At times you realize a situation that
is such a major, epic, FAIL that the only allegory that can describe
it accurately is Train Wreck.
There is a true Animal Uncontrol Train
Wreck unfolding in Maricopia County, AZ. This is a disaster so epic
in scale, it left me speechless for a while (and getting me to shut
up is an epic accomplishment in itself). Interesting to note that
many Train Wrecks are often caused by a few minor mistakes / problems
that ultimately lead to an epic disaster.
Another aspect of the Trainwreck is
that so many people lie about the details (usually to protect
themselves), that it is difficult if not impossible to determine what
actually happened.
Here is what I think happened,
and feel free to eludicate me on any details I may have wrong or may
have missed.
February 24th, 2014 4 year
old Kevin Vincente was attacked by a pit bull type dog ("Mickey")
in Phoenix AZ. The dog caused massive injuries to Kevin's face,
resulting in severe blood loss and requiring extensive plastic
surgery to his face. Kevin likely faces years of reconstructive
surgeries to his face.
Apparently, Kevin was under the
auspices of a babysitter at the time. The babysitter took Kevin and
her 5 year old to her boyfriend's house for a visit. Kevin had been
a guest on this property in the past, and was no stranger the the
boyfriend or the dog. The boyfriend was Mickey's owner at the time
of the incident.
It appears that the children were
playing near "Mickey" when the dog lunged and bit Kevin on
the face. Mickey proceeded to perform a "shake and hold"
maneuver on Kevin for an unspecified period of time. Long enough to
do a lot of damage to Kevin's face, in any case. The babysitter then
drove Kevin to an emergent care facility and he was then ambulanced
from there to the hospital.
The boyfriend (Sorry, I can't seem to
determine this individual's name) surrendered Mickey to Maricopia
County Animal Control after the incident. This person has not been
charged with any crimes at this time that I know of.
For more details on this incident,
consider the related Dogs
Bite Decateur AL article.
First, I invite any Facebook users to
visit the For
the love of Kevin Facebook page. Please give it a "Like"
at least... I'm sure Kevin and his family could use the support. The
page has info on how to donate funds and the like.
Now, none of the above is all that
unusual. Something like this happens daily. Where this gets
interesting and I mean that in a strictly morbidly fascinating
kind of way, is viewing the public response to the incident.
Note that the For
the love of Kevin Facebook page has about 360 "likes"
as I write this. Unfortunately, the Save
Mickey Facebook page has 35,200 "likes as I write
this!! Apparently, an extremist Animal Rights advocacy group, the
Lexus Project, has taken up Mickey's cause, pulling out all the
stops to not only prevent Mickey's euthanization, but to get him
re-homed!
I'm not liking these odds: The Mickey
supporters outnumber the Kevin supporters nearly 100 to 1.
Those are not winning odds, people.
Indeed, Mickey is now represented by
the Schill Law Group, who has filed for and received a legal
restraining order against Maricopia County Animal control, preventing
them from euthanizing Mickey until ALL of the legal proceedings have
been exhausted. Note the TRO is only temporary, I am sure Schill will file even more sophisticated motions in the future.
For my remarks on how A.R. Extremists
lie, cheat, abuse the legal system and social media to achieve their
goals, consider
my remarks on the subject from 2012. That playbook indicated is
being followed to the letter.
In any case, Lexus, Schill, and a horde
of rank and file supporters are pulling out ALL the stops to "Save
Mickey". They may, indeed, succeed. Think about that for a
minute, a known human mauler coming to a neighborhood near
you! Thanks Lexus Project!!
More to come... this fiasco has barely started...
I worked for years as a groomer at a veterinary office and will never forget the sight of our vet tech carrying two fat, wagging, squirming lab puppies, each trying to like her face, through to the exam room. They were on their way to be euthanized. I was shaky and crying all that day and much of that night. The resources that go into rescuing a vicious proven killer is nauseatingly obscene. I will never, never understand, and my loathing and abhorrence for those groups is matched only by my bafflement.
ReplyDelete--SadFalada
Vicious PROVEN killer, indeed. Well, attempted killer to be precise. In any case, YES the movement to pull out all the stops and investing unlimited resources to save individual known maulers indirectly sentences 100's of other harmless animals to die. Thanks for writing.
DeleteThanks for including the link to "For the Love of Kevin", it needs so much more exposure! The video clip of him standing on his hospital bed with a toy made me cry. He is absolutely precious.
ReplyDeleteEvery one of the morons who thinks this shitty dog should be spared is a disgrace to humanity. I couldn't even look at the "Save Mickey" page for more than a few minutes because I was literally starting to shake with rage.
You are welcome. Note that I am a bit disquieted by the photo of a young child next to a Pit Bull that has been posted on that page.
DeleteNote that I understand 100% that the family does not want to get embroiled in a contentious BSL debate. With that said, I feel that showing kids with fighting dogs on that page is in rather poor taste. One reason these sort of attacks are proliferating is that people are convinced that these dogs are "great with kids" which gives a false sense of security. Mickey supporters are blaming Kevin, the babysitter, etc... but I'm confident that they felt safe around Mickey OR they wouldn't have been near him in the first place.
I covered this concept in my "Threat Perception" essay a couple of years ago.
Mickey SHOULD be saved!!! Awwww! Look it how WHITE he is like a white sweet sweet white marshmallo!!! Theys NO BLOODSTAINS on him he is STAIN RESISTENT the sweet baby. HE IS A PURE SAINT!!! DONT MART HER DEAR SWEET MICKEY AAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW and give him ANOTHER BONE !!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteA marshmallow that should get roasted, yes!
ReplyDeleteReading the comments on the Save Mickey page confirms my opinion that Pit groupies are cretinous, maudlin, poorly educated, amoral, reflexively sappy toward Dog but dismissive of human suffering. As much as I detest these dogs, the appalling character of the dolts that support them, no matter the circumstance, is indictment enough. --SadFalada
ReplyDeleteIndeed. This is at its core a people problem. People created these beasts, people perpetuate these beasts, and people pull out all the stops to preserve INDIVIDUAL MAULING BEASTS.
DeleteThey keep saying they care about Mickey AND Kevin. But, they only say that when someone asks them specifically about Kevin. When that's not happening, they carry on about Mickey's fictional bone, etc. And none of them are going over to "like" Kevin's page. Well, they have their way (sort of). Lucky Mickey?
ReplyDeleteExactly. 70,000 Mickey supporters, and 800 Kevin supporters.
DeleteIf even 10% of the Mickey supporters would "like" Kevin's page, that would give Kevin an additional 7,000 supporters.
But, no, the raving Pit Nuts will not admit that even ONE of their precious beasts could do anything wrong EVER.
A DOG getting an attorney makes me want to commit homicide right there. Will they give Mickey a court order not to maul anymore? Will he be able to read it? Comprehend it? Sign it? A dog has NO place in a court of law, only its OWNER does. Cull the man biters-KILL MICKEY.
ReplyDelete