Minnesota Representative John Lesch Calls for State Bans on Rottweilers, Wolf ybrids, Pit Bulls, Akitas and Chow Chows.
Here we go again. Someone trying to use an easy fix for a complex problem. How about thinking through the problem and enacting real, effective change such as prosecuting people who MAKE dogs afraid and therefore more likely to bite? What about going after people who let their dogs roam neighborhoods or abandon them to fend for themselves? In other words, try to actually solve a problem rather than participate in kneejerk reactions designed to make lawmakers look good and victims feel better?
I’m very sorry for anyone who suffers pain and disfigurement but if they really want to prevent it from happening to others and not just to make themselves feel better through getting revenge in some form, work on REAL solutions.
Thanks to PostBulletin.com for this article.
Lawmaker calls for ban on five breeds of dogs
6/16/2007 7:02:11 AM
By Brian BakstAssociated Press
ST. PAUL — A state lawmaker called on his colleagues Friday to make it illegal to own five breeds of dogs he deemed a threat to public safety.
Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, said he plans to push next year for a state ban on Akitas, chow chows, Rottweilers, pit bulls and wolf hybrids or mixed-breed dogs with any of the above traits.“You never hear stories about roving packs of golden retrievers attacking children in our streets,” Lesch said. “But you do hear about the pit bulls, who are responsible, according to Minnesota statistics, for up to one third of the vicious attacks in this state in the past five years.”
To drive home his point, Lesch appeared at a Capitol news conference with 5-year-old Brianna Senn, whose face carried wounds from a pit bull attack this month on St. Paul’s East Side. He mentioned other serious attacks in recent months and distributed a packet of news clippings about them.
The dog that attacked Brianna was previously declared “potentially dangerous” by city inspectors. Her mother, Kristina Eide, said it’s time to get tougher on such dogs.
“I would rather protect my daughter than protect an animal,” she said.
Violating the proposed law would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days and jail and $1,000 fines.
Half a dozen members of a group that finds homes for neglected or abandoned Rottweilers, pit bulls and other nontraditional breeds criticized the proposal as too difficult to enforce and unfair to responsible dog owners.
“I don’t think mass exterminating five breeds of dogs is going to solve the problem of dog bites,” said Kellie Dillner, assistant education director with A Rotta Love Plus.
Dillner said better enforcement of existing dangerous dog laws would be more effective than enacting breed-specific bans.
The real solution… would be to ban breeds that exceed normal averages for aggressive behavior. Pit Bulls for one are indeed a brand of dog that is a cross breed, that has earned a nasty reputation. Most will agree they are cute, and family orientated, very protective making them great guard dogs, and since they do not shed they even ok for people who have allergies to pet dander. But none the less they are viscous killers when they become aggressive. Some more then others because of how they are trained; but even the most loving gentle family orientated Pit Bull will become a vicious killer if he “sensesâ€? a threat. And what they sense as a threat could be something as simple as someone walking down the street; and more often then not it is something the majority of the Dog species would not. Unfortunately it is there breeding that lead them to have a massive strong jaw structure, with its Terrier instinct and Bull type strong muscular short stature body; which could weigh up to 100 pounds, a Pit Bull is NO match for any child, women or man… period. That is a proven fact and is non negotiable. They have killed and maimed more children then any other species and have even attacked there own owners. NO OTHER Dog Species has its reputation or casualty list. Pit Bulls have NO Place in a single family community and that is what needs to be rectified; so children can feel save playing, walking or riding a bike in there own neighborhood. My 13 yr old and 4yr old grand-daughter were attacked by the neighbors Pit Bull (a gentle dog from what we can tell) while in front of our house; the dog bolted out of his yard and crossed the street and bounced on my 4yr old grand-daughter. My brother who lives 300 miles away had two neighbor kids brutally mauled by another neighbor’s pit bulls. In all six people were brutally mauled in that incident including the owner as they turned on him when he tried to stop the mauling. I only hope and pray that Councilman who wish to ban the dog realize its not the owners but it is the dog and they should only be banded from residential communities.
valencia , i wish i could make you see that my dog will never hurt a child or another person. you know why? I’m a responsible dog owner. all these horrible stories you blame on a dog…are the result of a human being, i.e. a dog getting out of the yard to run across the street to attack a child. this should never be allowed to happen, and a human being is in control of that, not the dog. a dog is a dog, a dog is not an entire breed of dog to be blamed for all things. people, are responsible for dogs. your comments to claim otherwise are absurd.
I have two wonderful Akitas and they have a huge bark when someone drive, but once you come in the fenced in area, they just want to be petted. They are great with childern and I bring them out in public all the time, they love the outside Dariy Queen a couple blocks from my house. NO ONE is taking my babies away!!!
Hey, Valencia:
Any time someone declares something is “proven fact” and “non negotiable,” I know they’re about to tell me something that is anything but. I’m sorry that you know people who were hurt by badly manged dogs — nobody wants that. It is terrible, no question. But there are so many things wrong with what you write that I don’t even know where to start.
First of all, I would wonder, without further information, whether the dogs responsible for the bites you mention were in fact “pitbulls.” It has been my experience that many people identify dogs as pitbulls if they bite. To see how hard it is to identify one, please take this test to see whether you can identify the “pitbull”:
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html
Second, what on earth are you talking about with “pitbulls” being a “cross breed?” “Pitbull” is in fact a nickname for a TYPE of dog, generally an American Staffordshire Terrier or an American Pit Bull Terrier, sometimes a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. These are AKC and UKC recognized breeds. (Yes, John Lesch was also wrong when he referred to them as a breed.)
Third, I believe the word you are looking for is “vicious.” You didn’t mean to say they are “viscous” killers, did you? OK, I’ll stop proofreading, because there are a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes in what you wrote, and there’s no point discussing all of them.
Fourth, if a “terrier instinct” is a problem, shouldn’t we ban Yorkies, West Highland White Terriers, Scotties, etc? Yes, terriers were originally bred to be determined animals that would follow rodents to their holes and pull them out. But calling “terrier instinct” the problem here is a bit inconsistent.
“NO OTHER Dog Species has its reputation or casualty list.” Really? I’ll grant you that the reputation of pitbull type dogs has been sadly ruined by a variety of factors. That isn’t the dog’s fault — if I spread a rumor all over town that you beat small children, I have ruined your reputation, right? That doesn’t mean we should run you out of town, does it?
As to “casualty list,” I’m not sure what you mean. Pitbull type dogs are NOT responsible for the highest number of bites and they in fact rank very high on lists of dog types that have been temperament tested by the thousands and found to be even tempered. For instance, here is a quote from the reputable North Shore Animal League: “In December 2004, the American Temperament Test Society showed the American pit bull terrier scored an overall temperament rating of 83.9%, compared to the 77% score of the general dog population.”
Your energy would be much better spent on encouraging your community to enforce leash laws and laws that require animals to be kept on their owners’ property, as well as laws that keep people from leaving dogs chained outside for long stretches of time (which tends to make any dog vicious) or otherwise abusing dogs. Knee-jerk reactions to a complex problem don’t serve anyone well. You obviously have access to a computer, so there is a ton of information out there that may interest you.
Thanks for reading,
Ellen
Hi Valencia:
I have to disagree with your assessment of this situation. I am a responsible pit bull type dog owner. I never leave my dog unattended, when he goes outside he is on a 50ft lead (I do own 5 acres) unlike like my neighbors that have ‘hunting dogs’ that are free to roam where ever they please. I am in the process of taking him through obedience training. He is properly fed, get exercise on a daily basis and goes to the vet every year. So why should I be punished for something that someone else fails to do?
I agree Ellen Weinstock’s post, your time would be better spent somewhere else.
I am not sure if you are from the Minneapolis/St.Paul area but if you are not, I would like to inform you that the two areas of the attacks are filled with drug dealer, gang bangers and not so nice people.. I believe that N. Minneapolis has already 12 homicides. And E. St. Paul is catching up pretty quick.
Also, on a side note the little 8 year old girl that was attacked in her neighborhood. Why was she allowed to roam her neighborhood at 9pm on a school night? Why wasn’t there a parent outside to make sure the child is safe? Where are the parents? Don’t parents have the responsibility to teach their children about potential dangers, be it dogs, strange or crossfire?
looks like i do not need to say anything to that dumb comment(first one) seems everyone already took out my frustrations and anger about it..
banning breeds is just stupid..whats even more stupid is banning dogs and not locking the owners up..
people should thank themselves(bad people,dumb people etc) for training their dogs to attack or being agressive,for whatever the purpose..do people just think the “dog” was born and decided to be “mean”? it takes someone to raise their dog in these conditions to make them agressive..
maybe im babbeling here but i for one believe with all my heart that any animal could be a “bad animal” if trained and raised the way some of the gang bangers..or “bad people” train them ..do You even know what some”pitbulls”(so you call them) go through?..beaten? starved?..dont ALL dogs just want to please the ones they love?..
ok im going to stop for now..but i promise this is not over..there is no way im going to let them ban breeds here in Minnesota..its wrong..start banning the stupid people and not the dogs!!!…..
Was it a pitty or something else ? I know of at least 3 pits that are used as service dogs for the blind. So it”s not the breed but the owner trains them to be ! Why exterminate the breed do something to the people that abuse them into becoming a vicious animal. Abuse anything long enough it will turn on you to protect itself.
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Well, is it a coincidence that at around midnight 6/16 (the day that article was published) I found an tan/blonde older male chow chow on my lawn…he is now at St Paul Animal Control, has only until Tuesday 6/26 to live unless someone adopts him. I’m betting his owner read the article and thought they had to get rid of the dog. (It seems like a non-aggressive dog, kind of sweet though aloof.) This is a classic result of not thinking things through: people who just set loose potentially dangerous dogs because legislation says you can’t own them.
If anyone reading this DID set free their Chow Chow, please, I”m pretty sure the legislation won’t go through. Go get your dog.
