Sensitive Topic City takes therapy dog away from girl with Aspergers

[Ste11aeres]

Edith was an amazing sweet dog, and the beloved companion of Amanda, an 11 year old girl with Aspergers. The city confiscated Edith for being the wrong breed. They put the dog into a shelter. The family was able to visit, for a short time. The dog had hurt her leg and was not walking on it. When the family asked for a vet to look at their dog, the city refused, giving the dog rimadyl instead. Then the city removed the dog completely, refusing to tell the family where she is.
https://www.facebook.com/saveedith?fref=ts

Amanda now spends her nights building clay figure after clay figure.

 

[Ylva]

That is one evil city.

 

[AsheSkyler]

You gotta be really dang doggie racist to hate that sweet little face! If pit bulls were so evil, would it really permit a little girl to eat chili right next to it and instead of giving all the chili to it? I think not.

 

[DC1346]

I had to google this to verify the veracity of the story. The girl's name is Ahmeah and the problem appears to be that her family moved to Jacksonville, unaware of a city ordinance that prohibits anyone from owning a pitbull.

http://www.katv.com/story/29786685/pit-bull-ban-nabs-therapy-dog

The good news is that the original law was modified. All pitbulls were initially put down but a few months before Ahmeah's family moved to Jacksonville, the law was amended and dogs with no history of violence are now being sent to reputable animal rescue shelters.

Owners living within the Jacksonville city limits may keep their dogs if:

• They are 21 or older
• Have proof that the animal was licensed before the law went into effect
• Have proof of rabies vaccination
• Have proof that the animal was spayed or neutered
• Have the dog implanted with a computer trip for identification.

The law also says that dogs which are found running loose will be returned to their owners (one time only) with a $100 fine provided the owner moves the dog outside the city limits. I understand from the article that the family was unable to move because of a lease agreement ... but not relocating the dog unfortunately violated the law and the animal was sent to a rescue shelter.

I assume that the girl's mother was the legal owner of record ... so did the dog not have a prior license (from where the family moved), was it because the family didn't have any of the required medical records, or was it because the dog was caught running around loose? The article did not say.

Although I am sorry that the dog was confiscated, I'm also someone who is terrified of pitbulls. I have a scar on my leg that given to me by a pitbull. I got this scar when I was in the 2nd grade. One day after returning home from school, I found a snarling dog blocking the entrance to the elevator. When the dog lunged at me, I backed away and fled up a stairwell only to be chased down and bitten.

My screams caught the attention of a U.S. Army major (my family was living in base housing) and the officer chased the dog away after charging at it with a broom. There was blood everywhere ... all over my leg ... spilling across the landing and dripping down the stairs.

I fainted and woke up in the base hospital.

The dog was initially chained in the owner's backyard but disappeared a week later. I don't know if it was given away or whether it was put down.

With this being said, I am sorry for the girl's loss.

 

[Ste11aeres]

I had to google this to verify the veracity of the story. The girl's name is Ahmeah and the problem appears to be that her family moved to Jacksonville, unaware of a city ordinance that prohibits anyone from owning a pitbull.

http://www.katv.com/story/29786685/pit-bull-ban-nabs-therapy-dog

The good news is that the original law was modified. All pitbulls were initially put down but a few months before Ahmeah's family moved to Jacksonville, the law was amended and dogs with no history of violence are now being sent to reputable animal rescue shelters.

Owners living within the Jacksonville city limits may keep their dogs if:

• They are 21 or older
• Have proof that the animal was licensed before the law went into effect
• Have proof of rabies vaccination
• Have proof that the animal was spayed or neutered
• Have the dog implanted with a computer trip for identification.

The law also says that dogs which are found running loose will be returned to their owners (one time only) with a $100 fine provided the owner moves the dog outside the city limits. I understand from the article that the family was unable to move because of a lease agreement ... but not relocating the dog unfortunately violated the law and the animal was sent to a rescue shelter.

I assume that the girl's mother was the legal owner of record ... so did the dog not have a prior license (from where the family moved), was it because the family didn't have any of the required medical records, or was it because the dog was caught running around loose? The article did not say.

Although I am sorry that the dog was confiscated, I'm also someone who is terrified of pitbulls. I have a scar on my leg that given to me by a pitbull. I got this scar when I was in the 2nd grade. One day after returning home from school, I found a snarling dog blocking the entrance to the elevator. When the dog lunged at me, I backed away and fled up a stairwell only to be chased down and bitten.

My screams caught the attention of a U.S. Army major (my family was living in base housing) and the officer chased the dog away after charging at it with a broom. There was blood everywhere ... all over my leg ... spilling across the landing and dripping down the stairs.

I fainted and woke up in the base hospital.

The dog was initially chained in the owner's backyard but disappeared a week later. I don't know if it was given away or whether it was put down.

With this being said, I am sorry for the girl's loss.

After such a terrifying experience, I admire you for being so objective about this story.

