Nearly one million Pit Bulls a year are killed in shelters across the U.S. every year -- 2,400 dead Pit Bulls a day; 200 a day in Los Angeles alone.
Why are all these deaths occuring?
The short story is that the Pit Bull Community has failed to change its breeding culture.
The Pit Bull Community continues to fail the dogs by placing one million Pit Bull puppies a year in the hands of people unwilling and unable to deal with these dogs over their lifetime.
This not a failure of society to accept the Pit Bull.
This is a failure of the Pit Bull Community to do whatever it takes to change its culture.
The Pit Bull Community would rather see one million dead dogs a year than accept that they have a breed specific problem.
Read that sentence again: a breed-specific problem.
There are not one million dogs of any other breed being ushered into the death chambers every year.
This is a Pit Bull problem. This is a failure of the Pit Bull community.
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19 comments:
I suppose it is easy to posit that a mysterious entity, this "Pit Bull Community" is at fault. Even if I argue against it, you can define the community as you see fit, creating a circular argument of win.
More importantly, your source is using suspect numbers. Fifteen million euthanized animals? I've seen euth numbers as low as 2 million, as high as five-eight million but never 15 million.
And where does the 200 Pit Bulls killed every day in Los Angeles come from? I can't find any statistical source data.
Further, how is it feasible to extrapolate the data from a heavily urban, large metropolitan area like Los Angles and apply it to the rest of the country?
I'm not saying too many dogs of any breed are being killed, just that it would be nice to cite sources and make sure the data we are using to make grand statements are valid.
Thanks for sharing Rinalia.
Question: Do you think the unwanted Pit Bulls that end up in shelters are being bred by Poodle and Chihuahua owners? I bet not. If your point is that there is no "community," I guess I would have to disagree. There are Pit Bull bulletin boards, web sites, blogs breeders, registries, magazines and books. In fact the United Kennel Club was CREATED for pit bulls. So yeah, there is a community, and NO, the dogs are not being produced by Chihuahua breeders.
Next question: How many dead Pit Bulls is OK? 180,000? 365,000? 500,000?
If you do the math, I think you will find that 2,400 dead Pit Bulls a day (what is shown in the graphic) works out to be 876,000 Pit Bulls a year. More on that in a second...
Another question: Why not look up the Pit Bull kill numbers for all of the Los Angeles County shelters? I have, and they are on the Internet. Let me know what total you come up with. Hint: there's more than one shelter in LA County!
As to whether LA County is representative or not, I guess you have never been there. It is not 100% urban. LA is massive, spanning about 500 square miles. It's urban, suburban and even rural.
Did you know that California has a lower than averag euthanizia rate for dogs? True!
OK, now for a simple one stop source: See page nine here >> http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/09/7-8/JulyAug2009.pdf
Also, take the time to notice the ads from Best Friends Animal Shelter, the national convention on animal shelters, etc.
So what's this article say? Just this:
_ _ _ _ _
"Among the unadoptables in 2009,
based on 2006-2008 data, will be upward of 1.8 million cats who cannot be handled, believed to be mostly feral, and as many as
967,300 pit bull terriers who have either flunked behavioral screening or are just too
numerous for shelters to accommodate.
Pit bulls have increased from about
40% of the dogs killed in shelters at the beginning of the present decade to 58% now. Yet the percentage of pit bull intake killed in shelters has fallen from upward of 90% at the beginning of the present decade to about 80%
at present, through the advent of standardized behavioral testing, in place of policies against
adopting out any pit bulls.
The numbers of pit bulls killed have not dropped parallel to the rate of pit bull killing because pit bull intakes have increased
to about 1.2 million per year. Pit bulls are the only breed to show a sustained rate of rising
shelter admissions throughout the decade.
Of the total U.S. pit bull population of circa 3.5 million, about a third arrive at a
shelter in any given year, at an average age of about 18 months. This is the same average age
and rate, relative to their number on farms, at which steers go to slaughter.
