The Halifax Vigil for tomorrow's implementation of breed specific legislation

Well I'd say that tonight's Halifax vigil in solidarity with the dog owners of Ontario in preparation for the enactment of bill 132 was a complete success! Tons of people showed up, none of the dogs ate any humans, or any other dogs - good solid educational information was given out - lots of networking was done so that people can stay informed of things coming up in the future - and I didn't pass out at any point in my speech.

There was media there too - so hopefully they took a positive spin on it and good stories will come out from them shortly - the 11 o'clock ATV news was very positive and said that there were about 75 people in attendance - so that's a pretty good number - considering that we only started organizing the event a week ago!

I took quite a few pictures - which you can see below - and I also uploaded a bunch of pictures to one of my Yahoo photo sites at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/charlieloveshalifax/my_photos if you want to get the "full meal deal" - and see if you're in any of them! haha!

I'm also going to paste the speech below that I gave just because I'm such a megalomaniac...


Charlie's bandana which said "BSL stinks worse than poop!"


A shot of the crowd when it had started to form


Sisko and his Dad


The ever perfect little Sasha!


Smudge and Nellie the Leonberger

The speech that I gave...

"I’ve been thinking a lot about pit bulls in the last few days because of what’s going to happen tomorrow – and I’ve also been thinking about all the attacks that happen that you hear about in the media – that happen by pit bulls. I say that because on Friday when I told my boss and a coworker that this vigil was happening and what it was about both of them immediately squished up their faces and said – “why do you want to save any pit bulls?” – like as if it was okay to wipe the species off the face of the earth because of all the horrible things we hear on the news. That’s is ALWAYS the reaction you get whenever the word pit bull is brought up in general conversation unless the person is very dog savvy and really understands the breed for what it is.

So that got me thinking – why DO I want to save pit bulls? DO I want to save pit bulls? I don’t now – and never have owned any type of bully dog – so you’d think it’s weird that I’m involved in the breed specific legislation fight at all – and I watch the same news reports as everyone else that shows all the dogs attacking people – why would I want to save a breed from extinction that’s doing so much harm?

I got involved because I think that all dogs are the same – I don’t think that there’s any difference between a poodle or a lab or a Rhodesian ridgeback or a pit bull – a pit bull just has a wider grin. The only way those breeds are different is their natural qualities and how those natural qualities are nurtured by their owners – and whether or not those qualities are used for good or for evil and the dog is loved or unloved. Whether the dog is treated as a living alive entity or a piece of lawn furniture that’s tied to a tree that becomes a ticking time bomb. There are millions of dogs in Canada and millions of dog owners – and unfortunately – millions of ideas on how those dogs should be treated…. And some of those owners think the dogs should be treated like dogs.

I’m going to assume here that I’m preaching to the converted – that everyone here loves their dogs – and are already responsible dog owners – I don’t have to convince you to become one, or convince you that dogs are good and deserving of love and a place in our family. Just being here tonight is showing that you agree with me about that – so there’s a huge amount of stuff that I don’t need to say –

One of the main goals of my website “Charlie loves Halifax” is to gain greater access for dogs and their humans to public places so that they can spend more time together – so that people can spend more time with their chosen life companions. I get emails every week from people about how important it is to them that they be allowed to have their dogs with them when they go places and how it makes their lives so much more fun and fulfilled – and with my rose coloured glasses I can envision a world that truly is dog-friendly. To at least have a Halifax that’s dog-friendly would be amazing! I want to move forward and expand that lifestyle because I thnk it will make a better world for me, my chosen lifetime canine companions and even the non-dog owners around me because of the economic and tourism benefits that it would bring in – do NOT get me started on what my perfect world looks like! Breed specific legislation is the anti-thesis of dog-friendly – it is telling people that it’s okay to be afraid of dogs, it’s okay to hate dogs, that dogs don’t deserve to be here – that just because a path of least resistance exists – it has to be taken. I find BSL to also be completely dis-respectful to all dogs because it says that some dogs aren’t welcome on this earth when my dogs have the exact same characteristics – every dog has teeth that can tear, eyes that can see ears that can hear, hearts than can beat, claws that can cut, hair that can clog up my vacuum cleaner, and legs that can knock me down when I come home from a long day at work!

The pit bulls that I’m fighting for are Helen Keller’s dog – he was a pit bull, I’m fighting for Petey from the Little Rascals – he was a pit bull. I’m fighting for all the pit bulls owned by responsible dog owners – all the people who are just like me – who own dogs that are exactly like my dogs – except that their grins are a little bit wider – when they smile you definitely can see it.

I’m hoping that Ontario will be the world’s biggest experiment in breed specific legislation so that when it fails – perhaps all the 1000’s of dogs who will have been killed won’t have died completely in vain. That’s why we have to make sure that the spotlight stays on that province – that we continue to watch what’s going on up there – watch how many dogs are dying – how many dogs are being abandoned and killed in the shelters – so that hopefully once and for all the world will be able to see that BSL just does not work. That the bad guys will continue to have all the big bad dogs they want – they’ll just be cane corso’s or presa canario’s now – which are HUGE dogs that actually if they just sat on you would kill you! And the negligent owners will still be able to get dog after dog – because the current trend in legislation only targets dogs – not humans.

I personally think that the breed specific legislation fight and it’s focus on pit bulls should be separated a little bit – it really is NOT about those dogs who are attacking and killing people – it’s about your dog, it’s about my dog – and the life we live with them everyday. It’s about the quality of the life we want to have for them and WITH them. As breed specific legislation spreads because we think it’s got nothing to do with us because we don’t own pit bulls ourselves our rights as dog owners are going to be whittled away – first our off-leash parks are going to disappear, and then we won’t be able to take our on-leash dogs into any parks, we will be told how many dogs we are allowed to have – what breeds we’re allowed to have, they won’t be allowed to leave our home, in order to have any type of dog we’ll have to have a 6 foot fence – we will have to own our home, we’ll have to have liability insurance – the list will go on and on. That will all be legislated and soon no one will be able to have dogs because the cost will be prohibitive. And it’s all because we didn’t do anything RIGHT NOW.

