From left: Bob Koehler's sign and his now dead mother Rosie Humphreys.
Son Demands Change
Flora, IL - Two weeks after 85-year old Rosie Humphreys was mauled to death by a pit bull, her son Bob Koehler erected a sign in his yard reading: "Ban Pit Bulls." Rosie was killed by a loose pit bull while walking her two poodles. The pit bull owned by Brian Pennington struck down Rosie and one of her dogs. Police Chief John Nicholson blamed the attack on the failure of the "D" ring attached to the dog's collar and dismissed Pennington of criminal liability.1
Koehler told reporters, "I'm going to be very vocal about it, I don't care who likes it or who don't." (High-five to Koehler from DogsBite.org!) Koehler's goal is to ban pit bulls in the City of Flora. "I'm going to keep kicking and pushing and digging until we can get something done," he said. Koehler added, "It's not a matter of if they will turn on you, it's a matter of when they will turn on you." Koehler has started a petition to try to lift the current Illinois state anti-BSL law.
Ledy VanKavage, then employed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, helped push through the state anti-BSL law in 2003.
In 2005, two years after loose pit bulls killed Anna Cieslewicz and severely injured Mary Murphy-Smith in a Chicago park, "Anna's Law" was enacted by the state of Illinois. The law was intended to prevent future victims of loose violent dog attacks, such as Cieslewicz and Murphy-Smith. Over the course of many revisions, however, Anna's Law became a "pet population" control law primarily aimed at reducing feral cats. VanKavage drafted the misleading law.
VanKavage, now a lobbyist for Best Friends Animal Society, is also quoted in the Koehler article. The strategy of such groups is to mislead and scare city officials into believing that BSL "doesn't work" and that "it is expensive" despite the fact that ample evidence exists to the contrary (See: Cities with Successful Pit Bull Laws). VanKavage also states the following in the article: "If a dog owner argues that the dog is not a pit bull, the municipality has to pay for DNA Testing."
To test the validity of her statement, DogsBite.org reached out to Assistant City Attorney Don Bauermeister of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Bauermeister said that since the adoption of the Council Bluffs pit bull ban (January 2005), only one instance resulted in a DNA test. "The DNA test was requested and paid for by the Defendant," he said. "The City incurred no costs on the DNA examination. The owners paid for blood draw, mailed it in and awaited the analysis," Bauermeister said.
How Trustworthy Are DNA Tests?
Our understanding is that the Wisdom Panel™ DNA test created by Mars Veterinary is the most accurate test available in the U.S. Yet the corporation's FAQ states the following about pit bulls: "Due to the genetic diversity of this group, we cannot build a DNA profile for the Pit-bull2." (See question: Does Wisdom Panel™ Insights test for "Pit-bull?"). So while VanKavage says, "with DNA, it is a whole new ball game," it seems that accurate pit bull DNA still has a long way to go.3
The Best Friends BSL Calculator
In the Koehler article, VanKavage also states that if Illinois were to ban pit bulls it would cost the state $18 million. How does VanKavage come up with this number? Once again, to frighten U.S. municipalities who may be considering a breed-specific law, her group created an online impact calculator4 that "supposedly" measures the cost of a pit bull ban.5 This is equivalent to a smoker trusting an online "How Long Will You Live?" calculator devised by the tobacco industry.
What is notably left out of the "research" is the cost of not regulating pit bulls. For instance, of the thousands of persons, pets and livestock injured by pit bulls in the state of Illinois each year, what is the cost of their substantial medical bills -- pit bull victims often require upwards of $100,000 and far beyond. Also, what is the state's annual cost of first responders including, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, ambulances and animal control personnel, responding to a pit bull incident?
As pit bulls frequently inflict injuries requiring immediate emergency care, air flight responders such as helicopters are often called upon too. We have recorded these costs at $10,000-18,000 per flight from various victim stories. Finally, pit bulls account for about one-third of shelter occupancy6 across the U.S. If the state of Illinois were to ban pit bulls (under the assumption that zero pit bulls existed in Illinois), this heavy burden on shelters would finally be lifted.
Failure to Acknowledge Victims
DogsBite.org must also point out what is always true when VanKavage and other pit bull advocates appear in the media. There is never an acknowledgment to the number of human and animal victims pit bulls leave disfigured and dead. To do so would imply recognition of the breed's inherent danger. Bob Koehler's dear mother and her pet poodle were savagely killed by a loose pit bull that had never shown violence in the past and was not neglected in anyway.
DogsBite.org grieves for Rosie's family, and we encourage Koehler to Go Get'em!