Two-thirds to 80% of the pit bulls
entering shelters are surrendered by their keepers. Most of the rest are impounded, either for
behavior or as victims of abuse and neglect.
_ _ _ _ _ _
The data here (as it explains) is based on regional and
national shelter killing tolls from every open admission
shelter handling significant
numbers of animals in specific
cities, counties, or states. The
sample base each year is proportionately weighted to ensure
regional balance. Only data
from the three most recent fiscal
years are used.
So there you go.
Of course, if you want to say that only 400,000 Pit Bulls a year are being killed, and that's not a big deal, go right ahead.
Patrick
Patrick, nowhere did I argue that the death of any dog or group of dogs is acceptable. It's a bit of a logical fallacy to ask me whether I have a cut-off point for "acceptable deaths" - unless I stated that any dog's death is acceptable, that little inflammatory question might have been better off left unsaid.
My point about the "community" is that the vagueness of the term leaves much to be desired. Do you blame pit bull rescuers for the pit bull problem? Breeders? Shelters? Adopters? Purchasers? I mean, it isn't as if there is a unified front when it comes to pit bulls, at least none that seem obvious to me. I could be convinced otherwise. :) But ultimately YOU are defining the parameters, which makes debate difficult and your argument a little circular.
I questioned the validity of the statistics cited. I think that is fair to do so and perhaps warranted less of a snarktastic response, perhaps not.
Visiting Los Angeles has no bearing on the question I asked. It's a big city with 4 million people and various sectors of high-density populations. So what? It's not Topeka. I merely suggested that extrapolating country-wide data from one city in one part of the country may not be wise. Even if they have twelve shelters.
As to Animal People, where do they get their info that pit bulls comprise that percentage of the population? They don't seem to cite them. For example, in their table on "the effect of BSL" on killing pit bulls, he lists Denver with a rate of 275/year, yet recent statistics from Denver Animal Control show that in the past three years, nearly 3,500 pit bulls were euthanized. That's nearly 1,200 pit bulls per year (for the past three years). Further, he is using sketchy logic by saying "average in last year or an average of the past few years". You just wouldn't get away with that misuse of data in even college-level stats.
I'm not disagreeing there is a problem, by any means. I'm suggesting we ask where this data comes from and if there might be some issues with it. I'm asking that definitions be agreed upon and vague terms like "x community is at fault" be fleshed out and defined.
I didn't come here to inspire you to incite the riot act, but for an honest discussion. We know Clifton is a bit of a sketchy character and has been known to engage in the egregious misuse and misinterpretation of data in the past, which is why I hesitate to rely upon his data as the end-all, be-all for this issue. And I may have missed it, but it does not appear he lists where his data comes from (it appears pretty darn thorough, so I would not be surprised if some of it was from valid sources).
I know you've been rather outspoken on this issue and, by no means, do I think any of us should stick our head in the sand and ignore the reality that too healthy, adoptable animals are killed. And I happen to agree that many of them are pit bull type dogs (probably not APBT or ASTs). But that's just my feeling - I have only localized observational evidence with shelter populations that vary from city to city here in northern California.
Rinalia, you are simply engaged in the same three tactics that the Pit Bull community always engages in.
Here are the tactics:
TACTIC #1. Deny existence of the dog entirely. "There is no such thing as a Pit Bull." "No one knows what one is," so no Pit Bull is harming anyone, anywhere, or at any time. You have not tried this tactic (to your credit), but you and I both know this nonsense game, right?
TACTIC #2. Say everyone else's data is wrong but provide none of your own, and not even try to gather any evidence yourself.
"NO, I will not go through the 30 fatal attacks this year and last year and prove that 60 percent of those dogs were not Pit Bulls. Instead, I will find two dogs that might not be Pit Bulls and suggest the entire thesis is wrong, even though those 2 dogs do not change the core data conclusion."
"NO, I will not look up the data on Los Angeles County Pit Bull euthanasia rates (or anywhere else), even though I am told they are on the Internet."
