Not Again....

Not Again.... 07/14/2014 7 Comments   Anyone who’s paying close enough attention can extrapolate from our name that we are a group in Colorado, working with communities to end BSL and find ways to create safer, more humane communities.  We’re not invested in this because we all own pit bulls (in fact, only 3 of our board members have pit bulls at this time, but most of us have counted them as part of our household at one point). We’re invested in this because we, as a group, make up a micro social stratum of the community at large. And we love dogs... a lot! We are parents and teachers, scientists and social workers, animal control officers and veterinary technicians. Some of us are gay, some straight. We vary in the number of tattoos on our bodies from zero to “is there room for just one more?” But we have a passion that brings us together. One to provide safe humane communities throughout Colorado, and foster responsible dog ownership. Last night, we received reports of a child, 19 months of age, who had been bitten in the face and neck by a 90lb “pit bull dog.” At this time of this blog, he is still at Children’s Hospital.  The incident happened in Commerce City, which has a breed ban. We’ll save that blog for another day. Here’s what we know at this point. He was with his mother at a private lot that had multiple homeless people camping there. The dog and child were not familiar to one another.  People at the scene report he was playing with the tethered dog and was bitten in the face shortly after giving the dog “a hug.” Colorado, which is home to so many strange events that reporters are not apt to get excited about much, took to the airwaves with BREAKING NEWS! “Boy Attacked After Trying to Give Pit Bull a Hug.” Anyone see the set up in that headline? Way to pull a Time Magazine, editors. So let’s dissect this. We have some obvious factors we see time and again involved in dog bites. The dog was tethered. He had no way to remove himself from the child. He was unfamiliar with the child. The boy is 19 months old. He is too young to recognize the language of a dog and their warning signals. 19-month-old children are not exactly masters of neither manual dexterity nor understanding when they are pinching hard. Wonder if that’s true? Go offer your cheeks to a 19 month old. The child was “hugging” the dog. This is in and of itself an act that most dogs find uncomfortable and/or threatening. My dogs do not enjoy being hugged around the neck. I too, would not appreciate it if a stranger came and hugged me. Given, I am a person so I can keep actions in context. This is a dog. The dog is also reported to be 90 pounds. Now, while we understand that “Pit Bull” is the label for any dog that society thinks has certain characteristics, 90 lbs does not an American Pit bull, American Staffordshire, and especially an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier make. This is a horrific incident and we hope the child recovers. We’ll keep you up to date on what his status is. The dog asphyxiated when a catchpole was used to restrain him. While we agree that in cases of a dog acting aggressively a catch pole is entirely appropriate, we hope the death of the dog will push Adams County Humane Officers to review their handling so as to not have a repeat performance of that. But instead of taking this incident and using it as a moment to teach bite safety, we are once again seeing the exact same behavior from media, the anti-safety kill them all crowd and yes, our very own advocates. The hysteria-based crowd has taken to the newspapers to again hyper-post the inaccurate and dangerous statistics and information that exterminating all big headed, shorthaired dogs will bring safety and peace to our communities. They are of course both helping to fundraise for their leader, and no doubt feel as if they are doing right. They are not. Their exploitation of dog bite victims, especially the elderly and children, is abhorrent and predatory.  It is hard to stomach on the best days. But we expect it. What we find even more disturbing is the postings by advocates. There is a call for the death of the mother, continued insults and discussion of how stupid she is, what an idiot she must be, and an utter lack of sympathy or compassion for the child and a parent who made a grave error and will most likely never forgive herself. We’ve also seen posts disparaging the homeless and lamenting what else would you expect from those people. So we’re here to say stop it! Think about what you’re printing and don’t push send if what you have to offer to a dialogue is insults, threats and stereotyping. What are you adding to the conversation that is helpful? How is this advocacy? What are you saying to the public that is helping to change the minds of people about our dogs and their people? The very same people who show up at ballot boxes to decide on whether BSL is repealed or enacted in communities. What message would you like to send them and are your words accomplishing that? We get it. OK, we do not get the stereotyping or inappropriate comments but we get the frustration. With every report, we too want to bang our heads against a wall. But to what end? Self-righteous indignation feels spectacular. But it’s wholly ineffective in implementing change. There is so much that can be learned from this horrible moment but it will once again be lost among all the background noise coming from both sides.  Our communities deserve better and our dogs deserve better. Let’s work to give everyone and every dog the representation they deserve. On a similar and related side note. Last night, one of our amazing friends and supporters was bitten in the face requiring transport to a hospital 90 minutes away where a plastic surgeon repaired her broken nose and she received 50 stitches to close her wounds. The dog, as if it matters, was clearly a lab/shep mix. She won’t be plastered on the local or national papers; no one had breaking news for her bite. She’s an incredible woman and we wish her a fast recovery. She could have taken away a lot of negativity from that moment. Instead, what she relayed was that he was not acting normal yesterday and in that moment, she continued on with business as usual and he bit her. No drama, no hysteria and no hostility. She used it as a teaching moment and spoke of what mistakes were made so they aren’t repeated. Imagine how we could turn the tides is we all responded with the grace and understanding she did.