New IL Law - Page 1

As reported by yahoo news, "...The new law, which takes effect on Monday, makes it a misdemeanor for a convicted felon to own an unspayed or unneutered dog or any dog deemed "vicious" under the Illinois Animal Control Act." http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061228/us_nm/dogs_illinois_dc

it is about time someone looks at this right!

But there is a problem with this law.. the dogs them selves are not "deemed" vicious until a vet, judge, or specialist has deemed them so. So until that particular dog has been examined by a vet, or seen by a judge, or so called specialist... More "vicious" dogs. BUT they are headed in the right direction. Hopefully a law wont be passed that go with the BS of BSL... That in of itself is BS. Its not a BREED, its the DOG that causes the problems ,is the problem... i could go into more specifics about WHY THAT dog is the problem, but we all know what makes one dog a "good" example of the breed, and why another does not...

A lady here in Texas was attacked by her two pit bulls a few days ago. I understood both of her arms had to be amputated.... That's all I heard on the news, don't have any other details...

Were they really "Pit Bulls"? I HATE that term BTW. It lumps a lot of dogs that LOOK like the APBT, or AST ASBT into one. When it shouldnt. So the lady got her arms amputated? It sounds like fear/prey bites. I do feel for the owner. Really I do. That sucks, and I prey for her health and recovery. I would be curoius to find out just what KIND of dogs they were, and how sound they were. This is the problem, you get a dog that has become popular, and BYB breed for $, taking in "pretty" dogs that are NERVY, and FEARFUL, and breed them, Then add in that the Terriors have high prey drive..WHAM FEAR/PREY biters. This is why we have so many children gettin their face bitten off. Ohhh mummy! Look at the pretty wittle doggie! I wanna hug it.. And ignoring the signals that the fear/nervy dog is giving, they continue to move in for the body hug...Then snap. The dog bites what is coming at them.. Arms, and FACE. This isnt JUST the dreaded "PITS" Hell the GSD is in danger due to piss poor breeding. Gotta love it. I wrote a blog about it on my myspace. And was in a HUGE arguemet about what makes a dog "tick"...so to speak. All the "Pit" owners that "think" they know their breed were quite interesting to "fight" with. They love the breed, but dont know what makes THAT (or ANY) dog tick. (ie drives, natural aggression ((not viscoius)) and such), and these people are what makes the fight to save their beloved breed a non issue. Its all about the , But MY dog is so good! Look at it licking my daughters face! But i tought it not to bite your hand when you reach in the bowl..We follow Ceaser Milan! ...blah, blah, blah. It drives me INSANE! Learn why THAT dog bit your daughters face off, when she went in for the hug, when YOURS does not. EVEN though they were raised the same. Grrrr.... Dont get me started. I hope that lady is ok.

As I read it, "OR" is important. It can be a non vicious dog, but if it is unaltered it's still a crime... "you get a dog that has become popular, and BYB breed for $, taking in "pretty" dogs that are NERVY, and FEARFUL, and breed them, Then add in that the Terriors have high prey drive..WHAM FEAR/PREY biters. This is why we have so many children gettin their face bitten off. Ohhh mummy! Look at the pretty wittle doggie! I wanna hug it.. And ignoring the signals that the fear/nervy dog is giving, they continue to move in for the body hug...Then snap. The dog bites what is coming at them.. " (mercedes) Not only that, but lack of education on appropriate behavior around dogs and supervision and enforcement. You can't control how others breed or socialize their dogs, but you CAN control how your kids behave thru education and supervision. Kids can't be expected to read a strange dog's body language, but the parent should be supervising and in control of their kids actions. We can all make a point to help educate the public too.

I am waiting for the Il animal control to update their laws, so I can see the "or".... And yep, Kids need education as well. Big time. The whole goal is EDUCATION. Just as you wrote. All around. Parents, kids, breeders, and what nots. All need educated.

Theirs no such thing as a bad dog, just bad owners. neither a vet or a court judge should be able to judge if the dog is vicious or not. A court Judge was not trained to judge a dogs temperament or behavior. Not all vets understands the temperament or behavior in dogs (especially in certain breeds like the GSD or pitbulls), they only know medical part. I would NEVER go up to my vet and ask her/him what they thought about my dog, as far as temperament. The folks who should be doing all of the judging are those who are behavioral specialists in caniness.

Sorry Folks, I must go with Brittany on this one. While there are rarely unstable dogs, the rate of canine criminal insanity is considerably lower than that of humans. Furthermore, the vast majority of inappropriate bites occur as a result of HUMAN error or criminal act. While I have NO sympathy for the plight of convicted felons, I consider this law unlikely to benefit anyone but the politicians who can posture to their constituents. Happyu New Year, Jonah

Like I said my previous post was all the news report said. Not sure it really matters especially to the lady who lost her arms. When you say Pit Bull here in Texas we are are talking about the Strafford Pit Bull. I have decent knowledge on Pit Bulls and they are for the most part not fear biters. Ususally something sets one of them off and then it's too late. Problem is the they can cause so much damange. Labs have the highest number of bites here in Texas(discussed on another post) but they just don't do so much damange per bite.