Thursday, May 28, 2009

Treats on the Internets

Stats on shelter dogs - Who and why

Maddie's Fund has a dl'able coloring book for kids age 6 and under

Nutro recalls dry cat foods

A Vick article apparently intended solely to inflame Pitbull owners

The Dogs of Equality - pet slideshow by Christie Keith

Denver's Pitbull ban will be challenged in court, again.

3 comments:

Pai said...

Those shelter stats are different than the ones from the National Council on Pet Population. Old data, maybe?

YesBiscuit! said...

I'm not really clear on which link provides older info since the ADOA stats are not dated.

Julie said...

Couldn't help to respond to that ridiculous article:


Rather than respond to your inflammatory and offensive article in kind, I'd rather provide with some facts.

Ready? Try to pipe down with your stereotypes for 2 seconds and learn something.

'Pit bull' is a slang term used by the media and the general public to describe three to five breeds, over 20 unrelated look-alike breeds and a large and unknown number of mongrel dogs - the latter making up over 75% of the dog population in the US, which is currently estimated at 72 million animals.

What people are trying to describe when they talk about 'pit bulls' is a short-haired, small to medium-sized dog with a boxy snout and a whip tail.

"Pit bull" is not a breed.

Regardless, there is no such thing as a “friendly” breed or an “unfriendly” breed. There are no friendly breeds. There are no safe breeds. There are also no unfriendly or dangerous breeds. A great disservice is done to the public at large when these kinds of myths are promulgated by media. People are then surprised when so-called friendly, family breeds bite, attack or kill, as all kinds of dogs unfortunately will, given the wrong circumstances.

Luckily, it is a miniscule number of dogs of any kind who attack- dogs are, in fact, one of the safest animals around.

Myths about “pit bulls” such as those about locking jaws, insensitivity to pain, endorphin addiction, preternatural strength, attacking without warning, and having disproportionate drive are simply that- myths. Scientific evidence contradicts every one of these claims. “Pit bull type dogs” signal and cue like all other dogs and have identical jaw structure to all other dogs. Period.

You are doing a major disservice to canines and humans alike when you persist in repeating unfounded stereotypes and myths. Perhaps you don't personally care for dogs, but as a journalist one would assume that you may have a slight interest in facts.

Hope you made it all the way through this email. If not, I'm sure you're off having fun slapping some dude's ass and talking about the game. What was that you said about imbeciles?

-Julie