Ogden's proposed pitbull ordinance

WTF is a breed ban gonna actually do except hurt the good owners? The bad ones will still have them illegally and still not properly socialize, train, or provide medical care. If they are needing a dog act.....why not follow my home town's law and provide a Dangerous Dog Act. This covers ALL BREEDS and mixes and works like a 3 strike program. I love my pit mix and have had her for 7 yrs. It is true that they are not a breed for everyone....but no breed is gonna be idea for everyone. I was personally attacked by three adult Golden Retrievers when I was 8. The same dogs then attacked and nearly killed my 15hh horse. I had to work long and hard not to be prejudice against the breed itself and to see that it was just those three dogs that were the problem. Why can't everybody else do the same?????

I feel both saddened and disappointed by the possible ban to own Pit Bulls in Ogden, Utah. I’ve heard one too many times of the “aggressive gene” Pit Bulls carry, often from people who’d heard it through the grape vine or had a bad experience. My disappointment draws from the sheer lack of education that continually perpetuates unfair judgments on dog breeds. If a person chooses to own a dog, it becomes their responsibility to become educated in the proper training and health and wellness for their dog. Yes, I believe owners should take responsibility for their pets and not the other way around. If I 100% believed the ban to Pit Bulls in Ogden would ensure all the Pit Bulls would find happy loving homes elsewhere, I would be more considerate of the ban. The statistics do no show how many aggressive Pit Bulls there are, they show how many uneducated people there are in the area. But I do not believe that all the neglected Pit Bulls will find happy homes with the ban in place, and I do believe there are good educated pet owners in Ogden. Maybe a better solution would be to require a new owner to pass a mandatory obedience school with their newly adopt Pit Bull to sustain the adoption. As a part of being the higher species, humans have a responsibility to protect those that are unable to protect themselves, whether it is children, disabled adults, dogs, or other animals. If you have an aggressive dog are you a bad dog owner? Not necessarily, you may just lack the proper knowledge on what to do about it. Is it the owner’s responsibility to become educated? Absolutely. Although I do believe it is more complicated that just stating it’s the owners fault. Who will stand up and spend the time, money, and effort to educate the mass people who lack the proper education? I can only hope that everyone will make their contribution as the higher species in educating their friends and families.

Do you want to SEE the mess that BSL has been in the UK Ogden? Well HERE it is, just look at the link below and SEE how much worst bad laws can make a place. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8534263.stm Since BSL there the largest suicide rate for professions has been VETS and when you LOOK at the video in the article you will SEE why. To the voters: When in the future you SEE things getting WORST, remember who voted for this madness. I quote one of the jerks in the article "it's sort of a status symbol basically, having what's not allowed, what's illegal, having the biggest most vicious dog". Sad thing IS that is WHAT the professionals TOLD the politicans would happen and guess what? It HAS and IS happening. If this law passes IT will get ALLOT worst. Go after the bad owners, make THEM pay, not dogs.

If Ogden has a problem it is with people not dogs. This bandaide solution to a human problem will not work and BSL has not worked ANYWHERE. There are 28 breeds of dogs (along with the 3 breeds named) that are commonly referred to as "pit bull type", never mind ALL the MIXES. Be prepared for numerous court cases Ogden and an increase in taxes. Almost ALL experts will testify that it is all but impossible to determine dogs breed (especially MIXED canines) on looks and any and all short haired medium sized dogs will be at risk. RESPONSIBLE owners should NOT be penalized and this is what BSL does! These politicans NEED to do their homework! Look to the ordinances of Calgary, ALBERTA. The most successful in ALL of North America on decreasing dog bites. Their by-laws actually WORK and are fair to ALL citizens. Even the UK and Scotland is now looking to recind their bans since dog bites INCREASED by 50% since they instituted their bans 19 years ago. Name me ONE city where overall dog bites decreased after putting in a ban. Name me ONE! Look up Panic Policy Making: Canine Breed Bans in Canada and the United States. Name me ONE professional organization that supports BSL. Name me ONE. Wake up. Policians were elected to make fair, just and intelligent WORKABLE laws they have a due diligence to at least TRY and get things right. In closing Netherlands, Germany, Greece and Italy (up to 98 different types and breeds of dogs) have ALL recinded their bans due to documented evidence that not matter how many dogs they added, BANS did NOT work. Make owners accountable! Calgary has PROVED that works.

