H 5671, intrinsically dangerous, infinitely stupid

UPDATE

Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien and City Council President David Moran have written to the governor expressing their displeasure with H5671 and asked him to veto it.

"We certainly respect and appreciate the love of pit bulls and all dogs by the supporters of the bill. However, as public officials, we must do what is necessary to protect the health and welfare of the two- and four-legged residents of our city."

if you live in rhode island, let the governor know that you would like him to veto the bill.

Office of the Governor
82 Smith Street
Providence
RI 02903-1196
Phone: (401) 222-2080
governor@governor.ri.gov


“Years ago it was German Shepherds that were ‘bad’ dogs. Then it was Dobermans, then Rottweilers and today it is Pit Bulls. No specific breed of dog is intrinsically bad or vicious or dangerous.” PALANGIO

State Rep THOMAS PALANGIO, a democrat and lead sponsor of the bill that reversed the state's ability to regulate pit bulldogs, despite the objections of animal control officers.

i've never seen a politician so uncomfortable in his own skin. a person can get spoiled watching reptiles like DICK CHENEY and BILL CLINTON. it's easy to forget that some of these guys are not actually from mars. the very nervous PALANGIO seemed to do okay answering the questions but the split second he completed his answer he began a strange cycle of panic that repeated throughout the short interview. he seemed to exhale a huge sigh of relief, while thinking "okay, tom, you got through that one, maybe they haven't caught on yet that you are a complete idiot." then the reporter would start in with the next question and PALANGIO would inhale deeply and the look on his face seemed to be telling the viewer, "oh god, here comes another one. this time they're going to see that i am complete idiot. i don't know how much longer i can continue this charade."

i love this interview with PALANGIO. he described why he returned to politics after leaving politics to become a full time lobbyist. he is concerned about his community losing some of its luster citing the foreclosure and abandoned housing problem. PALANGIO'S answer to breathing life back into his dying community: PIT BULLS! and who can blame him? blood is lustrous, but only when wet, not so much when dry. personally, i'd rather the house next to me was abandoned than continue to endure the mutants and the pit scum that currently occupy it.

i was so fixated on mr. brylcreem and his nervous facial twitchings, i had a tough time following the interview, i had to watch it twice. i kept wondering about what qualified him for this job, what he did before becoming a professional sleazeball. slippery investment banker? bottom feeding lawyer? greasy mafia peon? my imagination ran wild but it was nothing compared to reality - used car salesman. LOL! i thought, that can't be true. yup, it's true. in fact, he was a used car salesman in trouble with the tax man. the PERFECT imbecile to carry the nutter torch.

only me and 39 others have seen this interview and there is only one comment. it's a doozy.

Isn't this the guy who was a lobbyist for Ciccilline? Man... this guy is the poster child for RI hacks... ask John Lombardi... he criticized this guy REPEATEDLY for being a no-show even while lobbying.. no one could ever find the guy! I wonder where he golfs? Need a good laugh? This dude is actually a "USED CAR DEALER"... no joke! LOL

back to the serious issue of intrinsically dangerous dogs. YES, Rep PALANGIO, some dogs ARE intrinsically dangerous. pit bulldogs are unique in the mayhem they create; jumping out of 2nd story windows, breaking into homes, jumping into cars, ONE dog mauling multiple victims. in london last year, ONE pit bull put FIVE cops in the hospital. more recently and much closer to your home, ONE pit bull again put FIVE people in the hospital. should have listened to those animal control officers.

Rep. Palangio on Capitol Spotlight, January 29, 2013

H 5671 

Pawtucket RI - Come for the not being mauled by pit bulls

pit bulls: goddess of madness, rage and frenzy

Pawtucket RI - Come for the not being mauled by pit bulls

Stay for the New England charm, delicious seafood, urban farming movement and the utter awesomeness of still not being mauled by pit bulls.

Population 2011: 71,153

Median Income $39,628 well below RI median income of $55,975 and the US median income of $52,762.

Economic base: textiles, Hasbro toy manufacturer, jewelry, silverware and metals

Supposed cost of just implementing BSL according to BFAS BS calculator: $112,132

Actual 2011 total animal control operating expenses (with 9 year old ban): $124,920

Love Pawtucket.  Run afoul of their pit bull ban three times and like magic we all get our wish - JAIL TIME FOR NUTTER!

This is an excerpt from a radio interview on NightSide with Dan Rea with guests Boston City Councilor Rob Consalvo  and Amy Conrad, an advocate for unidentifiable animals.  They're discussing the Massachusetts ban on BSL that Amy Conrad helped get slipped into law while no one was looking.  Cuz we all know when you ask the people, they like to have both local control of government and pit bull regulation.  John Holmes, the animal control supervisor for the city of Pawtuckett, calls in to share his city's experience with a ban on pit bulls.

Thanks to April29 for sharing this great interview.

Transcribed excerpt:
Dan: Back to the phones we go…let's go to John Holmes in Rhode Island…John how are you tonight?
John: Good, how are you?
Dan: Good, What's up?
John: I just want to say I'm the Animal Control Supervisor in Pawtucket.
Dan: Ooh, great! Thank you for calling in.
John: You're entirely welcome.  We did put the law banning in 2004 banning pit bulls in the city of Pawtucket.  And I just want to say right up front that I do agree with the young lady that, I forgot her name
Dan: Amy
John: Amy, there are good pit bull owners.  What we did was, we were known as the pit bull capital of Rhode Island, the number of bites that were publicized in the late 90s - 2000s.  We looked at this for a number of years…  And let me also say they're wrong, about these people going out and getting another breed - that has not happened in the City of Pawtucket.  But, we're very aggressive with the law.

