1. Provide formal training documentation for the dog in question to the regulatory body indicated, OR2. Demonstrate the dog’s ability to perform the service or task indicated to said regulatory body.
Animal Uncontrol
Chaos in our communities
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Letter to my Senator regarding service dog fraud
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Pet ownership ethics - an overview
Good Afternoon! (Hey, its always afternoon SOMEWHERE, right?!)
The DogMageddon continually raises issues and questions regarding the keeping of animals in our communities.
As I have noted in the past, just about any animal that can be a nuisance (aggressive towards humans, noise polluting) has been zoned out. By "zoned out" I mean they are banned or severely restricted in neighborhoods, and possession of such creatures is typically only allowed on farms, zoos, or in remote / rural areas. How many sheep are living in your downtown apartment tower. I thought so.
So, what are the boundaries of pet ownership in cities and suburbs? I believe that pet ownership is a *privilege* in such places, and the privilege may be maintained if the following 2 criteria are met:
1) The animal must be kept in a humane manner. For example, you can argue that a gerbil can be kept humanely in a small apartment BUT a horse cannot.
2) The animal must be kept in a socially acceptable manner. The keeping of said animal should not violate the rights of anyone else. The ONLY person subject to the downsides of owning the pet should be the pet owner.
I estimate that dog people fail both of the 2 criteria on a regular basis.
This raises the question, what sort of animals CAN be kept in human communities, given both of the criteria set above? I believe that any animal kept in a human community should meet the following 3 general guidelines:
1) Non-aggressive towards humans.
2) Quiet. If the animal vocalizes at all, it should be at human-level volume or LOWER *and* for short durations.
3) Small and light enough to be easily handled by the average adult.
Again, dogs and dog owners flunk the above on a very consistent basis. Small dogs typically flunk 1 and 2 above, and large dogs flunk all 3.
Think about it.
Monday, October 10, 2022
Service dog fail - A summation.
So, what is wrong here? Why is the ADA service animal [dog] provision such a fail?
It empowers dog people to take their dog everywhere COUNTER to:
- Local and state health and safety laws. Feds came in and USURPED the rules set by all these states and municipalities that said NO ANIMALS in places that sell or serve food, among other things.
- Feds ALSO usurped the rights of proprietors and the public to a dog-free space. I have a right to seek a dog free dining experience.
All of this is VERY heavy handed, and I believe, of dubious constitutionality. For example, the my state government does NOT allow pets on state park beach areas. The feds came in and said, YES you must allow mutts everywhere, including the beach as long as the dog owner says "the magic words!". This is a breach of home rule protections.
I believe it is also a breach of association rights and property rights. Say you are a proprietor of a restaurant, and you want to offer people a dog free space. Thanks to the ADA, you are now no longer allowed to do that: You MUST accommodate the dogs, or else.
The worst problem with this is: The Feds bestowed all this *power* upon dog owners WITH NO OVERSIGHT.
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
BSL fails - The ADEP phenomenon
Friday, July 29, 2022
Animal Uncontrol Discord
Work in progress. Check it out.
if the link above does not work, try: https://discord.gg/CuJEKf9U
Updated on 9/29/2022: Link good for 7 days.
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Around and around we go!
After 20+ years of ENDLESSLY playing the breed ID game, haven’t we had enough? Great article on Dogsbite.org the other day. I left some comments.
The gist of it is, dog nuts in the UK have found several creative ways to side-step / cheat on the breed restrictions there. The UK dangerous dogs act of 1991 banned the following 4 breeds: Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Pit Bull Terrier and Japanese Tosa. Lets pause for a moment: Is the Japanese Tosa a popular dog breed anywhere? Who knew.
In any case, UK dog nuts and power breed fanatics have been cross-breeding, designer breeding, and discovering various other ways to side step this restriction. This is in addition to the fact that you can still own pit bulls in the UK if certain conditions are met. Thank dog for that!
This illustrates one problem with trying to limit or restrict a couple dog breeds: Dog nuts will figure out a way to mix their breed of choice *just enough* to side step the ban, adopt a power dog not on the list (i.e. Presa Canario), or just go ahead and create a new breed. Think about it: A dog breed is essentially just a consumer product line. The producers can create new lines all they want. How many brands of underarm deodorant could we have? Think about that.
Note the operative words above include “one problem”. Another problem is enforcement. As long as the policy is to give Fido a pass on everything, enforcement is going to be very lax.
Many times over the past 10 years I have made the point that allowing large (40+ lb) dogs in cities and residential areas is grossly unreasonable. How do you justify that when EVERY other animal in these areas is either limited to small pets (reptiles, cats, etc… ) or zoned out entirely (goats, sheep, horses, etc…). If anything, you would restrict large dogs in cities as an animal welfare measure.
To those who remark about their Great Dane, St. Bernard,
etc…. “My Fido is super sweet! He’d
never harm a fly!”. Yes, precisely the
same words uttered by every Pit Bull fanatic in existence. Do you even hear yourselves? Let me ask you something: Could you stop your dog from assaulting
someone? If Fido knocks someone over,
that could injure them pretty badly. Are
you willing to take responsibility for that? How about if I push YOU over onto the concrete? How about this: Is keeping a bunch of St. Bernards in a 400 square foot downtown apartment
a good idea?
So, with all that said, here is my proposition: Lets limit ALL pets in cities and residential areas to 35 lbs or less. "Limit" meaning that you would need a variance to exceed the threshold. THIS puts an END to all of these endless rounds of breed ID Bull Shit! And while we are at it, lets de-normalize assault-by-dog.