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| Yes | 86% | 12 votes | Total: 14 votes | |
| No | 14% | 2 votes |
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Do We Need Stronger Laws For Negligent Dog Owners?
There are no bad dogs, only bad people
Adopting a dog is a big responsibility and an even bigger commitment. If you can't make a commitment, (a 10 or 15 year commitment), don't get a dog. Don't succumb to your kid's whining, keeping up with the neighbors, or any other excuse.
A dog is helpless and relies on their human owner for proper meals, fresh water, shelter, grooming, medical care, daily walks, play time, love and affection. Dogs are pack animals and want to be with their human families whether it's a single adult or a couple with children. It's cruel to banish them to the backyard, the basement, or the garage, or lock them away when you have company. If your pet is unruly, you need to enroll both yourself and your dog in a basic training class. Don't neglect this need. Dogs want to be accepted and involved. They live to please their human families, happy for any walk, any ride in the car, any bit of affection.
I believe abuse and negligence of any animal should be dealt with in the same manner our laws deal with child abuse. At very least, heavy fines, counseling, and community service are warranted jail time if necessary.
Thinking of my own dog, I implore you all to strive for the strongest laws against anyone who neglects or abuses a dog, or any animal for that matter.
My Pomeranian mix was tossed out of a moving vehicle on a busy freeway, the owners not looking back. A witness only identified a couple in a white SUV; more concerned with the little dog limping feverishly, surrounded by eight lanes of traffic. Picked up and brought to a local shelter by freeway patrol, the pup was deemed approximately 18 months old, 7 pounds under weight, and with a sprained shoulder, kennel cough, sores on his back, toenails overgrown, afraid of his own shadow, filthy, lacking in even basic general care.
I'm grateful to the shelter. During the two weeks he was there he was neutered, micro-chipped, and given all his shots. Although he was still scared and lonely, he was safe, and getting food, water, and much needed medical care.
I think it was fate that brought us together. My husband and I had been looking for just the right dog for a few weeks, but it was on this day he walked up to the kennel, looked down and turned to the attendant (without even asking me) and simply said We'll take this one.
At home, the little guy ran under my desk at the sight of brooms, iron and hair dryer cords, and the sound of any loud noise. I slept on the floor with him for a week, then coaxed him into his own kennel lined with a thick pillow. I cooked all his meals, fresh meat and chicken, chopped vegetables mixed in with good quality kibble. His appetite improved and he gained weight. After three weeks of care I took him to my own vet for a check on everything the kennel had done all good - and then left him with the groomer for an hour.
When the attendant brought him out, he stopped and looked at me. The ears perked, the tail went into a curl around his back and it began wagging for the first time.
A year later my boy graduated from Advanced Obedience Training, went on to earn the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Award, and is currently registered with Therapy Dogs Inc. and K9 Therapists of Las Vegas. He visits hospice, children's cancer wards, nursing homes, and libraries, is invited to special events, and rides in big fancy floats in local parades. He is the center of my life, and wants for nothing.
My neighbors joke they want to come back as my dog in their next life. Though I treat every animal with the same care, my dog deserves the best after the negligence and abuse he suffered as a puppy. I will not relent in the promise I made to the shelter at adoption: This dog will not get a better forever home than the one my husband and I will provide.
I won the dog lottery the day I adopted my dog, and the previous owners, neglectful and abusive, can drive their white SUV straight to hell.
Learn more about this author, Lisa Federico.
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No
A brief but careful examination of federal, state and local laws governing the care, treatment and breeding of animals will show that there are sufficient statutes currently on the books to handle most if not all cases of negligent pet owners. Complicating an already cumbersome legal code with additional complexities is not the answer to some of the problems plaguing today's society when it comes to the mistreatment of dogs and other animals. As with most societal problems the answer is not to legislate around a perceived problem it is to enforce existing laws more stringently.
Most of the problems that arise from negligent pet owners come not from weak laws that do not adequately punish a perpetrator but from a general sense of disinterest in such concerns. So many pet owners mistreat their animals in ways which clearly violate the humane laws imposed on our society, yet they are seldom reported to authorities. When they are reported to local authorities, the local law enforcement is either incapable of properly handling and investigating the claims or indifferent to the issues because they are focused on what are perceived to be more pressing issues. As a result animal cruelty goes unpunished.
In the rare instances when a local resident is cited for animal cruelty or violation of some other law that is designed to protect the welfare of our pets these cases often never even make in front of a judge. A mandatory and often minimal fine is paid at the local municipality and the offending party is released. There is often no further follow up to ensure conditions have improved and very little else that is done to monitor the offending party. Only in the high profile and most heinous cases do we see the law working as it should. Cases such as Michael Vick which get so much media attention not only for the celebrity status and size of the offense but because of the graphic evidence of violence and mistreatment lead the public to believe that our laws governing animal abuse are working, when in fact these are the exceptions to the rule rather than shining examples of how well it is working.
If our current laws were taken seriously and animal neglect was more of a priority for us as individuals the legal system would be more than sufficient in its current written form. The only advantage that drafting stronger laws than those currently in place is to shine a light on a much neglected area of our legal system. Perhaps by doing so people will realize how significant a problem this is and that it isn't just the highly publicized reports of animal cruelty that need to be deal with. Maybe people will realize the neighbor who leaves their pets outside unsheltered in inhospitable weather for extended periods of time is also a negligent pet owner. Hopefully people will realize that the owner who actively breeds their dog for violence against other animals and people is just as negligent as a Michael Vick is for torturing and slaughtering animals. Perhaps people will be more cognizant of the warning signs that are abundantly obvious today of animal neglect that they will be more willing to report such irregularities and the law enforcement personnel will be better trained and equipped to properly handle, such claims.
Learn more about this author, Joseph Whalen.
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