Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Don't Call a Politician a Dog. It's Insulting To Dogs.

Some years ago, while walking my late dog Molly, we came upon a neighbor and his cute little Maltese. Now up until this time I had never, ever, had reason to think Molly was in any way dangerous. She was a big old goofy black lab mix, who gave big sloppy kisses to everybody who put their face within three feet of hers. She had close dog friends who she outweighed five to one, yet she never showed any aggression towards another dog. That is until my neighbor's cute little Maltese snapped at her. For some reason Molly viewed this as extreme danger, and reacted by grabbing the little dog in her mouth, and ripping it open from the top of it's chest, down to it's groin. All hell broke loose. I was screaming, my friend Dennis was screaming, my neighbor's wife was screaming. As the dog's owner scooped the poor bloody thing up in his arms, and ran down the street, he shouted over his shoulder, "I'm going to get my gun and shoot you!". Now I have to admit, I panicked. I grabbed my dog, and dragged her straight home, hid her in my office, and told Mark not to open the door for anyone.

I am telling this story because a politician here in Broward County, passed a law dictating that if a dog bites another dog or person, just once, that dog must be euthanized. No second chance, no muzzle, just kill it. I did the right thing when my dog bit the Maltese, I called the police and asked them to accompany me over to the neighbors so we could settle this. In the end, the Maltese survived just fine, and I paid all the vet bills which came to $750. Right now, here in Broward County there are two dogs on death row who basically did what my dog did. One attacked a little dog that was not on a leash, and came running up to her, and the other one bit a dog that was on one of those reel type leashes, when the owner lost control. In both cases the dogs were well behaved animals who made one mistake. If my dog were to misbehave with the way the law reads now, I would immediately get him the hell out of the county. There is quite a bit of difference between a mean dog and a dog that simply reacts by instinct, the way dogs will. You can write a mean letter to Ken Keechl, the politician responsible for this, at this address.
CampaignManager@keechl2010.com
Broward County Mayor
Ken Keechl
115 S. Andrews Ave. Room 412
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Telephone: 954-357-7004
Fax: 954-357-7798

12 comments:

  1. Al, sorry about the dog rule. I never knew Molly attacked a little dog. I just though she was a lovable crotch smeller and jumper. As for the neighbor and the gun thing, it is always good to keep a weapon near by for self protection. This anti gun law thing will soon be addressed by the Supreme Court. A black home owner is taking Chicago to court over it. If you think it will help writing this Ken Keechl, I will. I can't vote for him. Why did he put forth this rule? Who is behind it? He wouldn't do it except to please some block of voters. That is the group you need to influence. We love all your pets, including Mark.

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  2. Actually it turned out the guy didn't even have a gun. I don't get it though about folks and guns. I haven't anything against having a gun for protection, or (ick) hunting, but there has to be a middle ground between automatic weapons capable of killing dozens of human beings, and a small handgun. Honestly, unless you are the most paranoid person in town, why would anyone need automatic weapons? Does the second amendment also guarantee the right to own a 155 mm howitzer?

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  3. Go to Gander Mountain. For under $500. bucks you can get "THE JUDGE". It is a revolver with 6 shots. It takes 45 long Colts or Winchester AA target load. The shotgun shells are 410 gauge 2-1/2 inch 9 shot. You can mix or match.If the shot gun shell doesn't turn back the home invader, the 45 long will end it.If 4 heavily armed thugs kick in your door in 15 seconds, with illegal automatic weapons, what chance do you have? They don't care if the gun is legal or illegal as the commit an illegal act. Hopefully, you can avoid any such situation in your lifetime.

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  4. Nobody has ever invaded my home except for the thugs from the Broward County Sheriffs Office. I don't live in fear, nor with a gun in the house. I have Chandler. He carries a gun.

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  5. I'm glad you don't live in fear. No one should have to. You've always known everything about your tenants. No fear there. Sometimes I wonder when I see all these home invasions every morning on the news, why would someone kick in a door at 3:00 A.M.. Maybe somebody flicked off someone when they were returning from their favorite bar. Maybe it is road rage! Anyways those are nuts not guns, that Chandler has.

