Calling all dog lovers
Beth DeLaForsest from AWholeRottaLove sent me the following email today. If you are interested in joining Beth for the event, please do so. I will not be able to attend (our County Fair starts on Tuesday and the 4Hers are very busy Tuesday night) but if any Ladies Logic readers who go I would LOVE to have a report of the event!
Rep John Lesch will be at the Town Hall Meeting Tuesday July 24 2007 at 6:30 PM. It will be held at The Model Cities Building 849 University Ave in St. Paul. He will be taking questions and comments including those on his proposed Breed Bans. The moderators might want to moderate the questions so please have questions written down before hand. St. Paul Animal Control will also be there.
***I want to stress how IMPORTANT it is that you take the time to make it to this meeting.
***Below is posted how to deal with a representative…that was sent in the initial e-mail I sent…I edited it a bit for this situation…good reminders as this can be a highly emotional topic for a lot of us.
***Please remember that you represent the breed…so we need to put our VERY best foot forward!
***I have attached a few items to read through (directly below)to look at so you all can compile as much ANTI BSL information as possible! (Please forgive me as a lot of this will be on pit bulls…since that is what most BSL is aimed at).
Web Sites: http://www.mydogvotes.com/ http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/legislation.html http://www.realpitbull.com/pits.html www.atts.org http://www.pitbulllovers.com/site-map.html http://www.ducksoupplayers.com/rubyatwork.htm http://www.understand-a-bull.com/BSL/BSLindex.htm http://www.defendingdog.com/ http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/home.html http://www.animallaw.info/articles/aruslweiss2001.htm
Also, if you go to the A Rotta Love Forum (www.arottalove.org/forum) there is a section on BSL that says Web Sites. There are a lot more there to check out as well.
***If you would like to meet up with a group of us we will be meeting at 6:00pm sharp right outside the main doors. In case you can’t find us and you want to meet my cell phone number is 651-592-9591.
1) Keep it short and to the point.
2) Steer clear of stereotypes. In politics, appearance is everything. When you talk face-to-face about BSL to politicians and the media, you must also adopt that same philosophy. Hide your tattoos, brush your hair, put on some nice slacks and a dress shirt, stand up straight, and use good grammar. I know it doesn't seem fair that you can't just "be yourself", but the fact is, life isn't fair, and this isn't about you. It's about your rights as a citizen and your responsibilities as a dog owner. If you don't convey an attitude of respectability, you will get two negative results: first, you won't be taken seriously, and second, you will be reinforcing a negative stereotype, thereby making it much harder for all the rest of us.
3) NEVER speak or write rudely - ALWAYS be respectful and mature. As the saying goes, "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Or like my mom used to tell me, "if you want to be treated like a grown-up, you need to act like a grown-up." If you want your views to be heard, you need to be patient, open-minded, and mature. If you name-call, swear, threaten, or lash out, you risk losing your audience. Not only that, but you are reinforcing a negative stereotype ("all pit bull/Rottweiler owners are uneducated and immature"). Denver council members recently expressed interest in a non-breed-specific alternative to their draconian pit bull ban - until they started getting angry hate mail and threats from some pit bull owners. That just confirmed to them that pit bull owners are scary, angry, dangerous individuals; they now defend their BSL with fervor, and hundreds of family dogs have been put to death as a result. Don't let your passion and emotions carry you away when you speak!
4) If you choose to mention your dog, be very careful what you say. When you speak out against BSL by arguing "My pit bull is the friendliest dog on the planet and everyone loves him!", that is not helping your case. Your pro-BSL representative believes you own a ticking time bomb. Your protests that your dog "loves everyone" only confirms in their mind that you are in denial - and anything else you may try to say becomes more crazy talk to them. On the other hand, if you speak to the representative as a concerned citizen - not a dog owner - you are more likely to be heard and respected as an equal rather than discounted as a nut job. Mention your dog only if you have proof - a title, certificate, award, or other evidence - that your dog is capable of "above average" good deeds and is highly unlikely to be a "ticking time bomb." If you have a therapy dog, a search-and-rescue dog, a hero dog (which received some sort of recognition from a major group), or an obedience-titled dog, you can mention it. If your dog's credentials are average (i.e. Temperament Tested, took some agility classes, lives with a child and hasn't eaten him yet), that's great - but not good enough to get out of the "could snap at any moment" category, so it's probably best to leave him out of it. Yes, you have every right to be proud of your dog, and yes, you should tell people all about your great dog - but not when you're talking to a pro-BSL legislator. They have a tendency to tune out words from pit bull and Rottweiler owners in particular.
