Skip to content

Pit Bull Owners Win New Trial On Denver Law Banning Them, Resulting In 2,000 Killings

May 28, 2009 by robertweller

By ROBERT WELLER

Three pit bull owners and a group of animal groups have won a federal appeals’ court order challenging a Denver ban on pit bulls that a critic said had resulted in the killings of as many as 2,000 dogs.

Getting the law removed has been one of the leading causes of pit bull owner groups across the country. The appeals court also ordered the lower court to consider an application to make it a federal class action suit on behalf of other pit bull owners who want to join and qualify.

Veterinarian Dr. Paula Terifaj, founder of ROVERlution, a California group that opposes breed specific legislation, said Denver should be ashamed of itself.

“That was frivolous. That was all wrong. This is going to go down to down as a city abusing its authority. Denver needs to be accountable for the poor decisions,” she said today.

The appeals court sent the case back to Denver federal district court for a new trial on a claim that the law is not rational, according to current science.

The lower courts had denied a trial on some of the claims made by the plaintiff, including that the law did not make sense based on current knowledge about pit bulls. Scientific groups, including the Centers for Disease Control, have said there is no factual basis for singling out pit bulls.

“Viewing the factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, as we must, the complaint plausibly alleges that the ordinance is not rationally related to a legitimate government interest,” the court ruling said.

“In particular, the plaintiffs contend that there is a lack evidence that pit bulls pose a threat to public safety or constitute a public nuisance, and thus, that it is irrational for Denver to enact a breed specific prohibition,” it added.

The Humane Society of the United States, Animal Legal Defense Fund and American Society for the Cruelty of Animals joined in the suit. Sonya Diaz, one of the dog owners, said she expects the case to be retried. Her lawyer, Karen Breslin, denied comment.

The law was first imposed after one fatal attack and a serious mauling in the late 1980s.

Veterinarians and other scientists say pit bulls are a mixture, and do not even qualify as a breed and thus are hard to identify accurately in many cases. Further no complete population or bite figures are available for them to compare with other dogs. Some surveys have found other dogs bite more, but supporters of the ban say they do not attack as viciously as pit bulls.

The Denver ban attracted further attention because some out-of-town owners driving through the city with their dogs were stopped and their dogs confiscated. Most were believed released. An informal underground railway was set up to help threatened dogs escaped.

Two of the three people who challenged the law moved out of Denver to get their dogs back.

Dog historians say different dogs, like bloodhounds, have gone through periods of disfavor.

Pit bulls were heroes in several wars, including the Civil War and World War I. Sallie, a Gettysburg hero later killed in action, got a tip of President Lincoln’s stove top hat.

An American soldier smuggled Stubby to France to serve with his unit in World War I. Frequently wounded, he captured a German spy, and saved many soldiers’ lives by learning to detect approaching mustard gas, after barely surviving such an attack itself.

The “Pitbull Placebo,” by veterinary technician Karen Delise, methodically tracks fatal attacks to show pit bulls are not an inherent threat.

Some cities and countries have opted to ban any dangerous dog, based on its own characteristics. Last month Italy scrapped its list of 17 banned dogs.

Comments

Phobaeticus Chani

May 29, 2009 by Anonymous, 23 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 3582

Good news to all dog lovers of Colorado, three pit bull owners and a group of animal groups have won a federal appeals’ court order challenging a Denver ban on pit bulls that a critic said had resulted in the killings of as many as 2,000 dogs. Like people, animals do need protection. It is said that dogs are mans’ best friend. So why kill them? In relation to animal issues, the Phobaeticus Chani. This insect is officially the world's longest insect. The erstwhile insect, Phobaeticus Chani or Chans Megastick is a stick insect from Malaysia that measures up to about two feet long, and was unknown until late 2008. It's one of several newly discovered species that ought to call for a boost to science funding and a payday to science programs. Another fascinating new species is Leptotyphlops carlae, or the Barbados Threadsnake. It's very tiny, smaller than a lot of worms, but it is an actual snake. It is oft forgot how little we actually know about our own world, and scientific study is worth payday advances as we can learn more about Phobaeticus Chani and other species as yet unknown.

Post new comment

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
Sorry we have to ask, but are you a spammer?
1 + 1 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.

Open Newswire

Nov. 20-22 Mass Mobilization to Close the SOA
17 hours 6 min ago
Anonymous

November 20-22, 2009: Vigil and Nonviolent Direct ActionConverge on Fort Benning, Georgia
Join the Mass Mobilization to Close the School of the Americas and to Change U.S. Foreign Policy

In less than 2 weeks, thousands will converge on Fort Benning, Georgia to say no to military coups, military violence and the training of repressive forces at the School of the Americas. Join union workers, students, religious communities and grassroots activists from across the Americas from November 20-22, 2009 at the gates of Fort Benning to commemorate the martyrs and to take a stand for justice. It is up to us to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy since we can only hope for as much as we are willing to work for.
Click here to visit the new November Vigil Rideboard. (see links to transportation, hotel & other logistical information on the bottom of this posting.)

