locking onto her leg while she twirled on a tire swing. This might sound like a freak accident, if not for the other pit bulls that have recently attacked children, killed people's pets and menaced police officers.
Oregon needs to revisit its state and local laws regarding dangerous dogs, and consider new actions to address pit bulls and other higher-risk breeds.
Here's the most recent attack: Two pit bulls entered a yard in Southeast Portland last week, killing two small dogs and injuring a third. One of the pit bulls escaped the scene and ran loose in the neighborhood. The other charged at a police officer, who shot the animal to avoid attack.
The other high-profile pit bull attacks this November are even more alarming. A 6-year-old girl in Madras was mauled by the family dog. A girl in Vancouver got attacked on the sidewalk by a pit bull on a leash. (The owner had given the girl permission to pet the dog.) The topper was the aforementioned girl in Happy Valley, spinning on her swing when her dad's friend's pit bull got loose and went after her.
"The dog was out to kill," her dad told The Oregonian. "It was life and death."
Some cities, including Denver, have banned pit bulls altogether. People in the Seattle area are considering tougher regulations after two pit bulls attacked a 71-year-old woman near her porch this fall, ripping off her ears and crushing her arm. The dog's owner told a local television station that the animals hadn't been aggressive before.
"I just don't understand why they'd go and attack," he said.
Any dog can become aggressive if untrained or provoked. Yet some breeds are more likely to do serious harm --including pit bulls, a broad class of dogs that includes several breeds of terriers. Pit bulls were historically bred as fighting dogs, and they're known for their strong jaws and muscular builds. What's more, their reputation for toughness makes them popular with people who prefer an aggressive dog.
The upshot? Pit bulls and Rottweilers account for more than half of the dog-bite related fatalities in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Veterinary Medical Association.
We don't favor a total ban on pit bulls: Some have good dispositions and can be wonderful animals if well-trained. However, we do think Oregon should reconsider breed-specific laws, rather than treating pit bulls as if they were puppies.
For example, under the Multnomah County ordinance, any dog can be classified as "potentially dangerous," on a scale from 1 to 4, if it exhibits dangerous behavior such as chasing and menacing (level 1) or aggressively biting while at large (level 4). Owners whose dogs are classified as "potentially dangerous" can be required to take extra steps to protect the public, such as getting liability insurance and attending obedience school.
In our view, pit bulls should be automatically classified as potentially dangerous. Owners could get their dogs declassified through the already established procedures. This approach would provide a better enforcement tool and strike a better balance between owner's rights and public safety.
A few years ago, a vicious dog attack in Aloha prompted a state senator to introduce a law aimed at pit bulls. He got barked down by pit bull owners, whose mantra was, "It's the deed, not the breed." This is a nice slogan, but it irresponsibly silences reasonable conversations about prevention and risk. Oregon shouldn't sit on its bureaucratic haunches until the next attack. Related articles:11/25/08: Pit Bull-Mix Owner "Surprised" by Sudden Attack11/24/08: Girl Attacked by Pit Bull in Vancouver, Washington11/21/08: Pit Bull Attack Stopped by 4 Men and Police Gunfire in Oregon
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5 comments:
by
12/02/2008 3:26 AM | Flag as abusive
Prevent the Deed...Regulate the Breed!
Stop BSL...Breed Safer Pit Bulls!
by
12/02/2008 6:46 AM | Flag as abusive
Did you see the reference in the comments to Deb Wood, who writes a fairly useless Pets column for the Oregonian?
This one http://blog.oregonlive.com/pets/2008/12/my_opinion_the_editorial_board.html
Deb Wood is an AKC dog breeder. She lobbies for AKC and other dog breeder interests, and shamelessly uses her column to promote or oppose the private business interests of her lobby (like lobbying against breed specific laws, for one) while not disclosing her business activities and lobbying status
Deb Wood uses her column to lobby for AKC, promote purebred dog sales, and lobby for dog breeder political and legal interests such as opposing bsl.
She is not truly a columnist or a reporter. She is a BUSINESS LOBBYIST who is deceiving the public and the Oregonian about her business activities, lobbying, and manipulation.
These pretend "journalists" abuse their positions to use their columns as a soapbox for the breeding industry.