2Apparently, a test bank for the American Pit Bull Terrier has not been developed in the U.S. Therefore there is no "control sample" by which to test. DNA can only be used to determine if one sample matches a known control sample.
3Chako.org, a pit bull advocacy group, demonstrates in a YouTube video the unreliability of the BioPet DNA test. Experienced pit bull owner (user ColbyDogs) warns, "Don't buy into the whole DNA thing."
4The calculator falsely assumes that enforcement agencies are responsible for the cost of the DNA tests. As put to us recently in an email, "There is absolutely no way in hell that any government agency has to do anything to "create" evidence for the defendant."
5The calculator only represents a pit bull ban. Another strategy of pro-pit bull groups is to turn all pit bull regulation conversation into a "pit bull ban." The ban conversation is the most polarizing and often halts future meaningful dialog about the different breed-specific options available to a city.
6The high occupancy rate of pit bulls in Maricopa County shelters, is mirrored by many U.S. open admission shelters.
Related articles:
11/15/09: Cities with Successful Pit Bull Laws; Data Shows Breed-Specific Laws Work
11/04/09: 2009 Fatality: Flora Woman, 85, and Her Dog Killed by Pit Bull
08/27/09: Collection of Best Friends Animal Society Related Posts - DogsBite.org
08/24/09: 2009 U.S. Shelter Data: Pit Bulls Account for 58% of Dogs Euthanized
08/14/09: Mid Year Results: U.S. Pit Bull Attacks 2009
04/22/09: Report: U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities January 2006 to December 2008
03/14/09: 2003 Fatality: Anna Cieslewicz, Killed by Pit Bulls While Jogging
09/14/08: Pit Bull Bans Work: Council Bluffs, Iowa
06/26/08: After Ban in 2005, Council Bluffs Sees Fall In Pit Bull Attacks
according to the best friends calculator, it would cost council bluffs $84,170 to defend their pit bull ban annually.
that's quite a discrepancy but then again, what do you expect?
pit nutters telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!?
losing all credibility in 5, 4, 3…
I went looking for information about Ledy VanKavage recently and encountered an article titled "Training Secrets for the Bully Breeds", which shed a lot of light on her mentality. In it, she waxes eloquent about "Boody", her childhood pit bull, best friend, and partner who "often fought with other dogs". She reminisces about "jumping into the middle of a dog fight when I was 6 and pulling Boody off another dog because someone had called the police" and says she "didn't want the cops to shoot my dog". She goes on to lament Boody's end, "he got in a fight, he was able to drag himself to our street, where he met me every day on my walk home from school. I found him on my way home. We took him to the vet, but he died of his fighting wounds. To this day I grieve for him".
How touching. I'm sure all of the owners of all of the dogs Boody annhilated still mourn their dogs too. Some of them were probably just 6 or 8 years old as well.
It seems that what pit owners universally admire the most about their dogs is their "willingness to fight". They can label it gameness, drive, or courage all they want, but what they really love is the fact that their dogs are the toughest in the dog world. And none of them ever consider the suffering of the other dogs or the their owners. They are truly the most narcissistic group of people one can imagine. How frightening that one of them is drafting laws that keep placing children in the jaws of their monsters.
A few studies have also identified the paying source for medical treatment of hospitalized dog bite victims….
nearly 50 percent comes from Government sources!
Thank You Bledy Van Karnage for ensuring that this owner had "The Right" to recklessly and cheaply maintain a "Crop Circle Dog"!
"Prevent the Deed, Regulate the Breed"
Really interesting to see they've changed their argument to the cost of things now that we are in an economic crisis.
The whole tax payer being bitten in the azz will never be revealed by the Nutters.
1) Breeders recklessly pump out maulers with declaring income, nor collect/remit sales tax.
2) Pit owners(least likely to register dog) abandon dogs at record numbers consuming the vast majority of A/C resources and funding.
3. Cost of first responders shooting these animals/transporting victims not captured.
4. Medical Payments…Studies are showing that 48 percent of medical payments for mauling victims in poorer areas come from Medicaid/Medicare. Only 3 percent of dog 'bites" are considered SEVERE and the vast majority of those come from Pit Bulls.
Ms Van Karnage set the stage for this good woman to be killed and this Pit Perp to walk! Watch for a spike in Pit maulings now that the message has been sent to the area Pit owners that no accountability exists!
In Aurora,CO… Judge Daniel slapped the nutter group with paying the city's legal costs to defend their Pit Bull restrictions.
I hope he keeps going and doesn't give up his fight for a ban, it's going to be a real battle. Keep up your good work!!!!
The lesson here should be that a Pit owner should never be allowed to influence a Dangerous Dog Law…It is like allowing the Alcohol Lobby to influence traffic laws!
Interesting insight on VanKavage. You hear a lot of rhetoric from the allegedly "responsible" pit bull owners, like "an APBT won't always start a fight, but they will finish one". On some psychological level, these people like the fact that their dogs can kill other dogs. That's part of the appeal for them.
Or the cost to property owners, victims, etc when first responders CAN'T EVEN FIGHT A FIRE, INVESTIGATE A CRIME, or GET SOMEONE INTO AN AMBULANCE because they have to fight off an aggressive pit bull preventing them from their duties?
This happens again and again.
The bottom line is that Ledy VanKavage and Best Friends are now working WITH pit bull breeders.
Their propaganda is for the protection of FINANCIAL INTERESTS of pit bull breeders, who do not want regulation because it would affect their $$
(Breeders, who by the way, aren't even reporting their income or paying taxes)
Ledy VanKavage and Best Friends lobby for – NOT the protection of public safety, or even of the dogs themselves!
They lobby for the dollar interests of breeders and their pseudo pit bull "rescue" groups which also bring in cash
THIS IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY for Best Friends.
VanKavage is even registered as a professional lobbyist for the Best Friends/pit bull breeder interests!
This is the equivalent of the tobacco companies trying to convince the public and authorities that pit bulls are "safe" and "ok." They did that for years with fake statistics and spurious claims.
When the body count got considered and the deaths were piling up (and the cost to society counted) the tobacco companies got regulated.
There is also the enormous cost of picking up/housing/handling stray pit bulls. The taxpayer picks up this bill!
Everywhere there are pit bull bans or pit bull regulations, the number of dumped and abandoned pit bulls goes DOWN.
Even in San Francisco, where they passed mandatory spay neuter for pit bulls, the number of pit bulls in the shelters and pounds dropped by more than half in a very short period of time!!
The taxpayer is saving millions over the years just there
In the 50's, the Tobacco Companies even Pimped real Doctors in ads touting the benefits of "safe" cigarettes.
The Dog industry is at the same stage and it is criminal!
This is a multi-Billion Dollar annual business that will do anything/say anything to stay untaxed, liability free and unregulated. They support the Pit community because they don't want the slippery slope!
"In it, she waxes eloquent about "Boody", her childhood pit bull, best friend, and partner who "often fought with other dogs""
This is EXTREMELY strange.
Ledy is an older woman.
When she was a child, no one other than fighting related families had pit bulls at home.
Pit bulls were only found in areas with dog fighting.
Of course, in some of these southern states, dog fighting was legal back then and many authorities participated in it
But no "aserage" normal family had a pit bull as a "pet" back then.
This makes me wonder about her family dynamics, and what some family members were involved with.
I live in western Washington and rumor has it that when the city of Auburn looked into banning pit bulls, the ACF crazy Glen Bui had a tantrum and insisted that all dogs over a certain weight (maybe 35lbs) should be regulated. When the city began hearings, Bui showed up and argued against the language that he insisted be added!
I have a feeling, the same fate awaits all of this DNA testing bullshit. It is common knowledge that these tests are not reliable, yet there is an insistence that the dogs be tested. Pit nutters like language and arguments that can easily be tailored to suit their needs at the moment.
There is the cost for police and animal control officers getting bitten by pit bulls, another common occurence
Not only medical costs, but people not able to work, paying for replacements, reduced effectiveness, even early retirement due to the injuries
ALL PAID BY THE TAXPAYER!
Perfect example; we've got a double biter in Bayonne. Since seriously injuring 70-year old Maria Zaldana, the pit bull has now attacked a shelter worker.
—
http://www.nj.com/bayonne/index.ssf/2009/12/pit_bull_in_bayonne_attack_on.html
Tax payers will pick up the bill!
I say if they want to go down the ridiculous DNA testing road, make the tests a requirement of breeders who want to sell dogs as "pit bulls". Every breeding pair must be tested, and every offspring as well. Results must be included with every sale. Any pit bull that doesn't have one of these breeder certificates gets confiscated as a fighting breed of unspecified origin and put down. As soon as you turn the cost back onto the breeders, they'll shut up about that one very quickly.
Pawshank Redemption Part II…The exact same thing just happened down in Lousiana because a nutter fought the system to keep her breeding stock mauler alive…..
PREVENT THE DEED, NO MORE BREED!
Another cost to the taxpayer. POLICE DOGS getting attacked by pit bulls. Another fairly common occurence.
Training Secrets for Bully Breeds
"Ledy Van Kavage’s first and best friend was an American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) named Boody, a stray puppy her family adopted when Ledy was 4. Boody was a partner in all of Van Kavage’s childhood exploits. She recalls hiding out with Boody in his dog house when she didn’t want to come indoors. But that was decades ago, “before the time of responsible ownership,” says Van Kavage of Maryville, Illinois, who is now the Midwest regional legislative liaison for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
Not only was Boody allowed to roam, he was never neutered, and he often fought with other dogs. Intact adult male dogs of all breeds are well-known to be more likely to fight than neutered males or females. Adding a biological imperative to a bully breed’s genetic programming is like pulling the pin on a hand granade. “I remember jumping into the middle of a dog fight when I was 6 and pulling Boody off another dog because someone had called the police,” Van Kavage recalls. “I didn’t want the cops to shoot my dog.”
Tragically, Boody’s propensity to fight and his unneutered status were his undoing. “He got in a fight,” Van Kavage remembers. “He was able to drag himself to our street, where he met me every day on my walk home from school. I found him on my way home. We took him to the vet, but he died of his fighting wounds. To this day I grieve for him.”
—
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-magazines/popular-dogs/articletraining_bully_breeds.aspx
Great find!…Very enlightening…I always thought Van Karnage was an ethereal newcomer to Pits! Generational neighborhood dog shredder!
How did Ledy know that Boody was a Pit Bull without a DNA test?!?
How do we know any of the Vick Dogs she pimps around are Pit Bulls without a DNA test?!?
Is this woman really an attorney?
Ledy VanKavage has been pit pimping since the age of 4! LMAO!
Yes, thanks for posting the excerpt from that article I discussed earlier. I wanted to post it but I can't seem to copy and paste to the comments section.
The power of someone like VanKavage is really frightening. One of my great hopes is that someone in an equivalent position becomes as strong an advocate AGAINST pit bulls. Unfortunately, it is going take a personal tragedy for that person before it becomes an important enough issue.
Maybe Ledy grew up in an environment where treatment of animals like that (and pit bulls) was normal, but it wasn't in much of America.
I just have a big doubt about this whole "found as a stray" thing
Pit bulls back then were found in dogfighting country
As for blaming this on the unneutered status, Ledy OPPOSES mandatory spay neuter, despite the fact that it improves life for pit bulls
It is pretty clear where her interests lie, and it isn't with "humane" interests
"Is this woman really an attorney?"
If she could cut it in that field, she wouldn't be pimping for the dog breeders
The things she says make zero sense, and a judge would rip her to pieces like one of her pit bulls
She has no power. It is just that many authority figures are very ignorant about the corrupt dog breeder underground and their lobbying.
The Jere Alexanders and Van Karnage's cannot be allowed to drive Dog Safety policy in this country!
I wonder how many others are out there masquerading as Animal Welfare Advocates?
Why hasn't Ms Van Kavage been asked her thoughts on the effectiveness of Anna's Law?
The fact that this owner was able to chain out a "Crop Circle Pit on the cheap", and have it break containment leading to death without charges is assinine.
She needs to explain this!
"To this day I grieve for him"…
How about grieving for the all neighborhood dogs Boody shredded?!?
PREVENT THE DEED… REGULATE THE BREED!
"She needs to explain this!"
If you noticed, the TV station that reported the story is Missouri-based (St. Louis), not Illinois-based. KSDK is about 125 miles away from Koehler and across state lines! St. Louis as you know recently pimped out the many so called "rehabilitated" fighting dogs. Clearly Ledy had a pre-existing relationship with the TV station. According to the Missouri Ethics Commission, Ledy has been a registered lobbyist in Missouri for Best Friends (yes, she was a registered lobbyist for Best Friends while still employed by the ASPCA) since at least 2001.
—
http://www.mec.mo.gov/EthicsWeb/
http://tinyurl.com/yap769g
By the way, none of Ledy's efforts seem to be stopping the many Missouri cities who are adopting pit bull laws.
https://www.dogsbite.org/legislating-dogs-missouri.htm
"Clearly Ledy had a pre-existing relationship with the TV station"
You hit it on the head.
This is the problem. Fake or unethical "reporters" simply propagandizing on behalf of their personal friends or contacts.
Even their business associates.
The same thing also happens with Nathan Winograd, getting promoted by dog breeder lobbyists pretending to be "journalists"
Missouri is also one of the key dogfighting states in this country (puppy mills too, and many affiliated with AKC, including the biggest puppy mill broker in the country, Hunte Corp. Dog fighters and puppy millers, and "responsible" breeders all lobby together for the same things) so there is a flow of dog breeder lobbying money from Missouri that certainly is falling into the hands of front groups and front lobbyists willing to do their dirty work for them.
