[ SHOWGSD-L ] Juz Change the Name to GSD
- From: "RivendellP" <rivendellp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Showgsd-l" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005 18:19:18 -0700
Here is what is happening in Denver...change the name from Pit Bull Terrier,
American Staffordshire Terrier, or Bull Terrier to GSD. If it can happen to
this breed, it can happen to any breed.
Remember folks...the most bites in the country every year come from Cocker
Spaniels...
Denver Pit Bull Owners in a Panic Over Ban
By MEGAN McCLOSKEY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
DENVER - A few weeks ago, two police cars and two animal control vehicles
pulled up at the home of Stef'ny Steffan looking for her beloved 4-year-old pit
bull, Xena. Seven officers hauled the animal off to the city shelter, putting
her on death row. Xena became an outlaw after Denver won a court fight and
reinstated one of the toughest pit-bull bans in the nation.
Since May, more than 380 dogs have been impounded and at least 260 destroyed -
an average of more than three a day.
Dog owners are in a panic. Some are using an underground railroad of sorts,
sending their pets to live elsewhere or hiding them from authorities. City
officials would not estimate how many people might be violating the ordinance.
Some owners, like Steffan, have won a reprieve for their pets with help from a
rescue group. The group got Xena released by signing an affidavit stating that
the animal would never return to Denver. The group took the dog to Mariah's
Promise in Divide, an animal sanctuary that has accepted more than three dozen
pit bulls from Denver.
For Steffan and her partner, Gina Black, leaving Xena 60 miles from home was a
lousy option but the only one they had.
"It's safer than animal control. Safer than keeping her underground - at least
she'll be able to play now," Steffan said. "But she'll miss us. We're her pack."
Denver is one of three major metropolitan areas, along with Miami and
Cincinnati, to ban pit bulls, according to Glen Bui, vice president of the
American Canine Foundation.
Pit bull typically describes three kinds of dogs - the American Pit Bull
Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. But
Denver's ban applies to any dog that looks like a pit bull. The animal's actual
behavior does not matter.
City Councilman Charlie Brown said that in his judgment, "pit bulls are trained
to attack. They're bred to do that."
Critics of the ban use words like "annihilation" and "genocide," and the city
shelter has received e-mails likening animal control officers to Nazis.
"Breed bans are just a knee-jerk reaction to something that happened in the
community," Bui said.
Denver banned pit bulls in 1989 after dogs mauled a minister and killed a boy
in separate attacks. The Legislature passed a law in 2004 that prohibited
breed-specific bans, but the city sued and a judge ruled in April the law was
an unconstitutional violation of local control.
Critics of the ordinance say that a blanket ban on an entire breed is misguided
that the law should instead target irresponsible owners and all dangerous dogs.
"If anyone says one dog is more likely to kill - unless there's a study out
there that I haven't seen - that's not based on scientific data," said Julie
Gilchrist, a doctor at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
who researches dog bites.
The CDC, the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Humane Society of
the United States examined 20 years of dog-bite data and concluded that pit
bulls and Rottweilers caused the most deaths.
But the researchers also noted that fatal attacks represent a small proportion
of dog-bite injuries and that the number of bites per breed simply seems to
rise with their popularity.
At the city shelter, pit bulls are cordoned off from other dogs in what has
become death row. Nearly 100 pit bulls have been released to live outside the
county. A nonresident must guarantee the dog will never return to Denver.
Sonya Dias, who is moving out of Denver because of the ban, said she was a
little intimidated by her pit bull when she first saw him. But "when I said,
`Hey little doggie,' his whole body just started wagging." Gryffindor is
staying at Mariah's Promise until Dias sells her home.
"He's been dangerous to a couple of pairs of shoes and some mini-blinds," Dias
said. "But otherwise he's a jewel."
__
Visit Rivendell on 'da web' at www.rivendellgsd.com
============================================================================
POST is Copyrighted 2005. All material remains the property of the original
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind
are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE
PROSECUTED.
For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://www.showgsd.org
============================================================================
Other related posts:
