The Ohio Pibble March, trivializing death, support from a non existent organization.

Ohioans Against Breed Discrimination promoted their Ohio Pibble March to bring publicity for their planned five million dollar effort to snatch home rule rights from Ohio communities by creating an amendment to the Ohio Constitution prohibiting any city from enacting or enforcing breed specific legislation.  The reason for this tactic is the stubborn refusal of several Ohio cities to surrender to breed specific advocacy.   Click here for a news report of the event.  

Pit bull owners were met by the sight of a long row of crosses, each representing the human victim of a fatal pit bull mauling since January 1, 2014.  This was the exhibit created last year for display at an outdoor art competition in Michigan.  The piece is titled Out of the Blue and the exhibit was clearly marked, each cross represented an American killed by pit bulls.





 The post below was made by pit bull advocate April Bolton asking for "back up."  Please note her explanation "crosses and pics of ppl that had been bitten or hurt by bully dogs." What part of fatal attack was not clear to April?  A high number of the dead were adults, some killed by their own pit bulls but Karen Fairhurst warns "don't leave your babies unattended AND FEED YOUR DOGS."   She thinks all these people were killed by pit bulls because the pit bulls were starving?  What ??



Here come responsible and respectful pit bull advocates.  They pose with their pit bull in front of a memorial for Americans killed BY PIT BULLS.  What ??




We have already covered the message for the day from speakers representing the host organization, Ohioans Against Breed Discrimination, constitutionality.  The denial of rulings by the Supreme Court of the state of Ohio was a stunning display of refusal of reality.

Here is the response of Steffin Baldwin, founding member of OABD.

Steffen Evan Baldwin "Then they said: 'Well...the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Bar Association, the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, the US Safety Council, Dr. Ian Dunbar, Dr. Sophia Yin, Victoria Stilwell and State Farm, who collects more data than the U.S. Government, are all credible and well respected experts that don't support BSL...but according to what I read on that dogsbite website and a few blogs'...and I just threw up my hands and walked away guys."---story time at my house smile emoticon #oabd#dontbullymybreed #endbsl Like · Comment · Share · June 9 near Broadway, OH · Edited

Lets look at Steffen's list of authorities.  AVMA?  In the business of working against any form of regulation against dogs.  The American Bar Association?  Infested with breed specific advocate lawyers.  The Association of Pet Dog Trainers?  Not an unbiased source.  Victoria Stillwell?  A reality show personality who got her accreditation online from an online program run by PetCo.  State Farm Insurance simply does not collect more data than the United States Government, that is just silly.   The one I find most interesting is the US Safety Council.  I went looking for a statement from them against BSL.

Here is what I found.

NOTHING.

THERE IS NO US SAFETY COUNCIL, or United States Safety Council, or U.S. Safety Council. There is an American Safety Council, primarily concerned with traffic safety and workplace safety.  Zero connection with dogs.

There is a National Safety Council, if you type "pit bulls" or "dogs" or " breed specific legislation" into the site search box the only result is an "Odds on dying from" chart which lists the odds on dying from a dog attack as 1 in 103,798 but this must be taken with a grain of salt, look at the crosses displayed on May 30th in Columbus.  All those people died of attacks from pit bulls.

The closest that the National Safety Council comes to any dog breed discussion at all is an article on dog bites as an occupational hazard for outdoor workers.  "A dog’s breed is not necessarily an indicator of aggressiveness, experts say."... "However, Robinson notes that each dog is different. “You can have the most lovable, sweetest pit bull in [one] yard,” she said, “then go three doors down and run into Cujo pit bull.”

Somehow I don't see this as a resounding breed endorsement, or a statement against breed specific legislation. If one is working as a registered lobbyist for an organization attempting to change state law one should be very careful with misstatements.

Here is a post from the OABD Facebook page with the same reference to an organization that does not exist.

Ohioans Against Breed Discrimination

Perspective is very, very important. This chart of the things most likely to kill you in any given year was provided by the United States Safety Council and you can see where dog bite fatalities fall on the scale (you're twice as likely to be killed by a bee than a dog). While every dog bite fatality is an absolute tragedy; education for both youth and adults, owner accountability, increased spay/neuter programs for economically disadvantaged and breed neutral, dangerous dog ordinances are the keys to dog bite prevention...not discriminatory, ineffective and unenforceable laws that focus on general appearance rather than individual behavior.