Even if Pitbulls were the most likely breed to be involved in dog bites (which they are not), the reality is that it is still a small percentage of pitbull that are aggressive compared to the vast majority that isnt aggressive. It is ridiculous to punish the owners of all of the pitbulls that are just fine because you want to really punish the irresponsible dog owners. It is no different than attacking the right to bear arms. Should the vast majority of responsible gun owners by punished by anti gun legislation because a few criminals abuse the right to bear arms. Utah as a predominantly Republican state should definitely vot NO on this proposition and I cant believe that Republicans would even consider this. The idea of punishing the majority for the actions of a few misfits may be easily applied to dogs but the same logic can be extended to gun legislation. Just because one of written in the Bill of Rights doesnt mean the logic doesnt apply. Let's get real and go after the people that are the real problem - the irresponsible dog owners and leave the responsible dog owners alone.

I vote NO!-This is sad!

I vote NO!

I live in Ogden and I think this is the stupidest law ever. It only punishes good people and good dogs. Honestly, if you are a dog fighter or criminal or some ignorant person who raises their dog to attack, are you likely to be obeying the law? If you pass a law like this the only people with pit bulls will be rich people and people breaking the law. Honestly, this is not the way to handle dog bites. If there is to be any new legislation regarding pitbulls or any dog it should go towards making training mandatory and available to anyone or cracking down on backyard breeders and people selling dogs in WalMart's parking lot.

I just read the entire 108 pages of council documents and I cannot believe that Ogden is even considering this, it has been proven that BSL does nothing to address the real problem, which might be why it never works.Ogden don't you have better things to spend your money on?Perhaps animal legislation that has been proven, see Calgary; they have the answer and the proof to back it up. What saddens me as I read this is that this will put extra burden on an already broken and overtaxed animal system, which for humans means more money, more time=no result.For dogs nothing but more death, not just the poor pitties, all the dogs that are unfortunate enough to not have a home. When money is wasted and time is wasted, more dogs die, because we don't have the money, capacity,ability or the education. The groups that have all of those things are already doing everything they can to save these poor animals.Why are we still fighting these ridiculous battles when so many dogs die; always because of humans doing the wrong thing? Please look beyond the statistics, I could site statistics to prove everything I say, statistics are always skewed to whatever the person using them is trying to make you think. Why don't you do actual homework and talk to the places that have had bans and have lifted them because they don't work. When will we understand that this is not the root problem. If we wiped all the pitties off the face of the Earth today we would not accomplish what we say we are trying to accomplish. You need to punish the reckless owners not everyone that is say "blonde hair blue eyed",how many times do we need to learn the same lesson? You cannot say a whole breed, a whole race a whole of anything is bad. Ogden you can learn from others who've made this mistake, how about we cut the good dog owners some slack and focus on the bad owners and finally start making some actual progress.

In response to Ogdenite...sounds like you live in a bad part of town where the criminals and irresponsible dog owners are located. At the council meeting, Best Friends, dog trainers, and other knowledgeable experts on the subject presented, in the short, limited time given to them, some very educational material. No one should have to live near vicious dogs, but the dogs are not the problem, the people who make them vicious are. That is the issue that must be addressed and they must be held accountable, not the responsible pet owners, who are the law abiding citizens with the nice dogs not causing the problems. Any dog of any breed can be made to be vicious. Once a breed is labeled as bad, that is what the criminal element will want and be attracted to for training to be vicious. Throughout history, many dogs have been given that label...this time now, it just happens to be the loyal pit bull terrier.