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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Pia: Dog Owners Need to Have Chain Yanked

One thing seems certain: Some pit bulls are dangerous, and it's getting very tempting to just ban them all together. But I fear a breed-specific ban would be a quick fix to a complex problem. Over the years other breeds have had the vicious label attached to them: Doberman pinchers come to mind, as do Rottweilers and German shepherds. If we ban pit bulls, I'm sure someone will suggest a ban of one of these breeds, too. Breed-specific legislation is the wrong approach. What we need is a "one bite and you're out" law, and if we want to ban anything it should be unfit dog owners who can't contain their animals, or who beat and mistreat dogs to make them vicious -- Pia K. Hansen/Spokesman-Review.

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DFO: I was bitten by a young Rottweiler that attacked my dog while we were walking on Ninth Street a few years ago. The Rottweiler came flying out of the open front door of a house, with his boozy owner about 20 feet behind him. The cad owner tried to say that my dog started it. I probably shoulda sued the creep for everything he had in his beaten down pickup. I filed a police report instead.

Question: Should laws be toughened to hold owners more responsible of dogs involved in vicious attacks?



Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.