Especially those who can get dog breeder lobbying into the press with a veneer of "humane" interest to cover the financial interests.
Trigger, I thought I read somewhere that Ledy VanKavage's husband (different last name) works in journalism?
Does anyone know?
Ledy VanKavage whose full name is Elise Ledy Ann VanKavage
got her JD at St Louis University
http://www.martindale.com/Elise-Ann-VanKavage/946161-lawyer.htm
VanKavage clearly considers herself a Missouri lawyer
http://members.mobar.org/pdfs/precedent/feb09/transitions.pdf
"legislative legal analyst" for Best Friends
What does THAT mean?
Best Friends can't even get laws passed in their own state to make animal cruelty a felony or to punish people for it
Their "legislative" activity is practically null
So how much does Best Friends pay her? And what does she do exactly other than lobby for pit bull breeders?
VanKavage's husband is Cliff Froehlich
He was indeed a journalist through January 2006
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cliff-froehlich/5/1a3/36
Arts and Entertainment Editor at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Executive Editor at Riverfront Times
Ledy's husband is getting her into the press and promoting her.
More journalistic lack of integrity.
However Cliff Froehlich, Ledy's husband, is still clearly working in the journalism trade
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/reviews.nsf/book/story/67DB872ACECCF25F862574F300775E88?OpenDocument
Bob Koehler should file a formal complaint about Ledy VanKavage's appearance in the article about him
Ledy is being allowed to propagandize and distort the issue with falsehoods, and enable deaths like his mother's, thanks to her husband's connections to the media
Ledy VanKavage was directly involved in smearing and trying to destroy Tom Skeldon and get him fired, and trying to hurt him for protecting public safety and following Ohio law, and Ledy was also agitating for taxpayer dollars to be used for "DNA testing" to promote and protect pit bulls DESPITE Ohio's legal definition of pit bulls as DANGEROUS.
Ledy wants the taxpayer to pay for DNA testing every dog!
Something the taxpayer has absolutely no obligation nor even right to do
Just to protect pit bull breeders and dog fighters, and help spread the breeding and ownership of pit bulls, and endanger the public!
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091106/NEWS16/911060345/0/SPORTS01
"Ms. VanKavage was in Toledo at the invitation of Jean Keating and her organization, the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates, which has been agitating for the firing of Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon"
"Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop, who has been pushing for change in the dog warden's operation, asked if there were DNA grants Lucas County might apply for. She said she thought funding was available."
1st documented kill at age 6!
Ever notice how Best Friends doesn't expend any of it's $20 Million in assets on busting dog fighters?!?
The City of Flora is a home rule community and they do NOT have to abide by the Illinois law that prohibits BSL. Go for it Flora!
In March of this year, DogsBite.org had to migrate to a new Blogger platform. This migration caused the loss of many comments on previous blog posts. We've supplied some of the original comments to this post manually:
by cravendesires 12/20/2009 10:43 PM
according to the best friends calculator, it would cost council bluffs $84,170 to defend their pit bull ban annually.
that's quite a discrepancy but then again, what do you expect?
pit nutters telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!?
losing all credibility in 5, 4, 3…
Anonymous 12/21/2009 12:41 AM
I went looking for information about Ledy VanKavage recently and encountered an article titled "Training Secrets for the Bully Breeds", which shed a lot of light on her mentality. In it, she waxes eloquent about "Boody", her childhood pit bull, best friend, and partner who "often fought with other dogs". She reminisces about "jumping into the middle of a dog fight when I was 6 and pulling Boody off another dog because someone had called the police" and says she "didn't want the cops to shoot my dog". She goes on to lament Boody's end, "he got in a fight, he was able to drag himself to our street, where he met me every day on my walk home from school. I found him on my way home. We took him to the vet, but he died of his fighting wounds. To this day I grieve for him".
How touching. I'm sure all of the owners of all of the dogs Boody annhilated still mourn their dogs too. Some of them were probably just 6 or 8 years old as well.
It seems that what pit owners universally admire the most about their dogs is their "willingness to fight". They can label it gameness, drive, or courage all they want, but what they really love is the fact that their dogs are the toughest in the dog world. And none of them ever consider the suffering of the other dogs or the their owners. They are truly the most narcissistic group of people one can imagine. How frightening that one of them is drafting laws that keep placing children in the jaws of their monsters.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 3:13 AM
A few studies have also identified the paying source for medical treatment of hospitalized dog bite victims….
nearly 50 percent comes from Government sources!
Anonymous 12/21/2009 3:24 AM
Thank You Bledy Van Karnage for ensuring that this owner had "The Right" to recklessly and cheaply maintain a "Crop Circle Dog"!
