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Just days after two Joliet sisters were mauled by a family dog, four-year old Alex Angulo was fatally mauled by his family's rottweiler yesterday. Alex, a foster child who had been with the family since August 2007, was found at 3:18 p.m. in his backyard by his father and later pronounced dead on arrival at Holy Cross Hospital yesterday afternoon shortly after 4:15 p.m. Three dogs in all were taken from the house by the Chicago Department of Animal Care and Control: two rottweilers (one male, one female) and a poodle. While officials weren't sure which dog was directly involved in the mauling, all three have been euthanized. Neighbors told police that while the dogs were usually confined to the yard, they were known to escape and roam the neighborhood and were considered aggressive. One neighbor said, "The dog was kind of scary." Police have not filed any charges yet. [Trib, NBC5]
Boy Killed By Mauling, Three Dogs Euthanized
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They euthanized a POODLE, just to be safe? Damn! These people sound like bad pet owners.
Which just goes to show you, it's not the breed. It's the criminally moronic owners who make the dogs into killing machines.
I was attacked by a standard poodle when I was little. The owner never walked or socialized the dog. It was on a leash in the backyard for the whole time she owned it.
That dog was vicious.
People like the ones in this story, should never be allowed to own another dog.
I'd agree with you that it's not about the breed - with one exception. I knew a person in college who had a greyhound/chihuahua mix. Holy crap was that dog jumpy. It was like a big-eyed bundle of exposed nerves. I hated that dog.
A greyhound/chihuahua mix?
I'm trying to envision how something like that even happened.
I suspect the involvement of the Devil Hisself
Ingrid, you're partially right that the owners are to blame for attacks like this.
The breed has to be questioned here though as well, because I think that we can all agree that a Rot is going to do a lot more damage when it bites down than 95% of the other breeds. It's one thing for a dog to bite somebody, and it's another thing for a dog to maul, cause serious injury, or even kill a person. Most breeds don't go any further than biting.
There really isn't a place for Rots, Pit Bulls, etc. in our society. There's no reason to solely blame the owners, when some breeds are physically and mentally wired to do damage.
I have known several pits and one rotty personally who were the sweetest peas on the face of the earth.
My best friend had 2 dobermans and one of my neighbors had one who died a couple of years ago and then got another...again....the most docile and sweet things ever.
The first thing that any dog needs is to be socialized from the beginning. The second thing it needs is plenty of exercise.
There is a place for pit bulls and rottweilers in our society. What there is NOT a place for are ignorant owners.
You can take any breed and make it vicious. And NO dogs are bred to live in confined spaces.
I've been around dogs my whole life. I have helped train dogs to be pet therapy dogs.
It's not the breed, it's the deed.
Ingrid, I agree that any dog can be vicious if not trained properly.
The difference between a poodle and a Rot is that if you don't train a poodle properly, it's not going to kill someone - it's just going to bite and use the floor as its bathroom. If you don't train a Rot or Pit Bull properly, it's a recipe for disaster.
If we can ban guns in this town (things that humans directly control), I don't see any reason why Rots, Pit Bulls, etc. can't be outlawed within city limits.
I guess I would agree with that, because within the city limits are usually the types of people who are going to get a dog like that and train it for malevolent purposes.
I just get a bug up my ass when people come down on the breed. I myself have had several breeds in my life with bad reps who wouldn't have hurt a flea. Even when one of them, an Akita, was attacked by a Golden Retriever (no less) my dog did not fight back. It just tried to escape. That Akita was harmless, gentle and loving. I brought my newborn son home to him and he was like a mother to him. And anyone else that came through our door.
The kind of people who abuse dogs in this way make me sick and before I'd put the dog down I'd have no problem putting them down first. Sorry. That's the way I feel.
Dogs are amazing and they're here to bring comfort and company to good, deserving humans. It is said that no dogs are allowed in heaven, but the Irish say that if a dog is well loved, it will be allowed to wait at the pearly gates for its owner and enter when they get there :)
I also have known large dogs that were the sweetest peas on the face of the earth. When I was four, I tried to pet one, a collie that belonged to my family and had known me since before my birth. I tripped and fell on top of it, and it attacked me, tearing a gash in my face. I still have the scar on the bridge of my nose. I hate to think what would have happened had it been a pit bull or a rotweiller ... not because the breeds are bad, but because they're so much bigger and stronger. The consequence of their reaction would be more severe.
