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Blogger Nails Uncomfortable Truth About Animal Control Agencies: Introducing Occupy Maul Street

Occupy Maul Street
DogsBite.org - Occupy Maul Street has been creating posts since June of this year. The most recent post comments on the current state of "Animal Un-Control" in the United States; how many animal control departments1 proliferate pro-pit bull propaganda at the cost of human and animal victims. The blogger consistently embraces a sobering sarcasm and also offers data "mashups" -- pulling source data from multiple places and creating a derivative work that offers new insights.

Animal "Un-Control": Have the Animal Control Profession and Humane Community Turned on the American People?

My cousin Benghazi Bill is a Dog Catcher and says it's the Cocker Spaniels you have to watch out out for!

In an example of the current trend in Animal Control Departments across the country, San Diego County Animal Services recently launched the controversial "Dare to Bull-ieve" free Pit Bull Adoption program. San Diego just experienced one of the bloodiest years for any Animal Control District in memory, yet they seem to feel adopting out Pit Bulls to those who can't afford the $69 adoption fee is good policy. The current situation in San Diego is that dog bites have gone up steadily over the past four years and Pit Bulls clog the shelter system. San Diego's Dog Bite data reveals the following:

• Highest rate in the analysis:
  "Pit bull, 8.85 bites per 100 pit bulls, three times higher than the next closest breed"
• Second-highest rate in the analysis:
  Rottweiler, 3.03 bites per 100 rottweilers
• An average rate in the analysis:
  Bichon frise, 1.57 bites per 100 bichon frises
• Lowest rates in the analysis:
  Pug, 0.35 bites per 100 pugs
  Golden retriever, 0.34 bites per 100 golden retrievers
• Source: San Diego County Department of Animal Services

It would be bad enough to launch such a radical Pit Pushing program based on the off the chart bite data alone...but SDCDAS also knows that over the past year, Pit Bulls produced by San Diego Breeders have killed San Diego residents: Tyzchel Williams, Mail Carrier Diane Jensen, and Emako Mendoza.... Additionally, a 4th DBRF victim died in August when her grandfather picked up a Stray Pit Bull in Balboa Park, then took it down across the border to Tijuana. It ended up killing his 4 year old grandaughter a few days later.

Read: Blog post in full

Next the blogger lists many articles depicting pit bull attacks upon animal control officers and shelter workers. In Part 2, the blogger lists numerous articles showing animal control "breakdowns" and "general dysfunction."2 For instance, after a resident of Faithful Friends, a No-Kill shelter in Wilmington, allowed the pit bull he was walking to run free, it immediately attacked another dog. The owner of the victimized dog was armed and shot the pit bull dead.

Last but not least, Part 3 comments on how "experts" from the humane and veterinary communities say the strangest things. Who can forget the recommendation by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in their 2005 shelter guidelines that a "panic button" be installed in "any room housing pit bulls"? Or the nifty 1993 AVMA Professional Liability Insurance Trust report by Donald Clifford: Dos and Don'ts Concerning Vicious Dogs?


Related articles:
09/01/12: Pit Bulls Lead 'Bite' Counts Across U.S. Cities and Counties
08/28/12: San Diego County Pit Bull Responsible for Death of 4-Year Old Tijuana Girl
06/19/12: 2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Pet Pit Bull Kills Infant in San Diego County
03/09/12: 2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Letter Carrier Dies After Pit Bull Attack in Escondido
03/01/12: Suing Animal Control Agencies or Municipalities After a Serious Dog Attack
01/18/12: 2011 Dog Bite Fatality: Victim of Catastrophic Pit Bull Injury Dies on Christmas Eve

Labels: Activist, California, California Pit Bull Fatality, Data Mashup, Maul Talk, Occupy Maul Street, Pit Bull Statistics, San Diego County