My W.T.F. Wednesday is pretty light in terms of quantity but the W.T.F. content is strong.
In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m a little behind in news and slightly scattered about writing topics down to save for W.T.F. posts. Which is why a BIG W.T.F. should have gone out last week to the Maryland Court of Appeals for ruling that all pit bull type breeds are “inherently dangerous.”
Yes, you read that right. America’s dog is labeled inherently dangerous by a panel of people suffering from HUMAS (Head Up My Ass Syndrome.) That’s like saying all 52-year-old red heads write dog blogs.
What?
Exactly.
So hey Maryland COA, siriusly, W.T.F. is wrong with you?
Punish the deed, not the breed. Don’t think your setting any precedents here, dog lovers united will not tolerate this. Take your head out of your ass and look around you. Go talk to someone who rescues pit bulls, check out the Humane Society. Some of the sweetest dogs on the planet are….yes pit bulls.
I’d tell you to open your eyes but with your head so far up your ass you’d only see your stomach anyway.
Turning from the stupidity of the Maryland Court of appeals, I found some Woo Hoo news about animals today!
The County of Frederick, Maryland is defying the Maryland COA and refuses to “Profile pit bulls into extinction.” Instead they will address issues of aggression on an individual level.
See, not everyone with the authority to make decisions in Maryland has their head up their ass.
And yes, there are already animal activists asking the Governor to overturn the ruling.
In the ‘I’m proud to live in CT’ news, we had three great pieces of legislation pass the house last night!
H. B. No. 5409 “To facilitate the reimbursement to consumers for veterinary bills incurred for the care of sick dogs or cats adopted from pet shops, to clarify certain pet shop penalty statutes and to prohibit pet shops from selling dogs and cats obtained from substandard domestic animal mills. ”
CT pet stores are you reading this? You can’t get your animals from mills anymore!!
H. B. No. 5446 “To allow pounds to complete and retain vouchers for the purpose of payments to veterinarians for the sterilization and vaccination of certain dogs and cats and to require initial training and continuing education for animal control officers.”
I’m not 100% sure I understand what this means, but I’m hoping it means when someone adopts an animal from the shelter or pound they will need to pay the spay/neuter/vaccination fee up front and the pound will follow-up to ensure the animal is altered and vaccinated.
I do know it will give animals control officers the information they need which should help make their jobs easier.
H.B. No. 5289 “To classify a second or subsequent offense of cruelty to an animal as a felony punishable by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both. ”
While I’d like to see this type of punishment levied on first time offenders, I can settle for this. I would like to see (as Jan suggested) an animal abuser registry similar to the ones for sex offenders.
I found out last Saturday that the Labs 4 Rescue group keeps their own registry and I imagine they are not the only ones.
Did you come across anything this week that made you shake your head and say “W.T.F.” or did you see more of the jump for joy and scream Woo Hoo news?
WTF… Wildly Thick Furs RIGHT?
Now I try to only see the good NICE stuffs and avoid the Stupid Crazy thingys that Peeps do. Butt it isn’t Always Pawsible.
WTF can be anything you’d like it to be Frankie and Ernie! I try too but lately the Stupid Crazy Thingys are what I’m hearing about. 🙁
BaaaaWaaaah Guess WHAT………. I just got an EMAIL …. from your blog!!!
I think it is an new feature on WP, you need to make sure the box on below the comment box that says, “Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail” is NOT checked!
BSL sucks. Apart from that, it’s been a woohoo week for me. Yay!
Yes, BSL does suck.
I’m glad you’re having a Woo Hoo week.
I saw that about Maryland, unbelievable – but nice to know that one county is already fighting back.
And I know you saw about the kittens here on LI. I mean, even if you DESPISE cats, how could anyone do that to a defenseless kitten – no less 8 of them?
Awesome news about CT banning pups being purchased from puppy mills. Some good news for a change!
I can’t believe in this day and age there is still so much ignorance in this world, from supposedly educated people too!
I read that article about the kittens, that is so disgusting and vile and I cannot believe that someone could do such a thing.
Yes that was certainly some good news in the animal world (for a change!)
