Pit bulls shot to death after attack on cow (sad picture of mother cow, protecting it's calf)

ajc.com ^ | 05/24/06 | Mark Davis

[rawhide]

Cecil Wallace awoke about 4:30 a.m. Saturday to the bawling of cows and the howling of dogs. The Buford farmer grabbed his shotgun and went running out the back door.

His son and next-door neighbor, Kenneth Wallace, also jarred awake — also carrying a shotgun — joined him. Father and son ran toward the pasture...

...Reaching the pasture, the Wallaces saw a cow, bloodied and torn, its calf standing nearby. As they approached the animal, according to reports, two dogs came running towards them.

Kenneth Wallace raised his 12-gauge. Boom! The larger dog hit the dirt, howling. Wallace fired again, and the dog was quiet.

The female kept coming. Kenneth Wallace fired a third time, the blast echoing along the darkened reaches of Bart Johnson Road.

The Wallaces dragged the dogs' bodies aside and tended to the cow, Betsy. She looked bad — right ear torn off, the left shredded like paper. Her nose was ripped and torn. Two teeth were knocked loose. Not long after daybreak, Cecil Wallace took Betsy to a Cumming veterinarian, who prescribed painkillers and antibiotics for the Angus/Hereford cross.

"She's still in bad shape," Cecil Wallace, 73, said Tuesday. "She tries to eat, but she can't; her mouth's too sore."

Animal control officers have cited one dog owner with failing to have the animal on a leash.. They also charged the owner with violating the county's vicious-animal ordinance, which requires owners of a dangerous dog or cat to have it muzzled whenever the animal is off the owner's property.

Meghan Martin, who lives near the Wallaces, said she is the owner whom officers cited...p>

When I went to sleep, my dog was in bed with me," she said. A roommate let out her dog, plus a friend's pit bull, Martin said...

[arizonarachel]

Ah! Yours looks like mine (see my profile page for a pic of Miss eeeeeeeeevil Patches.)

[Fair Go]

All these dogs are owned in Queensland. Further, the definition of a "pi bull" is much narrower than in North America. Local governments can declare any breed dangerous but it is usually after the dog has offended.

[BJungNan]

I answered you point-by-point and you commenced with an insult ...

I'm not going to go back and re-read every post but if you feel you were insulted, then you have my apology.

The conversation has gotten a bit to heated for FR standards and for my part in that I also apologize. We should stick to the issues.

On the issue of Pitbulls and the need for(or no need of) restriction on these dogs in residential neighborhoods, it is unfortunate we could not come up with a solution.

I remain steadfast in my opinion that these dogs have no place in residential neighborhoods. At the least, pitbull owners should
1)Be required to take a training course to demonstrate they are competant to own a pitbull
2). Post a sizable bond or show proof of insurance to cover any attack
3). The cost of any training courses must be paid for by dog owners.

If you have another suggestion, I am calmly and politely waiting for it.

[kanawa]

1). Be required to take a training course to demonstrate they are competant to own a pitbull
2). Post a sizable bond or show proof of insurance to cover any attack
3). The cost of any training courses must be paid for by dog owners.

"We believe that with better enforcement of current legislation and better pet owner education most of these attacks can be prevented."

It was this statement, that you agreed with, that has been the basis for your proposed alternate solutions.
You have not spoken at all to the need for "better enforcement of existing legislation".
Why is that?
You propose additional legislation.
Your ideas so far only focus on the educational aspect of the recommendation.
They are breed/type specific, they would do nothing to prevent attacks by other breeds.
You have stated...

We have a problem in this city with Pitbulls - actually a problem with loose dogs and kids owning them because they think it is tough.

Which indicates to me that your problem is not breed/type specific.
What I would ask you is, do you believe your 3 recommendations would have any affect on your cities particular problem?

If there is a problem with loose dogs, does your city not have the manpower or the will to enforce what I am assuming are its pre-existing laws against free roaming dogs?
Does your city not already have licensing requirements for dogs and if so are the "kids owning them because they think it is tough" in compliance?

[rattrap]

Excellent, no politicans or media types will be scared of my new "lab".

[GMMAC]

The comment in question "I answered you point-by-point and you commenced with an insult ..." was addressed to wristspin who'd begun his immediately prior to it with " Dang... you blather on like a silly girl!" after I'd patiently and point-by-point, IMHO, completely refuted his emotionally-driven, pro-PETA nonsense.

While I don't agree with your 'registration' position both because it essentially incorporates the 'breed' concept rejected by all major learned animal welfare bodies & takes a big government shotgun approach which discriminates against otherwise law-abiding & responsible dog-owners, it's a damned site more reasonable than demanding the wholesale killing of their pets based upon little justification beyond posting one biased & sensationalized msm 'story' after another. (sheeesh!)

The primary flaw within any 'breed' based ban (or restriction-based "ban-lite" as you're advocating) is the lack (and impossibility) of any definitive and legally-binding definition as to what precisely constitutes a 'pit bull type' of dog.

To me, the proper philosophical 'conservative' approach to the joint problem of irresponsible owners with vicious dogs must be based upon our accepted tenets:

1. individual responsibility & personal accountability: ergo, no shotgun solutions.