Dog owners too often forget that while these animals may be domesticated and even well-trained, they still are animals. Their actions can not be predicted.
The crux of my point: city people with large dogs do their dogs a diservice. If you want a large dog, don't live in the city.
That's silly.
As long as you take care of the dog, socialize it and give it the exercise it deserves,it will be fine.
If you live in the country, you still keep your dog inside of the house until you take it out to exercise it. You're not allowed to just open the door and let your dog run loose, even out in the country.
So, either way, city or country, the dog is inside the house until the owner takes it out. The problem is, owners are lazy and don't put the proper work into the dog.
btw, when I was growing up we had a collie in our neighborhood too, and that thing was the meanest dog. I was terrified of that dog. It was no Lassie, I can tell you that.
But your story doesn't prove anything...I had a Golden and I can remember my son jumping on him (when my son was like 3 years old) and the dog didn't flinch. That happened once. I didn't want my son to think that jumping on a dog is proper behavior. When he was a baby, he also fell on our Akita many times while toddling, and that Akita could have ate him for a snack, but didn't.
I have had many dogs in my life. They've all been good and sweet and just perfect. But then again, I go out of my way to socialize them, train them and exercise them. A lot. A whole lot. It's a lot of work. That's the secret: a lot of work.
"You're not allowed to just open the door and let your dog run loose, even out in the country."
Actually, when I lived in the country growing up that's exactly what I did, because I had a large, fenced-in area. That's pretty much what anybody with large dogs did. Our dogs were free to wander off-leash in an area equivalent to something like 10 Chicago lots, and they were better off for it. I knew other people who lived on farms and let their dogs wander at will over 20 acres. I can't imagine keeping a large dog cooped up in a Chicago apartment with little or no yard and only letting it outside at the end of a rope.
"But your story doesn't prove anything...I had a Golden and I can remember my son jumping on him (when my son was like 3 years old) and the dog didn't flinch."
Niether of our stories prove anything. Both are anecdotal examples of what can happen with a dog. I'm glad you've had good experiences with your animals, and I applaud you going out of the way socialize and exercise them. I hope this continues to work for you, but I know it will not work for everybody.
Yeah....it won't work for everybody because everybody is to frikking lazy to do what they need to do with a dog to make sure that the dog is a good citizen.
I lived in the country, Bumblefuck, Michigan, when I was young. In the area where I lived, nobody had fenced in yards because the properties were just too big.
The only fences I recall were corrals for horses. Come to think of it...not many people in my area even had dogs.
And even so, it's not like when you let your dog out, it's going to take laps around the yard to get exercise. Unless you're out there throwing a ball or frisbee, it's not going to do much other than lay there and watch the daisies grow. And if it's not socialized it's going to get protective of the property and pose threats to visitors.
It's a lot of work getting a dog to be a good citizen. No matter where you live, city or country.
Okay, people are too frikking lazy. That can be accepted as fact. That being said, then, allowing certain dogs in an urban area when people are too frikking lazy to take care of them is cruel to the dog and dangerous to the public.
I don't know what kind of dog you had back in Bumblefuck, but I've seen very few dogs who, when presented with an opportunity to explore an outdoor environment, respond by laying inert measuring daisy growth. Any truly healthy dog I've ever seen has had a very active life outside human involvement. They run. They sniff. They chase birds or squirrels. They dive through underbrush. Any truly healthy dog I've ever seen has NEEDED that kind of activity, and they've needed it far more often than your average city dweller is able to provide it. A morning and evening walk around the neighborhood at the end of a leash is not enough. That's not how these animals evolved.
I actually agreed with you in a previous post about the "certain breed" issue in the city, where most of the people who have those breeds, have them for nefarious reasons.
And when I say walking your dog every day, I don't just mean a walk around the block.
I mean walking it for miles, and when you can, taking it to a field to throw a ball.
Of course, there are some breeds that don't need tons of exercise. But the ones that do should be allowed this courtesy.
We domesticated the dog, so it's our responsibility to give them what they need. Not just when it's convenient for us. And if you look at the over population in every rescue or shelter in the country, it's proof that there are too many dogs not getting what they deserve.
Just watch Victoria Stillwell's "It's Me or The Dog", or Cesar Milan's show and you'll see how ignorant people are about dogs that they acquire.
The sad fact of the matter is the majority of people who get a dog, don't do the research on the breed before they get it. And the proliferation of pet stores causes impulse buys, and this is tragic because ALL dogs in pet stores come from mills and mill owners are unscrupulous about breeding, so you'll most likely wind up with a dog with mental or health issues and *viola* off to the shelter you go, dawg!
I'm obsessively passionate about this subject. I think that puppy mills should be outlawed, any dog breeder should pass a test and have a license and dog owners should be held to standards as well. Because tragedies like the original subject of this post happen when owners aren't held to standards.
Oh, and another thing....wait for about 9 months to a year from now...there will be a proliferation of yellow labs in the shelters because of the Marley and Me movie.
This happens whenever Disney does a dalmation movie, or any big theatre release that has a cute dog/cat/bird in it.
I say wait for a few months because people will be getting them as puppies right about now and that cute little lab puppy will be at his worst at 9 mos. to a year of age. And anybody who has had a lab will tell you (I had a yellow lab that passed away last year)...they are pretty, pretty rambunctious for that first year or two. They aren't that cute, docile, adorable little puppy you brought home from the breeder, so off to jail!!
While in general, I agree that it's not the breed but the upbringing and training that causes problem dogs, I also believe that not all dogs belong in all environments. Some dogs are simply not meant to live in small, confined spaces, such as a city or even a suburban subdivision. Their very nature requires that they be given lots of territory to roam with minimal interaction. The simple act of trying to keep such a dog in a city is nothing less than cruel, and more often than not results in dangerous behavior. It's no different than trying to keep a couger or a moose in a city. They just aren't meant to be there.
No, it's not the dog's fault. It's just their nature. They need to be kept out of urban and suburban environments.
It seems to vary from dog to dog. Mine is a Rott-German Shepherd mix. Granted he was young when I adopted him - 8 months - but he's incredibly gentle, playful, and shows no violent tendencies whatsoever. Of course, being a mixed breed probably affects that.
Fewer dogs is the silver lining in this otherwise very sad story for me.
When civilization crumbles (at this rate I call it for about March) you're going to be glad for every dog put down before.
Sadly their idiot masters will be free to roam the earth.
One thing I have heard about Rotts is that they are very domineering of the opposite sex. If you are a woman with a male dog, that dog will be very protective of you from any man that comes around, including your husband. The same goes for the female dog-man combination. Apparently it's worse with a female dog because they don't have the "sense of humor"-if you want to call it that, that a male dog may have.
Excuse me if this has already been stated, I skipped over most of the posts.
Is it not safe to assume that 90% of people who have macho attack dogs are probably idiot masters?
I'm of the mind anyone who would own and animal that can kill them is missing some vital nueral connections. Especially if they also have children.
I have a cat. Should he go completely mad I'd have some wicked scratches and a bad bit or two, but the chance of fatality? I'm betting nil.
Unless he gets some thumbs.
I dont' know Albany....cat's are pretty sneaky.
If you piss him off, he could come into your room at night and put a pillow over your head.....
I would have to agree with that.
I was on Michigan Ave. a couple of summers ago and this guy was on a bike, going down Michigan at a fast rate of speed with a pit bull trotting along after him. Or should I say being practically dragged along on a leash.
This poor pit bull was panting like crazy, but the worst part was this jerk off had a chain around his neck that was probably meant for hauling trailers that weighed two tons. I have never see a chain in my life with links that huge!
I was beside myself, what to do? He whizzed past me at such a fast speed I couldn't even think quick enough to say anything. Although, he was kind of scary, so I probably would have been crazy to start something with him in the first place. I did call the police and report it, but I'm sure they didn't do anything.
