Dog nearly killed for having too large of a head!

Here is a perfect example of the absolute bullshit going on here in Ontario!

In Kitchener, Ontario this week, Shon Carroll, a humane society officer was "told" to investigate the background (lineage?) of a dog that was brought in stray.

** Kitchener has had a breed specific ban in place since Febuary 1997, put in place prior to the province enacting a province wide ban in 2005.

Jack Simpson as he put it, inherited a mutt 18 months ago from a neighbor. Simpson's dog got loose and went to explore the neighborhood, but was picked up by the humane society in Kitchener. When Simpson called looking for his dog he described him as a "lab/pit cross". The word "pit" activated the antennae of the HS to "investigate" the lineage of the dog.

This proves my point that most people who work with dogs in shelters, pounds and the like have no clue about dog genetics or breeds. They clearly have bought into the BS that "pitbulls" actually do exist and they must be identified and killed. Some shelters and pounds do not identify cross bred dogs and declare short haired mutts as breeds people "view" as "friendly" and find them homes but others such as Kitchener choose to kill dogs based on LOOKS NOT BEHAVIOR!

With each passing day this mass dog murder in Ontario gets more and more insane! Thanks Dalton McGuinty you useless piece of dog shit.

Mr. Simpson took the matter of what is now saving his dog's life to a humane society committee hearing where they would decide if the dog fit their criteria to be able to live or be designated as having some weird characteristics in how he looked that would declare a date with Dr. Death!

I have to include a lengthy excerpt because it is just too bizarre not to share.
Here is a link to the rest of the story where you may also see a picture of Jack Simpson and his dog Charlie.

Carroll met with Simpson and his dog on Sept. 2 to take pictures and measurements.
“My biggest thing is the width of the head, the wideness of the forehead,” Carroll said at the committee hearing.
The hind quarters were visibly lower and smaller than the front shoulders. The dog also had a big chest. But Charlie’s head was most concerning for humane society officer tasked with enforcing the Pit Bull ban.
Charlie’s muzzle has a box shape too, Carroll said.
Carroll told the committee the lab traits in Charlie are stronger than the Pit Bull traits. Carroll also said Charlie appeared to be friendly.
But mainly because of the size of the dog’s head Carroll designated Charlie a Pit Bull-like animal that was banned and would have to be destroyed.
“Because I left a message with the humane society that he is a lab-pit cross, the fact that I said ‘pit’ was enough to raise red flags,” Simpson said to the committee.
“Had I known then what I know now, I would never have mentioned the word ‘pit,’ I would have said a ‘lab cross’ and that would have been the end of it,” Simpson said.
He told the committee the dog never bothered anybody. Simpson said he brings the dog to the old age home where his mother lives and his sister’s daycare. He submitted letters from both women as evidence.
“My mother’s in an old age home. I take Charlie there, everybody loves Charlie,” Simpson said.
“I take him to my sister’s, she has a daycare centre, all the kids play with Charlie, and they all love him. There isn’t a soul in the city who doesn’t like Charlie and yet they were willing to put him to sleep because of the size of his head, which doesn’t seem fair,” Simpson said.
The committee members — Coun. Geoff Lorentz, Coun. John Smola and Anne Lawrence of the K-W Kennel Club — listened to the evidence.
Simpson said a lot of people are not aware dogs that are half Pit Bull can be designated and destroyed.
“It’s not an exact science I can tell you that,” Lorentz said.
Lawrence, the committee chair, wanted to know why Simpson described Charlie as a “lab-pit.”
“It’s just an easy way to explain what kind of dog he is rather than rattling off a whole bunch of different breeds I see in him,” Simpson said.
“OK so this wasn’t because you were told this by a vet?” Lawrence said.
“No, this is something I came up with as a short way of telling people what I think he is,” Lawrence said.
The committee members deliberated behind closed doors for a few minutes.
“Based on the evidence the committee is rescinding the designation which means you are free to license your dog, no restrictions. Thanks you every one,” Lawrence said.
No further explanations were given.
Simpson was visibly relieved as he walked out of the council chambers where the hearing was held.
“I am pleased, very pleased,” Simpson said.
The whole process has left Simpson shaking his head.
“Because they didn’t like the size of his head they wanted to kill him,” Simpson said.
“They gave me two options. Go get a DNA test done on him and find out what his lineage is, which is several thousand dollars, or leave the province,” Simpson.

