I love these provincial issues that localities deal with and one that is rampant and usually in left corridors is breedism and the hate for the pit bull breed of dog.
Breedism is an unnatural and highly misinformed dislike of certain animal breeds. It is more or less in dealing with dogs and I am sure, but not informed enough, with cats. For they are the most domesticated of animals.
Breedism is centered on several dog breeds particularly the Rottweiler, Doberman Pinscher and the worst of all to the breedists, the pit bull.
Well, a member of my local Pasadena, California, city council, Steve Madison, has tried to wage a one-man war against the pit bull.
And sadly, while he will not be able to outright ban the breed, he may get a halfsy and force all put bulls, and by extension pit bull mixes, to be spayed and neutered.
Understand that the Pasadena Humane Society is trying to get all dogs spayed and neutered and not any one breed takes precedent over another.
But not if Mr. Madison has his way.
For Mr. Madison wants to change state law that bans localities from initiating an outright breed specific law or BSL.
Here is a load of hysteria from the repulsive Mr. Madison:
“Every month or two, you read about a pit bull killing a toddler or a senior, and I don’t want that to happen in Pasadena,” Madison said at the Nov. 25 council meeting. “We want to stop it before it happens here.”
Uh, Mr. Madison, a pit bull or a mix can kill anyone if the situation is right. But what you fail have any knowledge of is the fact that a pit bull is like any other dog and if they are owned by a human it will be a reflection of the owner and how they trained the dog.
That is the point that Josh Liddy was trying to make here:
“The bottom line is these dogs in general are incredibly safe, and (Madison) is up there talking about them in broad strokes as if they are land sharks out killing people every day, and it’s totally disingenuous nonsense,” said Liddy, whose two pit bull mixes are both spayed and neutered. “When a single incident happens, all of these dogs get blamed for the actions of one dog, and it’s clear discrimination in my opinion.”
Spot on, Mr. Liddy. Spot on.
We rarely have any media reports of Labrador Retrievers that have done the same thing. And it has happened. But it is easier to focus on the pit bull for it has a bad reputation. One that has been perpetuated by people that should not have children let alone have any kind of dog.
Mr. Madison owns a Maltese, a toy breed. So I think I know that he looks at dogs as, well like a Maltese.
Dogs are just like people. They come in all shapes, sizes, dispositions.
Oh, did I mention that Mr. Madison's hysteria is based on what-ifs? Since it has not happened ever in Pasadena!
This truly falls in the 'we have to do something' category of governance.
Why we have to do something for a problem that is broader than one breed of dog?
If we really dig under the surface, and I did address it above, it really all about classism.
Yes, many people that own put bulls are people that make the dog a tough dog. A fighter. Remember the whole Michael Vick saga? Oh yeah, Mr. Vick came from a rather bad background. And yup, he's black. And he hooked up with some bad people. People who thought of dogs as nothing but fighters for their warped pleasure. And what better dog than the pit bull?
Before I go on, did you know that what we call the pit bull used to be the most popular dog breed in the United States? President Teddy Roosevelt had a pit bull, Pete. Helen Keller had one. And probably the most famous of all was Petey from the Little Rascals.
If you want some truth rather than hysteria on pit bulls, this is an excellent website. It dispels the hype and hysteria about the pit bull.
My point is that people are the ones that create a dog, cross-breed in many cases and can create a wonderful family member or a fighting dog.
And for the most part dog fighting and the use of the pit bull is done by lower class people. It just a fact.
And what Mr. Madison exposes about himself that he likes to talk a good game about the, for lack of better term, the little people. But he really thinks that they are kinda yucky and have such a proclivity to engage in something really yucky like having pit bulls and making them tough killers.
There was actually one city council member, Jaque Robinson, who did not buy the hysteria. She voted against Mr. Madison's breed-specific emphasis of spaying and neutering. And she said this:
“An irresponsible dog owner is an irresponsible dog owner,” Robinson said. “I don’t think us passing this ordinance will make pit bulls less prone to attacking individuals in the community.”
A voice of sanity in a time of insanity.
Those of us that are against BSLs need to let our voice known not just on social media or blogs but to the members of the city council to not vote for this craziness in 60 days. If we make our voices heard, we will defeat another case of dog breedism. And it is a win for dogs but people as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment