What were they thinking?

I am sitting here writing this blog entry on the night before a meeting of the Safety Council of the largest city in the county where I live.  That would be the city of Ashtabula in Ashtabula County, Ohio in case you are curious.  The city of Ashtabula currently has a law in place that bans ownership of "pit bull" dogs within the city.  According to my sources, one of the topics that will be discussed at tomorrow's meeting of the Safety Council is the fate of this law.  There are some very good people who are trying to get the ban against pit bulls abolished and I applaud their efforts.  This topic is especially relevant because of what happened yesterday during my work day at the clinic.  I had one of those moments in life where you think about a particular law that is in place and say to yourself "What were they thinking?".


I walked into the clinic yesterday morning and my surgery case I had scheduled for the day had already been admitted to the hospital.  The dog's owners are very nice people.  The dog I am sorry to say is not so nice.  Oh it may be nice to people that it knows, but it is not so nice when it is around the strange workings of a veterinary hospital.  Some dogs come to the vet office and are what I call "eternally happy".  This is the majority of dogs we see.  They wag their tails and love being petted.  Some dogs come to the vet office and are fearful, but even though they are scared, they sit still and just wait for the horrible experience to be over.  These dogs will often warm up to us if we are slow and take time to get to know them.  Then there are the fearful dogs that do not back down.  These dogs are a small minority, but they do present certain challenges.  They have learned that if they are scared of strangers and if they attack then the strange people will go away.  These dogs are dangerous and such was the case with the dog that was in for surgery yesterday morning.  This dog would just as soon eat my face, my technician's face or any other face of a strange person at a vet hospital.  It didn't help that the dog weighed about 100 pounds to boot.  Fortunately I work with some of the most talented animal handlers on the planet and we were able to get a muzzle on and treat this dog with what I call "no muss, no fuss".  The dog did not freak out at all and no one got bit.  But in spite of an uneventful visit to the vet, this dog is dangerous.  It is not however a pit bull so anyone that lives in the city of Ashtabula, Ohio could legally own this 100 pounds of accident waiting to happen.


My last appointment of the day was a stray dog that was rescued off the streets of Cleveland.  The dog was pregnant at the time of rescue and a wonderful woman who lives in my neighborhood took her in.  This woman has rescued many dogs and is very good at placing rescued dogs in good homes.  The dog had her puppies and Momma dog and her pups are being cared for until the puppies are old enough to be placed into new homes.  Then momma dog will be spayed and she too will find a new home.  Anyway, momma dog came to the clinic to get her vaccinations.  I walked in the exam room and she immediately walked over to me, wagging her tail and wanted to be petted.  I sat on the floor with her and she licked my face.  Then she rolled over next to me so I could rub her belly.  This dog was in that first category of dog that I talked about.  She was "eternally happy".  I did a physical exam while avoiding the slurping tongue.  I administered three vaccinations while she happily ate treats out of my assistant's hand and without any restraint at all.  Momma dog was one of the friendliest dogs I have ever met and I have met a lot of dogs.  Momma dog is a pit bull.  She cannot be adopted by anyone  who lives in the city of Ashtabula.


And so there is my "What were they thinking moment?".  If I lived in a city neighborhood and had a choice between my neighbor owning the 100# accident waiting to happen or the friendly pit bull, is there any question what I would choose?  Or what any sane person would choose?


I always wonder how a city council votes for a breed specific ban in the first place.  If I were on a city council and I was getting ready to make a new law, I would consult with people who were experts on the topic.  If I were making a law concerning, let's say, safety of drinking water, I would consult with people who have degrees and work in the field of water quality and public health.  If I were making a law concerning education, I would consult teachers and other educators.  Who would I contact if I were considering enacting a law concerning dogs?  Well, that would be dog experts such as veterinarians, trainers and those who run animal shelters to name a few.  I would not ask the public.  I would not ask the police department.  They are not experts on dogs.  And the funny thing is that almost across the board, dog experts are against banning specific breeds of dogs.  So how do these laws get passed in the first place?  Someone is obviously not listening to experts on the subject.


Things that have happened in the past though are just that: in the past.  Wrongs can be righted.  The State of Ohio just recently removed the words "pit bull" from the state's dangerous dog law.  It is time for local communities to step up and do the same.  You don't ban cars because some people are dangerous drivers and you don't ban specific breeds because some people own dangerous dogs.

H.B. 14 January 25, 2012 update: Ohio vicious dog law

Way back last year, I wrote about Ohio House Bill 14 that would remove the word "pit bull" from Ohio's vicious dog law.  This bill NEEDS to be passed.  Ohio is the only state in the U.S. that specifically names a breed of dog in the vicious dog law.  The original wording of this bill got passed umpteen years ago and like all things in government, it is taking eons to fix this mistake. 