"Prevent the Deed, Regulate the Breed"
Anonymous 12/21/2009 5:25 AM
Really interesting to see they've changed their argument to the cost of things now that we are in an economic crisis.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 6:28 AM
The whole tax payer being bitten in the azz will never be revealed by the Nutters.
1) Breeders recklessly pump out maulers with declaring income, nor collect/remit sales tax.
2) Pit owners(least likely to register dog) abandon dogs at record numbers consuming the vast majority of A/C resources and funding.
3. Cost of first responders shooting these animals/transporting victims not captured.
4. Medical Payments…Studies are showing that 48 percent of medical payments for mauling victims in poorer areas come from Medicaid/Medicare. Only 3 percent of dog 'bites" are considered SEVERE and the vast majority of those come from Pit Bulls.
Ms Van Karnage set the stage for this good woman to be killed and this Pit Perp to walk! Watch for a spike in Pit maulings now that the message has been sent to the area Pit owners that no accountability exists!
Anonymous 12/21/2009 6:30 AM
In Aurora,CO… Judge Daniel slapped the nutter group with paying the city's legal costs to defend their Pit Bull restrictions.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 6:30 AM
I hope he keeps going and doesn't give up his fight for a ban, it's going to be a real battle. Keep up your good work!!!!
And another set:
Anonymous 12/21/2009 7:35 AM
The lesson here should be that a Pit owner should never be allowed to influence a Dangerous Dog Law…It is like allowing the Alcohol Lobby to influence traffic laws!
Anonymous 12/21/2009 7:47 AM
Interesting insight on VanKavage. You hear a lot of rhetoric from the allegedly "responsible" pit bull owners, like "an APBT won't always start a fight, but they will finish one". On some psychological level, these people like the fact that their dogs can kill other dogs. That's part of the appeal for them.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 8:30 AM
Or the cost to property owners, victims, etc when first responders CAN'T EVEN FIGHT A FIRE, INVESTIGATE A CRIME, or GET SOMEONE INTO AN AMBULANCE because they have to fight off an aggressive pit bull preventing them from their duties?
This happens again and again.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 8:49 AM
The bottom line is that Ledy VanKavage and Best Friends are now working WITH pit bull breeders.
Their propaganda is for the protection of FINANCIAL INTERESTS of pit bull breeders, who do not want regulation because it would affect their $$
(Breeders, who by the way, aren't even reporting their income or paying taxes)
Ledy VanKavage and Best Friends lobby for – NOT the protection of public safety, or even of the dogs themselves!
They lobby for the dollar interests of breeders and their pseudo pit bull "rescue" groups which also bring in cash
THIS IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY for Best Friends.
VanKavage is even registered as a professional lobbyist for the Best Friends/pit bull breeder interests!
This is the equivalent of the tobacco companies trying to convince the public and authorities that pit bulls are "safe" and "ok." They did that for years with fake statistics and spurious claims.
When the body count got considered and the deaths were piling up (and the cost to society counted) the tobacco companies got regulated.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 8:52 AM
There is also the enormous cost of picking up/housing/handling stray pit bulls. The taxpayer picks up this bill!
Everywhere there are pit bull bans or pit bull regulations, the number of dumped and abandoned pit bulls goes DOWN.
Even in San Francisco, where they passed mandatory spay neuter for pit bulls, the number of pit bulls in the shelters and pounds dropped by more than half in a very short period of time!!
The taxpayer is saving millions over the years just there
Anonymous 12/21/2009 10:13 AM
In the 50's, the Tobacco Companies even Pimped real Doctors in ads touting the benefits of "safe" cigarettes.
The Dog industry is at the same stage and it is criminal!
This is a multi-Billion Dollar annual business that will do anything/say anything to stay untaxed, liability free and unregulated. They support the Pit community because they don't want the slippery slope!
And another set:
Anonymous 12/21/2009 11:15 AM
"In it, she waxes eloquent about "Boody", her childhood pit bull, best friend, and partner who "often fought with other dogs""
This is EXTREMELY strange.
Ledy is an older woman.
When she was a child, no one other than fighting related families had pit bulls at home.
Pit bulls were only found in areas with dog fighting.
Of course, in some of these southern states, dog fighting was legal back then and many authorities participated in it
But no "aserage" normal family had a pit bull as a "pet" back then.
This makes me wonder about her family dynamics, and what some family members were involved with.
Felony 12/21/2009 11:59 AM
I live in western Washington and rumor has it that when the city of Auburn looked into banning pit bulls, the ACF crazy Glen Bui had a tantrum and insisted that all dogs over a certain weight (maybe 35lbs) should be regulated. When the city began hearings, Bui showed up and argued against the language that he insisted be added!