So when the topic of breed specific legislation comes up in conversation – or when pit bulls come up when you’re talking to someone and they say that they should be banned off the face of the earth speak up! Tell people that those attacks and those dogs have nothing to do with the breed – those dogs are not pit bulls – they’re dogs who were probably never treated as family pets and are now dangerous dogs who deserve to be dealt with to the full extent of the law – as do their negligent owners. EVERY breed has dogs like that – and owners like that – dangerous dog laws would deal with it much better. It’s like I said – the only difference between pit bulls and any other dog is that their grins are a little bit wider when they smile – and I think the world could use a lot more of that!

A nicely written article about this coming Monday's ban

Owners Owners could face big fine and jail time if their dogs bite or attack anyoneBy JOE FRIESEN

Saturday, August 27, 2005 Page A13


As the last hours of unbounded freedom tick by for Ontario's pit bulls, Arthur Joseph allows his 10-month old dog Bella to roam in an Etobicoke park without a muzzle. Mr. Joseph is a 29-year-old mechanic who keeps his head shaved close, wears camouflage combat pants and owns two pit bulls. He's also a sensitive animal lover who is deeply troubled by Ontario's new dog licensing law.

"It just doesn't make sense," Mr. Joseph said. "The ban is not going to accomplish anything. All the ban is going to do is hurt good people who obey the law. All these gangsters who have these dogs and breed them illegally and fight them illegally -- guess what? They do illegal things. They're criminals."

The law, which comes into effect Monday but provides for a 60-day grace period, bans pit bulls born after Nov. 27 and all those brought into the province starting next week. Those dogs can be confiscated and destroyed by municipal licensing officers.

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The law contains a grandfather clause to allow dogs such as Bella, and Mr. Joseph's five-month-old male pit bull Jimi, to live out the rest of their days under certain restrictions. These "restricted" dogs must be leashed and muzzled when off their owner's property, and they must be spayed or neutered by Oct. 28. If they have offspring, the puppies must be surrendered to the pound. If they bite, attack or are deemed to pose a threat to the public, their owner could face a fine of up to $10,000 and six months in jail.

The law is designed to protect citizens from violent dogs and is the first of its kind to be passed by a province or state in North America.

The city of Windsor moved on its own to ban pit bulls last October, and it was through Advocates for the Underdog, an agency that rescued pit bulls and smuggled them to other jurisdictions, that Mr. Joseph acquired Bella and Jimi.

He said he couldn't bear the thought of dogs dying needlessly. Although he understands the need for dangerous-dog legislation, he can't see why pit bulls are the only breed to be banned.

"There's lots of dangerous dogs out there that aren't pit bulls," he said, adding that he is a responsible owner whose pit bulls pose no threat.

He believes the pit bull legislation was proposed as a way to win popularity for Attorney-General Michael Bryant. He has read through pages of the committee hearings on the matter earlier this year, and said he's baffled that the Attorney-General concluded a breed-specific ban was the best way to proceed.

"Maybe we weren't emotional enough," said Steve Barker, Ontario director of the Dog Legislation Council of Canada.

While the Attorney-General's office produced harrowing testimony from bite victims, those opposed to the pit bull ban restricted their arguments to facts, he said.

Tomorrow night, he and Mr. Joseph will join a group of fellow dog owners in a candlelight vigil at Queen's Park for the thousands of dogs they predict will be euthanized under the new legislation.

But they haven't conceded yet. On Monday, a coalition of dog groups known as the Banned Aid Coalition will launch a lawsuit aimed at derailing the new law. Civil-rights lawyer Clayton Ruby is taking on the brief and, Mr. Barker said, is going to base his argument on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Mr. Ruby was not available for comment.

"We feel we have no choice but to challenge it legally because we couldn't get through to the government in a logical manner," Mr. Barker said.

For Mr. Joseph, the new law has already meant a major change. He has bought a new house at the edge of Pickering with a large backyard and a high fence that will allow his dogs to run free without muzzles. That way, they won't be singled out on the street and treated as dangerous pariahs. He's already had Bella spayed, and will have Jimi neutered when the dog matures, and he feels only a little regret that they won't be able to reproduce.

"There's people out there that don't like dogs, and this ban is going to make those people happy," he said.

The most important website to come about about bill 132 - ontariobites.com!

The only way to end the suffering is to take away all their tourist dollars! 

I got an email this morning - a press release announcing a new website - http://www.ontario-bites.com/ - and it's all about bill 132 and the dangers to the dogs of Ontario and anyone who wants to travel to or through Ontario - and it says very directly to everyone - do NOT come to Ontario!

"Don't visit Ontario - more dogs will suffer"

They also are selling awesome t-shirts with targets on them that say - targeted for disrimination. What an idea. Isn't that sad?

On another note, I'm hoping to have enough time between now and the vigil tomorrow night to make a bandanna for Charlie that says "BSL stinks worse than poop!" That would be neat.

I didn't notice at first the link on the Ontario bites to goodpooch.com - I just assumed it was the work of them because it was so brilliant (and I assume all brilliant things come from them!) - but once I looked more carefully I saw the link - so now it makes perfect sense and answered my question of where that website has come from! And verified my belief even further about goodpooch.com and Marjorie Darby - haha!

Man's Best Defence

This is an article from "The Village Voice" - if this man lived in Ontario and was facing the pit bull ban, do you think he'd be going out of business? Or do you think he'd just change his breed of choice over to the cane corso - like the one he's cross breeding his pit bulls with now. When you read an article like this do you think that it's the dogs' fault or the human's fault now? Do you think breed specific legislation is going to work for people like this?

Tough puppy love: Eison with his recruits photo: Matthew Salacuse
Originally uploaded by dogkisser.

Man's Best Defense
Tyler Eison turns pit bull pups into deadly weapons

by David Shaftel
August 23rd, 2005 11:33 AM

"These are not normal dogs," says Tyler Eison, gazing reverently at a litter of seven-week-old pit bull puppies. "I like having very vicious, angry dogs. I'm going to teach them not to like other dogs. I'm going to agitate them, make them aggressive. That way when it's about business, they are going to be serious." As a real estate investor and auto dealer, Eison, 41, values aggression in his dogs for protecting both himself and his property. "My dogs are my pistols," he says, cracking a gold-tooth smile. "I have my dogs on my property, and I have faith in them. If they're coming at you, you have to shoot them to kill them."