See Jodi — once again, your WTF Wednesday informs me of something I didn’t know and something I should know. Had no idea that this battle is underway in Maryland — right in my backyard. I’m going to do some research now that I am aware and see if there is a petition I can sign or support I can offer to the Maryland animal advocates/activist. WTF indeed. And thank you again.
Well I’m glad I could be of assistance Sherri, I think it’s despicable and if you find something please share. I’m not sure if I could sign it being so far away and all but it I can I certainly will.
I think it’s appalling that just when one location decides that BSL isn’t working for them and rescind it, another location says, those laws that didn’t work over there, let’s try them here.
Douce bags.
Tell me again why humans are supposed to be superior beings.
I have no idea how were are proposed to be the superior beings. When are they going to make people accountable for their actions?
HUMAS is one of the most frightening afflications affecting people today and it’s spreading! Thanks for highlighting some of the positive as well as negative news Jodi.
I think it’s an epidemic Bassa. I’m glad that there was some good news to share for once too~
I know I have said this before 🙂 but I am against any regulations with respect to the breeding or sale of dogs or cats. Once government starts to regulate, they rarely stop and then you get things like BSL. See if you can regulate a “puppy mill” or a “pet shop” then why can’t you regulate with BSL? When a rescue places a pit bull mix, or any dog that turns out to be vicious or sick, where is the regulation for that? Plus the cost to enforce this stuff can bankrupt a jurisdiction.
I do not have an issue with the change in the penalty for animal cruelty as long as what constitutes cruelty is clearly defined.
I know you are against regulations and I understand where you are coming from and I respect that.
Obviously in the case of your breeders they are not puppy millers. I think that has to be better defined. Just because you own an interest in a number of dogs does not mean you breed irresponsibly.
As usual it is a select few that spoil things for many.
HUMAS… Hehehe. I like it.
It’s kind of startling to me that training for animal control officers was not a requirement before. That sounds incredibly dangerous. I am glad this is changing!
BTW: I give a WTF to WordPress’ new commenting protocol. I hate having to login to an old WordPress.com account just to leave a few words. Irritating!
It is an epidemic in the US Kristine.
I’m not sure what exactly the training is, sometimes the laws seem kind of vague to me. 🙁
I second your WTF to WordPress’ new commenting protocol. Besides having to sign in, I have sometimes forgotten to uncheck the box for comments and have been inundated via e-mail.
So glad that the Woo Hoos outnumber the WTFs. But the WTF will have a big impact.
I take advantage of my platform teaching first time home buyers to talk about breed discrimination when I discuss homeowner’s insurance. Most of them are shocked to find how many breeds are banned from most home owner’s policies. The MD law is just one more example of dangerous discrimination. I hope its activist citizens can overturn it quickly.
And I’m with Kristine. I hate the WP commenting system. I’ve had to log in via Facebook just to leave comments which send people to my personal FB site instead of my blog or my page. Yucko! If I can prove it’s damaging animal welfare, do you think I could get them to change it? 🙂
I was happy to have some good things to report this week as well.
I was not aware about breed discrimination with homeowners. Just exactly what breeds are banned? And what happens if you have a dog that is ‘banned’ and it bites someone.
Yup I am with you and Kristine, WP’s commenting system sucks. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written a comment and hit ‘post’ and have it tell me to sign in. 🙁
You’re a 52-year-old red-head? If I’d known, I would have avoided this blog!!!
Not to be the gloomy gus, but I hope they put teeth in those new laws. Like, who’s going to monitor pet-shop animal purchasing?
LOL what’s more disturbing? That I’m 52 or that I’m a red-head? LOL
I’m sure they will have to tweak the law. I will volunteer to do the pet shops in my area. 🙂
UGHHHH!!! WTF INDEED!! BSL makes me so angry and to see counties and states going backwards is so frustrating. Haven’t we learned by now that BSL doesn’t work?! Breeds do not make dogs dangerous…people do!
It seems some societies are destined to repeat their mistakes. But don’t worry, they will defeat Maryland and it will be repealed in Miami Dade too!!
Ban the deed, not the breed.
I just got a license plate with that phrase! Hoping it helps to raise awareness before the vote.