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  6. I believe the real reason u.S. citizens are allowed to own guns is not only as a right but also to keep the government in check should some crazies gain control of our leadership and try to seize our constitution and guns from us. The people are the last line of defense of our constitution. I say, if you want to own a tank you should be able to. It's not guns that kill people, it's people who kill people. If you take away the guns it doesn't matter.

    I signed to petition to save the dog Keechl allegedly wants dead.

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  7. I don't know. A bunch of crazies did take control of the government for eight years and de-regulated everything, started a war, gave hundreds of billions to wall street banks without oversight, and nobody drove their tank into Washington to stop them. Dick Cheney still walks free.

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  8. Who is that impersonating Ann Coulter??????

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  9. As an amendment to section 4-12, this ordinance that is being used for all of the dogs being labeled a “Dangerous Dog” is unjust and unconstitutional. Just because Broward County is not allowed to ban any specific breed of dogs this ordinance has enabled Broward County to create a loophole within the same to deem every dog that has been provoked as a dangerous dog.
    Dogs that have bitten a person or another animal when provoked should be tried under the Florida State Dangerous Dog Law, and should be required to use the muzzle, be under the control of their owners and pay a fine.
    Pets are considered by law ‘personal property’ therefore in these proceedings there ought to be ‘due processes ‘
    The Hearing Officers’ final ruling ought to be based on facts such as witnesses, reports and proper evaluation of the actual incident. Every incident is different and every dog, no matter the size will react in a defensive manner when they feel attacked by being unexpectedly startled or jumped at.
    Dog’s nature is to protect their owners from the unknown, from people or animals that they perceive as a danger to them. The defensive reactions under these types of circumstances do sum up for any dog being provoked.
    On the other hand the ordinance sponsored by Mayor Ken Keechl , where after one bite a dog is to be deemed ‘vicious/dangerous’ and therefore is sentenced to be killed, ought to be for the real vicious dogs only; those that approach people and animals in a menacing way and attack when unprovoked.
    Mayor Keechl’s ordinance could also be perceived as a tool to profile dogs and to take advantage of the dog owners.
    From my understanding the cases that triggered this extreme ordinance were based on terrible attacks by Pit-Bulls and Terriers. Then again in those cases the dogs were vicious and committed the attacks while unprovoked.
    Dogs, because all if not most of the dogs that fall into this ordinance are large dogs
    People, the dog owners who simply do not have the large amounts of money to pay for the impoundment, appeal and boarding processing fees and in these cases the only option offered to them is ‘to pay or to have their dog(s) destroyed if they do not come up with the money.’
    I am well aware of one case where the owner lost his dog to this ordinance, although the dog had been provoked as it was stated in all the written reports. Here there was also an issue with the money.
    In another case the owner was lucky enough to appeal, he won the case because his dog had been the wrongfully impounded dog; the dangerous dog was another dog. Ironically with the court release papers in hand he almost lost his dog because he did not have the $650.00 to pay for the fees to the Animal Control Agency. He was given 24hours to come up with the money; he was able to sell his laptop and was then able to take his dog back.

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  10. So basically this is another revenue stream for the county government. It's not about dangerous dogs.

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  11. Rush (Sanctity of Marriage) LimbaughJune 12, 2010 at 10:28 PM

    Anonymous, I don't know that the second amendment guarantee's the right to own any old firearm you want. Remember, when that amendment was written all guns were single shot muskets. No revolvers, machine guns, or automatic weapons. They did have cannons though.

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  12. Broward County Commissioners ought to recall or rewrite this faulty ordinance.

    The next meeting on this topic is tomorrow:

    Date: Monday, June 14, 2010
    Time: 12:30pm - 4:00pm
    Location: Plantation Heritage Park in the Fountain Room
    Street: 1100 S. Fig Tree Lane
    City/Town: Plantation, FL

    If unavailable to attend in person please send your comments prior to June 14th, 2010 via Email to:

    animalcareadvisoryboard@broward.org

    Thank you

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