There’s a report out of London, England that there are more & more “dangerous” (code for pit bull) dogs being used as not only status symbols by (insecure) men and teenage boys, but the dogs are also being used as weapons…since it’s against the law to carry a knife or gun. These dogs are used not only to intimidate people but are also being used in the growing & secretly popular “sport” of dog fighting.
It’s been said to be “one of the UK’s most pressing social issues.”
It’s not just a problem in the U.K. Not only common folk but high profile athletes & rappers in the U.S. own these “macho” dogs too with little regard to how dangerous a dog trained & bred to be not only a fighter but a killer can be.
The issue is the owner, not the dog. Any dog can be trained to be aggressive (my neighbors Chihuahua’s are little terrors because they’ve been allowed to be). Unfortunately, aggressive breeds like pit bulls, etc generally have to be put down.
The owner should face consequences severe enough to deter ownership of these aggressive dogs. Perhaps jail time for using a dog as a weapon? But I think the thugs (um, people) who are using their dogs in this way won’t be deterred by a stay in jail. Jail is probably a second home to them. Once again it boils down to responsible dog ownership!
Watch the video about this growing dog problem here.
A man in Iowa crashed his car because he was intoxicated. When the police arrived on the scene to do a blood test, they found a bottle of pills prescribed for the mans dog in the car. It turns out that the man had mistakenly taken the pills prescribed for his dog. The pill, Phenobarbital is used to control seizures in people and pets. It wasn’t reported if he knowingly took the meds or not.
The Poison Control Center says people taking their pet’s medicine by mistake is not uncommon. Wear your glasses before you open up the pill bottle!
RNL Bio, a cloning facility in Seoul, Korea, received its first commercial order in February from a California woman who will pay $150,000 for the cloning of her pit bull terrier named Booger. Booger 1 died and was a big help with the woman’s disability. Booger 2 was created using cells from the ear tissue of the donor dog & is expected to be born in September.
I’m sure she’s been told that Booger 2 will be a different dog than Booger 1. So Booger 2 may not help this woman at all with her disability.
The problem I see with cloning pets is that people may be expecting something more than what they’ll inevitably get. A cloned dog is an exact genetic replica of the first dog, but it is not the same dog. So you can’t realistically expect the new dog to be as smart, or loyal, or as silly as the original.
Cloning has its purpose for scientific reasons but I think cloning pets is a fad that will fall by the wayside once people realize that they’re not getting their beloved “Bowser” back. Once the novelty wears off, people will look at adoption again (which is the most humane route anyway).
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June 3, 2008 - 11:33 am
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Cynthia
A couple in Denton, TX are asking the local animal shelter for $206,000 for the wrongful euthanasia of their beloved 3 year old black labrador mix, Amicus. A worker mistakenly euthanized the dog one day before its owners had arranged to retrieve it.
Amicus got out of his yard and the animal control officers picked him up. The neighbors informed the officers whose dog it was & they left a notice. The couple had arranged to pick Amicus up 8 days later because they had to wait for a check to pay the $109 fee to get him out.
An apology is not sufficient for the couple after losing their dog. They are asking for so much because they had the dog since he was a puppy, they rented him out to father other pups as a way to supplement their income, and of course they suffered “emotional pain and stress.” They also haven’t ruled out a lawsuit.