Tough people want tough dogs, but if you want a truly vicious dog you have to create it yourself. With his latest litter of three girls and a boy, Eison is trying to re-create a bloodline of fighting dogs he owned 20 years ago (though he insists his fighting days are long over). He's making a stud dog out of his prized companion Rock, an eerily silent pit bull with a golden brown coat and pink nose. Rock's first litter was born in early May, and Eison watched its progress daily to see which of the puppies would develop more of their father's traits.

Eison kennels the pups in a fenced-in corner of his backyard, in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes in St. Albans, Queens. When the dogs get older, he'll move them to another house nearby, where his wife and stepchildren live, and where he keeps his adult dogs—a Cane Corso and three pit bulls—in large pens out back. He has three more dogs, two Cane Corsos and a Rottweiler, at friends' houses.

Hoping to turn Rock's offspring into deadly weapons, Eison started antagonizing them when they were around nine weeks old. One afternoon he held an all-brown puppy by its midsection and for several minutes forced it to lie across the neck of one its sisters, who Eison believes might be the pick of the litter. Eison didn't think the brown pup was willing enough to play rough, so he decided to force it into a scrum. After a minute or so, its sister became angry and began to growl and bite the brown one's ears. After the incident the brown puppy cowered under a metallic-blue racing motorcycle Eison keeps in the backyard and peed.

Eison's love for pit bulls goes back to his childhood. At nine years old, he was spending the night at his grandparents' house when a heater caught fire. Eison was asleep on the couch; the family's pit bull mix nipped him on the leg until he woke up and roused his grandparents, saving their lives. The dog had been feral, Eison says, but people in the neighborhood paid top dollar for her puppies.

Ten years later, in the late '80s, Eison's car was rear-ended. An argument erupted as two men leapt out of the other car. One of them said he was going to get something out of his trunk. Eison guessed this something was a gun, so he wasted no time in loosing Conan on him. "I wasn't going to let him kill me, so my dog took care of him," he remembers. "I sicced my dog on that guy, man, and beat the other one up myself. I had no choice."

Eison's belief that his dogs offer essential protection in his sometimes rough neighborhood was only reinforced last month when his stepson Glen Moore, 22, was hit in the head with a baseball bat in Howard Beach, in what authorities are calling a bias crime. The attack, says Eison, never would have happened if Moore had had one of the dogs with him.

Basically purebred mutts, pit bulls were developed from the crossbreeding of bull- and bear-baiting dogs with terriers used in rat-baiting competitions. The result was a canine with the tremendous jaw pressure of a bulldog and the athleticism and ferocity of a terrier, which kills its prey by grabbing it in its mouth and whipping it from side to side. With his bloodline, Eison is trying to emphasize the violence of a terrier's bite, while losing nothing of a pit bull's agility and intelligence. He has mated Rock with an all-white English bull terrier named Lady. The result, he hopes, will be dogs of 45 to 50 pounds that can more than hold their own against dogs twice their size. He'll mate the best female of this first litter with her father. This inbreeding—called linebreeding—will help Eison isolate the traits he seeks.

Studies have suggested that pit bulls are not inherently dangerous. In evaluations by the American Temperament Testing Society, the pit bull passed at a rate of 83.4 percent, just below the beloved golden retriever and 4.5 points higher than the collie. That said, the city's shelters reported that almost 6,000 bull breeds (pit bulls and pit bull mixes) were admitted in the last fiscal year. Though they represent 37 percent of all dogs in city shelters, bull breeds accounted for almost half of the 7,136 dogs euthanized in shelters last year. Pit bulls are routinely adopted, but shelter officials say a disproportionate number can't be because they haven't been socialized properly. Some have spent their whole lives in cages.

Ed Boks, the director of New York City Animal Care & Control, says the blame for pit bulls' negative image is shared equally by the press—which is fascinated by pit bull attacks—and breeders who take advantage of the dogs. "Pit bulls are actually a rather stable breed," says Boks. "The thing about pit bulls is that they are stuck with this bad reputation. They are extraordinarily loyal and loving animals and they will fight to the death just to please you."

At two months old, Eison's puppies are more concerned with fighting their way out of the old paint bucket he is bathing them in. "All of these dogs have good tempers," Eison says over the sound of splashing water and the din of the LIRR train speeding past his backyard on elevated tracks. "These dogs were born to fight, but they have the potential to be the sweetest dogs. This one is just like his dad—he's one of the most playful dogs, but when it comes down to business, he'll get down."

Unlike his father, though, the puppy hates baths. When he's freed from Eison's soapy clutches he chases his sisters, wrestling with them in the muddy corners of the yard, swiftly undoing Eison's efforts to keep them clean. He establishes a dominant position so his sisters can't flee and bites on their ears, eliciting hoarse, juvenile yelps and showing signs of what he might one day be capable of.

After Eison bathes them, he force-feeds his dogs a deworming solution. The puppies stagger around coughing and trying to spit up, as Eison tries to keep track of which ones he has given the medicine to. Next he cleans their pen, refills their water buckets, and gives them fresh food. As he works, the puppies try to enter the house through a screen door with a broken latch and force their way into Eison's recently scrubbed back porch, from there into his meticulously kept two-story house. When he opens the door to expel one puppy, two more charge in. They will never be allowed to stay inside, just as they will never be taught to roll over or give him a high five or fetch his slippers.

People have always selectively bred and trained dogs to emphasize certain traits, says ASPCA animal behaviorist Steve Zawistowski. Aggression, he says, can be bred out just as it can be bred in. "We've selected dogs that represent human aspects of caring and friendliness and compassion," said Zawistowski. "With pit bulls, we've created a dog that combines loyalty with instances of intense aggression. The dog now represents an edgy part of our society." Which is evidenced, he says, by the names people give them.

Dogs like Rock and Conan (now deceased) are so accurate a reflection of Eison's mentality that he wants all the others to aspire to their temperament. He considers them members of his family. "If you don't have any children, you don't stay on this earth. But if you have children you're always here. So I'm going to make Rock live forever," he says.

