Bad dogs
comment Lina
No dog left
front page
Join us at FAW? Click here!
Every dog breed comes with its own approach, even though most are easy and can be handled the same way without causing problems. Still people should think before they start. A dog is a very intelligent companion and needs to be kept occupied, i e some breeds just need to be exercised or challenged, if that does not happen they Will solve their own problem, and that could resolve into non favorable behavior, even aggression towards people.
Never underestimate the ability of a dog to create its own rules he/she needs to survive, if only mentally.
Lina
The big-dog tag is gone.
Auburn's proposed dangerous dog ordinance goes back to the City Council Monday night, but this time without language branding all dogs of more than 30 pounds as potentially dangerous.
More than 100 dog owners howled over that provision April 19, forcing the council to table and revise the ordinance. "There's a lot of fear out there," said council member Sue Singer. "It seemed just as easy to drop the whole weight issue." The ordinance would still label dogs who chase or bite as potentially dangerous. Then, dogs that severely injure a person or kill an animal would be labeled as dangerous dogs. Owners would be required to meet strict requirements, including keeping the animal in an enclosure or muzzled and leashed, having $250,000 in homeowner's insurance or in a bond, and paying a special registration fee of $100 per year. The revised ordinance offers an option to owners whose dogs are in jeopardy of being labeled dangerous. In some cases, owners could send their animals to a training course and escape the designation, Singer said. The Planning and Development Committee, led by Singer, revised the ordinance. She said the proposal still gives Auburn police more authority to take action against problem dogs. Also, the city is considering switching its contract for animal control from King County to Pierce County.
City Attorney Dan Heid said he's hopeful the revised ordinance will be a reasonable compromise. He said it's still necessary to include a designation for potentially dangerous dogs.
"It gives you a heads-up on identifying problem areas," Heid said. If a dog has attacked in the past, "You're on notice," he said. The council began considering a dangerous dog ordinance after a pit bull attacked and killed Charles Crockett's poodle-terrier named Fritz in January. Singer hopes the council will approve the ordinance Monday night and move on.
"We would just as soon get this over with," Singer said. "We've got a lot of other things to do besides dealing with dogs."
________________________________________
Call it the "No Dog Left Behind Act."
Columbus Animal Control is pushing a pack of local law changes it proffers to better protect people's pets. One change would charge you with animal cruelty if you leave your dog alone in a car -- under any circumstances.
Right now city law says it's animal cruelty to cause an animal "pain, suffering or injury" such as neglect, abandonment or poisoning.
The city's animal control advisory board wants Columbus Council to add this: "Leaving an animal unattended inside a vehicle, regardless of window position or use of air-conditioning." The intent is to make this clear to people who don't have better sense: If they're caught leaving a dog trapped in a hot car in the summer, they will be hauled into court. But that proposed law doesn't say "in the summer." All it says of differing circumstances is that open windows and air-conditioning make no difference. Obviously, cooking a dog in a solar oven is animal cruelty. But what about at night in early spring, when it's only 50 degrees outside, the dog's asleep on the back seat, and you're running by a grocery on your way home from the vet? Is that animal cruelty? And considering the way some people drive through parking lots around here, would that dog really be safer on a leash outside the car? Animal Control simply would prefer people "not be in the habit" of leaving pets in a car, said Drale Short, head of the city's special enforcement division. "We realize that it's going to be a very hard habit to break... . We're not saying you can't have the dog riding around in the car with you. We're just saying, if you've got to get out to go into a store or any other kind of dwelling, not to leave the animal in there. If you know you're going to have to get out to go somewhere, leave him at home, or have someone in the car with him, just like with your children."
That law would apply only to people traveling on public roads in the city, she said, not to hunters or anyone else driving on private property. Other proposals would require adequate shelter for pets and fencing sturdy and tall enough to keep dogs from escaping. They can be found online at Columbus' clerk of council Web site, www.columbusga.org/CoC/. Click on "Agendas," then on "4/27/2004," then on "Worksession Agenda" and on "Animal & Fowl Ordinance." A public hearing hasn't been scheduled yet. If you'd like to submit your input in writing, send it to Animal Control Advisory Board, 1152 Cusseta Road, Columbus, Ga., 31902.