Like · Comment · Share · June 8 · Edited

Below is what Baldwin posted the the day after the Pibble March. He was apparently sobered (at the time) by the numbers of deaths by dog attack.  This is appropriate.  Going on to trivialize these deaths with comparisons to hotdogs, ants, football, jellyfish, icicles, deer, and HIPPOS? Wildly inappropriate. Baldwin has used a site called Fark for parts of this list.

Ohioans Against Breed Discrimination

May 31 · Edited · 

Children are the number one group to be bitten by dogs and the number one group to require hospitalization when bitten. As a father of an 8 year old son, I am adamant about the fact that we need to do a much better job educating both children and adults on dog bite prevention, canine body language and behavior, and a dog's daily physical, mental and behavioral needs to be happy, healthy and whole. For example, the terrier class of dogs, which range from the Jack Russell Terrier to the American Pit Bull Terrier to the Airedale Terrier are all known to be both intelligent and very physically active and every dog in this class needs an owner who isn't a couch potato that can be a responsible pet owner and provide for their needs which goes beyond just loving your dog. There were 42 dog bite fatalities last year, and each one was a horrible tragedy that should not be undermined. With visual breed identification being proven ineffective (only 8% of shelter professionals could accurately identify breeds when shown them visually and compared to DNA tests), it's truly impossible to know what sorts of mixed breed dogs were involved in these statistics but it's safe to say with so many mixed breed attacks being reported that irresponsible backyard breeders are more of a problem than any particular breed and the solution is more complex than scapegoating and banning. Perspective however, is very important when dealing with public perception and fear based public policies based on data that is proven to be inaccurate. With 42 dog bite fatalities out of 83.3 million owned dogs, your family has a 0.00000012% of being killed by a dog. Subsequently, high school football killed around 20 people. Ants kill around 30 people each year. Jellyfish kill 40 people each year. Tornadoes kill 60 people annually. Hot dogs killed 70 CHILDREN alone a year (‪#‎banhotdogsnotrealdogs‬). Icicles killed 100 people in just Russia last year. Deer kill 130 people annually. Peanuts killed around 200 people last year. Falling out of bed kills 450 people annually. Autoerotic asphyxiation kills 600 people annually. Hippos kill 2,900 people annually. Lightning kills 10,000 people annually. Obesity kills 30,000 people annually.--Steffen Baldwin ‪#‎dontbullymybreed‬ ‪#‎endbsl‬ ‪#‎oabd‬

 It should be noted that per the ASPCA, volunteers are able to identify pit bulls 96% of the time. If the professionals are only able to identify pit bulls 8% of the time they might consider asking a volunteer for help.  Deer do not attack and kill Americans, fatalities associated with deer are automobile accidents.  Peanuts are an allergy. HIPPOS?  HIPPOS? Want to drop your chances of being killed by a hippo to absolutely zero?  Stay in the continental United States.  There are zero hippos roaming the streets of  American communities. I was curious about the 2900 hippo deaths but only found the statistic on websites with titles like "Weird stuff that can kill you." There are lots of these sites but none of them had any documentation and the language was always the same.  Eventually I found a website with some critical thinking and they, having found zero documentation on the hippo death numbers, theorized that one of those shock-value websites misplaced a decimal and the number was likely closer to 290 than 2900.  Who can say? Want to drop your chances of being killed by a shark?  Stay out of  the ocean. Want to drop your chances of being killed by a cow? Look for a career in some field that does not include farming.  Cows do not walk the streets of American cities killing passersby. Peaceful people don't have the opportunity to reduce their chances of being killed by a pit bull by avoiding them except by living in a city with a breed ban. Baldwin tells us that "breed neutral, dangerous dog ordinances are the keys to dog bite prevention"  but your chances of being killed by a pit bull are highest in states where breed specific legislation is prohibited by state law.  California, Texas, and Florida top the lists of pit bull fatalities, all prohibit BSL by state law.  

