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Saturday, April 19, 2008

Part II: The Power of Language

For years, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has declared that dogs seized from fight busts are too dangerous to be helped and should all be destroyed. This extreme view snowballed in horrific ways: exaggerated claims of fight drive are shamelessly served up to support genocidal policies like Denver's unforgivable ban. Senior Assistant City Attorney Kory Nelson, who fist banged up fear & loathing using fighting analogies in articles such as this piece for Municipal Lawyer, even went so far as to contact SFACC director Carl Freidman to encourage a full-on ban when SF was deciding to bring breed specific legislation (BSL) to CA.

So needless to say, it was encouraging to hear that the HSUS is softening its policy on the evaluation and rescue of dogs from fight busts. ...LISTEN

Audiotape of Eric Sakach, HSUS, from a press conference at State Capitol on 4/8/08 to promote Bill 1775. Provided by KPCC Radio. The bill died in committee, btw, but some of the messaging that came out of the process was worth celebrating.

"Some of the dogs do seem to indicate that they can be rehabilitated, and we support efforts to do that."

- Eric Sakach, HSUS Regional Director West Coast and Dog Fight Investigations

After the news surfaced, we received word that V-dog Hector and dogs just like him had their best night of sleep in a very long time. Thank you, Eric.

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4 comments:

  1. Kirsten 12:59 AM

    That's excellent news!! Yay, progress.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:22 AM

    Good progress!!

    I read the article by the municipal attorney and it sickened me. What made me most angry is that he owns a GERMAN SHEPARD! When I was a kid German Shepards and Rotties were the "killer dogs" that people thought "needed to be banned". It's pretty hypocritical that someone who owns a dog that was once considered a "dangerous breed" would push for BSL. Obviously he didn't learn common sense in law school.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2:53 PM

    Unfortunately common sense is not part of the law school experience.
    Reading this, I'd like people to know that Jill Fritz, the Central States regional director of HSUS was a great help to us this year here in Minnesota. She worked with the Animal Control people to write a great bill that headed off statewide BSL.
    Maybe they're coming around...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:00 AM

    At first this blog piece brought unbelievable anger. I had no idea Denver was so bad! At the end it brought tears of wonderment. Look at that beautiful soul, peaceful, asleep, and INNOCENT.

    ReplyDelete

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