In your case, having been called out on not knowing anything about Los Angeles (and not bothering to look up the data yourself), you simply fall back to the line that Los Angeles "is not Topeka."
Well, actually, most places are not Topeka. Only Topeka is Topeka. Ever been there? I have. FLAT. They also have very special Pit Bull laws. Hmmm. Wonder why? And while you look that up, why not look up Chapter 4, Article 14 of the Topeka City Code. I have. Here's a hint: Very few Pit Bulls are coming out of Topeka, Kansas alive. Here's the law >> http://library6.municode.com/default-test/DocView/10317/1/36/40
TACTIC #3. Put up a "web sticker" that says "ban the breed, not the deed" which is the Pit Bull community's way of saying their solution is to hose the blood off the sidewalk and kill the dog if there is a problem.
Put up a "web sticker" saying "NO BSL" while not actually noting that Pit Bulls have a very BREED SPECIFIC PROBLEM that is resulting in about a million dead dogs a year. No other dog is "bred to be dead" like the Pit Bull is. And yes, these are dogs coming from the Pit Bull community. And yes, there is one -- one that has offered precious few solutions to the problems facing Pit Bulls and communities across America.
Why does even little old Topeka, Kansas have a special Pit Bull law? Simple: America is no longer putting up with the irresponsibility of the Pit Bull community. It is no longer impressed with folks who breed a million dogs a year just to kill them in shelters, and who simultaneously shrug their shoulders and deny there is a problem when it comes to savage maulings. It is tired of obstruction and obfuscation and feel-good solutions that do not work or are unfunded by the Pit Bull community itself. Cities, counties and towns (even Topeka, Kansas) are taking action because the Pit Bull community has FAILED the dogs. Places like Topeka have said they are TIRED of killing dogs. And so, if you want a Pit Bull in Topeka, you better be set up with a kennel, that kennel better be licensed, that dog better be on a leash no longer than four feet, and that dog better be muzzled. Wow. I think the muzzle is a bit much. But you know what? At least Topeka is taking action to try to lower the number of Pit Bulls they have to kill, and at least they are trying to protect the community from serious maulings by a dog with a particular problem (an explosive combination of a game-bred dog who too often has a stupid, silly, young, naive, or knuckle-dragging owner who does not understand the needs of the dog and/or will not take them the time and energy to fill them).
Topeka has taken action to deal with its problems because the Pit Bill community would not, or could not. The same is true in Los Angeles and hundreds of other communities across the U.S.
To recap: The Pit Bull community has failed the Pit Bull. And everyone knows that. And now everyone can see that too.
Patrick
Patrick, I'd hate to be the kind of reader that has to argue anytime you have a "Pit Bull" topic but it seems like these are the few that we disagree on.
First is the statement that no other breed is being killed by the millions. Not only do I think those numbers are very skewed, there is a huge reason why no other breed can match the number you gave.
In our last discussion you mentioned that the "Pit Bull" is actually a type of dog and not really a specific breed. This allows any dog that even looks to be the phenotype labeled as a Pit Bull or a Pit Bull Mix. But you can't have it both ways (no one in particular) you can group staffs, amstaffs, apbt, corsos, boxer mixed, etc under one group and then publish information as if they are all APBTs.
As for the "community is to blame" I'm not sure if you've spent time on pitbull online communities but these are the last people trying to hand everyone a pitbull. We constantly encourage people to spay/neuter their pets and leave the breeding to responsible breeders. We are also trying to close the circle everyday and keep these dogs in the hands of capable owners. Of course you're going to have back yard breeds turning out multiple litters a year many which are mixes under the $$Pit Bull$$ name, decide to breed their female to anything with four legs because they want puppies, or irresponible owners that let "accidental breedings" happen but these type of people could care less about the welfair of the breed or visitis websites in order to get educated. Is it trully fair to umbrella them under with the whole Pit Bull Community?
