Condemned dog Phoenix lounges with Dad and Pebbles! Look how vicious this dog is!
On December 18th, 2010, my husband and I made a trip to Toronto to pick up a dog no one else would take because he had been labelled aggressive and condemned to death. We were his last chance at turning his life around. Whoever labeled this dog as aggressive doesn’t know dogs at all! He is young, he is scared of the world, but he just wants to be loved. We named him Phoenix, and many of you are following his progress in his blog Phoenix Rising.
Phoenix’ case is not an isolated one, many dogs who bite once are condemned without any investigation into the reason the animal bit in the first place. Apparently for the powers that be, if a dog bites once it is a violent criminal and must be put to death! In many cases a dog does not even have to bite to be labeled aggressive, his or her breed mix is enough to serve as so called evidence of wrongdoing. (Remember the profiling of Bowser sight unseen by a local vet.) Imagine if we used this same philosophy when dealing with violent criminals of the human persuasion? Imagine if we condemned people as criminals according to their nationality or the color of their skin, or shape of their nose? We would never do that you say? Then why do we do it to dogs?
No one would support the idea that labels should be attached to people based on their nationality or skin color. No one would agree for example that all Mexican’s are illegal immigrants, or all Chinese people are bad drivers, or all black men are drug dealers, why then does society accept the myth that all pit bulls are inherently vicious? Why do people accept that every dog bite is an attack by a vicious dog? Why are we as a society so willing to hold the animal responsible when we really should be looking into the reasons for the bite incident in the first place? And my final question, why are we as a society so quick to solve every bite incident with a euthanasia order?
WE must stand up for those who can not speak for themselves. It is time that we let the Canadian government know that we will not stand by and watch as they condemn animals to death based on their breed or a single incident in which they bite. We must let the government know that we value the lives of our companion animals as much as we value the lives of our children or our own lives. We must stand firm and demand individual rights for companion animals. Do our pets not have the fundamental right to life?
In our society a criminal is supposedly innocent until proven guilty, however this does not apply to dogs. Dogs are considered guilty until proven innocent, although most dogs condemned to die are not given a chance to prove innocence or justification of their actions. These animals are not given a chance to defend themselves, and even if they were it would fall to their owners to speak for them. Most owners do not have the means to fight a euthanasia order in court. Further to this problem, is that so called government experts have dog owners convinced that once a dog bites it will always be aggressively vicious. The powers that be would have you believe that once a dog has bitten it will never be capable of controlling the urge in the future.
Phoenix and I beg to differ! We know that in most dog bite incidents the animal feels threatened and therefore defends themselves the only way possible, by biting that which they fear in the hopes it will go away and leave them alone. As a matter of fact the only time I have ever seen a companion animal deliberately attack without provocation, it was rabid.
To the government I have this to say: “Just because the “criminal” in question is an animal, doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to a fair trial. You can not continue to slaughter defenseless animals based on archaic philosophies of animal behavior. The shelter system in this country is inadequate and operates under ancient understandings of our companion animals behavioral traits. Workers are not properly trained and assessment of animals is being carried out by people unqualified to assess these animals. Training and compassion are non-existent, after all it is just a dog, in the scheme of things does it really matter? To those of us who value the lives of our companion animals, YOU BET IT MATTERS!
We must call for legislative change and hold owners responsible for the actions of their animals. The killing must stop!
Until Tomorrow Remember
BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK
Janette
7 Comments to “The Powers That Be Are Idiots!”
Come on, admit it… you love us!!!
Making dreams come true!
Let’s Adopt! Community Map
Let`s Adopt Network!
Recent Posts
- Postcards from Faith
- Faith in motion
- Faith restored; kudos to Brantford SPCA
- Faith has a new home!
- When rescue turns to search for Faith…
- Keeping Faith
- Thought of the day…
- Happy Father’s Day from Let’s Adopt Canada
- Pup Found in Trash Can
- Get Your 2012 events listed in our first ever Let’s Adopt Canada Calendar
- The Results Are In….Did YOUR Pet Win?
- Just Say NO to the EURO DOG Show 2012
- Have You Considered Adopting a Special Needs Pet?