5) Join your representative in worrying about the human victims. Aurora Councilmember Bob Fitzgerald gives us a wonderful quote regarding his reasons behind supporting a pit bull ban: "The thought of one kid getting hurt is too much for me." If we think further about the context in which Fitzgerald gives this comment, he seems to be implying that he does not care about children who are attacked by dogs other than pit bulls. In fact, some months prior to Fitzgerald's insensitive comment, in a city very close to Aurora, a young girl was killed by two Alaskan Malamutes. This child's needless death was apparently not "too much" for Fitzgerald, since he shows no interest in banning Alaskan Malamutes.This sort of exclusionary thinking is pervasive among legislators who support BSL. They are so focused on the victims of attacks committed by certain breeds of dogs that they tend to overlook victims who were attacked by less "controversial" breeds. In effect, they are minimizing the danger posed by non-targeted breeds, the fear suffered by individuals who live near a dangerous dog of a non-targeted breed, and the pain inflicted on victims of attacks committed by a non-targeted breed. Ultimately, pointing this out to representatives is helpful; politicians do not want to seem insensitive toward victims, and the only way to treat every dog attack victim equally and fairly is through non-breed-specific legislation, where all victims are entitled to the same justice and retributions regardless of the breed of dog that injured them.
6) Provide good examples of non-breed-specific legislation that works. Identify some possible solutions to the problems your community is having with dangerous dogs. Perhaps your animal control department is under funded and understaffed, resulting in paltry enforcement of laws. Maybe your community has a blasé attitude toward leash laws and other dog laws. Perhaps school children are not getting any lessons in dog safety. Try to identify what areas need to be worked on in order to improve public safety and reduce dog bites. Offer model non-breed-specific dangerous dog legislation to replace breed-specific proposals (the AKC and the HSUS can both provide this). Our government representatives need to look like they're doing something - anything - to protect the public against vicious dogs. They automatically default toward BSL because it seems so easy, but if you give them something better, safer, and more effective...
I am working on a set of posts that will address the different problems of Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) that I will be posting over the next few weeks. Beth links to a lot of the information that I am using (but I do have a few other sources up my sleeve) so you can get up to speed fairly quickly through her links. If you have the time, I urge you to go. Speak out for the 4Hers who will be very busy getting ready for their annual rite of summer!
Rep John Lesch will be at the Town Hall Meeting Tuesday July 24 2007 at 6:30 PM. It will be held at The Model Cities Building 849 University Ave in St. Paul. He will be taking questions and comments including those on his proposed Breed Bans. The moderators might want to moderate the questions so please have questions written down before hand. St. Paul Animal Control will also be there.
***I want to stress how IMPORTANT it is that you take the time to make it to this meeting.
***Below is posted how to deal with a representative…that was sent in the initial e-mail I sent…I edited it a bit for this situation…good reminders as this can be a highly emotional topic for a lot of us.
***Please remember that you represent the breed…so we need to put our VERY best foot forward!
***I have attached a few items to read through (directly below)to look at so you all can compile as much ANTI BSL information as possible! (Please forgive me as a lot of this will be on pit bulls…since that is what most BSL is aimed at).
Web Sites: http://www.mydogvotes.com/ http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/legislation.html http://www.realpitbull.com/pits.html www.atts.org http://www.pitbulllovers.com/site-map.html http://www.ducksoupplayers.com/rubyatwork.htm http://www.understand-a-bull.com/BSL/BSLindex.htm http://www.defendingdog.com/ http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/home.html http://www.animallaw.info/articles/aruslweiss2001.htm
Also, if you go to the A Rotta Love Forum (www.arottalove.org/forum) there is a section on BSL that says Web Sites. There are a lot more there to check out as well.
***If you would like to meet up with a group of us we will be meeting at 6:00pm sharp right outside the main doors. In case you can’t find us and you want to meet my cell phone number is 651-592-9591.
1) Keep it short and to the point.
2) Steer clear of stereotypes. In politics, appearance is everything. When you talk face-to-face about BSL to politicians and the media, you must also adopt that same philosophy. Hide your tattoos, brush your hair, put on some nice slacks and a dress shirt, stand up straight, and use good grammar. I know it doesn't seem fair that you can't just "be yourself", but the fact is, life isn't fair, and this isn't about you. It's about your rights as a citizen and your responsibilities as a dog owner. If you don't convey an attitude of respectability, you will get two negative results: first, you won't be taken seriously, and second, you will be reinforcing a negative stereotype, thereby making it much harder for all the rest of us.
