In the Paper this morning... (about APBT)

[Guest Anonymous]

found this in the Citizen Prince George paper (that's only two hours from where I live) :-? I'm not totally sure what to think of this, and wanted to get your guys' opinion's first... and if I hear anything new on it, I will be sure to post it.

Pit bulls facing muzzle from city
by MARK NEILSEN Citizen Staff

City council took the first tep Monday to designate pit bulls a dangerous breed, drawing concern from a handful of owners who attended the meeting.
If council adopts the animal control bylaw - it will still have to go through four readings and public consultation - it will mean pit bulls are being unfairly singled out for a problem that starts with the owners, said Dave Sponagle.
"It's the pit bull because of the stigma and what they were bred for originally, and that's what they're running with right now," he said.
Based in part on a survey of 500 residents showing 64 per cent in favour of placing restrictions on pit bulls, bylaw services manager Ken Craig included the item among the measures recommended for inclusion in the bylaw.
However, it's also based on what animal control officers have encountered over the last two years - 160 dog bite complaints of which pit bulls, Rottweilers, German shepherds, and Labrador retrievers were responsible for about 60 per cent of them, Craig said in a report.
"The most vicious attacks can be attributed to pit bulls and Rottweilers where the end result is often death to another animal attacked or moderate or serious injuries to humans," he said.
Restrictions suggest by Craig include keeping such dogs muzzled and on leash when out in public and in an enclosed area when at home.
Coun. Sherry Sethen said she could not support designating pit bulls dangerous, but her motion to exclude the provision from the draft bylaw failed to attract a seconder.
However, Coun. Don Zurowski said he would like to see more research on the issue before commiting either way, and Coun. Murry Krause also questioned the logic, saying it's usually a problem that begins with the owners.
Sethen aslo asked Craig to consider the difference between a bite, usually done deffensively, and a maul, which is a more aggressive action, in drafting the bylaw.
The draft bylaw will also include the power to designate specific dogs dangerious based on reasonable grounds that they could kill or seriously injury and no wait until such an incident has occured.
Staff was also directed to come up with an avenue for residents to express their veuws on the draft bylaw once it passes first and second reading. Sponagle wants a public meeting, similar to what occured before council eventually defeated a proposal to ban smoking from bars and resteruants.

[Guest Anonymous]

DAMMIT!!!

It is such a bad deal that pit bulls are being singled out like that. From now on my dogs are AMSTAFFS... no but seriously how can they pass a law like that. i dont get it at all, all dogs of a certain breed are dangerous. its so idiotic

[kendalyn]

Statistics mean nothing to me. You can really make them say anything you want. It's so hard to do an accurate statistical analysis.

[Guest Anonymous]

I live in Prince George and have pitbulls. What can be done to try and stop this?

[justice82003]

Big bad pitbulls :roll: \

[Queen Bitch]

[quote name='justice82003']Big bad pitbulls :roll: \


Yeah those reddish/blonde "pitbulls" with hands are the worst..... :lol:

[Guest Anonymous]

Does anyone have contact information for the paper that wrote the article? I am curious why they would only want Pit Bulls muzzled, that's breed racism if you ask me. There are other equally gulity breeds, why would they not be muzzled?

[courtnek]

my question exactly. If Rottweilers and Labs are also part of the 60%,
why arent they being required to be muzzled?

Labs are America's "sweetheart" dog, along with Goldens. Yes, the majority of them are good natured, and yes, usually very tolerant
of people and children in general. However, because dog owners are not always dog-saavy, they seem to assume that having a Lab or Golden
means it will train itself. I cant begin to tell you how many Labs I have had to "demote" from dominance issues because their owners let them become Alpha... and that's when they bite, same as with any dog.

Rottweilers are guard dogs, and require special training and handling to avoid the Alpha issues, same as GSD's...I think this is a form of "racial profiling"...the APBT's have to be muzzled, but the others do not?
Personally, ANY dog that shows aggression towards people without cause
should be muzzled...including the two Chihauhau's next door....

[Guest Anonymous]

Here's the paper's website: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/

Letters to the Editor
email: letters@princegeorgecitizen.com

The reporters email address:

mnielsen@princegeorgecitizen.com

[Guest Anonymous]

Here are the email addresses of the councillors:

Don Zurowski don@zurowski.bc.ca
Don Bassermann bassermann@shaw.ca
Cliff Dezell cdezell@shaw.ca
Murray Krause murray.krause@cinhs.org
Dan Rogers dan.rogers@city.pg.bc.ca
Glen Scott glenscott@telus.net
Sherry Sethen sherrysethen@shaw.ca
Brian Skakun bska@shaw.ca

And you can reach Mayor Colin Kinsley through this web page: http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/pages/mailthemayor.cfm

Any and all help to stop this would be greatly appreciated

[Guest Anonymous]

I'd like to know if anyone has email addy's for the PG Council Members so a personal testimony and defense can be given to them individually and directly.
Please send any info you may have to
caninecare@canada.com

[Guest Anonymous]

The Email addresses of the P.G. Council members are posted just above your post

[GIXXSTER]

This is a bunch of BULLSHIT!

Why is it that most countys don't keep track of the breed of dogs doing the bitting but when a bite does happin they all the sudden have these so called Statistics.

[delh1]

i just wanted to say that i sent something to the mayor even though i live no where near where u live good luck