Back to the Fark website.  Baldwin missed this post on Fark "Pit bull's reputation takes a new hit." the post is a review of the actual opinion of actual doctors who treat the victims of pit bull attacks, or pronounce those victims dead. Spoiler alert - the doctors are not impressed with pit bulls.
Using hokey material like this

to reassure the public of the safety of dogs that are clearly unsafe puts blood on the hands of breed specific advocates. There have been an additional nine fatal pit bull attacks in the United States since the Pibble March at the end of May, including two fatal attacks during the joyous week long celebration of the Huffington Post Pit Bull week.  The last update on the 18 month old baby mauled by a family pit bull during Pit Bull Week tells us he is still in critical condition.   Is there enough soap to wash away the blood?

Wait! Here is the soap delivery for the executive restroom at Ohioans Against Breed Discrimination.



Trivializing death for the purpose of breed specific advocacy is poor public policy.  Possibly the public is aware of this.  That five million dollars in expected donations to fund the assault on home rule on Ohio has raised $635 so far.

 Here is a reminder of the point public safety advocates are trying to make.

This is John Harvard, he was killed by his neighbor's pit bull.  He is one of many. I include John here because this bittersweet photo touches my soul.

Pit bull advocacy is STILL trying to fix the problem from the wrong end. Art and pit bulls.

This started out to be an item in the next Pit Bull Roundup but it took on a life of its own.

In a story that only makes sense coming from the Toledo Blade.  Breed specific advocates are lobbying the Fulton county Commissioners to re-think their policy on pit bulls being released from the Fulton County Dog Pound. So far the Fulton County Commissioners are not buying it.

The policy in Fulton County is that pit bull dogs not claimed by their owner are euthanized.  Given the numbers of pit bulls implicated in maulings and fatal attacks the policy makes sense.  Huge financial risk to the community is to be avoided. Those who claim to love the breed blather on about "it's all in how you raise 'em" but fail to acknowledge that the pit bulls in shelters are strays or owner surrenders.  Nobody has any idea how these dogs were raised and to place these dogs directly or to release them to rescues who will hand the pit bulls to anyone with a pulse is a policy that will get the county sued in the event of a serious or fatal mauling. Please click on this link for a photo of a pit bull advocate dramatically holding a hand written demand for an end to "discrimination" at the Fulton County Dog Pound in order to create a "safer community."    Pit bull advocates are unable to state exactly how releasing stray dogs with no known background, uninsured, un-microchipped, to the public will create a safe community.  All this hoopla is created over the humane euthanization of just FIVE dogs.

A candlelight vigil was held on September 27th, there is a link to photos of the event.   Don't miss the dramatic photo of Ohio's breed specific advocate, Jean Keating,  reading the names of the unjustly killed five pit bulls.  How long could that take?  Is it worth turning the car off and putting your car keys in your pocket? The Toledo Blade has provided multiple photos of those in attendance and guess what?  A great many of those in attendance do not live in Fulton County Ohio including Ms. Keating.  Ms. Keating is particularly upset that a young stray pit bull was humanely euthanized in Fulton County. Here is her quote “The killing of healthy puppies can’t be tolerated,” Ms. Keating said. “It’s unconscionable and cruel.”  Here is a link to video of a much less humane death, a puppy killed by pit bulls.  It is unpleasant to watch but it is reality in American  communities  Keating does not deal with the numbers of puppies, young and healthy pets, beloved senior pets killed in full view of their screaming owners by pit bulls every day across the United States..

There were no victims protesting the Fulton County candlelight vigil.

A peaceful candlelight vigil over FIVE pit bulls. Contrast this with the response of organized pit bull advocates to an art competition entry in Michigan.  The piece was called "Out of the Blue." It was a memorial to the Americans mauled to death by dogs so far in 2014  The piece was made up of crosses,  over 30 of them, each one memorializing a victim of a fatal dog attack just this year.  The piece was not breed specific, all dog attack fatalities were memorialized.
    
The public was intrigued. Most people have no idea how many dog bite related fatalities there are in any given year. Interestingly, fair minded pit bull owners admit that everything shown by this exhibit is true.

 Pit bull advocates immediately organized a protest and demanded that this exhibit entry be removed because pit bulls were over represented.

This is a photo taken of the protest taken by the artist.  The public was unable to approach or even see the display, the view was blocked by the very breed of dog "over represented".  Victims of pit bull attacks, many of them with PTSD were unable to tolerate contact with the dog and went home without seeing the entry. Below is another protest photo.  Don't they look proud of themselves?