At 12 weeks, the brown puppy was still unwilling to play rough. Eison initially liked him because he looked like his father, Rock, but he remained smaller and more timid than his littermates. Eison says Lady, the puppy's mother, would have killed the runt herself if he hadn't intervened. Eison says he sold him for $2,000 to a friend. About a month later he sold a second puppy for another $2,000, keeping only the most aggressive boy and girl for himself.

While backyard breeders aren't necessarily doing anything illegal, shelter officials blame them for the abundance of homeless bull breeds, many of them unstable. On a recent visit to shelters in Brooklyn and Manhattan about half of the dogs in custody were pits or pit mixes. The dogs escape from yards, slip away when their masters aren't watching them, or end up in shelters when their owners are arrested or evicted, according to Brooklyn Animal Care supervisor Joyce Clemmons. When the owners come to retrieve their animals they usually don't mention that they're breeders until she brings up the city policy of mandatory fixing of all dogs in city shelters before they're released. The potential financial loss is not the only reason some owners object. "The men always say, 'You're taking my manhood away.' We get that every week. They say that they can't walk the dog in their neighborhood anymore because people will see that his testicles are gone. They are adamant about it," Clemmons says.

As he sits at the conference table in his storefront real estate office, Eison agrees it would be embarrassing to be seen with a neutered dog. On this early summer afternoon, his wife, Chandra, is in the office using the phone and fax machine to wrangle with the Crime Victims Board over her son Glen's case. The walls are covered with portraits of black leaders. A placard on Eison's desk reads, "Relax, God's in charge." Eison takes a Popsicle break and attempts to debunk the logic of mandatory neutering and spaying at city shelters. "Their opinion is that we shouldn't breed, but at the same time they shouldn't be so quick to spay dogs, to take away what God gave them." Dogs are like cars or clothes, he says; people want name brands, not the kind of generic dog you can get at a shelter. With his dogs, people will know they're getting a high-caliber product. He says his bloodline is the Mercedes-Benz of dog breeds.

Because he is the only one who can handle his dogs and because his family is spread all over Queens, Eison is in perpetual motion between his office and two houses, and his multiple responsibilities generally have him running late for appointments. In early August, when the puppies were three and a half months old, Eison moved them to his main kennel, adjacent to the older dogs, eliminating some of the runaround. Now he can tend to all of them during breaks from work. When the kennels have been scrubbed, the feces removed, and water bowls cleaned, Eison, drenched in sweat, removes his T-shirt—revealing a heart-shaped tattoo on his chest with the name "Chandra" in the middle.

After letting the puppies cool off in the spray from the garden hose, he decides to separate them rather than return them to the same pen. A veterinarian friend has cropped both puppies' ears, and the girl's left ear is healing slowly from too much rough play. Meanwhile, she has left the less aggressive boy with nicks and bite marks on his neck. The older dogs won't make good kennelmates either, as the girl puppy spends her time pacing back and forth, mirroring the movements of the pit bulls in the pen next to her, trying to bite them but coming up with a mouthful of chain-link fencing. "That girl's real crazy; she likes to play games with the big dogs. She wants to fight everything," says Eison. She'll be the one he'll breed with her father, Rock.

"Rock is real good off the leash," says Eison. "He only kills when I tell him to kill." To demonstrate this Eison has to put King, the Cane Corso, into a cage, because he doesn't get along with Rock. Before doing so, Eison points out two large scars—one behind the left ear and another on the left foreleg—on the 160-pound King where Rock got hold of him.

Indeed Rock is good off the leash, wagging his tail and letting people he doesn't know pet him. He's good off the leash, that is, until Eison shows him a stuffed toy. When Rock sees the toy—a plush Sylvester the cat doll, dressed in a nightshirt and cap—his muscles stiffen, his tail stops wagging, and he assumes the posture of a pointer. Eison holds Rock by a short leash and hands the toy to a third party.

"Watch him now, watch him now," says Eison to Rock in a gruff, deliberate voice, periodically jerking the leash. He lets him charge a foot or two toward the doll before yanking him back. It only takes a couple of passes of the toy before Rock is able to grab it. But it is not the toy he's after. He immediately drops it and stares with terrifying intensity at the person who had been holding it. "Rock's bloodline is one of the best. He doesn't want to stop, he'll fight to the death," says Eison. "You'll never be able to come in this backyard again."

My 3rd Post to Hfx-General

I'm starting to get annoyed at them. One of the posters - firecat (who I know from Point Pleasant Park) and Heather Morrison - are great posters and I always love their posts. But some of the goombahs there are becoming very grating. I think that the trolls have gotten ahold of me and I need to just let it go...

Spacemarine2 said: “Well, I think you have pointed out to all of use just who you are and what you represent. I really don't have to say anything in rebuttal as you have pretty much summed yourself up nicely for everyone... but what the heck:
I did not say that pitbulls do not have the right to live on the earth! Where did you get that from? I am saying that they do NOT belong in SOCIETY. They are NOT able to be domesticated. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? I am curious why you don't run down to the local zoo and grab a newborn leopard or lion cub to raise as you see fit. Go on, ignore the SINCERE wishes and rights of society. You make me laugh. Are you sure you are not related to Sigfried and Roy? Because man oh man, you need a reality check. Don't kill off all the breeds that can't be domesticated - put them in zoos! BECAUSE THATS WHERE THEY BELONG. Intentional and "accidental" (instinctual attacks) will be eliminated this way. Behind bars. I don't care if you have chosen your potential killer dog as a lifelong pet - you live in a SOCIETY with all the benefits derived from such. Right now you are a nuisance and soon a criminal. If you want to live "forever in bliss" with your childkiller, may I respectfully say - GET THE HECK OUT OF DODGE, AND MOVE TO A NICE, SECLUDED AREA WHERE YOU CAN BE ONE WITH YOUR PITBULL. That is, until he decides to snap your neck when you aren't looking. I can see the headlines now: "The DINGO ate her. But she had a smile on her face."
Please leave. The park is along the right track, but I mean move WAY out. Like the Yukon or something. You don't like children, yet you live in society. You prefer dogs. Wild dogs. What part am I missing? Here's an idea - go see that new movie about bears - the guy who lived with them for awhile thinking that they were his friends. There is a surprise ending for you. HINT: He won't be kissing bears anytime soon. And lastly a tip for you, don't bring religion into your posts; it makes you look lazy. “
Mr Space Marine, who are you? I was referring to a post made by Donna Whitman I thought…. Are you Donna Whitman? If you are, then I apologize, but that’s who I was answering a question for in your quote that you are replying to in the above paragraph – so I’m sure why you’re so upset with me – but I would LOVE to say a little bit about your reply – you are obviously a HUGE dog-hater, and are either extremely afraid of dogs or never owned one in your life, which I’m truly sorry for. But either way – your blather isn’t going to gain any insights either way into the conversation so I’m not going to acknowledge it anymore. A troll is a troll and unfortunately you’ve shown yourself as one far too early in the game. Sorry. All I can do is laugh.

