Life is Ruff

~Marla barked at 12:28 PM

Sunday, January 14, 2007

A Dog's Life Rant

Someone asked mom how she thought all this stuff in Louisville got so out of control....

Here's how I think this all went down. This started out as an ordinance directed strictly at surprise, surprise, the ever lovable, "pit bull". A couple of dog attacks, some outlandish problems with dogs running wild, yadda, yadda and well, you know as well as I who gets blamed; the "pit bulls" and their owners. It was later determined that in at least one of the two attacks, the dog(s) involved were not "pit bulls", again, there's a shocker! But, you can probably put a paycheck on it that that little fact was buried someplace between the classifieds, the obits, and the land of OZ!

Anyway, my guess is, the people that are continually having to fight for their "bullies" came out and said, 'oh hell no', and I'm sure there were a few like me and you who know the right thing to do and stood with them and said, 'oh hell no', but look in the seat next to you, bet you didn't find any pet owners outside the dog world and here is how a city ends up with a mess like Louisville. Too many pet owners get whacked upside the head by "surprise legislation" because they don't have "target breeds" so they will readily sit back and say, 'not my dog so why do I care', or 'good, I think pits should be banned so my Fluffy Kitty doesn't have to feel threatened when he's pooping in the neighbor's flower box'. It's the attitude of, 'doesn't effect me and my house, so why do I care'.

Well, when you have just enough voices (especially a club that runs the LARGEST all-breed dog show in your own backyard), things get heard. 'So, dog owners don't want the pits banned, let's make things fair and make EVERY pet owner jump through the hoops. Let's partner with the good old HSUS and come up with some outlandish ideas, put them on paper and then we can all pat each other on the back when our AS Director is given an award as AR Activist of the Year! We'll put Louisville on the map with this kind of "progressive" legislation.'

Well, then they go through the ordinance and mark out the words "pit bull", make sure the biggest money-makers in town: the pet shops, puppy mills, and Churchill Downs aren't exposed, and lo and behold you've got yourself 100 pages of crap legislation ready for signing. All of the sudden, your other pet owners wake up, roll out of bed, rub the sleep from their eyes, and go 'WHAT, this was supposed to be about "pit bulls", not Fluffy Kitty!' So, they show up in mass at city hell, but hey, it's a bit late for that dontcha think?

In the meantime, this idiot Director and his cronies over at the HSUS have gotten the Mayor and a good chunk of the council convinced that this is a solution that is what's that word again, FAIR and will work. Who cares if we know whether or not we will have to hire more staff? Who cares if we have no idea how much money this will cost taxpayers to enforce? Who cares if this is not addressing the problem? We can sit back and say, well, 'we did something". Best part, let's go through this sucker when the Mayor is on vacation, he'll sign it cause he'll sign anything apparently. You think the Mayor has even read this thing? I'll bet people in Timbuktu who haven't read it word for word could tell you more about what is stipulated in that ordinance than the Mayor of Louisville. Read the newspaper reports, watch some of the coverage from local TV news, they keep talking about how people are outraged by licensing fees going up and that all animals will need to be licensed, HUH; that's the last thing anyone in Louisville is outraged about at this point. They are refusing to tell even those people who continue along with heads in the sand what is REALLY in this ordinance and who is going to have custody of their pets in 90 days! The pet owners of Louisville will no longer be pet owners, they will be caretakers of pets until the city finds the cause to come seize their property and destroy it if they so wish.

