MD Court Ruling is a Step Back for Dogs and People

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled last week that Pitbulls and Pitbull mixes are inherently dangerous animals.  No proof required. The decision reads:

Upon a plaintiff’s sufficient proof that a dog involved in an attack is a pit bull or a pit bull cross, and that the owner, or other person(s) who has the right to control the pit bull’s presence on the subject premises (including a landlord who has a right to prohibit such dogs on leased premises) knows, or has reason to know, that the dog is a pit bull or cross-bred pit bull, that person is liable for the damages caused to a plaintiff who is attacked by the dog on or from the owner’s or lessor’s premises. In that case a plaintiff has established a prima facie case of negligence. When an attack involves pit bulls, it is no longer necessary to prove that the particular pit bull or pit bulls are dangerous.

The case is based on a Pitbull who escaped his pen and bit two children in 2007.  The family of one of the victims sued the landlord who rented to the Pitbull’s owner.  Under the new ruling, everyone who keeps a Pitbull or allows one to be kept on his rental property is liable for harboring a dangerous dog should any attack occur.  Landlords and shelters are now in the position of considering whether any dog who might have Pitbull in his family tree, regardless of temperament, is an insurance risk.

This arbitrary declaration of certain dogs as inherently dangerous will protect no one in MD from being bitten by a dog.  Here’s why:

• Pitbull is not a dog breed.  It is a common term for mixed bully breed type dogs.

• There is no breed of dog proven to be inherently dangerous.

• There is no reliable method for determining what dogs qualify as Pitbulls or Pitbull mixes.

• Landlords who tell their tenants they must either give up their Pitbull or Pitbull mix or move will be relying on visual characteristics/shape to identify dogs.

• Shelters which refuse to adopt out Pitbulls and Pitbull mixes will be relying on visual characteristics/shape to identify dogs.

• Using a dog’s shape to determine breed is highly unreliable.

• Other types of dogs can and do bite people.  Dog bites are rare in comparison to the number of non-biting dogs but when they happen, the breeds involved vary greatly and include all shapes and sizes.

While the court’s decision does not constitute a breed ban, there are already reports that both landlords and shelters in MD have begun discriminating against certain dogs based on shape.  When breed discrimination occurs, needless dog killing results.  In addition, some dog owners will feel obligated to “go underground” for fear of losing their pets.  These owners may not seek out services such as rabies vaccination and dog licensing in an effort to keep their pets under the radar.  This makes for an even less safe community.

I don’t know what the future may hold for MD Pitbulls but this ruling is decidedly a step back for all dogs and people in the state.

Personal Space

Watch a dog in a TV studio get increasingly stressed as he gives signals and attempts to avoid while the news anchor ignores all signals and escalates the situation to its entirely preventable conclusion.

The Poodle and Dog Blog has the backstory.

Weigh In on MI Dog Mauling Case

An interesting case in MI:  A couple engaged to be married, who between them owned three dogs, kept the dogs in their fenced yard with warning signs posted.  A 6 year old neighbor girl and her friend wanted to come in the yard one day while the man’s niece (also a resident) was home.  The niece told them no, don’t come in the yard.  The 6 year old, apparently without adult supervision, opened the gate to the fence anyway and went into the yard.  The dogs mauled her.  The man and the woman who owned the dogs were charged with keeping dangerous animals and agreed to have the dogs killed.

Michigan law dictates that an animal can not be declared dangerous for attacking a trespasser.  In the case against the male owner, prosecutors argued that a 6 year old can not be a trespasser since the child would be unable to make such a distinction.  The jury convicted the man and sentencing is scheduled for next month.  The trial against the fiancee is set to begin next week.

Here are my questions:

Do parents/caregivers have the right to expect their 6 year old children to be safe in the neighborhood, even when not supervised by an adult, and even when the child is trespassing on to someone else’s property?  (Regardless of whether you believe the child could knowingly trespass or not.)

If state law says a dog can’t be declared dangerous for attacking a trespasser (which is a reason some people have dogs – for protection) and the argument is made in court that the child is too young to knowingly trespass, are we not then making the assumption that dogs must be somehow capable of discerning trespassers of sufficient mental maturity to understand that trespassing is illegal vs. trespassers who are not capable of this understanding?  Does the law need to be re-written?

If the couple had left a jug of bleach on the porch, and the kid unlocked the gate, walked up to the porch and drank the bleach, would the couple have been charged with a crime?

Are charges against the girl’s parents/caregivers appropriate?

Death Statistics

For the average person in the U.S., how likely are you to die from:

Car accident?  1 in 6700

Murder?  1 in 18,000

On-the-job accident?  1 in 48,000

Bathtub drowning?  1 in 840,000

Lightning?  1 in 3 million

Hornet, wasp or bee sting?  1 in 6.1 million

Shark attack?  1 in 280 million

Where do dogs fit in?

Janis Bradley, dog bite researcher and the author of ‘Dogs Bite: But Balloons and Slippers Are More Dangerous,’ states, “Dogs can be dangerous. And they are more dangerous to children than adults. Not as dangerous, of course, as kitchen utensils, drapery cords, five-gallon buckets, horses or cows. Not nearly as dangerous as playground equipment, swimming pools, skateboards, or bikes. And not remotely as dangerous as family, friends, guns, or cars.

A child is more likely to die choking on a marble or balloon, and an adult is more likely to die in a bedroom slipper related accident. Your chances of being killed by a dog are roughly one in 18 million.  [emphasis added]

By contrast, if we estimate that 3 – 4 million pets are killed by shelters every year, that works out to one pet being killed every 9 seconds.  The 2366 pets unfortunate enough to cross the threshold at PETA’s so-called shelter in VA last year had a 97% chance of being killed.  I’d hate to face those odds.  I think I’d rather stand in a slippery bathtub with a murderer and wait for a shark to swim up the drain.

How Not to Deal with a Biting Dog

If a dog bites you, I expect you to do whatever needs to be done in order to prevent the dog from doing any further damage.  Depending on the circumstances, this might include putting a leash on the dog to get control or placing the dog in another room.  Once the bite is over and you have control of the situation, there is no point in fetching your air gun, calling your dog over to you, holding him upside down by the tail and shooting him repeatedly in the face and testicles while he screams and you film the whole thing:

At the prompting of prosecuting attorney Barbara Lachmar. [Judge Thomas] Willmore viewed two videos before the sentencing and called the abuse terrible, noting the dog screeched and squealed while it was tortured repeatedly.

“It comes and sits right down at your feet and you pick it up again and shoot it in its testicles. It wasn’t even doing anything,” Willmore said. “You ought to be ashamed the way you treated that animal.”

Ought to be, but isn’t:

[The owner, Emilio Deshun] Hoy told Willmore on Tuesday that he was sorry but that he still questioned whether his behavior constituted animal cruelty. Hoy said he was only punishing the dog for aggressive behavior after he worked a 12-hour day at his job.  [emphasis added]

Mr. Hoy will get a break from his 12 hour shifts at work while he’s in the pokey:

On April 7, Hoy pleaded guilty to torture of a companion animal, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced Tuesday by Logan 1st District Court Judge Thomas Willmore to six months in jail and three years of probation. Hoy must also pay $1,000 to the state and another $1,000 to the Cache Humane Society.

The dog, Bean, has recovered from the physical injuries but is apparently still dealing with some emotional trauma:

Michael Bishop, director of the Cache Humane Society, said Bean was returned recently to the shelter in Logan because he is “showing some post-traumatic-type symptoms and characteristics.” In his sleep, Bean is whimpering and growling, and he sometimes awakens aggressively with a startle, he said.

What have those of you who have dealt with biting dogs done to get control of the situation in the heat of the moment?  What about dealing with the dog afterward?

“He just totally went off the wall”

New Hampshire:  If you want to buy a dog off Craigslist without even knowing the name of the seller or if the dog’s had a Rabies vaccine or has bitten 157 schoolkids, knock yourself out.  Hey, I’m not judging.  But if you do buy a dog without knowing a thing about him, you are accepting the responsibility that comes along with that.  That is, every new situation – riding in the car, walking around the neighborhood, visiting the dog park, etc – requires you to use judgment and caution since the dog is a big question mark.  You are the known entity in this equation – the dog is the unknown – and in taking him on, you are promising to keep him and those around him safe from foreseeable mishaps.