Guyt said: “Well I have had enough of the lovefest for child killing dogs. Quotes like: "in almost every case of a dog killing a child, it was because the adults were NOT supervising dangerous situations" (What about the child? What say do they have in being killed? Must everything with you be either dog or adult? Think about the kids for just one second - CAN YOU DO THAT?) “

The question I ask when children are mauled to death by dogs that have been unsupervised is 2 fold – where were the dog’s owners – but I also ask – where were the children’s parents? Why is that question never asked? Why is always completely and totally the dog owners fault? I always think that there are 2 adult humans to blame – the dog’s owner and the CHILD’S PARENT – for letting that child go out unsupervised. When a child is killed by a dog there is no question that it is a huge tragedy in many different ways – with the biggest one being the death of the child – but that child’s parent is grossly negligent and MUST be called to task and NEVER IS. And WHY NOT?

“Guyt also said: You must realize that what is happening is something that did not happen overnight, but is coming to
fruition over decades of sad events and research. Sure, you have your pockets of resistance like this cute little meeting of yours, but unfortunately for you, and fortunately for society - you will be pushed back over time, like the public smokers and the people of racial and sexual intolerence. Your time is over. Buy a nice aquarium. Focus on human interaction, instead of wallowing in your own sense of what is just. If you don't want to, that's fine - but don't force your will on a society who doesn't want it. MOVE. Out in the city somewhere. I don't mean to be rude, but hey, I ask smokers to butt out when it bothers me
in public places; and I am backed BY THE LAW. Get used to it.”

I’m sorry to say Mr Guyt that I think you’ve got it backwards – at least in North America – statistics say that more and more people are having less and less children and are choosing to have dogs as their companions – so this is only going to get worse for you dog-haters – not better. So you better fasten your seat belt – and maybe you might want to think about moving – because there are 1000’s of people in the Halifax Regional Municipality who own dogs and there is a VIBRANT, ACTIVE, POLITICAL, articulate, well-educated, well connected – and well-networked community of dog owners in this city who have decided that we don’t want to live by rules developed by people like YOU anymore. We want to develop rules and laws that are fair and equitable to EVERYONE – and that includes people who ride bicycles, people who own dogs, people who walk on sidewalks, and people who ride in wheel chairs. So I’m sorry to say Mr GuyT – you might want to buy yourself a dehydrator and start preparing your bug-out kit now.

But to sum up – the vigil this Sunday isn’t really about pit bulls – it’s about ALL dogs – it’s about YOUR dog. It’s about respect for dogs. Just this thread has shown how many people don’t respect dogs – how many “dog-haters” are out there. Sunday is an opportunity to come and show that you love YOUR dog enough that you don’t want to see THOUSANDS OF DOGS DIE NEEDLESSLY. And that you are going to be brave enough in the coming months to bear witness to what is going to happen in Ontario – to the genocide that’s going to happen (sorry Wonkey for using another proprietary word). Please don’t let all these posts let the original post fade away the original intent of the message – Sunday at 8pm there’s going to be a vigil at Point Pleasant Park at the Gazebo which is up the hill from the Shakespeare by the Sea Offices. You can download a poster to find out more info at http://users.eastlink.ca/~joansinden/halifax_dog_vigil.pdf

It’s also now become a world-wide event – you can go to http://dogpolitics.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/08/my_dog_votes_so.html - to find out more about that.

Joan
--
http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/
http://www.geocities.com/charlieloveshalifax/index.html
http://www.cafepress.com/dogkisser

http://www.geocities.com/skip_guysborough/

Update on Beethoven!

I had a call left on my voice mail from the shelter - they said that a pre-approved home had decided that they'd like to adopt Beethoven - so it would appear that he's got a home! I hope it's a great home...with eyes like his - he definitely deserves it. I hope someday I run into him and his new family and see what he's really like and get a nice kiss from him. That would be sweet! Good luck Beethoven!

I don't know - do you think they could be related? I don't see how they can't! 

Another littermate of Charlie's is at the SPCA

His name is Beethoven. He is smaller than Leonard - and it was like looking into the eyes of Leonard - I almost started crying because I miss Leonard. He looked so sad too. He's been there for a couple weeks already because he's been tagged as to go to a home with "no children" for some reason and he's a senior dog. He also came down with kennel cough - so even though he's available for adoption he has yet to be put on the adoption floor so he's been kept in the back cages the whole time he's been at the shelter. When I was there today there were FOUR empty cages in the adoption room out front. The volunteer who had in out front for a poop while I was there said he's gotten quite depressed but that he's a lovely dog - it would seem that he's gotten all the gentleness of the family - but none of the barkiness and he doesn't have any of the problems Philip had at all. And he is absolutely tiny - he really is sheltie size. He really got all the sheltie and none of the lab. His Petfinder listing is here - http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=4928470

I'm going to go over this week and spend some more time with him. I took more pictures than this of him but they turned out all the same - I'd say he's quite depressed - he didn't really move at all while I was there - but he DID eat the liver I offered him - so that was a good sign!


It's like looking into the eyes of a big-eared Leonard 


Licking his lips.. 