Speakers and MusiciansAmong the many featured performers on the stage at the gates of Fort Benning and in the Columbus Convention Center will be the Indigo Girls, the Hip Hop groups Rebel Diaz and Kuumba Lynx, Emma's Revolution, Candy Garcia, the lead vocalist of the Salvadoran folk band Grupo Musical Horizontes and many more.

The high-profile line up of speakers includes Bernardo Vivas of the Cacraica Community for Self-Determination, Life, and Dignity (CAVIDA) from Colombia, South Bronx community organizers and immigrant rights activists Victor Toro and Nieves Aires, Catholic Worker and Plowshares activist Liz McAllister, Bertha Oliva, the coordinator of the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras and others who are active in the resistance against the SOA graduate-led military coup.

Anti-Militarization Convergence: Panels, Workshops, Film Screening and Benefit Concerts

The Shortwave Report 11/06/09 Listen Globally
1 day 14 hours ago
Anonymous

 Dear Radio Friend,
The latest Shortwave Report (November 6) is up at the website
http://www.outfarpress.com/outfa... in both broadcast quality (13.3MB) and quickdownload or streaming form (4.9MB) (28:59)
(NEW! If you have access to Audioport.org there is a higher quality version posted up there {26.7MB} http://www.audioport.org/index.p...)

War Criminals and their agent control 344 Members of Congress.
2 days 5 hours ago
Anonymous

War Criminals and their agent control 344 Members of Congress.

The War Criminals [Israeli government] have ordered that Congress vote against Goldstone’s report on their War Crimes in Gaza.

344 obeyed.

The names of the 344 Members of Congress who take their orders from War Criminals are listed below.

If one of them is your representative – report him or her to the local FBI as a victim of blackmail by the AIPAC and/or a receiver of corrupt monies from AIPAC.

Names of corrupted Congress Members:

Zhibin Gu: Chinese multinationals vs global financial crisis: finance, trade, politics and management
3 days 6 hours ago
Anonymous

Get onground knowledge and analysis from business and investment guide book: China’s Global Reach
Borderless Business, National Competition, Politics, and Globalization (book excerpts)

by George Zhibin Gu

Afterword
China, United States and Global Development
by Andre Gunder Frank

Part III

China’s New International Experiences

SUMMARY

(1). China, India and many other later developers have rather limited strengths to compete in a highly competitive world market dominated by a few well-developed nations today. Their best strengths come from a low-paid labor as well as hard work. Even so, they are able to provide massive low-priced goods and services. It turns out that this price gap is nothing less than survival.

(2). Gaining competitive advantages through low-pricing tags has been common throughout history. One example is the British competitiveness following the industrial revolution. For long, the British dominated the world commerce through their massively produced, highly competitive textile, steel, and consumer products, among others. China, India and other underdeveloped nations could not compete at all. This naturally changed the world production map in favor to Europe.

By early 20th century, the center of economic gravity moved to the US, as the nation was able to produce the biggest, cheapest volume of products and hence gained world economic leadership. For example, Ford was able to produce the cheapest cars in biggest volume. Through such mass production, the US has become the biggest economic power over some 100 years.

Again, Japan Inc. suddenly rolled its products all over the globe, which began in 1960s. In fact, made-in-Japan products had a low pricing advantage. For example, in 1970s, all the US TV manufacturers went bankrupt, even if the Japanese TV makers had no technological advantage over their US counterparts back then.

Reject Corporate Options for Health Care
3 days 9 hours ago
Anonymous

Fourteen Reasons to Reject Corporate Options for Health Care

If a Critical Mass of the public actually knew what the Health Care Brouhaha involved, Liberals and Conservatives would unite in opposing current and planned policies. Imagine....

1) Private insurers are businesses that must grow. Their inclusion in any national program guarantees endless cuts in service, and endless hikes in costs to the public.

2) Private insurers, being businesses, have motive and duty to provide as little service as possible at the highest price possible. This is an adversarial situation with the public.

3) A significant chunk of what was ostensibly customers’ health care money goes to contributions to political candidates that many may not care to support. Mandatory purchase of private insurance would have our government---our sworn and paid representatives---compelling citizens to provide revenues to candidates preferred by private insurers. There is no Public Interest health-related justification for mandating this part of an insurance policy.

4) Significant revenues supplied by insurance customers go to lobbying for legislation that favors the private insurance interests rather than the interests of the public. Again, no health-related public interest exists in this part of an insurance policy.

5) Large percent of the cost of a policy goes to other non-health-related things such as advertising, CEO bonuses, corporate jets, business conventions, and corporate headquarters upkeep. No health-related justification exists for mandating that citizens pay for that along with the actual health benefits.

Venezuela: The error of being Lusbi Portillo
3 days 23 hours ago
Anonymous


* The latest demonstration of political criminalization of autonomous social movements by the Venezuelan government is exposed by Rafael Uzcategui, a member of the anarchist collective El Libertario.