2. the least possible number of good, reason-based laws with same fully & fairly enforced.

Accordingly, we should be rigorously applying existing statutes aimed at derelict animal ownership &, if they're unworkable, replacing them with ones which are.

As virtually all legitimate animal experts tell us 'breed ban laws' are unfair, arbitrary & impractical, enacting them amounts to the standard liberal modus operandi of piling bad law upon bad law & never taking any of them off the books - no wonder lawyers love 'em!

And, if you re-read noting else I've so far posted, please check-out #332 on the - anything but 'conservative'! - negative civil liberties aspects of any draconian, PETA-endorsed 'breed ban law' "solution".

[kanawa]

[proud_yank]

As Plato said: "never argue with a fool".

Yeah, they drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. (Paraphrasing Rush)

[proud_yank]

Ah! Yours looks like mine (see my profile page for a pic of Miss eeeeeeeeevil Patches.)

In reality, you should go to jail for owning one. They're a threat to public safety and 'The Children™'.

Amazing how some 'conservatives' can start throwing out so much emotionally-charged nonsense, right in line with the gun-grabbers.

[proud_yank]

LOL, thats an awesome photo.

[Sensei Ern]

I own two. I would be willing to take on any pitbull in a pit.

The steak parts sounds wierd, though. What kind of perversionis that?

[Wristpin]

Several more attacks this week...But it's not a breed issue.

This dude shot two of his own Pit Bulls...but it was a little too late.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13053859



I would suggest two more restrictions.

Felons prohibited from owning dangerous fighting breeds.

Breeders who knowingly breed dangerous dogs become open to civil and criminal penalties.

[GMMAC]

What part is it about the agenda-driven msm only naming a 'breed' and/or - as a rule - even covering dog attack stories being when it can headline 'pit bull' which you apparently can't understand ???

You've refused to come up with - because you can't ! - so much as single headline wherein the - well known to be otherwise biased on virtually every other issue - liberal media names any other 'breed' of dog.

"msnbc" ... there's a "news" source we all trust to be objective - LOL!

Plus, you can't provide any concrete definition as to what, in your mind, even constitutes a 'pit bull' type of dog.

Aside from the fact that no reputable animal experts agree with you, how far back on the thread do we need to go to find a supportive comment?
Clearly FReepers have backed away from a strident, rude & illogical would-be social fascist bully-boy whose views are the same as PETA's.

[Theoden]

I thought this thread died well over a week ago.

My comment was meant to be humorous and a bit of a rant at the same time.

What it implied is that the pit bulls would turn on their owners if they were hungry enough. The steak would have acted as a catalyst. Thats the natural order of things as I see it.

I admit that I hate pit bulls, and if I ever see one one my property, I will shoot it dead immediately. I don't mind people owning them, I just want to make sure they are the right kind of people taking care of them. Far too often, they are people not fir for taking care of themselves, and should not have a breed of dog capable of causing so much damage if they snapped.

[GMMAC]

Just be clear:
Along with likely everyone else on this thread opposed to 'breed ban laws', I have no problem whatsoever with anyone defending their person and/or their property by any means necessary.

We, again speaking for all, simply accept the view of virtually every reputable animal welfare body in North America that such bans both don't work & are inherently unfair and, as good conservatives, believe any law should rightly be focused on individual responsibility and personal accountability.

In short: throw the book at negligent dog owners but don't pointlessly & wrongly target the vast majority of otherwise law-abiding, responsible dog owners or their pets based solely upon their dog's supposed 'breed'.

[Candor7]

Well, he could shoot them and be branded as a bad person. All he wants to do is raise his cattle without having them chased. I have no complaints at all about him. People should keep their dogs tied as required by law, or they will die.

[Candor7]

Hitler's master race plan>>>>>>>>>

Buahahahahahahaha! His plan was to cross breed liberals and socialists until they developed a natural sense of moral superiority with which they would take away the rights of all fellow, morally inferior free men.

Hey! Why are you wagging your tail?

[kanawa]

I thought this thread died well over a week ago.

LOL...There's been a few things needed airing.

[kanawa]

Illinois toughens dog attack law

Illinois dog owners will have to take more responsibility for their pets under new restrictions put in place Wednesday. ~snip~

House Bill 4238, which goes into effect immediately, tightens the penalties for owners whose animals attack. In cases where the owner allows the dog to run at large, the penalties for attacks will increase to three to seven years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

It also increases the penalties for an owner when a dog has been declared dangerous and kills a person. Such an offense will be punishable by two to five years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Local fines will increase as well. The law removes the previous cap of $50 for dogs running at large. ~snip~

The other Illinois laws signed Wednesday include House Bill 2946, which prohibits some convicted felons from owning dogs for 10 years after being released from prison, unless the animal has been spayed or neutered. The law is designed to protect police and the public from dogs that are used to guard drug houses.

The law also requires dogs owned by a felon to have a microchip inserted under their skin for identification purposes.

House Bill 4711 increases penalties for dog fighting. Attending a dog fight could mean up to a year in jail for a first offense and one to three years in prison for any subsequent offenses.

Bringing children younger than 13 to a dog fight carries a penalty of one to three years in prison for the first offense and two to five years in prison for subsequent offenses.

[GMMAC]