2nd Kick at the can to Hfx General

Donna said: "You're not serious, are you? Humans are humans and dogs are ...... pets. As much as I love my two cats, I would not allow them to stay in the home if they showed persistent signs of aggression and I would NEVER own an animal that was bred to be aggressive. Comparing racial prejudice with BSL is insane. "

Yes, I have to admit that I am one of those silly people who see all living things as actually being alive - living, breathing, alive beings who breathe, are born, live, and die - who have feelings, have good days, bad days, like certain foods over other foods, prefer to sleep on soft surfaces over concrete, would rather sleep in a dry spot than in wet mud, feel much better after they've had a good crap - and just like humans - I do NOT have the right to determine whether live or die based COMPLETELY BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY LOOK OR WHERE THEY WERE BORN. Now - if they've gone out and killed a bunch or people and been found guilty of heinous crimes, that's something different entirely - I am actually in favour of the death penalty for humans - so why wouldn't I be in favour of the same thing for dogs? But I would never want a human killed because they were butt ugly. I would've been dead years ago - and maybe you would've been too - I've never met you.

But I believe that dogs, cats, humans, pigs, cows, and all animals are all equally alive and all should be treated equally. I will NOT apologize for that.

And I'd like to thank you Firecat for coming into the conversation - I hope Fred is okay!! He must be getting up there now in age! I hope you can make it to the vigil - I'm going to be bringing Charlie with me - Leonard has gone up to Toronto to live with her father so she won't be there. Do you ever see April anymore? I always really appreciate your posts - they're always VERY well articulated and RIGHT! haha! Going to your idea of your family's toy poodle - I've got a little bichon mix who will NOT be at the vigil because of her dog aggression problem. Charlie - who is 110 pounds is a perfect ambassador for dog-dom and can go anywhere - Buttercup on the other hand has been banned for many places because of her incorrigible behaviour.

Wonkey said: "Thanks for providing your name Joan, now I will refer to you as 'Joan the moron', not just moron - I think it will help everyone refer to you more accurately. You must have been a sorry child whose parents were 'not really that big a fan of' her. You may want to consider spending more time interacting with humans instead of your dogs"

I have no idea why people always think that just because an adult has an affinity for having dogs as companions in their life society thinks it's because of the way their parent's raised them and there must have been some deficiency in their childhood. I had a perfectly normal childhood. Those kind of statements always confuse me. And I'm surprised that you decided to continue with using the word moron in close association with my name Mr Moron when you saw that I take advantage of the website Dictionary.com - I went and looked up your user name "Wonkey" - it's defined as "Probably alteration of dialectal wanky, alteration of wankle, from Middle English - Shaky; feeble, wrong, awry - so I think you hit the head on the nail when you picked your name that you use on the internet!! haha! I also looked up moron so that you wouldn't have to waste time go looking it up: "A person of mild mental retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive" - so it's basically just an archaic term that no one uses anymore and people just find offensive now - I'm not offended - I never take anything said about me on the internet personally because you don't KNOW me - I'm just bemused.

Oh Boy! The Hfx General Newsgroup has been busy!

My beautiful flower, Daisy... 

One of the places that I posted my email about the upcoming vigil was the Hfx.general newsgroup - I hadn't looked at it until this morning to see if there'd been any feedback and sure enough - there was. So me being me - I had to respond! I typed out a huge response - it took me almost an hour, and then I pressed one button.... and I lost the whole thing! I laid my head in front of Buttercup's belly and I cried. It had been a beautiful response - so well done I thought and it was gone.... I hate it when that happens. Usually when I've been writing something for a long time I save it - I'm a good secretary that way because there's nothing I hate more in this world than having to redo something. Oh well... so I rewrote the whole thing to the best of my ability - but this time I did it in Notepad and saved it about every 3 minutes! haha! So here's the post I sent:

I am so glad that you've all been discussing this topic! Let me tell you what I think about some of what you've been talking about.

Wonkey said: "Hopefully we can start putting down pitbulls soon here too. How many children have to be killed by these dogs before people like you start to realize how dangerous they are. You have to be a total moron to compare putting down pitbulls to the holocaust! Its like saying Jews are dogs."

My name is Joan - does that mean that nobody before of after me can be called "Joan"? If you go to Dictionary.com you'll see that is defined as "a massive slaughter" or " sacrificial offering that is consumed entirely by flames." It's a hebrew biblical term that was not created for the attempted annihilation of the Jews by Hitler. And I think it's an entirely approperiate use of the term. I may be a total moron, but not because of the way I use my vocabulary or choose my words.

Wonkey said: "Bring your kids too, maybe we can watch them get eaten! "

I'm not that big a fan of children, they tend to run around screaming - their parents are never in control of them, they knock everything over they come in touch with, they smell funny - they just generally give me a headache - but if parents choose to bring their children with them it will give us dog-owners an opportunity to show them how to properly act around dogs and how to approach a dog so that those children won't become a statistic and any time they are around dogs in the future their interactions will be loving and fun because they've been shown how to give love to rather than torment and scare dogs.

Jimdo said: Pit Bulls and Rottweilers should be banned from Canada. Period. If you are a dog lover, and I AM, then buy another dog. It is that simple. Furthermore, I think showing up at your rally with your non-pitbull
dog, is akin to showing up at an NRA rally with a pocketknife."

I LOVE this statement. Let me tell you why I got into the fight against breed specific legislation - because I own 2 pocket knives and a rottie mix - and I got the rottie mix AFTER I started fighting against BSL and I intially was only going to foster the rottie mix, not adopt her. I believe that fighting against BSL is about respect for ALL dogs - different breeds of dog are as different as different races of humans - as different as Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, German, French and YOU are. To say anything else is simply untrue. And I believe that God is the one who decided who should be on this earth and he's the one who decides who leaves this earth - not the legislators and elected officals. And because all dogs are the same breed specific legislation is being disprespectful to MY dog because they are saying that a type of dog isn't worthy of being on this earth - a type of dog that really IS just like my dog - so they're saying that DOGS aren't worthy of being on this earth and that's just not right. Dogs are my chosen life time companion - so I'm going to fight to keep them because they may decide that the look of the dog that I own is next. And I don't believe that the analogy of dogs as pocket knives and guns is correct - I believe that dogs are like delicate flowers - they wilt very quickly when they don't have any sunshine or love - but when given lots of love, gentle care, love, fresh air and good food - they'll blossom and be the most beautiful creatures you can ever imagine.

