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Date Posted: 09:05:38 03/08/02 Fri
Author: Emily
Subject: follow up: what they did in Grand Rapids
In reply to: Emily 's message, "strategic advise on BSL" on 08:31:35 03/07/02 Thu

BITING STATISTICS: Dog fanciers offer numbers to
counter critics seeking pit bull ban
>
>Wednesday, February 27, 2002
>
>By Hank Bornheimer and Kyla King
>The Grand Rapids Press
>
>A group opposed to bans on specific dog breeds
presented a lineup Tuesday of nine popular dogs in the
area and asked people to rank them in order of
>danger.
>
>Pit bulls and mixed breeds led the choices as the
most likely biters.
>
>But after all selections were made, the pet owners
placed their dogs in the order determined in December
by a Kent County Animal Shelter survey.
>
>The actual statistical leader? The German shepherd.
With 520 biting complaints, the breed accounted for
14.2 percent of the 3,069 total number of complaints
reported over the past four years.
>
>The Labrador placed second, with 363 biting
complaints for 9.9 percent of the total. Pit bulls
ranked fourth, accounting for 248 bite complaints for
6.8 percent of the problem.
>
>Laurel Barrick, chairwoman of the Community Bite
Prevention Committee, said the survey also shows that
the top biters also are the most popular dogs owned in
the county, from German shepherd to cocker spaniel in
12th place.
>
>The exercise aimed to prove a point as a group of dog
fanciers barked back Tuesday at vocal Garfield Park
citizens for their recent effort to have pit bulls
banned in Grand Rapids in the wake of a biting
incident.
>
>The group also vowed to take a bite out of a Garfield
Park citizens' petition by circulating its own
petition that opposes bans on any breed and calls for
other ways of dealing with dangerous dogs, including
prevention and more enforcement of existing laws.
>
>The bite prevention committee, comprised of local dog
owners and professionals, used Tuesday's event in
Kentwood to call attention to what they consider
misconceptions of the local dog-biting problem.
>
>"All dogs bite in the right situation," Barrick said.
"But most are preventable." Pit bulls are given a bad
rap, in the committee's opinion. "Any other type of
dog is said to 'bite,' but a pit bull bite is called
an
>'attack,'" Barrick said.
>
>Jodi Binstead, another committee leader, defended pit
bulls. "This is not a breed to which most bites can be
attributed."
>
>Using arguments similar to those who oppose further
gun regulations, speakers Tuesday said breed banning
is not the solution; prevention and enforcement of
existing laws are. The leaders also recommended that
the Kent County Animal Shelter hire more help and
extend their service hours into the evening, when many
dog problems happen.
>
>They also urged more sweeps for strays, particularly
in spring when the population of dogs on the loose is
the highest.
>
>Binstead, a dog trainer and behaviorist, said dog
owners are a big part of the problem.
>
>"It's up to dog owners to train their dogs to be
appropriate in public and to give them alternative
forms of behavior that help them overcome the hunting
and herding tendencies bred into them long ago.
>
>"We've taken their jobs away from them," she said,
alluding to the work history of dogs. "So they have to
be trained to adjust to the times," added Binstead,
who also is an adviser to the Animal Shelter.
>
>Lora Klassen, a dog obedience instructor and
committee member, said ownership is a commitment, and
even owners need training in how to communicate with
their pets.
>
>She said a neglected dog that is chained in a yard,
fed sporadically and given little to no attention or
the wrong kind of attention is likely to become
dangerous.
>
>The group also proposed that a representative task
force be established to study the dangerous dog
problem.
>
>© 2002 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission

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Replies:

  • Re: strategic advise on BSL -- Mahlon, 06:01:03 03/12/02 Tue
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