- Meet Puffy: homeless & FIV+
- Sterling Virginia Police Allow Dog to Die in Hot Car
Recent Comments
- Markus R on The Link Between Serial Killers and Animal Abuse
- Janette Hamilton on Pup Found in Trash Can
- Jessica on Pup Found in Trash Can
- Kirk Sanderson on Sled Dog Murderer Robert Fawcett: Lies and Back Pedaling
- Tina on Dog Fighting in Canada
- SD on Sled Dog Murderer Robert Fawcett: Lies and Back Pedaling
- Sam on Newmarket SPCA: Is THIS Who We Want Running the Facility? Really?
- Pat Barrington on Boycott Sites Like Craigslist and Kijiji
- Jane Calladine on Just Say NO to the EURO DOG Show 2012
- Heidi on We can’t save ‘em all
- Sara Bennett on Brindi: a danger to society?
- david fialko on Sled Dog Murderer Robert Fawcett: Lies and Back Pedaling
- david fialko on Sled Dog Murderer Robert Fawcett: Lies and Back Pedaling
- Ana on Just Say NO to the EURO DOG Show 2012
- Livingstone on Sled Dog Murderer Robert Fawcett: Lies and Back Pedaling
Archives
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
Social Media Advisors
Please share this blog!
Colleen says:
Janette ! I could not agree more !! It frustrates me and angers me. What angered me MORE than that was the response I got from my local MPP when I e mailed him concerning BSL ( which I commonly refer to as BullShit Legislation) and asking him to consider backing the bill that would end it. he used very “disturbing” language. words like the “menace” of Pitt Bulls. *sigh*
I cannot fathom why people buy into the Hysteria. Educate yourselves !
I was bitten by a dog when I was younger, while it did make me nervous around dogs for some years, I never onced believed the dog was inherantly vicious because it bit me, I approached it on the street, and though I was familiar with the dog, she was probably nervous, as she was not at home, but had escaped from her yard. What happened to me ? I got a lecture from my parents about approaching a dog I did not know, while they did notify the owners, they never onced called for the dog to be destroyed ! that seems to be the commonality these days, slip and fall, sue ! get bit by an animal, sue and have the dog destroyed ! Don’t by any means take responsibility for your own actions !
Janette Hamilton says:
Disgusting isn’t it? You also brought to the front of my memory an incident when I was a child in which i was bitten, and my parents reacted the same as yours, by scolding me for approaching a dog I did not know without caution.
Colleen says:
Yes exactly Janette, there are times when I want to pack up and leave Ontario… and then I think, NO, I NEED to stay here and FIGHT BSL !!
Jodie York says:
I agree with you both. I hope that we will continue to move away from the culture of death that surrounds us.
Linda Larose says:
How about we condemn the people who commit wrongs on animals to as violent criminals and give them more aggressive penalties, jail time, monetary fines to animal shelters, community time working with animals, life time bands from owning animals?
Janette Hamilton says:
That is EXACTLY what needs to be done Linda. unfortunately we must fight the “old boys” network to change anything and they don’t like change so it will be an uphill battle.
Gwen says:
I was also bitten by a dog some years back and if i was one of those stupid,hateful people and called the police that poor dog would have been killed because all you have to say is DOG BITE and with no questions asked the dog would have been condemned.
Here’s what happened.
I volunteer with a small no kill / no cage animal shelter and we rescued a dog that was abused and neglected.Our shelter was full and this dog was so scared and pregnant that she needed a quiet place to live so she could learn to trust again so one of our members took her home with her.I was only around her a few times when she had her babies and therefore she did not know me plus she now had babies to protect from this cruel world because a cruel life was all she knew.I went to see her the day after she had her babies and knowing how scared she was i started to kneel down a few feet back from her and her babies but i tripped and went down way to fast and to close to her and her reaction was to protect her babies and bit me on yhe nose.
It was totally my fault and not once did any of us think she was aggressive or should be killed..I WAS THE STUPID ONE..
With time and lots of love she learned to trust and love again and was adpoted by a loving family.My point is that if i was one of those hateful people and called the police and said i was bitten by a dog they would have killed her right there and then without even asking what happened…
I have learned over the years that the powers that be are the least compassionate creatures on this cruel earth.