I am wondering though, if you had been attacked by a dog of a different breed, would you have been left frightened of that breed, or would you instead have been left frightened of dogs in general? The reason I wonder this, is that our culture treats pit bulls as if they are different than all other dogs, and I've been wondering if that affects the way people who have been bitten by pit bulls view the incident, as opposed to the way things are remembered by people who have been bitten by other dogs.*

I don't think I could ask that question on an NT forum, because it would stir up too many emotions. But the great thing abou AC. is the members' usual ability to discuss things very rationally.

*(My dad was bitten by a German Shepherd, a Collie, a Shetland Sheepdog, and a mixed breed Shepherdish type dog. To the best of my knowledge, he didn't become scared of those particular breeds. Instead, he was left scared of dogs in general.)

 

[DC1346]

After such a terrifying experience, I admire you for being so objective about this story.

I am wondering though, if you had been attacked by a dog of a different breed, would you have been left frightened of that breed, or would you instead have been left frightened of dogs in general?

All dogs make me nervous ... which is why I'm a cat person.

Pictured below is one of my cats ... Scrappy Cat who is a lover and not a fighter which is why despite his size, he is not the alpha kitty of my home.

 

[Pandorum]

It's **** like this that makes me want to [censored].

 

[Spiller]

I've been bitten in the face twice by dogs in my teens - a collie and a jack russel, one very nervous, the other with a brain tumor.. almost blinded in each eye both times.

I don't have a fear of dogs, just a healthy respect for the possibility that such things can happen with an animal that is capable of being far more vicious - and may even be stronger - than me.

I make sure to keep my face away and instruct my kids to do the same.

I've since been bitten a number of times and accept that that's just the way dogs are.. I've also kept snakes, rats, birds, cats - and been injured by them all. It happens.

If you don't want the occasional injury from your pet, buy a plant.. a gentle one.

 

[Ste11aeres]

I make sure to keep my face away and instruct my kids to do the same.

I'm always shocked when someone who doesn't know my dog very well bends down to nuzzle him with their face. He's a nice dog, and probably wouldn't bite: but I can tell that he finds it intrusive (and as nice as he is, I don't want to take chances about the biting). He would let me do anything to him, but I would never try that kind of thing on any dog other than him, nor would I (if they gave me the chance to stop them) let anyone other than me try that kind of stuff with him.
Even if dogs are friendly, we need to treat them with a respect based on awareness of their power.

 

[Spiller]

Unfortunately, most people treat the status of 'pet' as if this autonomous creature is a stuffed teddy that'll do what they think it will, with no regard to what it might.
The vast majority of us can't really even tell what a fellow Human will do!

We take lessons to drive a car, operate heavy machinery, teach kids..
No instructions on how to understand your animal well enough to avoid having your face ripped off though.

A while ago a client brought a camen crocodile into my studio, knowing I have an interest in reptiles and that I rescue unwanted and neglected snakes.
It was a juvenile, about 2 feet long, with an elastic band wrapped around its jaws.

He thought I'd be impressed by how passive it was until I told him that, if it did get free, it could easily relieve him of most of his fingers before he even knew what was happening and to please remove it immediately from the vicinity of my other clients and son!

Reptiles don't look at you and think "Daddy", just because you feed them!

Dogs and cats probably will, if you know how to be pack leader.. unless they've been annoyed, scared or hurt - how will you know?
You never do - you always act with caution accordingly!

Or you could end up scarred and blind for life, like I almost did.

.. Aaand <Breaaath>

 

[Ste11aeres]

A while ago a client brought a camen crocodile into my studio, knowing I have an interest in reptiles and that I rescue unwanted and neglected snakes.
It was a juvenile, about 2 feet long, with an elastic band wrapped around its jaws.

He thought I'd be impressed by how passive it was

Has the guy never watched a nature documentary? African crocodiles lying completely still and passive as the buffalo approaches the water...then...snap! Passiveness IS their hunting style.

Reptiles don't look at you and think "Daddy", just because you feed them!

People think food will make any animal love you. It won't.

Reptiles don't look at you and think "Daddy", just because you feed them!

Dogs and cats probably will, if you know how to be pack leader.. unless they've been annoyed, scared or hurt - how will you know?
You never do - you always act with caution accordingly!

Or you could end up scarred and blind for life, like I almost did.

I'm remembering the story I read about a lady who brought food to her neighbor's abused, starved and neglected chained up dog. One day the dog attacked her, biting her leg so badly as to cause her months of medical treatment and months of being unable to walk. The trauma caused her to have a miscarriage. She probably hadn't done anything to irritate the dog: what is more likely is that the dog had become distrustful of all humans because of what its jerk owner had done to it.
The semi-sweet ending is that this lady adopted a dog who had been set on fire and left for dead by previous owners. She was able to find emotional healing through the second dog.

 

[Spiller]

The semi-sweet ending is that this lady adopted a dog who had been set on fire and left for dead by previous owners. She was able to find emotional healing through the second dog.

That's amazing!

.. I wonder what happened to the first dog..

My family has always adopted rescued and abused dogs and cats.

