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Why is it that it seems that it is only recently that people in the USA are getting concerned enough to finally think that perhaps dogs should be kept on leashes? After all, only 12 people per year are killed by family dogs. More than four million are bitten or have their faces ripped off. Following the article linked to below, I will have a few acerbic comments to make about the situation.
Loyal, Two-Legged Lobbyists Raise Banner of Dog Rights: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/25/national/25DOGS.html?pagewanted=1 The New York Times, March 25, 2001.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 21 — At a time when well-tended American dogs get braces for their teeth and antidepressants for anxiety and attend the church * of their owners' choice, it may come as no surprise that a powerful political constituency has developed around a species once known mainly for chasing tennis balls in the backyard. . . .
* People are even more superstitious than I thought!
And in Baltimore last week, a crowd unlike anything City Hall had seen in years turned out for a raucous hearing on whether pit bulls should be banned. The City Council heard Kelly Eyring describe how a pit bull ripped up the face of her 7- year-old daughter, . . .
. . . a man in Barstow, Calif., is scheduled to go on trial for second- degree murder in the death of 10- year-old Cash Carson. The boy was killed last year by a pit bull mix-breed named Bear, who chased the child down and dragged him to his death, the authorities say. If convicted, the dog's caretaker, James Chiavetta, would become the first person in California history found guilty of murder in connection with a mauling, . . .
Like the handful of other cases elsewhere where dog owners have been tried for murder, the prosecutor must prove there was intent to kill. Mr. Sinfield said the pit bull and another dog were let loose from a fenced area, which "shows that the suspect intentionally did an act which he knew could kill somebody."
Implicit in the prosecutor's case is the argument that pit bulls, left alone, are killers of people — bad dogs. Adrianne Lefkowitz, who is fighting a pit bull ban in Baltimore, says "breed profiling" will not make people any safer. . . .
Why is there any doubt about what the charge should be? If the owner yelled "Sic him!" or "Go kill him, Rover", he should be charged with either second-degree murder or first-degree murder. If prior intent and planning cannot be reasonably supported, he should be charged with manslaughter. Why is there so much doubt? The consideration is the same as if he used a shotgun, aimed it at the boy, and pulled the trigger, either on purpose or accidentally. Why the mystery?
. . . in San Francisco, dog owners say they already feel a chill since the death of Diane Whipple, 33, a lacrosse coach who was mauled in her apartment building hallway in late January by a Presa Canario dog. A grand jury is considering whether to file charges against the dog's owners. . . .
What is there to wait for? To see if the dog kills again? Put the owners in jail now, and shoot the dog! Or, maybe put the dog in jail and shoot the owners?
. . . dogs . . . bite about 4.7 million Americans every year, more than 60 percent of them children . . .
. . . a 77- year-old woman who said she won't go to Crissy Field at Golden Gate anymore because she's afraid of all the dogs running loose," said Mr. Weideman, the Park Service spokesman. "She said, `If I fall, I'm done.' ". . .
. . . Nationwide, deaths from dog bites have remained steady, averaging 12 a year. In the last 20 years, two breeds — pit bulls and Rottweilers — were responsible for 44 percent of human deaths. . .
. . . In Prince George's County, Md., dog bites from pit pulls dropped noticeably last year, three years after the county adopted a ban and put about 2,400 dogs to death.. . .
It's a start -- but it is not enough. If dogs are to be outdoors on the owner's property, they must be enclosed within a secure fence, with a muzzle on. Beyond the owner's property, the dog must be kept on a leash with muzzle on at all times.
Foot and mouth casualties: dogs next?
To: Letters Editor, Globe and Mail, sent 24 Mar 01.
Subject: Foot and mouth casualties: dogs next?
(About 86 words to follow, from ===== to =====.)
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Authorities in the UK are concerned with at least three modes of transmission of foot and mouth disease: livestock, even in adjacent fenced fields; the wind (especially in transmission from pigs); and, people and vehicles.
I wonder whether an additional possibility has been considered, namely dogs -- not as being diseased themselves, but as carriers of the infective agent? Owners of pets and working herd dogs (Border Collies) might not even wish to contemplate the possibility that they should also be destroyed along with the suspect sheep.
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You are free to publish any or all of the above, edited as you wish, including my name and city.
Signed Wayne R. Paulson, Ottawa, Ont.
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