More casualties in The War On Terriers
Aunt B. is mad because Kansas City is rounding up politically incorrect dogs and killing them:
Animal control officials said 149 illegal pit bulls have been turned in or confiscated in the two weeks since the city increased its enforcement of a ban on the breed.
Mayor Joe Reardon announced July 28 that the city would temporarily waive penalties against people who turned over their pit bulls, which are illegal within city limits. The day before, a pit bull attacked 71-year-old Jimmie Mae McConnell, who later died.
The amnesty period ends today. More than two-thirds of the dogs were turned over in the first week, and animal control officials said the pace has slowed to what it was before the amnesty period.
And you can rat out your neighbor:
While those who voluntarily turned in their dogs didn’t get cited for violating the ban, owners who were identified through a telephone hot line were cited if officials could determine they owned a pit bull.
Breed bans are ineffective for a variety of reasons. And this is the result. Aunt B. also says:
I think it’s to punish their owners for being “scary” and “out of control” and “violent.” If some of us who own the dogs don’t happen to be poor young men, tough shit for us. This is about making sure that the “bad” elements of society know who’s in charge.
I would bet, dollars to donuts, that if you looked at the cities that have enacted “pit bull” bans, you would find that there’s a lot of tension in those cities about race. I know you could say that about every city in America, but I mean, I think you’d find “pit bull” bans enacted in cities where the demographics are changing rapidly. Look at the ban on “pit bulls” at the Nashville dog parks.
So, it’s doggie racism and people racism? Or classism. So many isms to worry about. The world needs less isms and more asms.
August 18th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
Naw, more ASMs just lead to more arugments about Endianism. Big or little? It never ends.
August 18th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
I don’t know if this link has been posted already, but this http://www.kcci.com/news/9590212/detail.html provides some details about the incident which started the amnesty/crackdown.
The relevant parts:
“She was so scared of the dogs. This has gone on for over a year. Those dogs have acted like they want to come through that fence,” Chris McConnell told KMBC. “She worked in the garden every day, and they would growl and bark aggressively at her. She said, ‘One day, one of those dogs are going to get me.’ They finally got her.”
KMBC reported that this wasn’t the first time that neighbors have had problems with this neighbor’s dogs. According to a representative with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, animal control officers found two pit bulls at the neighbor’s home in 2004.
Code enforcement officers deemed the neighbor’s house uninhabitable because there are no utilities hooked up inside.