Please vote against Pit Bull banning in Calgary, AB

[HayleyMarie]

Calgary is only a few hours from me. http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Ci...140/story.html

[Toller_08]

I wish so much that people would just be more responsible dog owners and most of these cases would never happen. It's awful. Because of these three incidences, I've had to listen to soooo many customers over the last couple of days talk about how "all those vicious breeds" (bully breeds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, GSDs, etc.) should be banned and it's heartbreaking to hear.

And the one case definitely wasn't even the Pit Bull owner's fault IMO. He was walking his dogs outside of a park in his neighbourhood on a leash, when the victimized dogs ran out of the park, failed to listen to their owner (and the owner it sounds like failed to listen to the Pit Bulls' owner), and caused an issue with the leashed dogs. It's unfortunate a dog died, but in that case specifically, the poor man and the dogs that attacked and killed the Pom should not be made out to be the instigators/aggressors. It might have ended badly, but they were not the cause.

As to the other bites/attacks, I haven't heard as much about them in detail, but still. It all boils down to stupid people from the sounds of it.

I am grateful that I live in the city that I do, though. Calgary is never one to jump on the "let's ban this breed" bandwagon, no matter how the voters vote on these types of polls. I hope it stays that way.

I do wish the city would properly fence all of the dog parks it brags about though, because at least that one incident could have been prevented that way.

[JessLough]

Originally Posted by Toller_08

And the one case definitely wasn't even the Pit Bull owner's fault IMO. He was walking his dogs outside of a park in his neighbourhood on a leash, when the victimized dogs ran out of the park, failed to listen to their owner (and the owner it sounds like failed to listen to the Pit Bulls' owner), and caused an issue with the leashed dogs. It's unfortunate a dog died, but in that case specifically, the poor man and the dogs that attacked and killed the Pom should not be made out to be the instigators/aggressors. It might have ended badly, but they were not the cause.
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If it's the same one I'm thinking about, the incident happened in an off leash dog park... so the owner should have expected dogs off leash? I may be wrong, though.

[Toller_08]

Originally Posted by JessLough

If it's the same one I'm thinking about, the incident happened in an off leash dog park... so the owner should have expected dogs off leash? I may be wrong, though.

No, the dogs left the off leash park (cause Calgary has stupid fencing on many of the parks). So it happened outside of the off leash park, where the guy had every right to be walking past with his leashed dogs. I've had dogs fly out of a dog park at my dogs as well while walking them on leash past it, and if my dogs had done anything to those rude dogs, I'd be really upset if they got blamed completely when the other dog/owner should be mainly at fault.

[HayleyMarie]

I totally agree with you Devin. From the way it sounds the pit bulls where on leash and the smaller dogs where not on leash.

Honestly, which scares me to death. Off leash dogs scare the living day lights out of me. I hate them so MUCH!!!

[Kilter]

I don't think they'll ever ban the breed really - the head of animal control isn't that dumb. I do wish they were more active in going to the off leash parks and making sure the dogs are under control.

For the dog that died, what happened (according to the news) is the man had three pitbulls on leash, outside of the off leash park, when the pom, a pyr puppy and a boxer LEFT the off leash park and came running up. The owner of the pitties yelled at the other dog's owners to call them back, but the dogs were not responding, and the pyr pup nipped one of the pitbulls which started the whole thing. I agree the off leash parks here aren't the best, very few are fenced properly (some of the 'off leash' areas have a fence on one side, 30 feet of grass in a long strip going for blocks along where houses, yards and streets are with no fences - more like a 'here's a greenspace, make it off leash'). But at the same time dogs should be under some sort of control, and that rarely happens in many cases. I never see animal control pull up and start checking on things, or they'd be writing a lot of tickets. Simply standing near the gate and ticketing people who let their dogs off leash from the vehicle to the park gates would be a start, as would watching for unattended/out of control dogs and giving warnings...

[AdrianneIsabel]

Originally Posted by Kilter

For the dog that died, what happened (according to the news) is the man had three pitbulls on leash, outside of the off leash park, when the pom, a pyr puppy and a boxer LEFT the off leash park and came running up. The owner of the pitties yelled at the other dog's owners to call them back, but the dogs were not responding, and the pyr pup nipped one of the pitbulls which started the whole thing.

This is one of my biggest fears. When I see dogs run up I immediately body block and string up my pit bulls. We've had this scenario happen so many times I have wicked PTSD.

[sillysally]

Originally Posted by HayleyMarie

I totally agree with you Devin. From the way it sounds the pit bulls where on leash and the smaller dogs where not on leash.

Honestly, which scares me to death. Off leash dogs scare the living day lights out of me. I hate them so MUCH!!!

Yep, that is one of the reason I get very cranky about off leash dogs in places where they should be leashed, especially with Sally. It sucks because I get it from both sides-I have one dog that has an extreme dislike for being approached by off leash dogs and likely wouldn't back down if pushed and a dog that's very dog friendly but would get the snot beaten out of him by an aggressive loose dog.

I'm sorry, but if you allow your loose dog to leave the off leash area and rush a leashed dog in the on leash area and your dog is attacked/gets in a fight you have no one to blame but yourself. I'm very sorry that the pom died and I can't imagine how awful it would be to see your dog killed like that, but in this case it was the off leash dogs owners who made the mistake.

[Kilter]

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

This is one of my biggest fears. When I see dogs run up I immediately body block and string up my pit bulls. We've had this scenario happen so many times I have wicked PTSD.

Yikes!

We have a dog we try to avoid, to the point that I stop, sit the dogs and say 'go ahead, we'll wait' and yet the owners NEVER clue in to take the step themselves and go another way. Their dog has poor social skills and usually is barking/whining/lunging at us the whole time while they attempt to control him on a harness and leash. Storee HATES dogs without manners so it's always a stress - almost want to get their number and ask when they plan to walk him so we can go at other times.

[HayleyMarie]

I think In my small town I will become known as the crazy lady who yells at people with rude un leased dogs, especially when I get my hopefuly boerboel pup. I will attack!

Our neighbours, who Tyler unfortunately works with always walks their labs off leash, and they are not controlled at all, those are going to be my first victims. Ha ha.