I have a feeling, the same fate awaits all of this DNA testing bullshit. It is common knowledge that these tests are not reliable, yet there is an insistence that the dogs be tested. Pit nutters like language and arguments that can easily be tailored to suit their needs at the moment.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 12:40 PM
There is the cost for police and animal control officers getting bitten by pit bulls, another common occurence
Not only medical costs, but people not able to work, paying for replacements, reduced effectiveness, even early retirement due to the injuries
ALL PAID BY THE TAXPAYER!
Trigger 12/21/2009 1:13 PM
Perfect example; we've got a double biter in Bayonne. Since seriously injuring 70-year old Maria Zaldana, the pit bull has now attacked a shelter worker.
—
http://www.nj.com/bayonne/index.ssf/2009/12/pit_bull_in_bayonne_attack_on.html
Tax payers will pick up the bill!
Anonymous 12/21/2009 2:02 PM
I say if they want to go down the ridiculous DNA testing road, make the tests a requirement of breeders who want to sell dogs as "pit bulls". Every breeding pair must be tested, and every offspring as well. Results must be included with every sale. Any pit bull that doesn't have one of these breeder certificates gets confiscated as a fighting breed of unspecified origin and put down. As soon as you turn the cost back onto the breeders, they'll shut up about that one very quickly.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 4:18 PM
Pawshank Redemption Part II…The exact same thing just happened down in Lousiana because a nutter fought the system to keep her breeding stock mauler alive…..
PREVENT THE DEED, NO MORE BREED!
Anonymous 12/21/2009 6:30 PM
Another cost to the taxpayer. POLICE DOGS getting attacked by pit bulls. Another fairly common occurrence.
And another set:
Trigger 12/21/2009 6:56 PM
Training Secrets for Bully Breeds
"Ledy Van Kavage’s first and best friend was an American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) named Boody, a stray puppy her family adopted when Ledy was 4. Boody was a partner in all of Van Kavage’s childhood exploits. She recalls hiding out with Boody in his dog house when she didn’t want to come indoors. But that was decades ago, “before the time of responsible ownership,” says Van Kavage of Maryville, Illinois, who is now the Midwest regional legislative liaison for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
Not only was Boody allowed to roam, he was never neutered, and he often fought with other dogs. Intact adult male dogs of all breeds are well-known to be more likely to fight than neutered males or females. Adding a biological imperative to a bully breed’s genetic programming is like pulling the pin on a hand granade. “I remember jumping into the middle of a dog fight when I was 6 and pulling Boody off another dog because someone had called the police,” Van Kavage recalls. “I didn’t want the cops to shoot my dog.”
Tragically, Boody’s propensity to fight and his unneutered status were his undoing. “He got in a fight,” Van Kavage remembers. “He was able to drag himself to our street, where he met me every day on my walk home from school. I found him on my way home. We took him to the vet, but he died of his fighting wounds. To this day I grieve for him.”
—
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-magazines/popular-dogs/articletraining_bully_breeds.aspx
Anonymous 12/21/2009 7:27 PM
Great find!…Very enlightening…I always thought Van Karnage was an ethereal newcomer to Pits! Generational neighborhood dog shredder!
Anonymous 12/21/2009 7:34 PM
How did Ledy know that Boody was a Pit Bull without a DNA test?!?
How do we know any of the Vick Dogs she pimps around are Pit Bulls without a DNA test?!?
Is this woman really an attorney?
Anonymous 12/21/2009 7:47 PM
Ledy VanKavage has been pit pimping since the age of 4! LMAO!
Anonymous 12/21/2009 8:54 PM
Yes, thanks for posting the excerpt from that article I discussed earlier. I wanted to post it but I can't seem to copy and paste to the comments section.
The power of someone like VanKavage is really frightening. One of my great hopes is that someone in an equivalent position becomes as strong an advocate AGAINST pit bulls. Unfortunately, it is going take a personal tragedy for that person before it becomes an important enough issue.
Anonymous 12/21/2009 9:18 PM
Maybe Ledy grew up in an environment where treatment of animals like that (and pit bulls) was normal, but it wasn't in much of America.
I just have a big doubt about this whole "found as a stray" thing
Pit bulls back then were found in dogfighting country
As for blaming this on the unneutered status, Ledy OPPOSES mandatory spay neuter, despite the fact that it improves life for pit bulls
It is pretty clear where her interests lie, and it isn't with "humane" interests
Anonymous 12/21/2009 9:21 PM
"Is this woman really an attorney?"