You can find my original blog post here.  If you are in too much of a hurry to read the entire post, I think the last paragraph sums up the gist of why H.B. 14 needs to pass:

This is an important issue to all dog owners. If the pit bull is specifically named in the law now, what will keep Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans, Akitas etc from being added. All of us as dog owners have a stake in this. Treat dangerous dogs harshly, but treat them as individuals.

The bill is progressing through the legislative process.  It has made it through its initial committee and the Ohio House.  It has made it through the Ohio Senate committee just a couple a weeks ago.  The next step is a vote by the full senate.  It was suppose to make it to the Senate floor yesterday, but it did not.  All expectations are that it will be heard and voted on by the Senate in the next few weeks.  The next general session is next Tuesday on January 31st.

I'm asking everyone who lives in Ohio and especially dog owners to call your Ohio Senator and tell them you support Ohio H.B. 14.  A few links below to help you out.

Find your Senator here.

Link to Ohio House Bill 14

General information on efforts to stop breed specific legislation

This bill may be voted on very soon.  The time to call or email your Ohio State Senator is now.  Fingers crossed that this bill makes it through the Senate.  It is important to every one of us who owns a dog.

Pit bills and Ohio's vicious dog law

Meet Rommel.  Sweetest pit bull on 4 legs.  I absolutely love this dog.  He has a pit bull "sister" Val who is equally as sweet, but don't tell Val that Rommel is a bit of a favorite of mine.  I think there is a certain amount of charisma that goes along with old age and Rommel is certainly showing his age. Maybe I just have a great deal of empathy since I have my own geriatric dog at home that is developing her share of old age doggie quirks. A few people good naturedly chuckled at the picture of me holding on to Rommel in my office. They said it looked like I had a wrestling hold on him.  Truth be told, he was hanging out in the office with me after having anesthesia to remove an abscessed tooth.  He is a bit unsteady on his feet to begin with and with just a touch of left over anesthesia in his body, well, he was kind of doing the weeble wobble (without falling down).  But the weebling was making it really hard to get a good picture so I was just giving him a little physical support.  Kind of like the boy scout helping the old lady across the road.  Sweet ol' Rommel.

The point of introducing Rommel is that pit bulls are one of my favorite breeds to work on as a veterinarian.  I meet very few who are truly vicious.  If they are vicious, they are not sneaky about it.  I like knowing where I stand with a dog when my face is in their face doing an exam.  But like I said, very few are aggressive in the vet's office and that is just the plain and honest truth.  I could give you a list of about a half dozen other breeds that can make me cringe a bit inside when I see one of them appear on the appointment calendar.  But even on my own personal list of breeds that could just go away and never be seen or heard from again (and all vets have this list whether they admit to it or not), there are good individual dogs and bad individual dogs.  For some reason I prefer breeds where 80% are happy and friendly in the strange exam room setting as opposed to breeds where 20% are happy and friendly in that same setting. Call me crazy.

Which brings to my reason for writing about pit bulls today.  The state of Ohio's dangerous dog law specifically names the "pit bull" as a vicious breed.  I'm not quite sure the history of how this type of dog and no other became part of the law, but it is there and the law needs changed. Notice I said "type" and not breed because "pit bull" is not even a recognized breed.  There are actually several different breeds that fall into the pit bull "type", but none of this is spelled out in the law.  All this does is to make the law ambiguous and that is a big problem.

What it comes down to is that dog bites are a serious issue.  The physical and emotional damage caused by a dog bite can be enormous.  And on occasion, dog attacks can be fatal.  The laws need to be harsh toward those who choose to keep dogs that are aggressive.  The law does not need to punish people who keep dogs that are well mannered and even tempered just because that dog belongs to a specific breed.  Dangerous dogs need to be treated as individuals.  Period.  Breed specific laws are just plain wrong.

Fortunately Ohio House Representative Barbara Sears has sponsored a bill to remove "pit bull" from the vicious dog law.  The bill (which was actually floating around last year too) is now known has House Bill 14.  The bill is in committee right now and has been assigned to the Criminal Justice committee.  There was actually a committee meeting earlier this morning to hear testimony on this bill.   If you would like to help get H.B. 14 passed, please feel free to contact members of the committee and voice your opinions.  Follow the links below for contact and other information.

Ohio House of Representatives Criminal Justice Committee

Lynn Slaby Criminal Justice Committee Chair

Barbara Spears H.B. 14 Sponsor

Ohio H.B. 14 details and links to status

I'll try to keep this blog up to date with details on how this bill is progressing.  This is an important issue to all dog owners.  If the pit bull is specifically named in the law now, what will keep Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans, Akitas etc from being added.  All of us as dog owners have a stake in this.  Treat dangerous dogs harshly, but treat them as individuals.