A dog isn't some disposable commodity but a family member in its own right, deserving of compassion and respect, no? Not so in the village of Moreauville, Louisiana, which soon plans to impound and euthanize its existing population of pit bulls and Rottweilers.
This mom wanted a dog destroyed after it attacked her daughter
It's not enough to ban future breeding programs of these so-called dangerous breeds. Following an ordinance passed on 13 October, town officials sent residents a nasty missive in which they threatened to round up dogs still living in homes by 1st December for "further disposition." Disposition? Let's put aside the euphemisms, and call a spade by its rightful name, shall we? What Moreauville officials are doing is nothing short of declaring an all-out doggy genocide. And they are getting away with it.
No wonder O'Hara Owens and her family are challenging the ban under the Twitter hashtag #SaveZeus. They have a beloved pit bull named Zeus, and they are fighting for his life. Imagine for a second that Zeus was your pet, the dog that had grown up with your children. I can't for a second imagine having to explain to my son that Little Sister, his cherished bulldog Rosey, had to be taken away (let alone "disposed of" and discarded like some bit of cardboard packaging).
Amazing things service dogs do for children with autism
But back to Zeus... As someone with disabilities that require her to use a brace and a wheelchair, Owens regards her pit as a therapy dog. "If anything ever happened to him, I would just shut down," she said. "They're going to have to take him from my cold, dead hands before they get a hold of him."
No one has ever filed a complaint about Zeus. Indeed, under the right guidance many pit bulls and Rotties make incredible family pets.
I'm well aware of the countless horror stories in which children have been attacked by these breeds, amongst a long list of others. Yes, it's sickening, but more sickening is the heartless, systematic extermination of certain breeds rooted in ignorance. Let's regulate ownership for a start and mandate adequate training. And by training I mean of owners, not dogs. Many aggressive dogs are no bigger than a hairbrush yet have high incidence rates of unpromopted attack.
If Moreauville insists on going forward with its ban, by all means crack down on breeders - but be humane about it: grant amnesty to living dogs.
You tell me: is Moreauville right to ban these dangerous dogs?
This mom called on her inner Tyson when her daughter was being attacked.
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