Valencia- you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Pit bulls do shed, they just have a short coat. Pit bulls do not make good gaurd dogs because they are so loyal to people. They are very smart dogs who can sense true danger and will protect their owner if they are threatened, but as for a gaurd dog for property they would lick someone’s face off before they would bite. I own a pit bull and am rescuing my second. They only contribute 1.89% of reported bites a year, and in a dangerous dog reading they finished 4th from the bottom. You cant go off of your own opinion or what you hear on the news. They were saved from fighting when they came to the US, being used as farm dogs and they were like the laborador in America today. It is PEOPLE that choose to train their dogs to be aggressive. The only people a ban would hurt are responsible dog owners, and the irresponsible ones will just find other breeds to do this to. The bravest dogs to ever live were pit bulls, they served our armed forces in wars seeking out wounded soldiers and warning them of tear gas. Do your research and don’t be another one of those close-minded people that beleive everything they hear on TV. There are more reported bites a year from Labs than from Pit Bulls, it’s just not as interesting for the news to report on. PLEASE HELP SAVE THESE MISUNDERSTOOD DOGS, THEY CANT SPEAK UP FOR THEMSELVES, SO I WILL! THIS IS LIKE TRYING TO BAN A CERTAIN RACE JUST BECAUSE THE MEDIA REPORTS THAT THEY COMMIT MORE CRIMES. THIS IS PREJUDICE AND TOGETHER WE CAN ALL STOP BREED SPECIFIC LEGISLATION!
Hi Valencia,
As the owner of one PUREBRED American Pit Bull Terrier, and one rescued American Staffordshire Terrier, I’d like to know where on earth you came up with your facts?
Pit Bull is a nickname for a group of breeds, they are not crossbreeds.
Pit Bulls do not have ‘a massive strong jaw structure’, in bite tests (which are totally unreliable) the pit bull scored the lowest for PSI of bite pressure.
They do shed, and shed quite a lot… just because they have an extremely short coat doesn’t mean they don’t shed.
Pit bulls are actually one of the WORST guarding dogs you could get, in fact many pit bull breeders have German Shepherds or Rottweilers to guard the Pit Bulls as they are one of the most stolen dogs in the US. They will happily go with whatever human visits them. My dogs are protective of me, but will happily slobber kisses over everyone we meet.
Pit bulls SHOULDN’T weigh up to 100 pounds, UKC breed standard is Male: 35-60 pounds, female 35-50 pounds, they are a medium size dog not a large breed.
I’ve been mauled by a German Shepherd, and three reconstructive surgeries and 167 stitches later I still like the dogs, I understand that it was ONE DOG that attacked me, not the entire breed. Statistically LABS and GSD bite more people per year than Pit Bulls do, according to hospitalization records. Here’s a quote from a breed history: ‘Not all people could put up with the dogs when they became either too big or too rambunctious. Also, they were receiving increasingly bad publicity because of the many unsound temperaments being produced and the ease with which their misdemeanors got into the newspapers. It was fortunate for the breed that this over-popularity came to an end, as the unscrupulous breeders were doing the breed much harm.’ Do you know what that’s from? GERMAN SHEPHERDS, who were the feared breed just a few decades ago… now you could place that in Pit Bulls history, it’s a cyclical process and unscrupulous people will just find another breed to mold into what they want if you ban one… promoting responsible ownership will go a lot farther to preventing attacks.
Okay, Valencia is retarded! Where does she come up with this crap that pitbulls are vicious killers that attack their owners? Unfortunatly this is the kind of idiot that perpetuates that kind of ignorant stereotype. I have four dogs, three of them being bull breeds, they are the sweetest most loving and devoted dogs you could ever want. Not a one has maimed a neighbor yet. Bsl is like racial profiling its just wrong.
Well Lesch, you might aswell push for a ban on Black people and Catholic priests, I mean after all they have a history of being violent and aggresive towards people right?
Use your “power” for something productive and not for something ignorant.
If you’re going to push for a breed-ban, why don’t you concider German Shepherds, after all the Nazi’s used them to kill innocent women and children…did you know that?
Try doing some research before you just ok a personal favor for someone.
Here Lesch, why don’t you begin with this video.
Maybe Lesch should be put on a leash.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iZ5YVMRRsLc
Well. I am a neighbor of Mr. Lesch at 125x N. Dale in Saint Paul and I would like to ban his noisy and unruly children; his shrew of a wife and his loud, constant parties. Hmmmm……. I guess none of those things have hurt anyone yet….. but you never know. Kids can throw things, wives can discharge firearms, drunken partiers can drive drunk…… you get the drift. And I am sure none of them would be kind to animals. Isn’t that a felony now?
Hey Valencia:
Here’s an idea: Learn to write, spell and communicate in the English language before posting. You will have more impact and valuation then.
Matt
i dont live in minnesota but bsl anywhere really pisses me off. its what hitler did to the jews. i live in charlotte nc and own a 1 year old akita whom i treat like my son. if anyone ever tried to take my baby away from me they would have to kill me to get him. i would die for my dog just as he would die for me.
valencia it is truely unjust that you say that pitbulls should be banned. my pitbull dutch is the sweetest dog. the most “violent” thing he’s ever done is sniff my butt. to say all pit bulls are dangerous is like saying all red suvs are dangerous because it hit someone. but whos really to blame; the suv or the driver. ponder that for a bit