Breed Ban in Seattle?

[urbpan]

Will Seattle be the next city to trade a freedom for the illusion of public safety? 

I think I'll make a top ten "reasons I'm against breed bans" list, since there must be at least ten reasons, and having them in a list would be helpful.

Since any strong dog (a relative measure since dog bite victims tend to be children) can be dangerous, perhaps there should be bans based on mass alone:  How would it be if the animal control officers took away and euthanized every dog in your city that weighed over 50 pounds?  I bet people wouldn't overfeed their stupid retrievers so much, that's what I think.

How would people react if a type of car was banned from a city?  Let's say two seater sports cars just for the sake of argument.  But then the smart car people would get upset!  And suddenly there'd be rash of sports cars with four seats, that were just as fast and powerful as the two seaters.

I'm getting so tired of these arguments.  Part of me wants there to be a coast to coast ban on pit bulls, just until people realize that the rate of dog attacks hadn't changed, but for some reason there seemed to be an epidemic of attacks by Alaskan malamutes and "black lab mixes."  Poor young men are always going to have some kind of dog to stand in for real power.  If not pit bulls, it will be something else.  Maybe young men should be banned from owning dogs of any kind?  How about a ban on poor people owning any kind of property?  

How much freedom are you willing to give up for the illusion of public safety?

Comments

[wandererrob.livejournal.com]

All sound points IMO. Any dog can be vicious if trained to be so. It's not the breed, it's the owners. I don't understand why they are having such trouble with this.

Now 2-seaters, those little death traps have to go! :)

[greenminions.livejournal.com]

Omaha is not having an outright ban but putting lots of restrictions in place. Leashes, fences, classes for pit bull owners, no breeding of pitbulls, etc. And to enforce these new rules, all pet owners will see a rise in the cost of our "pet license fee" which is really just a way to get money in the city coffers. Really, why should I have to pay more to have a cat, who never goes outdoors when it's only a few people that have "problem" dogs? Why should people I know who have had pitbulls for years without incident suddenly have to go to a pet ownership class?

[ms-cantrell.livejournal.com]

this past week in seattle, a pet place opened, and they were having a neighborhood pet rally outside the store to welcome it. everyone's dog was leashed, and they were all just standing around with their owners. according to several reports, including the owners of both dogs in question, the pit bull belonging to the leader of the Families against Breed Bans attacked the yellow lab standing next to it, and locked jaws on the lab's throat.

despite that, the owner of the lab doesn't support a breed ban, but does want to point out that in seattle it is illegal to have your dog bite another dog, or anyone at all, and that you can actually call the cops to report a crime. in this situation, the owner takes responsibility for the actions of the dog, and that seems entirely appropriate.

[pipu.livejournal.com]

I think we should just ban poor people. Or better yet, do away with young men, since they are clearly the source of all violence in society.

Oh, wait.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

How much freedom are you willing to give up for the illusion of public safety?

Haven't we already done this? With cell phones and GPS a person can be tracked anyplace. (This is why I don't have a cell phone or GPS in my car) What about traveling? Can't fly without being stripped in the airport. Can't bring a bottle of water on a plane anymore unless you buy it at the airport for $4. And then sometimes they make you leave it at the gate. Don't try to get home from Canada without your passport, they wont let you in. This is nothing new, it started seven years ago today.

Regarding pets, If you try to adopt a pet now, it involves background checks. They were going to refuse to let me adopt another cat because they found out I hadn't had my previous cat vaccinated in the last three years of her life (The reason being, she had a compromised immune system, the vet was afraid the vaccinations would kill her. She still got the rabies shot because it's the law, but nothing else.) I had to have *two* vets vouch for me.

[shellynoir.livejournal.com]

The guy whose dog attacked the elderly woman is clearly an asshat. He had four large pitbulls in one house, and the two males weren't neutered. The dogs got out frequently. There seems to have been little or no training going on.

The Seattlepi.com has a lot of good information on this case, including where to donate money.

I'm very sad for all involved. I do think that all dogs needs to be able to sit-stay for one second for every pound that they weigh, even when distracted by small children or other dogs. Is there a certificate of good canine behavior that cities could demand you get for your pet?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I'm for mandatory spay/neuter of all dogs, unless they are kept specifically for breeding or show. I don't know about your sit/stay idea. Leashes work fine, as long as leash laws are enforced, and owners of dog-aggressive dogs know to keep their dogs away from other dogs.

There is a canine good citizen certificate available; cities could require it, but like any law, enforcement would be the issue. And what of the dogs that don't pass? Not allowed in the city? Euthanized? I see about 15 little terriers daily that would fail the good citizenship test.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

I myself often have the urge to bite children.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

i did feel that urge yesterday when kids were running amok in dunkin donuts. NOT A PLAYGROUND!!!

[(Anonymous)]

As a society, we have totally bought into legislating against the stupidity/unsociability of others in order to protect ourselves. Breed bans; liquid bans; empty box "might-be-a-bomb" bans. If something makes you nervous, make it illegal.

I wish we could ban bad dog-owners. If you have a history of owning dogs that have attacked people or dogs, then you are no longer allowed to own dogs. But that's really hard to enforce.

On the 50-pound limit, our 60-pound greyhound, one of the sweetest dogs in the world and of a breed no one is talking about banning, could seriously injure someone if he decided to. He totally has the "break my prey's neck" shake down; fortunately he only uses it on plush toys. He will never learn Stay, and we've had minimal success with Down. (Most greyhounds don't sit---so there's a problem with the sit/stay requirement.)

In our neighborhood, the meanest dogs are under 10 pounds. Can we ban those stupid little white fluffy balls of evil while we're at it?

[bellelvsbeast.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you, especially because if they had animal control pick up and euth any animals that were banned I would have to do it...:(
And if there was a 50 pound limit my dog would die...sadness...
To be honest we did a poll on ALL the bite reports we get and the most "vicious" dog breed turns out to be the dachshund...nasty fuckers...pits are barely even represented in the calls we get for actual bites. We do get TONS of calls on "aggressively acting" pit bulls, but they rarely bite...so there...neener to all those stupid people...:P
It's not just young men, we have dumb chicks out here who want the power status too...:(