Josef - Your post seems to have come right after my answer to Rinalia (see above) in which I note that the Pit Bull community always engages in the same three transparent tactics. You engage in two of them:
TACTIC #1. Deny existence of the dog entirely. "There is no such thing as a Pit Bull." "No one knows what one is," so no Pit Bull is harming anyone, anywhere, or at any time.
TACTIC #2. Say everyone else's data is wrong, but provide none of your own, and do not even try to gather any evidence yourself.
"NO, I will not go through the 30 fatal attacks this year and last year and prove that 60 percent of those dogs were not Pit Bulls. Instead, I will find two dogs that might not be Pit Bulls and suggest the entire thesis is wrong, even though those 2 dogs do not change the core data conclusion."
"NO, I will not look up the data on Los Angeles County Pit Bull euthanasia rates (or anywhere else), even though I am told they are on the Internet."
My suggestion: do the same research I have suggested to Rinalia, and see what you find out. I have done the drilling -- the numbers are truely jaw-dropping, and NO we are not killing a million Dalmatians a year, nor are we killing a million Standard Poodles a year, nor are we killing a million Cocker Spaniels a year, a million Pugs a year, or a million Border Collies a year.
We ARE, however, killing almost one million Pit Bulls a year.
As to the Pit Bull community, YES, I guess I know a bit about it. This blog is actually mirrored over to a Pit Bull bulletin board. I have written a little about Pits and know the history; see "What the Hell is an American Staffordshire Terrier" on this blog, or "Black and White and Redneck All Over."
It's not hard to find the Pit Bull community is it? Heck, the kind of nonsense they salute is before the Supreme Court right now. Nice!
It's not hard to find the kill rates of dogs in shelters, either, or the daily parade of Pit Bull bite attack stories (try Google News).
Use "the Google" to see how many Pit Bull breeders will sell you a dog without any questions asked (see how many kennels take PayPal), and then look to see how many Pit Bulls are advertised on Craig's List (see for yourself), and then see how many ads for Pit Bulls are at the back of every dog magazine sold on every magazine shelf in America.
As for the message of all of the "nice" people in the Pit Bull community (and many are very, very nice people); there are a LOT of web sites and blogs that want prospective dog owners to think a Pit Bull is just like any other dog. Lots of lots of those. In fact, isn't that the core message of the Pit Bull community -- that the dog is no different from a Standard Poodle or a Pointer or a Golden Retriever? It's complete nonsense, of course, but it's the core idea behind opposition to any solution to the Pit Bull's breed specific problem.
And what is the result of all this: Almost a million dead Pit Bulls a year, and Cities and Counties moving beyond the nonsense solutions and inaction being offered up by the Pit Bull community.
As Diane Jessup puts it:
"No other breed has ever faced the possibility of extinction by legislation like the American pit bull. We are in a time of crises. We can regulate ourselves, or we can allow dog-haters to do it for us."
Do haters? Or dog lovers?
You see, I do not see the folks who are demanding sterlization of Pit Bulls as haters. I do not even think the folks who want to locally ban the dogs are haters. They are just sick and tired of killing dogs at the shelter and sewing up children in the emergency wards.
P.
You didn't really answer any of my points.
I have done a bit of research on the matter and all I said was that your data may have been skewed. We talked in a previous post and I said something along the lines that animals with human agreesion 9 times out of 10 aren't true APBT. You went on to say that the pit bull was a type of dog and not neccsarily a breed. This in fact opens the law makes, media, statitiscians etc to label any dog that looks like "a pit bull" while at the same time meaning the breed APBT. Because so many types of dogs can be grouped together it will obviously make for larger numbers.
When the Clifton study determined that pit bulls and their mixes, Rottweirlers, and Presas were among some of the dogs most likely to commit fatal bites, there is one glaring clue. The term "pit bull" isn't capitalized like Rottweirlers and Presas because it isn't a true breed it is a lump category and that's not really fair.