What
I think its an interesting point about keeping larger animals out of the city - I've had a pitbull for about 10 years now. Before I picked him out, the shelter told exactly what to expect - high energy, very strong, and a will to be dominant over other dogs. His power is what sets him apart from most other dogs. I got a strong leash, a pinch and choke collar, a harness and signed up for obedience class. I broke him in and socialized him. I jogged with him every day, 2 miles (making sure he wasn't being strained and that he had plenty of water). Regular vet checks, all the shots. In other words, I was responsible. And I've lived in apartments the whole time. My landlords knew what he was. No problems, ever. He's loved in the neighborhood. The kids all play with him, but only when they're all under supervision. If a kid starts rough housing with him or throwing things at him, the dog goes inside. Whenever toddlers are in our home, he's on leash - not because he's going to bite, but because I respect his strength and don't want him accidentally knocking a kid over. I would say that no one could claim that he is being treated cruelly in any way. if you want to follow that logic, we need to shut down the zoo ASAP - all zoos.
My long winded point is that the knee jerk reaction whenever a dog mauls someone is to ban then, round them up, kill them, whatever. Fine, I'll move. But can that law be enforced? What about the leash law we already have on the books? If you look at the number of vehicular related deaths in the city, there are hundreds more. So lets ban cars from the city. Its the same premise - you can't control your property. Or lets ban teenagers.
If there is a dog in the neighborhood that has run off leash, or is frightening in any way, cops should be called.
I would say that no one could claim that he is being treated cruelly in any way. if you want to follow that logic, we need to shut down the zoo ASAP - all zoos.
Dog in apartment not the same as animal in zoo. Unless you're a zoologist with a fucking gigantic apartment, which you're not.
My long winded point is that the knee jerk reaction whenever a dog mauls someone is to ban then, round them up, kill them, whatever.
Oh I think dogs should be rounded up and put down ALWAYS. Not just after a mauling. Species wide genocide.
No more maulings, no more dogshit, "dog parks" reclaimed for fucking humans. No more people whining about not getting apartments because they want to live with a flea-rotten mongrel. A better, stronger world.
Hell, we could even give the down and out a nice meal.
Dogs are always completely useless to cat people.
I can't count the stories I've been told about the value of dogs outside of their companionship. One guy I know would have died in a house fire had his dogs barking not woken him up. My mom's dog prevented a would be intruder from entering the back door. Dogs make great doorbells, as well as sentinels for backyards. Dogs are great exterminators, if you don't want rabbits and other vermin in your back yard. And if you are the nature and hunting type, many dogs retrieve, point, and flush out the prey.
Wow, what cat can do all of this? Cats are good for scratching up furniture, odors, allergies, and nothing.
@Albany, I can't even believe you're serious. There would be no civilization today as we know it, if it weren't for dogs.
Von Erich and Libby: Right on!
I was at a pet therapy testing once when a woman brought in her cat to be tested.
She was holding the cat in her arms when something in a back room at the facility fell and made a loud crash.
The cat freaked out so bad that it clawed the hell out of its owner's face. She had blood dripping all over and she looked like she was in a state of shock.
Needless to say, the cat flunked the test before it even started. Imagine if that had happened in a hospital and it freaked out and scratched some old person's or autistic child's face!
I have two cats, but I know their limits.
The unconditional love that a dog gives is above and beyond everything that is good in this world. Working dogs, rescue dogs, companion dogs...if your read the history, we would not be here today if it weren't for dogs.
There would be no civilization today as we know it, if it weren't for dogs.
And upon what are you basing this claim? I'd argue that math, science and high brain functions were all more helpful than some scavenging mongrels we managed to keep from eating us back when yore was young.
Even if they did "help" out, I think we can do without them now at this point.
As for your freaked out cat story, with a dog she'd have had a lot more than scratches.
Ambulatory shit and piss dispensers wandering the streets. Cats are indoor animals.
When you're "taking your dog for a walk" you're "taking an animal out to defecate". Now chat to me about civilization.