Where do some shelter workers and animal control officers come up with this BS?


Someone please direct me to the information that leads these wanks to believe they can justifiably kill dogs because:


- Their head is too big

- Their forehead is too wide

-Their hindquarters are lower and smaller than their front end

-Their chest is too big

-And for God's Sake DO NOT HAVE A BOX SHAPED MUZZLE!

It appears that a flippant decision was made that Charlie seemed to also have a friendly demeanor, seeing as though he visits the OLD AGE HOME AND DAYCARE TO VISIT on a regular basis!

The moral of this story is; if you live in this Dogforsaken province of Ontariostan, erase the word "pit" from your vocabulary. Don't even use it to describe what exists in the center of most fruit for fear of having your dog killed because his head it too big!

Denver mis-identification process update

Denver newspapers are a-buzz with questions about whether thousands of family pets have been slaughtered simply because of the mis-identification process.
Well, duh?
Check out this quote from The Denver Daily News.
This snippet is Doug Kelley (director of animal control in Denver) defending the “system”.

System
defended

Doug Kelley, director of animal control, defended the system yesterday, arguing that the appeals process is proof that it works.

“The administrative hearing process is there, it’s designed to allow owners to appeal,” he said. “That process worked in this case — the dog, upon further information, was found not to be a pit bull. So, that’s why the process is there.”

Kelley also defended the training animal control officers receive in order to label a dog.

The training is actually a voluntary program that animal control officers must opt into. The checklist to determine if a dog is a pit bull is almost entirely physical characteristics, such as lips, eye color and shoulders. If a dog matches the majority of criteria for a pit bull, then the dog is a pit bull in the eyes of city officials. 

Critics of the system, however, point out that there are dozens of traits that can be applied to several breeds. In many cases, the evaluators are unable to agree on several of the criteria.

So what if you don't have a couple thousand to blow on legal fees? Your dog is killed!
Training for breed identification? No such thing! You can't identify something that is fictitious. “Pitbull” is a slang term for a non-purebred dog or cross bred dog.
Checklist… see previous post! Opinion based descriptions.
Try this…
Identify the following pictures on Denver's “pitbull” checklist. Just open the attachment on the previous post and keep it open so you can do your own checklist of each of the animals below. See if you come up with a similar result for the following animals.
Animal number 1.

Animal number 2.

Animal number 3.

Ok, freak me out! I calculated more common criteria with animal number 3 when going through the checklist with each animal! Here are a couple other links to other articles on this topic.
The Denver Channel
Denver Post

How does Denver identify a "pitbull"?

Have you wondered how Denver identifies a dog as a “pitbull”? I always find it a curious process how it is that one identifies something that is a slang term or label as opposed to a concrete provable subject.
As I have said over and over, the term “pitbull” is a slang term for a type or “look” of dog. It is not a purebred and it is certainly not a breed. There are well over 25 purebred breeds that resemble what is sometimes referred to as a “pitbull”. Basically it depends on who is doing the judging.
In the case of Dexter, in my previous post, Denver Animal Control (AC) has a “team” of so called “experts”. In this case two were AC officers and the third was a vet tech.
The same shenanigans go on up here in Ontario too. The city of Mississauga was caught red handed using the janitor at the pound as one of the “breed experts” and having slips of paper (with breed written on it) dropped in buckets in front of cages as a vote by pound staff to identify mutts in custody.
We happen to have a copy of the form Denver AC uses to decide whether a dog is a “pitbull”. I have attached a copy to this post.
The process is laughable but the outcome is far from. The outcome has resulted in the deaths of thousands of good family pets that happen to not fit the description of what Denver considers a family pet dog to look like. (see my second last post) Yes that’s right, in jurisdictions that have breed discriminatory legislation; your pet’s right to live or stay in your home depends on what it looks like, not how it behaves. It is not dependent on how responsible the owner is; it is strictly dependent on how your dog looks. The labeling or categorization may vary drastically from what you as an owner, AC employees or someone off the street thinks it should look like. It is dependent on amateurs with no qualification to judge the breed makeup of a cross bred dog. One step further, there is no person qualified to determine the makeup or lineage of a cross bred dog because it cannot be definitively determined. Professional dog show judges (with reputable kennel clubs) are at least experts in judging purebred dogs and know what to look for.