As for the google issue. No one can honestly help that. If someone wants to start a breeding program it is definitely their right and no matter what dog breed you're loyal to there isn't much you can do about it. I'm aware of many people that will hand over a pup as long as you have the cash, no matter what the breed.
If I wanted to start selecting DA and very game patts and breeding them then I could. If I sold these to the general public would this be the Patterdale Community responsiblity or just a product of my own ignorance? All the Pit Bull community can do is warn people against these dogs and those type of $$ kennels. We can't go around shutting down kennels just because we don't agree with how the advertise or how they do business.
I DID answer your question.
Your reply is that because a Pit Bull is not just a registered breed we have no idea what one is.
That is, of course, nonsense.
I do not need a registry to tell me if a dog is a Jack Russell terrier or a Patterdale. If I did, I would not know much about dogs! Enough of this nonsense -- it is obfuscation in the name of obstructionism.
You new point is that you are not your brother's keeper. No one has any responsibilty for anyone else, and we are all powerless about what others do, and "shit happens."
Indeed it does. Which is why we have laws when we well and truely get "tired of all this shit."
America is tired of killing Pit Bulls in shelters, and it is tired of sewing up kids in emergency rooms. As a conseuquence it putting in new Pit Bull laws. I consider this a failure of the Pit Bull community. Your thesis is that there is nothing anyone can do.
Fine. Believe that, and it's true.
City and County governments disagree, of course. And since you have stepped off the playing field ("there is nothing we can do") then they have the field all to themselves. No wonder Pit Bull breed bans are springing up all over the US, and around the world!
Now, how about looking up the number of Pit Bulls killed in 2008 in 1) Los Angeles County (all the shelters); 2) Toledo, Ohio; 3) El Paso, Texas; 4) Washington, D.C.; 5) Durham, North Carolina; 6) Seattle, Washington; 7) Cook County, Illinois; 8) Indianapolis, Indiana; 9) Tallahasee, Florida; 10) Richmond, Virginia; 11) Portland, Oregon; 12) Detroit, Michigan; 13) Cleveland, Ohio; 14) Dallas, Texas. I have picked these cities randomy -- subsitite your own cities if you want (different size and areas of the US), let us know what you find and provide links to the data.
As I recall, the last time I asked someone to "do the dog work" when it comes to Pit Bull research, they scratched their heads. What? You mean you want to me research? I don't care enough to do that! I do not care enough to even look up and fact-check the information provided by others.
Patrick
What is a Pitbull you ask?
I ask how do you tell a dog is a lab or golden retriever if they are not papered? Its usually pretty obvious. Sure there are some dogs out there that when you look at them you have no clue what they are, but most you at least have an idea.
Saying that there is not proof that its a pitbull is like pointing at a dog that looks like a lab and saying you don't think its a lab. Sure its possible its not a lab, but it probably is.
That is exactly my point, the general public does not know a real pit bull when they see one. I'm sure you do but you aren't then one collecting this data. I've even had Animal Control tell me my animal is much to small to be a pit bull. This is fine by me and it saves me a lot of trouble but I know from first hand experience that the general public knows shit about dogs. I've said my piece hoping that many who read your blog will see my comment and see another side. So I'll drop it and move on.
I am away from my computer and unable todo proper research but I accept your challenge and will try to post some numbers.
I will reiterate the fact that all I can do is inform people. At the end of the day people will do what they wish and a law won't change that. All it will do is keep these dogs out of the hands of responsible owners and only criminals will own them. Makes no change.
If you want an honest solution, the only one I can think of is probably the toughest for me to say. Euthanize all of the pit bulls in shelters. I'm sure many of them are tremendous animals but I'm trying to think about the betterment of the breed. They aren't living the best quality of life and have a chance to fall back into irresponsible hands. You get rid of the shelter dogs and educate potential owners on this breed. Current owners won't be affected and responsible breeders can continue to put these animals in the right hands.