The people walking their huge horse without a leash, shaggy golden things, who of course have to jump up on me licking me with their asshole-brush of a tonge...yeah. I've shoved them off me to some yuppie chach tutting "Aw, he's a love-bug" Fuck you.
Mind you, I've had to pull a German shepherd off my cousin as a kid and still have scars on my hands from that. Fuck dogs.
Albany, would you say 'fuck you' to the dog that was sniffing your sorry ass out of an avalanche?
Or to your seeing eye dog if you were blind?
I'd like to see you herd sheep or cattle without a herding dog.
Dogs have been helping man long before they became 'pets'. Herding, hunting, keeping rodents out of the barn and away from the crops....the list goes on, as has been pointed out in several posts above.
Go to pbs.org and search 'dogs' and you'll get some 101 on the history.
So you had a couple of bad experiences with dogs. What a pussy. I've had a couple of bad experiences with dogs too, that doesn't mean anything. It only means that I came in contact with a few dogs whose owners didn't properly socialize or train them.
I think that's pretty violent, saying fuck you to dogs in general. That's really, seriously myopic.
I thought you were such a reader...you seem to dispense with knowledge on a variety of unrelated topics. So for you to question the fact that dogs helped create civilization as we know it proves that you are one sided and not open to any ideas that you don't already deem to be correct in your worldly view.
"Albany, would you say 'fuck you' to the dog that was sniffing your sorry ass out of an avalanche?
Or to your seeing eye dog if you were blind?"
Forgot to add cadaver finders, as well as drug and bomb sniffing _ _ _ _. Cats don't fill in those blanks.
"When you're "taking your dog for a walk" you're "taking an animal out to defecate". Now chat to me about civilization."
You have a box of shit in your kitchen? What are you talking about?
Watch Trainspotting. Tommy got Toxoplasmosis from cat shit eating at his brain. It might be eating at yours too.
Oh the heroic dog stories. "This puppy saved a baby" and "This doggie found some people in rubble". Great, fine, yay useful dogs. Cull the rest.
Couple of bad experiences? Well, I suppose I should base my opinions on your experiences then? Some drooling mass of teeth that whines and begs for food and will gladly turn on you if they're hungry enough? Sounds great. Fuck dogs. Useless animals.
As for cat litter, you shit in a hole in the floor, so let's speak of brass tacks shall we? Unlike dogs who just drop their piles of love wherever the mood strikes. I've never handled my cat's feces or urine. Dog owners do so regularly.
A cat won't just give you attention because you feed it, you have to earn it. Dogs will follow whoever pull the chain or has the food. Now cite a dozen examples of some farmer whose dog saved a hen house from wolverines or dogs protecting people from howler monkeys or some puppy comforting an old woman. Dogs are dumb creatures who obey based solely on reward. I find really hard core "dog people" much the same.
Guns don't kill people...
Albany,
I don't even know where to begin. Just because you like cats doesn't mean you can say that dogs are useless.
Every one of your points is lame, and you, in true Pres. Bush style, refuse to even address the issues that were addressed in many of these posts.
Cats, if left outdoors, will shit anywhere they please. And there is NOTHING on this earth that smells worse than cat shit.
I use to have a neighbor that let her cat outdoors (a practice I do not believe in, btw), and that thing was constantly shitting in my garden. I couldn't enjoy an evening sitting on my porch without the smell of cat-ass wafting under my nose. When I threw a few moth balls in the garden to keep the cat away, she had the nerve to complain to me about moth ball smell wafting through her house!
If you're alive, you shit. Because your cat shits in a litter box it's superior in some way? I don't follow the logic. If you have a litter box, then you "handle" shit. I have two cats, and one litter box. When I'm scooping cat shit out of the box, am I not "handling" it? What makes the difference if I am picking it up with a scooper or a paper towel and plastic bag?
I've come across some pretty nasty cats in my life, but that doesn't mean I have to hate all cats forever because of that. I realize that some people love their cats, and I think that's great for them because it's good to have a pet to love. Why you can't give the same respect to dog lovers is really beyond me. It doesn't say much for you.