3) NEVER speak or write rudely - ALWAYS be respectful and mature. As the saying goes, "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Or like my mom used to tell me, "if you want to be treated like a grown-up, you need to act like a grown-up." If you want your views to be heard, you need to be patient, open-minded, and mature. If you name-call, swear, threaten, or lash out, you risk losing your audience. Not only that, but you are reinforcing a negative stereotype ("all pit bull/Rottweiler owners are uneducated and immature"). Denver council members recently expressed interest in a non-breed-specific alternative to their draconian pit bull ban - until they started getting angry hate mail and threats from some pit bull owners. That just confirmed to them that pit bull owners are scary, angry, dangerous individuals; they now defend their BSL with fervor, and hundreds of family dogs have been put to death as a result. Don't let your passion and emotions carry you away when you speak!
4) If you choose to mention your dog, be very careful what you say. When you speak out against BSL by arguing "My pit bull is the friendliest dog on the planet and everyone loves him!", that is not helping your case. Your pro-BSL representative believes you own a ticking time bomb. Your protests that your dog "loves everyone" only confirms in their mind that you are in denial - and anything else you may try to say becomes more crazy talk to them. On the other hand, if you speak to the representative as a concerned citizen - not a dog owner - you are more likely to be heard and respected as an equal rather than discounted as a nut job. Mention your dog only if you have proof - a title, certificate, award, or other evidence - that your dog is capable of "above average" good deeds and is highly unlikely to be a "ticking time bomb." If you have a therapy dog, a search-and-rescue dog, a hero dog (which received some sort of recognition from a major group), or an obedience-titled dog, you can mention it. If your dog's credentials are average (i.e. Temperament Tested, took some agility classes, lives with a child and hasn't eaten him yet), that's great - but not good enough to get out of the "could snap at any moment" category, so it's probably best to leave him out of it. Yes, you have every right to be proud of your dog, and yes, you should tell people all about your great dog - but not when you're talking to a pro-BSL legislator. They have a tendency to tune out words from pit bull and Rottweiler owners in particular.
5) Join your representative in worrying about the human victims. Aurora Councilmember Bob Fitzgerald gives us a wonderful quote regarding his reasons behind supporting a pit bull ban: "The thought of one kid getting hurt is too much for me." If we think further about the context in which Fitzgerald gives this comment, he seems to be implying that he does not care about children who are attacked by dogs other than pit bulls. In fact, some months prior to Fitzgerald's insensitive comment, in a city very close to Aurora, a young girl was killed by two Alaskan Malamutes. This child's needless death was apparently not "too much" for Fitzgerald, since he shows no interest in banning Alaskan Malamutes.This sort of exclusionary thinking is pervasive among legislators who support BSL. They are so focused on the victims of attacks committed by certain breeds of dogs that they tend to overlook victims who were attacked by less "controversial" breeds. In effect, they are minimizing the danger posed by non-targeted breeds, the fear suffered by individuals who live near a dangerous dog of a non-targeted breed, and the pain inflicted on victims of attacks committed by a non-targeted breed. Ultimately, pointing this out to representatives is helpful; politicians do not want to seem insensitive toward victims, and the only way to treat every dog attack victim equally and fairly is through non-breed-specific legislation, where all victims are entitled to the same justice and retributions regardless of the breed of dog that injured them.
6) Provide good examples of non-breed-specific legislation that works. Identify some possible solutions to the problems your community is having with dangerous dogs. Perhaps your animal control department is under funded and understaffed, resulting in paltry enforcement of laws. Maybe your community has a blasé attitude toward leash laws and other dog laws. Perhaps school children are not getting any lessons in dog safety. Try to identify what areas need to be worked on in order to improve public safety and reduce dog bites. Offer model non-breed-specific dangerous dog legislation to replace breed-specific proposals (the AKC and the HSUS can both provide this). Our government representatives need to look like they're doing something - anything - to protect the public against vicious dogs. They automatically default toward BSL because it seems so easy, but if you give them something better, safer, and more effective...
I am working on a set of posts that will address the different problems of Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) that I will be posting over the next few weeks. Beth links to a lot of the information that I am using (but I do have a few other sources up my sleeve) so you can get up to speed fairly quickly through her links. If you have the time, I urge you to go. Speak out for the 4Hers who will be very busy getting ready for their annual rite of summer!
Labels: Breed Specific Legislation, Dogs, Rep. John Lesch
posted by The Lady Logician at
4:52 PM
1 Comments:
I would like to express my regrets as to how this Town Meeting went. The code of conduct which was well defined was not followed by some who attended this meeting. However I am against any breed-specific legislation I feel it is important to maintain a level of respect.
Sincerely,
Beth DeLaForest
By
Anonymous, at 1:30 PM
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