As for the irresponsible puppy peddlers, I'm sorry but there's no way to stop them from selling to whoever they wish, regardless of the breed. They will continue to advertise as they wish and breed/sell how they please. If you have an idea how to police every "backyard breeder" I'd love to hear it.
I have a feeling you're getting sick of this discussion. I can agree to disagree and save us both a headache, if you'd prefer. :) (Seriously, I can do that, headache optional).
“TACTIC #1. Deny existence of the dog entirely.”
The American Pit Bull Terrier and the American Staffordshire Terrier are Pit Bulls/pit bulls. But everyone has a definition, right? The only pertinence this has on the discussion is if the data is different dependent on whether we are talking about type or breed. Retrievers are a type, but you would be hard-pressed to find euth data on retrievers (Labs/Lab mixes, sure), the same courtesy should be applicable to pit bulls – i.e. standardize the data, please. It helps with accuracy and what-not. But no, I believe pit bulls exist. Especially considering I have one snoring on the bed right now.
”TACTIC #2. Say everyone else's data is wrong but provide none of your own, and not even try to gather any evidence yourself.”
Patrick, I have not said anyone’s data is wrong, just questionable. As I pointed out earlier – 15 million euthanized animals? That’s suspect. Two hundred pit bulls a day in Los Angeles? That’s suspect. Clifton data with an inaccurate Denver count? Suspect.
I looked at LA Animal Services data for 2008 and “pit bull” euthanasia – 3,297 dogs identified as pit bulls in 2008. That does not translate into 200 pit bulls euthanized a day in Los Angeles (and to be clear, are we talking city or county?). That’s about 9 dead pit bulls a day. Are there other sources of data you or PBRC used to get the 200 APBT/ASTs a day that are euthanized in Los Angeles’ shelters? I did search for county data but it wasn’t readily apparent.
You missed the point about Topeka entirely. I want to know how we can take 200 dead pit bulls a day in Los Angeles and say, hey, that’s true of every city/county/region of the entire United States. That’s all. I don’t care about Topeka’s laws, they have no bearing on the question I’m asking. I want to know how one can take a 26% pit bull population in LA, a 43% pit bull euth rate in LA and extend that across the country. That’s all. Your side track with Topeka is diversionary, at best.
Josef, people who work Animal Control and put down Pit Bulls every day, see more Pit Bulls in a month than most folks like you and I see in a year. They see hundreds, sometimes thousands of Pit Bulls a month. To think they do not know what a Pit Bull is, is really pretty silly.
As to killing Pit Bulls in shelters, they are doing that.
The goal is NOT to kill Pit Bulls, right?
Or (and I trust I am wrong here) is your goal to kill the Pit Bulls in shelters, and just keep more of them coming?
"Bred for death," I suppose, IS a business plan for Pit Bull breeders, isn't it? Hard to imagine you are saluting that!
So how do you keep Pit Bulls out of shelters?
Simple. You keep Pit Bulls OUT out of shelters, by discouraging their breeding and driving up their costs and making sure that they only get in the hands of those who are serious owners with the right intentions.
How do you do that?
Simple: you make it DIFFICULT AND EXPENSIVE to breed a Pit.
For a dog to remain intact, it should be required to take and pass a serious temperament test -- not a simple "poke it with a stick" test, but a real temperamenttest with other dogs, kids, food, etc. The test should be given every year for two years.
If the dog passes the temperament test, the dog would have to be licensed annually and the license would be expensive -- perhaps $300 for the first year (to cover the cost of the temperament test) and $200 for the second year (another temperament test on an older dog), and $100 a year after that for an intact dog and a normal license cost if the dog is neutered or spayed.
Failure to get your Pit licensed is a $500 fine, and an unregistered intact dog is ALWAYS seized, and the fine is $2,500.
What would the effect of such a law be?
Pretty simple: A lot more sterile Pit Bulls (fixing a dog would be cheaper than licensing), and breeders would have only one litter (if any litters at all). Puppies would be a lot more expensive as a result (to cover the licensing costs), and so fewer morons would get them on a lark. What dogs were born would likely be from a pretty docile strain.