When you view the document in the attachment, what you are seeing is one form, used for the identification process, copied three times by three different “experts” at Denver AC. There are 27 steps to fill out , not including the dog’s name, color or gender.

The three forms in a row you are viewing have been performed on the same dog! As you can see the only criteria all three “experts” agree on are the coat color, nose color and sex of the dog. They could not even agree on the weight of the dog, in fact one called the dog obese at 60 lbs while another recorded the dog at 65 lbs with no indication the dog was overweight.

So here is how things basically go down.

Your dog is picked up or seized as a “pitbull” by any law enforcement. The dog is taken to the Animal Control facility where three of their “expert” “pitbull” evaluators fill out the form (the one attached). On the back of the form (not shown in the attachment), they write “pitbull” or whatever breed or mix of breed they think it is. If at least two of the “experts” say it is a “pitbull” then the dog has just received its date with Dr. Death. If at least two of the evaluators say it’s not a “pitbull” then you can pick up your dog and the dog is legal to live in Denver.
The law essentially reads that if Denver says your dog is a “pitbull” then it is a “pitbull”. Sound familiar?

Why on earth do you think (in Ontario) reverse onus was written into the law? (The onus in on the owner to prove the dog is not a “pitbull” as opposed to the crown proving the dog is a “pitbull”)

The stand alone answer to that is IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PROVE YOUR DOG IS NOT A “PITBULL” BECAUSE THEY DO NOT EXIST! Robert Charney (counsel for the Attorney General’s office in our case said himself in court “there is no such thing as a “pitbull”!) You cannot prove definitely that a cross bred dog has or does not have particular breeds in its genetic back ground or lineage. There is no proof and too many variables.

That being said, Kevin O’Connell just won his case in Denver (see previous post) proving Dexter was not a “pitbull”. In my opinion, O’Connell’s “experts” trumped AC’s “experts”. It sure sets a nice precedence for what a dog that isn’t a “pitbull” looks like!

Getting back to the attachment
***The three “experts” who filled out the forms attached, appeared at a hearing. When each were asked which of the criteria on the form were of the “pitbull” they did not know. One of the “experts” actually shrugged his shoulders. These “experts didn’t know whether a “pitbull” was supposed to have a curved or straight tail or course or soft coat. The form is “just something they fill out” but the “experts” cannot tell you what it all means.
The dog that was being identified in all three forms attached was identified as a “pitbull”.
**The dog being identified in the attached form is not Dexter. This is an unrelated previous case in Denver.
*This clearly demonstrates how the identification process is gravely flawed, sending thousands of innocent dogs to their death!

Denver's breed identification was challenged

In a case against the city of Denver where 3 “breed ID experts” identified a dog (Dexter) as a “pitbull”; Dexter's owner challenged this identification and won! 

My face is blue from mentioning this important tidbit of knowledge..

“Pitbull” is a slang term for a shape or look of dog. It IS NOT a breed! No wonder there are problems identifying something that cannot be defined and does not exist. Nobody is truly qualified to ID the breeds of a cross bred dog. Unless a dog is registered with a reputable dog registry, there is no way of proving the lineage of the animal. Fun game at the shelter but when your dog's life hangs on the balance, it isn't so damn fun anymore.. Unless you are a sociopathic dog killer (Kory Nelson and gang in Denver).

A comment was made that thousands of mis-identified family pets have likely lost their lives as a result of Denver Animal Control mis-identifying. Ya THINK? See previous post!  

In an excerpt from an article at The Westword News it was not Dexter who actually did anything wrong, AC was called regarding another issue with a different dog. 

Kevin O'Connell was away on business when he got a call from a Denver animal-control
officer: His dog, a Presa Canario, had mauled a Chihuahua. O'Connell, a
civil engineer who lives in Thornton,
had left his two dogs with a friend who lives in Denver; he gave the
officer his friend's address. Then his friend called: She said that
animal-control officers had shown up at her house, but instead of
impounding the Presa Canario, they'd taken his other dog, Dexter, who'd
been in her back yard.