This happened in my own community. Certainly the ordinance that is still waiting for final passage here in no way touches Louisville, but we had people who sat back and said, 'damned pit bulls' and when the city figured out it's not just the pits and went for differential licensing and light MSN, they showed up to fight for their dog's balls. I'm not a lover of MSN either, but hey where were these people when we were fighting to save dog's lives? Oh yeah, at home watching the latest episode of "Survivor" and admiring the dog's privates with pride! (Ok, I know that's a bit much, but if you could hear some of these people and the way they talk about it, they sound like they have the things on a display shelf under lights, seriously). I don't disagree with their fight and I have to say I'm glad that something finally kicked them in the behind and made them wake up to the fact that this is not just about pit bulls and never will be again, this is about city and state government trying to control not bad pet owners, but good ones and their pets. This is about agendas that would readily prefer to see dogs in zoos versus in homes. It's about organizations like HSUS and PETA that have more power, money, and influence than anyone likes to admit. I know someone that is right hand to the Governor of Kansas. She readily admits that the lobbyists that can throw the most money at something, most often win. While she prefers to see people with passion on the capital steps, the bad thing is too many legislators and people in key positions are not like her, they prefer to see the guy that can buy them dinner.

It is impossible for any of us who have pets to sit back and think that what happened in Louisville is not going to effect us now or in the future. There will be other cities that will look at this even in an unproven form and say, 'hey, I don't want to miss out on being Prom Queen for a day'. Look at Valone in NYC; he's using Denver, KCK, and Miami as guidelines to try and overturn a BSL ban set down by the state of New York and all three of those cities are disasters that have done nothing but make their problems worse. But, because so many people are ignorant to the facts and refuse to even bother with trying to educate themselves, they buy it hook, line and sinker. Too many people are ready to vote for things and people that they know very little if anything about based on media hype, over-exaggerated animal control issues, emotions (my personal fav - "we MUST protect the children"), and the word of politicians.

If pet owners don't take a stand together now, regardless of whether we own snakes or dogs, then we will find ourselves only getting closer to the day when we are all just like what pet owners in Louisville are about to become, caretakers versus owners. The solution lies in working paws united, not divided. There are some differences among us, sure. Some believe in MSN, while others are vehemently opposed, but at the end of the day, we all must keep our eyes on the whole picture and not just the moving parts. We must see that when the battle is over and the dust has cleared, that the outcome has kept our animals safe and the rights of responsible owners and breeders intact. This means that we must all work together to educate others and each other on ALL the issues that affect us as pet owners. Too much of the time, pet owners come to a crossroads and that is what people like Meloche and Valone count on to get stupid legislation passed. Solutions to things like overpopulation and dog bites are out there in the form of low cost s/n services and bite prevention programs. While I may not agree that my dog's balls are more important than a dog I've never met's life, I do have respect for where that argument comes from and one of these days, I would hope that we all get past those kinds of forks in the road of this battle so that we can come together with respect for all to win the war being waged daily in city and state governments nationwide.

Labels: Animal Welfare, BSL, Legislation, Politics

~Marla barked at 12:03 PM

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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Burning "My Old Kentucky Home"

I'm sure many of you have heard about this, but if you haven't, Louisville is about to put in place the worst ordinance yet to effect ALL pet owners. This is not just about pit bulls or dogs, this is one that effects everybody.

I've always wanted to attend the KY Derby. Well, guess I'll be kissing that good-bye if this ordinance is not vetoed by the Mayor. It is rather interesting though, that Chrurchill is exempt from the whole thing cause I'm sure there is nothing illegal, explotive or abusive going on there? Yeah right.

I'd encourage you to at least skim through the actual ordinance which can be found at the link below. Contact information for the Mayor and city reps can be found there as well. If this goes through, it will mean that anyone with a pet in Louisville will be subjected to basically being a common criminal any time they refuse to have thier animal revaccinated after boarding or refuse to tell the Animal Services Director when they are taking the dog on vacation!

To read more opinion on this ordinance, the background on the Director of LAS, click on the link above on the left to the Dog's Life message board.

LOUISVILLE’S ANTI-PET LAW

On Wednesday 12/20/2006 at 3:45 a.m., Louisville Democrats rammed through an anti-pet ordinance that rivals laws all over the country for its sheer arrogance. This is not an anti-pitbull ordinance. It is an Anti-Pet ordinance. It strips property rights from owners, and grants the Director of LMAS (who also just happens to not be a U.S. citizen) the power to determine whether you may own your animal or not. It includes pet limits, vague nuisance provisions, and makes it next to impossible to keep an intact dog. You can read the entire ordinance HERE.