As for the research on what percentage of dogs being killed in shelters are Pit Bulls, go ahead and do that research. I think you will find it pretty illuminating. I did.
Patrick
Rinalia, I DID suggest there was more than one shelter, right?
Never mind. Let's work with what you found and use it to illuminate a bit.
Let me ask you this: At the ONE web site you went to, what did they say? They said:
"The ratio of Pit Bulls euthanized each year compared to Total Dog Euthanasia Rates averages nearly 40%; the highest ratio was 44.5% in 2002. It was 43.6% in 2008." Source >> http://www.laanimalservices.com/PDF/reports/annual/2008%20Statistical%20Report%20LA%20Animal%20Services.pdf
OK. At this one shelter, they killed 3,279 Pit Bulls (out of 4,239 dogs euthanized) in 2008. They adopted out 358 Pit Bulls -- about 9 Pit Bull deaths for every Pit Bull adoption.
Is that pretty close to normal?
Pretty close. In Wichita, Kansas (the flatest and calmest place on earth), Pit Bulls are 37% of the dogs euthanized. See >> http://www.wichita.gov/NR/rdonlyres/B2DD4B03-6020-4C5A-9E44-2006560917EC/0/ESAnimalServicesCouncilReport2008AnnualDogStatsYearEndTotals.pdf
I picked Wichita, because you liked Kansas before, but now you seem to hate Topeka (now that you see they have BSL legislation in place).
Now go and look for other cities and places as I suggested. Average the percentages (it would help to weight the percentages by total human population, but let's skip that complexity for now, eh?).
What you will find is that about 40% of all dogs killed across the US are Pit Bulls. The lowest kill rates for Pits are places like Denver which BAN Pit Bulls alltogether.
Hmmmm...
Now, what number of dogs are killed in the US?
Not zero!
If 2.2 million dogs are euthanized in the US, and 40% of those dogs are Pit Bulls, that's better than 2,400 dogs a day.
Now, as Paul Barlett notes, we do not have a very good idea on how many total numbers of animals are being euthanized or even admitted. See this 2005 paper >> http://www.animalsandsociety.org/assets/library/223_s15327604jaws08022.pdf The 8 million euthanized pets number given just a decade ago seems high. But 2.2 million? That certainly fits fits within the range of "very possible" if not down right probable. Over at NAIA they park the number at 2.4 million dogs killed in shelters every year. This number does not include vehicle impact strays or dogs killed at veterinary offices.
My point: Case made. With your data (and a little bit of illumination on my part).
Patrick
For the record, there are quite a number of animal shelters in Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control operates 6 shelters on its own. The full array of shelters on the LA County web site (with phone numbers) can be found here >> http://animalcare.lacounty.gov/locationbycity.asp
As they note:
"The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control is one of the largest and most progressive animal control agencies in the United States. Our six animal shelters serve all unincorporated County areas and 50 contract cities. We cover more than 3,200 square miles of cities, deserts, beaches, and mountains; from the Antelope Valley in the north to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the south; as far east as the border of San Bernardino County and west all the way to Thousand Oaks. We provide animal control and rescue services 24 hours a day, seven days a week in our service area."
LIST OF SHELTERS
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
North Central Shelter
Agoura Hills Shelter
Baldwin Park Shelter
Carson Shelter
Castaic Shelter
Downey Shelter
Lancaster Shelter
The spcaLA in Hawthorne
The spcaLA in Long Beach
The LA City: East Valley shelter
LA City: West Valley
LA City: West LA shelter
LA City: North Central
LA City: South Central
Bellflower Animal Control
Burbank Animal Shelter
City of Commerce Animal Shelter
Duarte Animal Control
Glendale Humane Society
Glendora Animal Control
Hermosa Beach Animal Control
Huntington Park Animal Control
Inland Valley Humane Society
Long Beach Animal Control
Manhattan Beach Animal Control
Monterey Park Animal Control
Orange County Animal Control
Pasadena Humane Society
Santa Monica Animal Shelter
San Gabriel Humane Society
South East Area Animal Control Authority (SEAACA
Oops - forgot to include the NAIA citation to the 2.4 million dogs they say are killed in shelters every year. See >> http://www.naiaonline.org/articles/archives/overpop1.htm
The National Animal Interest Alliance's point, of course, is that we should breed MORE DOGS and that 2.4 million euthanized dogs is a LOW number, and we should all skip home and be happy. No worries here!