Perhaps the number one foreseeable mishap to my mind would be properly introducing the dog to your kids and at some point, introducing him to other people’s kids.  This will require your supervision and judgment and will happen over time, as the dog learns what is expected of him and adjusts to his new life.  Specifically, you’d want to avoid situations such as this like the plague:

Shawna Innie, 12, was going inside her apartment to get a drink on Saturday when the pit bull that her family had just obtained lunged at her and grabbed her arm.

Moments later, neighbor Cameron Hallstrom, 7, entered the home, and the dog bit him on the face and ear.

“He just started attacking them,” said dog owner Nancy Innie. “It’s unbelievable.”

Nancy Innie said the family got the dog, Chico, on Friday. They picked the dog up in Nashua from an owner they know only by a first name. She said they were given no documentation about the animal regarding his shots or any other history.

“We didn’t even have him 24 hours yet, and he just totally went off the wall,” she said.

Personal responsibility fail.

May I paraphrase?:  We didn’t even have him 24 hours and I expected him to read my mind and to know exactly how and from whom I wanted him to defend our home and his personal space.  Further, I expected any worries or fears he may have which might cause him to react with his teeth to evaporate instantly just because.  Now that I set him up for failure and my efforts have been realized the only logical conclusion is that “[o]bviously, he had a couple loose screws”.  Cause it wouldn’t be my fault.  Obviously.

Both of the bite victims are on antibiotics, and Cameron needed 10 stitches to repair his wounds. For now, the dog is being held in quarantine at the Manchester Animal Shelter.

Since the rabies vaccine history is unknown, the dog has to be quarantined.  And of course the new owners didn’t have time to get him a shot because they had only gotten him less than 24 hours before the screws hit the wall.  I think it was highly rude of that dog to become unhinged so quickly like that.  Hopefully the family’s next dog will be that mind reading/fear evaporating kind.  They have those on Craigslist, don’t they?

Cause of Death in Lee Co, SC Dog Attack

A follow up on the 65 year old woman in SC who died during a dog attack last week:

Lee County Coroner Alford Elmore told The Item of Sumter that an autopsy Friday showed that Ethel Horton had an enlarged heart and died before the dog did much damage to her.

The woman died of a heart attack. The husband, who was attacked first, remains in the hospital. The dog was killed following the attack.

NC Judge Rules Pitbulls Not Weapons

A NC Pitbull owner was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after his two dogs bit a 6 year old boy multiple times. The judge in the case ruled that Pitbulls do not fall under North Carolina’s legal definition of “weapon” so the charges were dismissed. He also encouraged legislators to change that definition.

Body Language: It’s Important

I’m unable to hear the accompanying audio on this clip right now (I will later) but from the video, it’s apparent that no one was heeding the dog’s or the reporter’s body language prior to the bite. Thankfully the handler took immediate control of the situation afterward so no further damage was done. But it would have been nice to see that kind of quick thinking as the situation escalated and before the bite occurred.

IA Councilman’s "Vicious" Dog Stolen

If you’ve been following the story of Sioux City, IA Councilman Aaron Rochester, you know that he’s been an advocate for banning Pitbulls and that his Lab recently bit someone. The councilman tried to appeal the ruling that the dog is “vicious” and must be killed under the law – cos you know, it’s not fair if it happens to my dog – but was denied.

Well now:

A Sioux City councilman’s dog that has been deemed vicious and could be euthanized is missing from an animal shelter.

Police say someone broke into the shelter Sunday afternoon and stole Jake, a 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, from an outdoor kennel. No other animals were taken.

Lt. Mark Kirkpatrick says there are no suspects as of Monday and the dog hasn’t been found.

Yep, no suspects. And I bet there aren’t going to BE any suspects either. Not now, not ever. Just sayin’.