The Oregonian has been manipulated by this woman, but they are not the only ones
Similar situations
Christie Keith- An AKC breeder and lobbyist who writes a column for the San Francisco Chronicle SF Gate, Your Whole Pet, where she lobbies for breeder financial interests, spreads breeder propaganda, and doesn't even reveal she is a breeder. She also works for PetHobbyist.com, an animal breeder/dealer business. Fails to reveal that too. Also involved in Pet Connection with below breeder lobbyist. (Here Christie doesn't hide her AKC lobbying activities as carefully, and directly does the work for the AKC Government Relations Department. http://www.pethobbyist.com/sitenews/index.php?/authors/4-Christie-Keith Scroll down to the pieces about the Massachusetts dog law. Remember Brad Hill representing his district's pit bull breeders with the dangerous dog law that allowed pit bulls to get off the hook? There's Christie Keith lobbying for the pit breeders!)
Gina Spadafori - used to write for Sacramento Bee, now involved in Pet Connection with Marty Becker DVM. Spadafori is a breeder-lobbying, "let's pretend we're journalists" organization. HEAVY DUTY lobbyist for breeder interests. Tries to claim she doesn't breed, but is in the breeding business with a business partner who does the dirty work. Spadafori is a personal friend of Christie Keith, they lobby together. Also involved with Dog Writers Association of America which is a front group for dog breeder "writers" who give the Maxwell Award to other shill dog breeder writers (often their personal friends) who use their columns and books to lobby for AKC and other breeder interests.
Gina still has a friend on the Sacramento Bee who takes care to publish pro-breeder propaganda in the Bee whenever talk of regulation comes up.
Denise Flaim - actually works for AKC, and is an AKC dog breeder. Same modus operandi. Writes a column for Newsday that purports to be a general pets interest column, but is filled with promoting the AKC and lobbying for or against AKC and dog breeder political and business interests.
Kim Campbell Thornton - a dog breeder and lobbyist who writes a ridiculous column for MSNBC called Creature Comforts where in one column she actually LIES about spaying and neutering, falsely claiming that it was dangerous on behalf of her fellow breeder lobbyists who don't want to spay or neuter their animals before sale, and oppose laws like SF's spay neuter law for pit bulls. Outright LIES that passed right under MSNBC's nose. They don't even reveal she is in the business of dog breeding! Also involved in Pet Connection business with above people.
(Notice how many are associated with the front groups, Dog Writers Association of America and Pet Connection?)
There are others. Some are involved with this breeder lobbyist http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patti_Strand
But look at what they write. Look at the similarities. It's all like play doh out of the same mold, because it all comes from DOG BREEDER LOBBYING ORGANIZATIONS. Professional breeder lobbyists.
The same propaganda, the same deceptions, the same myths. Fighting against the same regulations.
They give each other awards, promote each other's columns.
This is the problem. Just like Jere Alexander infiltrated animal control, or Alane Koki infiltrated a local board examining dog ordinances, and some Animal Control is run by dog breeders, so have these pseudo "writers" and "reporters" infiltrated the media and produce columns that are nothing more than business propaganda for the dog breeder industry.
They have manipulated their newspapers and publications, manipulated readers, and manipulated the truth in the name of industry financial interests.
It is like having tobacco industry lobbyists writing articles about Health and using those columns to lobby on behalf of tobbacco companies' business and political interests.
And setting up a Health Writers Association of America front group where tobacco industry people give "awards" to tobacco lobbyist "writers" who promote tobacco industry interests!
For some reason, some media publications have been lax about researching these people and their business/lobbying activities before hiring them to write columns that are nothing more than breeder business propaganda.
But then these people work very hard to hide their activities!
But private business does not belong masquerading as "experts" and "authorities" and journalists! They should be writing paid ads for dog breeders, not pretending to present information and truth in the name of journalism. Is it any wonder too much of the media is so easily duped by these breeder interests? They work for them!
(although Deb Wood is obviously angry as can be that the Oregonian defied her, and wrote their editorial without consulting her or publishing her pit bull breeder propaganda!)
by
12/02/2008 8:51 AM | Flag as abusive
Did you see the comments by Rachel Peeples, DVM?
Did a little looking.
Peeples is in Georgia, dog fighting territory.
She buys Akitas from breeders and it looks like she breeds them, so the rescue thing seems shaky
Her mother is a dog breeder
It is frightening what they are letting out of vet school these days.
by
12/02/2008 8:53 AM | Flag as abusive
Peeples works for Banfield Pet Hospital in Savannah, which is a chain.
Does Banfield really like their DVMs going around spouting a bunch of dog fighter nonsense?
by
12/03/2008 3:01 PM | Flag as abusive
Is Banfield the chain that is in some PetSmart stores? We recently got a postcard advertising a new store here, with a very ugly white pit bull on the front. Of all the dogs to pick to do your advertising that is what you pick? To me, it says a lot about their philosphy.
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