In the UK, if you're bitten by someones dog, it's put down - no excuses, no reasons!
.. You could have been tormenting and abusing it, doesn't matter - court case.. Dead!

People are so stupid as to, I think, anthropormorphise dogs that the shock reaction is to just kill an innocent life!
I've never come across a case of an evil, megalomaniacal, despotic, psychopathic dog..

It's not the same with cats or snakes, rats, horses, cows, pigs, Humans.. Why have dogs a different expectation when a Human bite has more danger of infection?

 

[Ste11aeres]

In the UK, if you're bitten by someones dog, it's put down - no excuses, no reasons!
.. You could have been tormenting and abusing it, doesn't matter - court case.. Dead!

In the United States, the exact rules depend on your city or county. But There are certain rules that are pretty standard.

For instance, there's generally an investigation into whether or not the bite was provoked. E.g., if a human gets bitten while breaking up the dog fight, the dog is (in most places) not considered vicious, because it's understood that the dog's aggression was actually aimed towards the other dog. Many places will judge the dog more leniently if it happened on the dog owner's property (especially if the person was trespassing) and many places will judge the dog more leniently if the human had ignored the owner's warning, or had knowingly ignored a Beware of Dog sign.

In pretty much every place, the dog is placed under quarantine for ten days. This quarantine applies to every bite case, regardless of circumstances. It has nothing to do with whether the animal is judged vicious or safe. It is not a punishment; the only point of the quarantine is to watch for signs of rabies. If an animal has active rabies, the animal will die within ten days. If the animal has dormant rabies, then rabies cannot be transmitted through a bite. If the animal has no rabies, then obviously there's no problem.

Some places make distinction between a dangerous dog, and a vicious dog. I forget which is worse. Some places will consider a dog vicious after one unprovoked bite, others after two. (I think one bite-if truly unprovoked-should be enough). I don't know the details, of what is done to the dog after it gets put on such a list. Probably depends on the city/county.

Boulder Colorado considers a dog dangerous if it shows any aggression towards a human. Not just biting, but also growling, snarling, etc. However, hope is not lost. The owner can have the dog evaluated in greater depth by the Humane Society, or something like that, and the dog's name can potentially be cleared.
Boulder Colorado is often held up as a contrast to Denver Colorado, where pitbull type breeds are automatically euthanized even if they have never bitten, or never shown aggression, but other dogs can get away with lots of nasty behavior if they are the "right" breed.

In summary, there's a great deal of regional variation in dog bite related laws throughout the USA, although some things are pretty universal, such as the ten day quarantine to watch for rabies, and investigation into whether the bite was provoked or unprovoked.

 

[Ste11aeres]

People are so stupid as to, I think, anthropormorphise dogs that the shock reaction is to just kill an innocent life!
I've never come across a case of an evil, megalomaniacal, despotic, psychopathic dog..

Yeah, I think people make the mistake of thinking that putting down a dog is a matter of justice. It's not. It may sometimes be a matter of safety.
But even the most aggressive dog doesn't understand morality in the same way we do, and can't be said to be acting unethically. Dogs just do the best with their limited knowledge to react to the situation around them in the way that their combination of instincts, upbringing, past conditioning etc prompts. That's why it's so important for the human to be the leader. Because even nice sweet dogs don't understand the situation (at least not in the same way we do) and therefore can make big mistakes when left to their own devices.

 

[Datura]

People may have a habbit of anthropomorphising dogs in unrealistic ways, but at times they really fail to consider some of our simmilarities with the kanine species. They think they can just run up to a strange dog, get right in their face, and pet them or even pick them up without any retribution. Immagine if somebody did that to you; if some stranger ran up to you and immediately started hugging you as though you were best friends. You would probably feel extremely threatened and do whatever nescesary to protect yourself. Too many people treat pets like toys and forget that they have very real emotions and survival instincts that must be respected.

 

[Ste11aeres]

People may have a habbit of anthropomorphising dogs in unrealistic ways, but at times they really fail to consider some of our simmilarities with the kanine species. They think they can just run up to a strange dog, get right in their face, and pet them or even pick them up without any retribution. Immagine if somebody did that to you; if some stranger ran up to you and immediately started hugging you as though you were best friends. You would probably feel extremely threatened and do whatever nescesary to protect yourself. Too many people treat pets like toys and forget that they have very real emotions and survival instincts that must be respected.

Yes. Humans and dogs are mammals and social, we are both social mammals, and as such, we share some of the same instincts. Including the instinct that says that a degree of intrusion that may be tolerated from a close friend, is not all right when coming from a stranger.

 

[AsheSkyler]

DC1346 My husband doesn't like rottweilers for a similar reason. The thing had to be shot twice before it'd stop chasing him on his bicycle one afternoon, and it was going to end very nasty because that dog was certifiably insane at the time. And interestingly, he owned two cats when I met him! He does understand not all rottweilers are rabid or whatever was wrong with that dog, but he does avoid them. But he's really fond of blue healers. I'm looking forward to when we can afford to get a pair of them.