Ann said: "Isn't this the type of dog you're holding a vigil to try to protect? - http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=1001&sc=2 - "

We are very lucky here in the HRM in that we already have in place the kind of legislation that people opposed to BSL are fighting to try and get. We have "dangerous dog legislation" - which doesn't refer to any breed in particular - it just deals with a dog who has proven itself to be aggressive and owners who have proven themselves to be negligent. This story is a perefect case in point. #1 I'm going to say that the dog is in fact a pit bull - the lady in the story SAYS it was a pit bull, but a majority of the cases it turns out not to be - so it may have been a lab mix, or a hound mix, or a rhodesian ridgeback - it could've been any number of a mix of dogs and the person doing the running will call it a "pit bull". So I'm not going to comment on that part. But this dog has bitten before - so Animal Control has a history on this dog - so that dog has already probably already been seized and been taken away because the owner has shown himself to be negligent - the dog was running at large and wasn't contained - so that dog will never see his owner again. He will be in Animal Control for 72 hours and will be assessed - if he's determined to be truly aggressive he'll be killed right there. If not then he'll be turned over to the SPCA where he'll go through more temperament tests - and I know the lady who does the temperament testing at the SPCA and she's fantastic - he'll go through a lot of testing so see whether or not he'll make a good pet dog - if he's got any kind of quirks at all he'll be humaely euthanized - but if he's a super dog he'll be put up for adoption and have a super life. He may have bitten this lady and the people before simply because he was hungry, or he had a health issue, or something we know nothing about - the SPCA will fix it and adopt him out. But that's they beauty of dangerous dog legislation - it legislates the containment and safety of the dog, and if that is not complied with the dog is removed from the owner - because the OWNER is negligent - the DOG is not the one who suffers. Unless the dog is actually dangerous - then the dog is killed. But the WHOLE BREED doesn't suffer - only individual dogs - because of what that individual dog has done - and it could be a cocker spaniel, or a poodle - it doesn't matter. That's what we're fighting for. So I'm very glad you pointed out that article Ann - it's a perfect example!

Lastly, Donna said: Pit bulls already owned within Ontario are protected so long as they are kept under proper care and control. There are more restrictions on
them but they're not going to be put down if the owners follow the more restrictive rules. No one will be able to purchase, import or breed them from now on and they WILL be seized if illegally acquired or not controlled. Personally, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to own a dog like a pit bull of a Presa Canario ( the kind of dog whose attack on a lady in the hallway or an apartment building led to a well publicized court case). If they have kids around an animal like that, they need their head examined. There was a recent case in the U.S. where a woman went out leaving her son shut in the basement because the pit bull was "nasty". She was probably scared to try and get the dog in the basement. Anyway, the kid snuck out and the dog mauled him to death. The mother actually unbelievably said "It must have been his time to go". Too bad it was the kid and not her. "

True - living pit bulls born before a certain date are grandfathered in in Ontario - but they have to be muzzled at all times and on a 6 foot leash when off the ownerss property. Bill 132 also changed the rules for dogs being sold for animal experimentation as well Shelters selling dogs to labaoratories and what they're able to do to those dogs is going to be absolutely horrific. As well - dogs seen as "menacing" and what menacing is being defined as has changed - and that applies to ALL dogs and not just pit bulls - so if your neighbour calls and says your dog - no matter what the breed - is menacing and scaring them - you'd better watch out. The dog-haters have taken over that province - that I can guarantee you.

As for owning that "kind" of dog - fate has a way of changing all kinds of people's lives Donna. You can't dismiss anything. I do want to say a word about that San Fransisco case about the little boy who's mother locked him in the basement to keep him away from the 2 family pit bulls. It turned out that the mother was a bit of a fruit cake (mentally unstable) - and the 2 pit bulls were an unaltered female and male who'd been trying to mate for the previous couple of days but the female didn't want to have anything to do with the male so he had become a bit pissed off. The mother had publicly said that she'd "never had a problem with the dogs before" but people in her neighbourhood begged to differ - everybody said that "sometimes the dogs were fine and sometimes the dogs were nasty" - so I'd say that when the female was in heat that the male was protective of his woman. The mother had locked the kid in the basement because the kid had gotten in between the 2 dogs earlier in the day and almost gotten seriously wounded - so she didn't want him to get more seriously wounded while she went out - the poor kid didn't realize that he could actually get killed by the dogs who most times slept in his bed at night. Obviously the mother never told him about the birds and the bees - all he ever saw was the mother slapping the male dogs ass when he was constantly trying to mount the girl dog - which is probably what he tried to do before the male turned on him to kill him. So there's always several sides to every story, Donna. Another instance of children left unsupervised around dogs - and another instance of if this was another breed of dog - the same thing could've happened - if it was a german shepherd the outcome would've been just as tragic. But it was a breed that just happens to be the most popular breed in North America right now.

So with all this said - this is why I think it's so important to come to the vigil next Sunday - to show the rest of Canada that we love our dogs - that we love ALL dogs - and that the horrible experiment that's going on in Ontario is not going to happen unnoticed. And when it fails that hopefully it will never happen again - that because it happened so publicly and failed so horribly - and so publicly - that it won't ever happen anywhere again and won't need to happen again. It will have been documented enough - that the 1000's of dogs who will have died in Ontario - will have perhaps not have died completely in vain. Their deaths will perhaps some meaning and will save tens of thousands of other deaths around the world - because breed specific legislation will finally be seen for what it is - unenforceable and useless. Generic dangerous dog legislation and education are the only things that will save your childrens, and other dogs lives'.

And that's what we're going to talk about next Sunday - with all our chosen breeds' by our side - at 8pm at the Gazebo up the road from the Shakespear by the Sea offices at Point Pleasant Park - I hope to see you there!!!

Joan
--
http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/
http://www.geocities.com/charlieloveshalifax/index.html
http://www.cafepress.com/dogkisser

http://www.geocities.com/skip_guysborough/index.html

A perfect beach picture!