We put this law in to protect the animal as well as the people.

We were picking them up in the housing projects after they were fought, dead in plastic bags.  We were euthanizing pit bulls on a weekly basis prior to this law.  Last year we had to put down three.  And the numbers are getting shorter and shorter.  Our shelter is not full of pit bulls anymore.

They are a good dog.  We've got one in there now we just had neutered.  We don't believe in euthanasia just because it's a pit bull.  But, the law has to be done and it has to be done right.  Protect the good pit bull owners.

We have 80 pit bulls that are grandfathered in the city and owned by responsible people.  But again, we targeted the drug dealers.  We targeted the idiots that were walking around with big tow chains on 'em.  Those are the people we went after.

And this law has not only worked, it's worked tremendously.  And I welcome anybody to come in and see our numbers.  It's a shame that you have to pick out any breed but it's the dog of the day to the drug dealers and the idiots that make these dogs vicious.

Now you had one caller say, Well target the people.  How do you ban people?  We looked at this.  We went by the Denver Colorado law, but we went one step further.  We put jail time in there.  After the third offense, you go to jail.  And that's the end of it.

And people can walk down the streets of this city and not be afraid of being attacked by ANY dog, let alone a pit bull.  We're very aggressive with our leash law.  Our people are all trained; they've all been to the academy.

So, if you're gonna do this, don't put a law in if you're not going to enforce it.

Rob Consalvo: Hey that's a great point and this was an awesome call.  And I appreciate you, as a trained professional, have shown that breed specific laws can work in specific areas. Your town is different than my town and what you've chosen to do and modify is working for you.  You should have that right and Boston should too.

But you bring up another great point.  We've tried to market this as a pro-pit bull ordinance, actually.  And if you talk to Animal Control, they'll tell you that the ordinance was the tool to go in and rescue pit bulls from dogfighting dens.  They normally would have had to get a warrant in a court but now they have the ordinance as the tool because a neighbor complained.  they've rescued pit bulls as part of the ordinance.  They've used it as an education tool.  They always didn't fine for the muzzle or the beware of dog sign or the other pieces of the ordinance.  They educated people who were disobeying the law into becoming better pit bull owners.

So, yes there was a lot of controversy around muzzles and BSL, but if you talk to the good men and women who go out into the field and respond to the calls, they've used it as a positive pro-pit bull tool to rescue those dogs in an urban area who are in danger and that's an important piece to this.

Dan: John, thank you very much for the call and the background information.
John: Can I just say one more thing, and I'll make it very quick.
Dan: Sure
John: You know animal control are quick to be blamed, you know, looking at these laws.  But you gotta understand that they're sick of euthanizing these dogs.  They're sick of picking them up from the drug dealers and these idiots that don't know how to take care of them and euthanize them.  And the law does work.  Thank you.

Nightside with Dan Rea February 21, 2013 
You can listen to the interview.  It is divided into two parts.  The first part is nutter dominated.  The awesome John Holmes can be heard on the second part.

Pit Bull Awareness Month News

Tim Omarzu
Times Free Press
Etowah, Tennessee passes pit bull ban despite opposition!
The City Commission in Etowah, Tenn., approved an ordinance banning pit bulls by a 3-2 vote at its meeting Monday night, despite a campaign by pit bull owners against the measure.
The ordinance, which the City Commission already approved once in a first reading, singles out pit bulls as a particularly dangerous breed with a strong fighting and chase instinct. Some of the characteristics that make them dangerous, according to the ordinance, include a diminished tendency to warn they're going to attack, a tendency to "fight to the death" and to tear flesh "which has resulted in grotesque injuries to human victims."




Rob Borkowski
Woonsocket Patch
Woonsocket, Rhode Island is attempting to legislate grippers again. i think they might succeed this time.
"We're not having a major problem with rottweilers," said Kay. "It's always the pitbull, pitbull, pitbull."
She said right now, the city pound has 13 cages, and nine of them have pitbulls in them. There are so many pitbulls taken in by the pound from irresponsible owners, she said that they haven't got resources left to care for regular strays.




Barbara Kay
National Post
Canada
Their sole raison d’être is causing animal and human suffering. And therefore, those who are drawn to pit bulls above all other 400-plus breeds – apart from those naive souls who have been duped, and plenty have — are morally bound to interrogate their motivation in fetishizing this canine anomaly.




Merritt Clifton
Animal People
on Tracey v. Solesky

Libertarian theory holds that the “invisible hand” of the marketplace should enforce socially responsible behavior, not legal mandates.  According to libertarian theory, if certain behavior is dangerous, such as keeping pit bulls, the people who keep pit bulls–and their landlords–should be sued for the costs resulting from attacks, and should pay higher insurance premiums to offset the risk of lawsuit.

Landlords should have the option of either excluding pit bulls from their private property or charging higher rents.  If keeping pit bulls becomes economically prohibitive, due to the costs of insurance and compensating pit bull attack victims, libertarian theory holds that breeding pit bulls should become economically unviable and come to an end.

Arguing that pit bulls should be subject neither to breed-specific law nor to market pressures is in effect arguing that people who keep pit bulls should be exempt from any restraints taking into account the unique behavior and physical characteristics for which pit bulls are bred and acquired.

murderous Detroit nanny dog in custody