Here are some of the provisions:

1) There is no grandfather clause. If you currently own more dogs than are permitted for your lot size (No more than 3 dogs if you have .5 acres or less). If you’re over the limit, you are out of luck and out of compliance.

2) All unaltered (spayed/neutered) dogs must be in an enclosure that has been *approved in writing* by the Director of Louisville Metro Animal Services.

3) If you trail ride in the park, you must carry with you a "suitable device for the picking up, collection and proper sanitary disposal" of any manure dropped by your horse. Further, you must actually dismount, collect said manure, and dispose of it while maintaining control of your horse.

4) Vets are required to turn over their rabies shot records to LMAS so that dogs which got a rabies vax but not a license can be impounded.. They are also required to notify their clients of the provisions of this 94+ page ordinance.

5) All unaltered dogs must be microchipped. (There are new studies out that show a link between microchips and cancer, by the way--several of them.)

6) If you show your unaltered dog, and travel with it for more than 3 days, you must notify the Director as to the change in location of your unaltered dog.

7) If you sell, give away, or board (yes, board) your unaltered dog, you must notify the Director.

8) You may not purchase an unaltered dog without the written permission of the Director.

9) Revaccination/relicensing requirement for all dogs/cats removed from a kennel or cattery at any time.

10) Prohibits use of invisible fencing for unaltered dogs.

11) Mandates spay/neuter for any unaltered dog that is impounded for any
reason before the owner can reclaim the dog.

12) If any of your animals (not just dogs) “irritates” or “perturbs” anyone twice within a 5 year period, you will be forced to give up ALL of your animals and will be prohibited from owning animals again for 2 years.

13) Prohibits ownership of ANY animals by anyone who has two violations within 5 years-no matter how minor.

14) Requires reporting of all sales of all dogs, with buyers name & address to be sent to MAS, even if buyer is not local.

15) If you have more than one unaltered pet, of any species, then you will need a $300 Animal Dealer’s license to sell any offspring of your current pets. This includes gerbils, mice, ferrets as well as dogs and cats.

16) Every time you pick up your dog, cat, or ferret from a kennel—even a boarding kennel, you must get it relicensed and revaccinated against rabies!

The list just goes on and on...

This law, if enforced, will result in the end of pet-ownership in Louisville. Meanwhile, it is a boon to the very commercial breeders (puppy mills) and back-yard breeders it was intended to stop. Instead of ending bad breeding practices, it makes good breeders jump through so many hoops that many of them can be expected to throw up their hands and give up or leave. Those of us who need a carefully bred purebred dog will have to search far outside of Louisville to get one and will be punished financially if we bring them to Louisville.

Why would anyone need a carefully bred purebred dog, anyhow? Well, if you are disabled, you want the best quality dog you can find, because your very life will depend on that dog. If you want a companion animal, you want one with a stable temperament. If you would like to compete in AKC and other pure bred sporting events you can only do so with a pure bred dog. The best source of such dogs is home hobby breeders—who, under this law, will become extinct in Louisville.

If you would like to do something about this new oppressive ordinance, there are several options. First, write a letter, call or email Mayor Jerry Abramson and tell him to veto this ordinance. He can veto it for up to 10 days. It is widely believed he plans on signing it into law when he returns from vacation. Also send an email to the council members and let them know how you feel about this oppressive ordinance. Send a donation to the Louisville Kennel Club who has been fighting this thing for months and now will need funds for the legal battle they are about to take on with the city. Keep checking back here.. Soon we will be selling LKC items to bolster the legislative fund. Call you veterinarian and let them know how you feel about them releasing all of your personal information about you and your pet to the government.

Labels: Animal Welfare, BSL, Legislation, Politics

~Marla barked at 12:02 PM

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