Buttercup comes through once again - running perfectly by a beached lobster trap. She's so obliging. It was a perfect night at the beach last night - hardly anyone there, nice big waves, lots of wave noise, and no fog. The only problem was that it was high tide so there wasn't very much beach and we got there about 20 minutes before sunset so we were only there for about an hour - but they still got a very good run in. I think a good time was had by all. I found a very neat heart shaped rock - I'll have to take a picture of it - it's very perfectly shaped.


Now this is what you call a beach picture! 

The Ducks Come A' Calling

The word has gotten out at my parent's cottage that they have purchased a large quantity of cracked corn so everyday there seems to be one more duck that the day before. When I was there this week the ducks seemed entirely unconcerned that there were 3 man-eating dogs drooling for their feathers mere feet above them - although one false move and they would fly away as quick as sayiing foie-gras. It's nice to see nature at work though. You've got to love the country!


From whence they come... 


Why did the ducks cross the road? To get to the cracked corn! And my parents good luvin! 


Come closer my little duckies! 


So close Daisy could almost reach out and lick them! 

Gathering of people and their dogs August 28th at 8pm at Point Pleasant Park

I am helping to organize the "Candlelight Vigil" that's going to be happening on August 28th here in Halifax - one of many that's happening across the country the evening before Bill 132 comes into effect in Ontario. Tonight I sent out emails to probably 1500 - maybe 2000 people with the below text. Hopefully a couple people will show up. Now I've got to start printing out paper copy's of the poster so that luddites will hear about the vigil too. And I better round up some people to talk at the thing too - haha - luckily I'm not the only person organizing this thing!

If you're one of the 2000 people who've already received this - you can just skip this post! If not - you should read it so that you can feel moved enough to show up on Sunday!!

As most of you probably know August 29th marks the implementation date of Bill
132 in Ontario - when the pit bull ban comes into effect and when dogs
will start dying in Ontario. On the evening of August 28th there are
going to be groups of people and their dogs gathering across Canada in
Candle light vigils to pay homage to and listen to short speeches and
think about all the dogs who are going to be very needlessly dying in
the next little while and for the foreseeable future because of bill
132.

We're going to be having a vigil here in Halifax down at Point
Pleasant Park at 8pm on August 28th - up the road from the Shakespeare
by the Sea offices at the Gazebo. The parking lot closes at 9:30 so
it won't be a long drawn out affair - but it's really important that
people show up to show that there are people all across Canada who
understand and know about the holocaust that's going to be happening
in Ontario and that it's not going to be happening unnoticed by the
rest of the country.

We want to light candles and/or glow-sticks (depending on whether
there's a fire ban on at the time!) to signify that breed specific
legislation has lit up Ontario to the world - everyone is watching
them right now - and not for the right reasons.

There will be literature available about travel advisories and
travelling to that province with your dog - as well as other
educational materials about BSL. Breed specific legislation isn't
just about pit bulls - it's about ALL dogs - it really is about YOUR
dog. Come on Sunday August 28th at 8pm and find out why. And light a
candle for your dog and all the dogs who's lives are very soon going
to be snuffed out needlessly.

I uploaded a copy of the poster for the event in the files section or
you can access a copy at
http://users.eastlink.ca/~joansinden/halifax_dog_vigil.pdf
Thanks!

I found a crab apple tree on the back 40!

Last week when Charlie was taking too long coming back from a pee I went back to look for him in the back 40 of my property - most of my property is wooded - even though I live in the middle of the city. I've got a small little house and a nice big property which is perfect for the dogs and cats and only one human. It'll take me years to work my way through all the weeds that have grown up through the decades in the back yard. It's so grown over that for the first time last week I noticed I've got a huge crab apple tree! It's so neat! I'm going to make crab apple jelly if I can figure some way to get the apples off the tree before they rot.

I totally shook the shit out of the tree tonight and I could only get 3 apples to fall off - see the picture below. The pictures below are of the apples IN the tree, a cropped blown up shot of the same apples and then a shot of the apples that I was able to shake out - taken on Buttercup's bed in front of the computer before she demanded to be placed upon it.


Close up of the apples in my apple tree... 


Can you see them? Way up there are the crab apples... 


Some crab apples from the tree! 


Buttercup in her rightful spot. 

Greta is much happier now

I'm happy to report that the rats are much happier at 3. Poppy has perked up Greta immensely. Jada is still happy - she didn't even seem to notice that Poppy had arrived. But Greta certainly did. Poppy is quite a bit bigger than Greta so that's neat to watch. They're all currently moving very fast though, so it's been hard to get any good pictures - this picture of Greta tonight is the only good one I've gotten so far. They're just all racing around the cage so far. I'm figuring that's a good thing - before that Greta was just hanging out in the little house and not wanting to come out because Jada would tackle her - that would've been a call to a fun play session for Mrs Dingle but for poor Greta that was a horrifying encounter. Hopefully I'll have some cute pictures soon showing what's going on in their little world.


Greta seeking solace in the peanut bowl at the top of the cage while I clean out the bottom tonight. 

Ususally it takes full body armour to get a cat in a crate!

This morning I was getting a cage ready to go pick up Greta's sister Poppy - I left the crate in the kitchen to fill a bowl with rat food and when I came back someone had decided that it would make an excellent cat bed!!


Hey, is this my new house? I like it! 

I could not get Whisky to come out of the cage!


I like it in here, I'm not coming out! 

Finally - the only way I could entice him to come out so that I could go to work was to entice him out with some of my dehydrated liver...


Wait, you got liver? I might get up for that... 

Greta's Sister is moving in tomorrow!

Greta hasn't been very happy since she moved in. Jada is a total bully - Mrs Dingle could handle it, she gave as good as she got and Jada and her used to chase each other around their cage. And I think there was a reason why Mrs Dingle always had sores on her back. Poor Greta just has been laying down and taking it. But Jada has been happy as a pig in shit - she is totally back to her old self and has been mercilessly teasing poor Greta.

Greta was rescued with her sister Poppy from Stewiacke and her rat Mom Sonia has graciously agreed to come let her live here so that Greta has a chance in hell with Jada. Throw off the balance of power maybe. It should make things very interesting anyway! haha! There's going to be a lot more poop - that's for sure!


I'm not coming out... 


Something smells funny... 


Did I hear you say that my sister is coming tomorrow? Yea!!!