Very small minded and myopic of you. You, in all your prosaic peacockery , would not be here today if it weren't for the domestication of the dog.
Dogs are dumb creatures?
Have you ever seen a Border Collie trial? I guess not. Show me a cat who can understand over 250 words and commands, can herd a group of unruly, stupid sheep into a corral and I'll eat my hat.
Dumb creatures my ass.
btw, my Border Collie would choose to catch a frisbee over a steak any day of the week (and that was tested).
They're not all about food.
Read the book "Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men" by Donald McCaig. You might learn something new.
Fuck dogs. Useless animals.
Tell that to my friend Beth's face Albany:
http://bethfinke.wordpress.com/
To her face?..........
Don't...don't tempt me with openings like that. It's not fair.
But in truth, the answer is robots.
http://www.ergoweb.com/news/detail.cfm?id=1105
Ingrid, deep breaths. Deep, calming breaths. I'd never harm an animal, I don't go around feed chocolate to puppies or anything. I just see them as a vermin people have, for some reason, become attached to.
Hey, some people raise rats for fun. Takes all kinds. Just keep your mutts off me.
Albany,
Are you ever wrong about anything? Have you ever compromised or apologized and really meant it?
You seem like a tiresome person to be around, the way you skirt around issues to justify only what you in your nearsighted little cat-world believe.
p.s. a human being cannot have a relationship with a robot. Robots do not form attachments.
And you're coming across as an agony aunt and a harridan who can't stand the thought that someone, somewhere might not "Wub the wibble puppies".
@Mikey1:
I suppose linking to the site of a blind woman and telling me to "say it to her face" makes you a paragon of internet etiquette? Glad you read the article though. Here's a more current one. It's even from USA today, the easy paper.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/robotics/2008-03-01-robots_N.htm
Not asking you to wub any puppies. But you don't have to be such an insufferable ass and call them vermin and say they're useless when they are not useless, but essential to many,many people on this earth.
Oh, and guess what? You are not always right about everything, no matter how many interwebby links you hook us up to in order to bolster your lame point.
A robot will never replace a living being. If you believe it can, then throw all of your cats into a bag and replace them with cat robots and get back to me on how that feels...kay?
The definition of vermin
1 a: small common harmful or objectionable animals (as lice or fleas) that are difficult to control
You're right, I'm wrong.
Many dogs aren't small.
Oh how observant! Oh how waggy!!
You must be the life of every party. Every hostess struggles on where to seat you as every guest clamors to be the chosen one lucky enough to see their name on the place card next to yours!
You know Albany, there are cat people and there are dog people. But most people have respect enough to realize that although one or the other might not be their cup of tea, they can understand the deep and abiding love that one would have for their chosen pet. I guess you are lacking in that area. It's called courtesy...look into it.
"Dog People" tend to descend into this jibbering and personally insulting nonsense whenever people DARE question their mutts.
I don't have respect for people who handle canine feces or need to find companionship with something that "loves" them as long as the food holds out.
Albany,
How do you clean your cat box out...or are your cats so pristine their shit magically turns into a perfume dispenser?
oh, and by the way...look up the story of Hachi Ko, an Akita in Japan who was so faithful to his owner, that for YEARS after the owner died, the dog would wait at the platform of the train station every day for his owner.
There is a statue erected for the dog at this train station.
You think a cat would show that kind of dedication...the owner was dead. He was no longer feeding it.
You have no idea how dedicated a dog can be to a good owner. Stories like this abound.
Open your mind for once. You are not always right. Seriously, you are not always right about everything, ok?
You link to a three-year-old article about robot shopping aides? Seriously? Over and out. Carry on with the maintaining of that irascible internet persona you've got.
p.s. about the freaked out cat story. There were 15 dogs there to be tested.
Not one of them even flinched when the crash occurred.
That's one of the tests when you get your pet tested to be a certified Pet Therapy dog.
They have to be able to handle loud noises without freaking.
The biggest thing that any of the dogs did when the noise occurred was to raised their eyebrows and cock their ears. oooooh....scary!!!!
You say we don't need dogs today? Pet Therapy dogs help out tremendously with the elderly and sick children.
The list goes on and on, even it today's world
Did you know that some dogs can be trained to sniff out cancer before it's even apparent that a person has it?
There are dogs that can tell a child is going to have a seizure before it happens so that the parents can intervene. Some people will have a trained dog sit by their child all night long to alert them to an oncoming seizure.
Yeah. Right. We don't need dogs today. You're really making my blood boil.
I'm really tired of people blaming the breeds when maulings like this occur. Does anyone ever notice that when a dog mauling occurs and the breed of dog is not a pit bull or Rottweiler, the dog's breed is rarely mentioned?
I have two pit bulls and work with pit bull rescue. These are the most loyal, sweet, and intelligent dogs, but they need be trained...like all dogs do. people who don't train their dogs or train them improperly run risk of dog attacks such as these. It's usually the small dogs that are the most aggressive ones, barking and growling and such, but people think it's cute and their owners don't train them.
I've never seen the leash law enforced. I've had off leash dogs run up and attack my dogs and people laugh it off and snicker at me when i tell them to put their dogs on a leash. I once gave a nuisance dogs to the cops that would roam free in the neighborhood and the next day he was back on the streets again, roaming, after I had give the dog directly to the police. The police don't care about roaming dogs.
Breed bans are not the solution and have been proven not to work. How stupid is it to single out a few breeds of dogs and ban them when any breed can attack. It punishes the proper owner, innocent dogs, and the criminals are going to do whatever they want anyway. People who think all pit bulls and rottweilers are mean have obviously never met one. They just base their opinions off what they see on the news.
I lease my cat out to deal with mice and other rodents. She's an efficient, vicious killer.
Albany, you don't like dogs. Cool. If people would actually pick up after their dogs, keep them on leash, not let them jump on people, etc. do you still think they should be wiped out? I keep mine close when I am out.
Can't we just ban jerks? That would solve just about every problem.
You're absolutely right.
Because there are no bad dogs. Just bad owners.
Show me a dog with bad manners, and I'll show you an owner who never spent any time training the dog.
On my block, a lot of people walk their dogs and I always see them walking along with their little poop bags.
This, to me, is the lowest activity in human life.
Following a dog with a little scooper. Waiting for him to go so you can walk down the street with it in your bag.
If aliens are watching this through telescopes, they're going to think the dogs are the leaders of the planet.
If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge?
(cue Seinfeld bass riff)
I didn't think that was funny when Seinfeld did it the first time.
What? Would you rather the humanoid walk the dog and just leave the shit on the sidewalk? How civilized is that?
We change a baby's diaper. There are old people in nursing homes who have to have their adult diapers changed.
Shit is part of life. Deal with it.
Irish, very funny. Although if an alien landed, would you rather they talk with a dog or Daley? (cue crickets, coughing).
"Dogs are dumb creatures who obey based solely on reward. I find really hard core "dog people" much the same."
-Wow. You're calling me dumb. Hmm.
"And upon what are you basing this claim? I'd argue that math, science and high brain functions were all more helpful than some scavenging mongrels we managed to keep from eating us back when yore was young."
-"It has been 20,000 years since man and dog formed their partnership. That we have altered the dog genetically is well understood; it is hardly known how they changed us. Since dogs could hear and smell better than men, we could concentrate on sight. Since courage is commonplace in dogs, men's adrenal glands could shrink. Dogs, by making us more efficient predators, gave us time to think. In short, dogs civilized us."
(well, dogs civilized SOME of us)
Hmm ... I fell behind on the debate. Let me jump back in ... Tastes great!
Ingrid, do you have any interest in modifying your belief that dogs can understand words?
Jimbo,
Watch a Border Collie at work. That's all I can tell you.
If your dog (cat etc etc) attacks a person (aside from protecting its owner within legal self-defence limits) - you should be fully responsible for its actions i.e. charged with battery or murder as if it was a weapon in your hand. Owners should be made responsible for their animals and if they can't assure their pet will not harm a human being they should not keep their animal in proximity to other people. You would not hand a loaded gun to a five years old, you should not let your dog roam a public area.