Bravo, Neal. However, I'd add one suggestion that would also make the city a better place for pit bulls, the responsible owners, & those who are afraid of the dogs:
Don't ban pit bulls, but require a permit to sell or purchase them within the city. Many of the puppies we see abused/neglected, sold, and abused/neglected/trained to be dangerous by their owners come from disreputable people who cater to exactly this kind of wrong-headed owner. They can be *somewhat* dissuaded from this by having to pass an inspection (frankly, I'd love to see this with ALL breeds, but that won't happen any time soon) of their facilities if the dogs being sold were bred as opposed to being an unintended consequence of not spaying/neutering, and pay a fee for every dog. Selling the dogs without a permit could result in hefty fines, perhaps some jail time, and confiscation of the dogs to a pit bull rescue organization that is funded (tah-dah!) from the fees/fines. It might even be appropriate for the city to temporarily confiscate & neuter/spay if more than one litter was "accidentally" born & sold. Similarly, new owners who license pit bulls would have to view an educational video about taking care of dogs properly (& not being an irresponsible & abusive owner), and pay an additional reasonable fee which would go to fund dog rescue & also to fund an insurance pool for those injured by one of the dogs. If someone has an unlicensed pit bull, there can be additional fines which would again be used to fund rescue & insurance, and the ability to confiscate the dog & send it to a rescue organization if the dog is not being cared for properly. Are these measures the perfect solution? Of course not. The perfect solution would be to snap our fingers, fully fund rescue organizations, magically transport every dog that has been trained into excessive aggression away from its master, immediately instill every child with an understanding of how to act around animals, & change the bad mental habits of all the people who think that physically & mentally messing with an animal until it becomes an unstable attack machine is somehow cool. That's not going to happen. However, these measure are far more reasonable than deciding to ban a breed, supposedly on the basis of a discredited biological theory that they are genetically "bad" dogs, because it's the favorite breed of some people with too much ego & too few brain cells. These measures ARE a start to correcting the true underlying problem, which banning a dog breed can't do. Bottom line: we have to change ourselves. We allowed the fad of creating dangerous, psychologically unstable animals to get a grip and continue until it became a problem. We won't fix OUR mistake until we clean up not only the fad but our complacency & ignorance that let it get a grip. Blaming an animal isn't a solution - it's ignoring our responsibility in favor of a quick pseudo-fix that will change nothing. A ban would, at best, cause the sickos who want to have dangerous dogs to concentrate on a different breed. Then the cycle would continue again & again. No fewer injuries, but more fear, and more reviled and killed animals. 'Nuff said. Roxana Orrell Central > Let me ask Chris this, what would my reward be for being a responsible dog >owner if you were to get your way on a pit bull ban? Would you take away my >dog, or force me to move out of the city? > > Here's my suggestion: If you're so concerned about the threat of pit bulls, >donate to Pit Bull Rescue, be diligent in reporting abuse when you see it, >or better yet, do what I did. Look in the paper for pit bulls, find someone >who seems to be breeding for less then upstanding reasons, buy a female, get >her fixed, train her well, bring her up in a loving environment and enjoy >owning one of the most maligned and magnificent breeds of dog that exist. > >Neal Levine >Whittier >Also Ward 6 (old and new!) _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
