Tuesday, December 4, 2012

For dogs have surrounded me: Sunday School Scriptures for Pit Bull Enthusiasts--Psalm 22:16


Once upon a time I knew nothing of pit bulls.  I suspect, most people are like that, they don't know, and they don't care.  I'm sure, even after reading media reports of a mauling, or seeing coverage of a death, most people may be curious, but don't come up with judgements about a breed of dog.    Once upon a time I myself may have looked upon on them as the kind of calamities that happen by chance and of which we have no control...like tornadoes, and cougars that somehow end up in city limits and attack, and semis that loose their breaks on mountain passes, or somebody goes off the deep end at a basketball game and beats someone within an inch of their life.  Unless it happens to you or someone you love, then it's just the sad chance game with the fates. 

Then there are acts of violence and needless death and injury that happen to a family member, and in their memory, someone takes up a torch in effort that such a senseless happening never happen again, or is at least reduced, or that greater consequences are given to those who are reckless with precious, sacred life.  I'm called to mind the creation of MADD by an outraged Candice Lightner, after her 13 year old daughter was killed by a drunk driver.  I'm reminded of Judy Shepard who started a foundation to help combat hate crimes against gay, lesbian, and transgendered people, and  in the memory of her slain son Mathew.   She continues to fight for legislation for hate crimes and human rights.

Then, once upon a time, a woman who was jogging down a street was savagely attacked by a pit bull.  She may not known a great deal about pit bulls at the time, but she certainly received a first hand kind of education that nobody really wants. Painful, life changing.  She found she was not the first, and that something should be done about spreading the awareness about the dangers, about needing new laws to protect the best interest of the public, about advocating for victim's rights.  She found that these are not rare happenings.   These attacks may not always be fatal, and they happen nearly every day. 

I'm sure Candice Lighter and Judy Shepard had their share of critics, had their personal lives torn upside down. Today, there are critics of MADD's "19th century" views on alcoholic consumption, and Judy Shepard met with opposition from the Westboro Baptist Church.  But neither of these founders have had their personal lives raked over the coals like the woman who created dogsbite.org..

Type dogsbite.org into a search engine, and you are likely to find many blogs and social media organizations dedicated to discrediting the site itself, the cause of BSL, and go on to muse about the founder's personal life and whether or not she was ever attacked at all.  The "dogs" will surround her and bark: this person is not an expert in dog genetics or behavior, how DARE she.   They will maul to death moot points in her testimony...did she break her arm as a result of the dog's attack , or did her arm break because she fell?   Well, Candice Lighter was not an expert in alcohol, cars, roads, and the multitudes of issues about drunk driving.  Judy Shepard, not an expert on laws. These woman were expert in the human condition, that's what counts. There are plenty of other people who are voicing their opinions about these dogs being dangerous, and none of them are experts in dog genetics or behavior:  Surgeons, the insurance industry, and City Hall.  We know, one photograph like the one above must speak more volumes than the thousands of photos of children using Pibble for a pillow and personal accounts of how wonderful they are....and it's all how you raise 'em!  Those of us who dared to share our story are bullied and threatened. How they hate those photos and the testimony of yet one more pit bull attack.   There are petitions to shut dogsbite.org down. This, by people who fight for the right to own whatever breed of dog they wish,  they would like to shut down the freedom of speech.  She bears the bullying and parodies with grace.   

If there were as much effort in self scrutiny of their own advocacy....are the mantras and memes working to reduce the  attacks from pit bulls?   

Leashes.  Better Fences.  Liability insurance.  Tougher punitive consequences for those who fail.  Prevention.  Stop promoting these dogs as family pets and stop  putting them in situations where they fail. Ensure that only capable experts own these dogs.  There will come a day, when a critical number is reached that equals ENOUGH.  BANS and BSL.  Your choice.

HEY PIT BULL ADVOCATES...there would be no need for dogsbite.org if you would do your job and tell the truth about these dogs.  Very likely, people like me and that nice lady who founded dogsbite.org  wouldn't care very much about pit bulls, because we never heard of another attack, because an attack didn't happen in our lives or touch the lives of anyone we knew personally. They wouldn't think of these dogs... if at all.....like I did.....once upon a time.