One of the pit bull owners protesting Out of the Blue was Rachel Jensen, a Kent County Animal Control officer. Below is a photo of the grinning Jensen with her pit bull, her friends and their pit bulls  They are posing gaily in front of a memorial to Americans killed by dogs this year, most by pit bulls.  Does this seem appropriate?  Please note the admission by Jensen's friend Emily Sanders(to Jensen's right in the photo) that they removed material provided by the artist and replaced it with flyers on "Make Michigan Next" an effort by pit bull advocates to deny home rule rights to Michigan communities with pit bull regulations, or considering regulating pit bulls.




Jensen is hip deep in the effort to deny Michigan residents their home rule rights.  Click here for the official "Make Michigan Next" rally video.  Jensen is a featured speaker and she appears at 35 minutes into the video.  Jensen makes an emotional but light on fact fact speech.  She talks about impounded pit bulls like that is the fault of local law.  When BSL is passed dogs already in the community are grandfathered if the owner meets requirements for keeping the dog. Usually these requirements are simple registration, possible insurance, possible microchipping. She has not considered that a dog owner who obtains a banned breed dog after regulations are passed has doomed their own pet. This is not the fault of the law but is a deliberate choice on the part of the owner.  Jensen talks about identification problems (for more on pit bull identification please click on this link.  ASPCA volunteers correctly identified pit bulls 96% of the time.  The only people unable to identify pit bulls are apparently pit bull owners, but I digress) and goes on to talk about DNA tests that may or may not have been done on the dogs.  Surely she is aware that the makers of dog DNA tests do not include pit bull DNA in the data base.  This is clearly stated on the Mars Wisdom Panel website.  Here is a link to the breed library.  You could test every dog at a Pit Pride Parade and not get a single positive. Jensen shows a photo of her self-declared pit bulls. Her dogs would not test positive either. Jensen tearfully talks about the pit bulls that are "victims of BSL" and goes on to
encourage those in attendance to go home and hug their dogs because the "victims of BSL do not have that luxury."   Families of those memorialized by Out of the Blue do not have the luxury of hugging their children, parents, spouses.  Owners of pets and livestock killed by pit bulls don't have that luxury either but the victims did not chose this.

Jensen is now the center of a controversy.  There have been strong concerns about her ability to do her job in an impartial manner.  So far the Kent County administration is defending Jensen's actions despite calls for her dismissal.   Here is the opinion of noted attorney Kenneth Phillips.  He begins with "Kent County must immediately fire -- not defend -- the animal control officer who showed support for pro-pit bull demonstrators who protested an art exhibit that memorialized people killed by dogs. His or her actions showed bias against dog bite victims. The fact that the police did not arrest any of the demonstrators does not excuse the officer's conduct. To promote confidence in law enforcement, officers must avoid even the appearance of impropriety whenever possible." 

Barbara Kay, Canadian journalist writes about Jensen as well.  "However legal Ms Jensen’s behavior was, it was also psychological abuse of her own, so to speak, clients. I therefore deplore in the strongest possible terms the evasive bureaucratise employed to deflect attention from this irreducible fact. Ms Jensen is not just another member of the public. She represents a government department supported on public monies. Her job requires her to maintain scrupulous objectivity in canine-related crises.


Jensen is not the only protester feeling the heat. This proud protester is offering his weapon dog for sale the day after the Art Prize competition ended and just two weeks after the protest.  He appears dead center in the group photo, and facing the ledge in the first protest photo placing his pit bull on the ledge in front of the crosses. It has been suggested that his landlord may have seen the photos and ordered the dog out. Sometimes going public has its risks.
 

Justin D Gomez-Smith

SELLING MY AMERICAN BULLY "MOMMA" TO A RESPONSIBLE AND LOVING HOME HMU IF INTERESTED 

Here is a link to video of another "responsible pit bull owner" telling a reporter that Out of the Blue is not appropriate for the Art Prize competition, while he has placed his pit bull on the ledge in front ot the crosses.  Appropriate?

                                                              * * *

We have two events that memorialize the dead.  One memorializing dogs was held peacefully. One memorializing humans killed by dogs was turned into a sideshow by breed specific advocates seeking to suppress truth.  Here is a hint for those who are insulted to see their dogs "over represented" at a memorial for Americans killed by dogs - stop letting your dogs kill people.

I'm going to end with one final link.  Please pay your respects to the dead. You might want a kleenex.