As I note in the post on this blog entitled "Who Speaks for the Dogs?" the NAIA is actually a stalking horse for the puppy mill industry, the AKC, laboratories that use animals, rodeos and circuses. See >> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2009/09/who-represents-dogs.html
The NAIA opposes almost all laws that would require more responsible pet ownership. They are "Pit Bull" people to the bone on that score, LOL.
Patrick
ANONYMOUS COWARDS, zombies, prosletying vegans, fighting dog wannabes, trolls, time-wasters, frustrated hair dressers, pump and dump dog breeders, Lyndon Larouche lunatics, et. al., please see >> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2009/01/zombies-time-wasters-and-anonymous.html
This is not directed at anyone who has posted to this thread so far. Be advised, however, that I DO ask people to do the work and not just shoot from the hip. And I ask for people to come up with solutions for the dogs and not just say "nothing can be done." Because something WILL be done and IS being done.
"Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
P.
Hi Patrick,
Well done for taking on this issue. It does seem to me though that it's worth mentioning the bits of the "Pit Bull Community" that are not behaving in the why you suggest. Some time ago I find the Pit Bull Rescue Central website and it that much of what they say about Pit Bulls would be similar to what you're saying.
Here in Australia American Pit Bulls are less common but still feature in dog attack stories (with the same denials from aficionados of the breed that the dogs in the stories are really Pit Bulls). In terms of the over-breeding problem and difficulty in finding enough rescue homes the breed that suffers most is the ubiquitous Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
Amanda
You are damn right. Spay Neuter lobby for politicians to actually make this shit mandatory if you are not a licensed breeder. That goes for all breeds. It would be nice to see no more strays just lost dogs looking for home.
God Bless You Patrick.
It is time for this epidemic to spin itself out and it won't happen until the "Pit Bull Community" (and I know who lives within this community) cease their irresponsible, ignorant, arrogant and complaisant behavior. I volunteer at the largest and most well rounded and community education forward rescue in my state.. I adore dogs, all dogs, but it has come to the point where we want to beg for mercy where pit bulls are concerned. The problem has reached epidemic proportions. Even with an army of volunteers out in the community advocating spay/neuter and responsible pet ownership, where the pit bull is concerned, it's like trying to stop a Tsunami with a Q-tip.
Here are some typical phone call scenarios for help.
"Umm hello, yes I was wondering. I have this really nice pit bull but my landlord found out about him and won't let me keep him. He's not fixed and needs his shots and killed my cat last month"
or "I've kept him in the back yard cuz I never housebroke him and he got out and my neighbors called the police"
or "I just found him (yeah right you did)"
or, "My female came into heat before I got her spayed and had thirteen puppies I don't have the time or money for"
It just goes on and on and on and it makes you want to scream and rage and plead and cry all at the same time.
People obtain pit bulls because they think they are "cool" and then they don't know what to do with them as they become sexually mature. We must also face facts....Pit Bulls need a firm owner who expects their dog to respect limitation and boundaries and who understands the importance of keeping it socialized. They are not a dog for a novice or first time dog owner and they DO have issues that need to be addressed and anybody who tells you different is part of the problem.
Thank you for writing a very well researched and very to the point article. I get so tired of the drivel and it's refreshing to see truths put out there and hold accountable, those who lay at the core of this out of control epidemic.
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