“What?” O'Connell replied. “Why?”

“They say he's a pit bull.”

It is high time for the WITCH HUNTERS  to give it up. Seek therapy for your irrational fears and get on with your life. If you truly want to do something constructive about protecting public safety from irresponsible dog owners then take a look at the Responsible Dog Ownership bylaw in Calgary, Alberta. No targeting breeds, discrimination or throwing responsible dog owners under the bus in Calgary. Simple, enforceable, common sense bylaws that have been in place for nearly 2 decades and is a proven winner!

Denver's going down baby!

Time to wake up to the horrors of Breed Specific Discrimination

It is due time to “out” the visual and background story behind breed bans. Please let this burn into your mind. Please share this with as many people as you possibly can. The content is difficult, but what those of us who live with breed bans have witnessed and live with every hour of every day is not to be turned away from. The only way we can see our way through this is by speaking openly. We must educate people about the facts. There is an alternative. We must show our governing bodies the way. It is our duty as dog owners and citizens of municipalities, towns, cities, counties, states and provinces. It matters not what breed or cross breed of dog you own. It matters not if you even own a dog. It matters not if you even fancy dogs. This insanity MUST STOP! We owe it to the innocent.
A dog owner who was
forced to move out of Denver because of the pit bull ordinance, passed along a portion of her difficult account of life as a dog owner in Denver.

Many of you B.A.N.D. (Breed Awareness, Not Discrimination) members have
been here with me and so many others since Denver reenacted the breed ban in May
of 2005. Various members have done and continue to do rescue, fostering, letter
writing, phone calls, and every other kind of action that goes into helping
those affected or changing these insane laws to something saner, kinder, and
smarter than rounding up family dogs and killing them. 

 

Lately, for several reasons, I've not sent out much information about what
is going on with the court cases or what you can do to help if you're looking
to. A small part of those reasons is that doing some of this is hard and awful
and I just plain don't want to relive it by telling others–I've pretty much
clammed up as a defense mechanism. For me, one of the worst aspects of this is
helping people through the system to get their dogs out. Animal control does not
make this easy and anyway, almost everyone is scared and crying, and that's just
the people.

 

When these people go to visit their dogs in the Denver shelter, and have to
leave their dogs there–actually walk away–as the dogs are screaming to go with
them, it is almost too much to take. And the dogs have no idea how they got from
their comfy sofas to that concrete hellhole. I know many of you on this list
have experienced this firsthand and some of you have said you've never heard
your dog make that panicky sound before.

 

The point of this is that so many people do not know what the end
result of breed discriminatory legislation is. I've heard people say, “Oh, you
just can't have them there.”

 

No! That is not it at all. Not even close. 

 

Breed discriminatory legislation manifests itself in the rounding up and
killing of good, well-loved, well-trained, passive, sweet, family dogs. I've
included photos as proof that that is the end result of a breed ban. Please do your part and help spread the word. I can attest that
these are indeed photos from Denver's breed ban as I took them myself.

 

Also, there's so much need out there with the dogs, even if you don't want
to send these disgusting photos out or don't want to become an advocate for
people going through the system, there is plenty more you can do with whatever
time and resources you have. We need it all and we need it now! Thank you!

Your tired friend,

Xxxxx

 

 

About the photos…

 

These are pictures of just one load of dogs that Denver has rounded up and
killed as part of their breed ban. “Well,” you might say, “dogs are killed every
day in shelters across the land.” Yes, they are and it is all awful. But these
were dogs who had homes. These were owned dogs that got picked
up and killed for what they look like, not for anything they did. Underneath
this pile of dead dogs, but not shown, were something like twelve puppies that
were not even weaned yet. The photographer wanted to show them, but didn't have
the heart to move the bodies of the adults around to show the puppies. Either
way, this is how a breed ban manifests itself–in the rounding up and killing
family dogs.

__._,_.___

Now, just before you lean back and wipe your brow to think this is a Denver issue or this isn't happening here.. think again. This happens every day right here in Ontario. We have the numbers. Over 5000 dogs have been killed right here in Ontario since August 25, 2005!