Dogs, politics, media, and more


And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground,
no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws,
his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death. -- George Graham Vest
Category Archives: Cities

Communites that rejected BSL in 2011

In 2011, the following communities proposed and REJECTED breed specific ordinances because ordinary people like you and me took a stand against them.

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Bad news from Florida

Discouraging news from Florida today. Looks like SB (Senate Bill) 1322,which would have repealed the Miami-Dade breed ban, has been stalled and perhaps even killed at the subcommittee level.

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Pit bulls are dangerous and Ontario is right to ban them

Bet that got your attention! That’s the headline of a February 26 Toronto Star editorial to which I respond here.

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Mount Clemens, Michigan, is now a nice place to visit!

The Mount Clemens City Commission voted 5-1 Monday night to remove language targeting pit bulls from a dangerous animal ordinance.

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New Brunswick: Provincial housing tenants have ONE WEEK to get rid of pets!

The government of New Brunswick has decided to start enforcing a law that prohibits tenants of provincial housing from owning pets, even though many of these tenants have had their animals for years. They have cracked down on two Moncton housing complexes and have given the tenants one week to get rid of their pets!

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City of Brampton hires an outside lawyer

The city of Brampton has hired an outside lawyer to continue to persecute the owners of docile family pets, including a 75-year-old lady on a pension.

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Unbelievable misuse of taxpayers’ money

I have to say, I cannot recall ever seeing a city do this before. The City of Brampton has taken out a full-page ad in their local newspaper in order to “defend” their employees’ actions in seizing two family pets and scheduling their destruction. So, not only does Rui Branco (the owner of one of the dogs) have to pay for his own lawyer, but his (and many other irate dog owners’) taxes are being used to help the city try to kill his dog and to try to hoodwink the public with cover-their-butt propaganda!

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Can’t travel through Winnipeg with my dog, either!

Some people made a suggestion to a friend of mine that, if she wants to move from the West Coast of Canada to Nova Scotia with her dogs, she should drive to Winnipeg and then fly the rest of the way in order to skip dog-hating Ontario. I investigated that possibility and here’s the (bad) news.

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News articles about Brampton dogs and letters to the editors

Here are all the news stories I can find about the two dogs seized in Brampton. I have also included info for writing letters to the editors of the major Toronto and national newspapers, as well as the Brampton Guardian.

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Two boxer-crosses seized as "pit bulls" in Brampton

Brampton, Ontario, has really put their foot in it this time! These are two more cases that really need both media and public attention, ASAP.

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Toledo’s "pit bull" law unconstitutional!

Great news! Portions of Toledo Ohio’s pit bull restrictions have been struck down by a judge.

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Kitchener-Waterloo pit bull committee meeting minutes 1997

I saw a discussion about pit bull myths on Facebook and it reminded me of some documents I have from government meetings regarding the city of Kitchener, Ontario. Here are some of the crazier things that were said by authorities at those meetings.

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Great article on responsible dog ownership

Here is a great article by LeeAnn O’Reilly, president of the Dog Legislation Council of Canada, with whom I have worked for six years.

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Another dictatorship town in Canada

Carstairs, Alberta, has a dog bylaw that restricts three “breeds”. One isn’t a breed at all and the other two are misspelled!

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What if the Denver "pit bull" tribunal is wrong?

Any time someone makes the “gods” of breed identification look like idiots, I’m all for it!

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Dead dogs from Denver

WARNING! The following links contain pictures of dead dogs, dogs that have died as a direct result of Denver’s ban on “pit bulls”.

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Another tin-pot dictatorship I’ll never visit!!

Neguac, New Brunswick (Canada), has passed a bylaw banning “pit bulls”. The town has NOT included a grandfather clause, which means that all existing dogs that fall under their definition must leave the town immediately or be confiscated.

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Attention politicians! Dog owners DO vote!

The former mayor of Paradise Newfoundland found out the hard way yesterday that not only do dog owners vote, they don’t forget.

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Calgary Animal Services

Yesterday, I went to Nanaimo BC to attend a seminar by Bill Bruce, manager of Bylaw Services for Calgary Alberta. Putting it bluntly, Calgary has the best run Animal Services department in North America. Here’s a quick overview.

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Maddie, Carter, and Capone are going home!

The city of Sarnia has issued a press release saying that the three dogs from my earlier story are going to be released to their owners. Great news!

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