Thanks Colleen Lynn for all you do.

7 comments:

  1. "These woman were expert in the human condition, that's what counts."

    so true.


    "There will come a day, when a critical number is reached that equals ENOUGH. BANS and BSL."

    that day is getting closer.


    wonderful blog post meals.

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  2. Thanks for your words in this post. I feel every word you wrote to my soul. I've had dogs my entire life - some mutts and some purebreds - but never had a gripper, never wanted one and never will have one. I didn't know much about them and didn't want to know much about them, until we had 2 Pit Bulls attack an elderly woman about a mile from us on Feb. 10, 2008, killed her Peek-a-poo and injured her. Not having a clue about the Pit Bull Lobbies taking over "every town USA", I said this will never happen again in Decatur Al. Our officials will never let this happen again. But it has happened that I am aware of 5 times since. Then 4 Growling, Lunging, Barking Pit Bulls moved in next door and when we asked for help from animal control, we found ourselves being "EDUCATED" by "NUTS" about the GRIPPING DOG. At the time we didn't know we needed to be educated about GRIPPING DOGS AND WE DIDN'T ASK TO BE EDUCATED ABOUT GRIPPING DOGS BUT FOUND OUT TAX-PAYERS MONEY IS BEING USED TO EDUCATE PEOPLE ON HOW WONDERFUL THESE GRIPPING DOGS ARE AND HOW BAD CHIHUAHUAS DACHSHUNDS AND COCKER SPANIELS ARE. ANY SANE PERSON COULD RECOGNIZE IT FOR WHAT IT IS ---BULL SHIT !!!!!! Being in our situation is DAMN PAINFUL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGING and I often wished the monsters had gotten over our fence and attacked us all!!!! But then I know that nothing could be as bad as being attacked by a GRIPPING DOG. I told animal control from the beginning of our noise nuisance case that this is BULLYING - TO BULLY ELDERLY PEOPLE LIKE THIS MAKES THEM FEEL POWERFUL ???? IS IT POWER ??? OR IS IT TRULY A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSONALITY DISORDER?? WHY WOULD A "NORMAL" PERSON BULLY A PERSON THAT HAS BEEN MAULED BY A DOG??? WHAT IS WRONG IN THE HEADS OF THESE PEOPLE???

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  3. I was excited there was a new blog post here because the last few have been memorable.

    What meals wrote was both beautiful and true. Thank you for those words and also to Colleen.

    'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
    John Keats

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  4. yep , the time is nigh for a reckoning on high. not only the scourge of humans but his fourlegged bretheren too.

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  5. Now lets all have a pity party for little old helpless Colleen. You people have the mentality of a lima bean if you believe her garbage. . Truly pathetic. None of you have still not answered my question. Have ANY of you EVER owned a pitbull? I thought not. Enough said, for now. Oh and Hey Snarks! :)

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  6. Wow, what a stupid comment, JUlie Jo. What difference would it make either way? But I guess that's about all a nutter can come up with. I've never owned a pit bull (and never would, aside from their aggressive proclivities, imo they are just ugly dogs) and I've never been attacked by one nor have I had anyone I know attacked. So the fricking what? Your point?

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  7. Sure, you can say JUlie Jo is a jerk, but she is telling the truth. Colleen Lynn tries to wear a pretty face to make people feel bad for her and support her, but the truth is, she actually incites the slaughter of innocent dogs, just because they are pit bulls. Why does she target pit bulls? Because she claims a dog of that particular breed attacked her without warning. Yes, it was a pit bull that bit her, but that dog likely gave a WARNING. That dog must have started growling at her when she accidentally stomped on its foot(she was jogging that day), possibly smashing it. Taking the growling as an aggressive dog, she likely started trying to get the dog away from her by forceful means (possibly trying to kick at the dog). Seeing this as an attack on it, the dog bit her leg in defense. Sure, you can say I am wrong, but this could be the case, as that dog had never attacked people before, so that dog must have bit her because he felt his life was threatened.

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