As this text is written, Lusbi Portillo, professor at Zulia University (in Maracaibo) and environmental activist in solidarity with the indigenous movement is in hiding to protect his life and physical integrity. During the events of October 13 in the Sierra de Perijá two yukpas were killed and five more wounded in a conflict arising from the demarcation of indigenous land. The regional police announced that an arrest warrant against the professor for “drug possession” was imminent. This is not the first time the professor is criminalized for his active solidarity with the demands of the original peoples, but because the way the events are evolving – an investigation of the events has been decreed “national security” by the authorities – he decided to take preventive measures by going into hiding.

The environmental activist increased his activities in the indigenous struggle as a reaction to the government’s announcement, by the President of the Republic on November 13 2003 to triple coal exploitation in the Zulia region to 36 million metric tons per year. Lusbi Portillo’s first “error”, from the point of view of the immobilizing polarization that controls the nation’s political scene, was to uphold his values and demands in spite of the official discourse that promised to satisfy them some time in the future. Regardless of his expectations and personal sympathies, Portillo did not sell out nor agreed to lower his priorities, preserving his autonomous social character, thus keeping his ability to organize for the solution to the problems in spite of the electoral situation.

FERNANDO LUGO SE ALINEA CON ALVARO URIBE
4 days 4 hours ago
Anonymous

Contradiciendo a su propaganda, divulgada hasta el hartazgo por la prensa mediática, Fernando Lugo autorizó secretamente el ingreso de tropas norteamericanas al Paraguay. El hecho demuestra una vez más la inconsecuencia del obispo-presidente, quien llegó al poder en ancas del respaldo mediático de ultraderechas y ONGs vinculadas a la embajada norteamericana. Ver:

http://www.diariosigloxxi.com/te...

http://www.viejoblues.com/Bitaco...

http://www.aporrea.org/tiburon/a...

http://www.cubanuestra.nu/web/ar...

 

A Science of Intuition
4 days 12 hours ago
Anonymous

(Commentaries on Science, Religion, Spiritualism, Politics and The Resource Based Economy)

Many are well acquainted with “The Modern Scientific Method”, it's the dominant norm of all discovery. It is the underpinning of all Western Philosophy from the end of the days of Monarchs to the modern days of Oligarchs. Of course this wasn't always the case, before the Modern Scientific Method existed a more Associative Method of both reasoning and discovery based on religion. The Scientific Method arose as a reaction to the Associative Method, which dominated before. The Scientific Method was more flexible and fluid then the old Religious Associative Method. Since all things discovered or concluded by science were open to change and progress it certainly trumped the non-changing religious conclusions. The Modern Scientific Method had many advantages over the old associative method... of declaring truths followed by creating chains of association to go along with those truths, then they were later linked back to their starting point, ie: original declared truth. The Modern Scientific Method still differed from the original or “Ancient Scientific Method” in a few ways. In this work we will compare and contrast the Scientific Method used by The Ancients; such as The Greeks, Chinese, Indians, etc. and compare it with the Modern Scientific Method to see the differences. We will show how the Observation and Intuition were used in conjunction with each other by ancient people's. While in contrast to todays world where Modern Science simply writes off Intuition as Mysticism and lumps it together with the Associative Method expounded by Nicean, as well as other Dogmatic and Orthodox Abrahamic Faiths.

CUBANUESTRA.FERNANDO LUGO, DEL FASCISMO AL CHONGUISMO‏
5 days 4 hours ago
Anonymous

El poder tiende a corromper, el poder absoluto corrompe absolutamente.

Lord Acton, historiador inglés

 

No sin razón se ha dicho que en Paraguay, alcanzar el poder es antes que nada, empezar a asistir a reuniones donde nadie tiene opinión diferente a la de uno mismo, además de renovar guardarropa y cambiar de mujer, domicilio y vehículo. De esta manera, el mandón de turno demuestra la capacidad de pocos de hacerles creer a muchos lo poco que importan.

El obispo Fernando Lugo y sus secuaces han confirmado la regla con su alegre conducta, al punto que muchos han logrado escandalizar a los mismos inventores de la corrupción, sus antecesores colorados, quienes gobernaron con un estilo fascistoide por seis décadas al Paraguay. La realidad del “proceso de cambios” es innegable: todos los nuevos funcionarios han cambiado el tren de vida miserable por la opulencia.

La actual coyuntura recuerda aquello que con certeza expresó Abraham Lincoln: Casi todos podemos soportar la adversidad, pero si queréis probar el carácter de un hombre, dadle poder.

 

EL CHONGUISMO

 

De acuerdo al diccionario Latinoamericano, Chongo en Argentina es una palabra empleada exclusivamente en el mundillo homosexual. “Se emplea para designar a cualquier otro varón atractivo. Emplease también para indicar al joven que mantiene un alto porcentaje de relaciones heterosexuales, muy apreciado por conservar sus dotes masculinas y ejercer el rol de activo durante un contacto sexual”. Ver:

 

http://www.asihablamos.com/?word...

 

The Untold Story of the Cuban 5
6 days 14 hours ago
Anonymous

The Untold Story of the Cuban Five
Part 1: Forbidden Heroes

AdaptiveThemes