If she could cut it in that field, she wouldn't be pimping for the dog breeders
The things she says make zero sense, and a judge would rip her to pieces like one of her pit bulls
She has no power. It is just that many authority figures are very ignorant about the corrupt dog breeder underground and their lobbying.
Anonymous 12/22/2009 2:30 AM
The Jere Alexanders and Van Karnage's cannot be allowed to drive Dog Safety policy in this country!
I wonder how many others are out there masquerading as Animal Welfare Advocates?
And another set:
Anonymous 12/22/2009 5:00 AM
Why hasn't Ms Van Kavage been asked her thoughts on the effectiveness of Anna's Law?
The fact that this owner was able to chain out a "Crop Circle Pit on the cheap", and have it break containment leading to death without charges is assinine.
She needs to explain this!
Anonymous 12/22/2009 5:38 AM
"To this day I grieve for him"…
How about grieving for the all neighborhood dogs Boody shredded?!?
PREVENT THE DEED… REGULATE THE BREED!
Trigger 12/22/2009 8:48 AM
"She needs to explain this!"
If you noticed, the TV station that reported the story is Missouri-based (St. Louis), not Illinois-based. KSDK is about 125 miles away from Koehler and across state lines! St. Louis as you know recently pimped out the many so called "rehabilitated" fighting dogs. Clearly Ledy had a pre-existing relationship with the TV station. According to the Missouri Ethics Commission, Ledy has been a registered lobbyist in Missouri for Best Friends (yes, she was a registered lobbyist for Best Friends while still employed by the ASPCA) since at least 2001.
—
http://www.mec.mo.gov/EthicsWeb/
http://tinyurl.com/yap769g
By the way, none of Ledy's efforts seem to be stopping the many Missouri cities who are adopting pit bull laws.
https://www.dogsbite.org/legislating-dogs-missouri.htm
Anonymous 12/22/2009 11:40 AM
"Clearly Ledy had a pre-existing relationship with the TV station"
You hit it on the head.
This is the problem. Fake or unethical "reporters" simply propagandizing on behalf of their personal friends or contacts.
Even their business associates.
The same thing also happens with Nathan Winograd, getting promoted by dog breeder lobbyists pretending to be "journalists"
Missouri is also one of the key dogfighting states in this country (puppy mills too, and many affiliated with AKC, including the biggest puppy mill broker in the country, Hunte Corp. Dog fighters and puppy millers, and "responsible" breeders all lobby together for the same things) so there is a flow of dog breeder lobbying money from Missouri that certainly is falling into the hands of front groups and front lobbyists willing to do their dirty work for them.
Especially those who can get dog breeder lobbying into the press with a veneer of "humane" interest to cover the financial interests.
Anonymous 12/22/2009 4:05 PM
Trigger, I thought I read somewhere that Ledy VanKavage's husband (different last name) works in journalism?
Does anyone know?
Anonymous 12/22/2009 4:12 PM
Ledy VanKavage whose full name is Elise Ledy Ann VanKavage
got her JD at St Louis University
http://www.martindale.com/Elise-Ann-VanKavage/946161-lawyer.htm
Anonymous 12/22/2009 4:24 PM
VanKavage clearly considers herself a Missouri lawyer
http://members.mobar.org/pdfs/precedent/feb09/transitions.pdf
"legislative legal analyst" for Best Friends
What does THAT mean?
Best Friends can't even get laws passed in their own state to make animal cruelty a felony or to punish people for it
Their "legislative" activity is practically null
So how much does Best Friends pay her? And what does she do exactly other than lobby for pit bull breeders?
And the last set:
Anonymous 12/22/2009 4:35 PM
VanKavage's husband is Cliff Froehlich
He was indeed a journalist through January 2006
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cliff-froehlich/5/1a3/36
Arts and Entertainment Editor at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Executive Editor at Riverfront Times
Ledy's husband is getting her into the press and promoting her.
More journalistic lack of integrity.
Anonymous 12/22/2009 4:41 PM
However Cliff Froehlich, Ledy's husband, is still clearly working in the journalism trade
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/reviews.nsf/book/story/67DB872ACECCF25F862574F300775E88?OpenDocument
Anonymous 12/22/2009 4:43 PM
Bob Koehler should file a formal complaint about Ledy VanKavage's appearance in the article about him
Ledy is being allowed to propagandize and distort the issue with falsehoods, and enable deaths like his mother's, thanks to her husband's connections to the media
Anonymous 12/22/2009 5:30 PM
Ledy VanKavage was directly involved in smearing and trying to destroy Tom Skeldon and get him fired, and trying to hurt him for protecting public safety and following Ohio law, and Ledy was also agitating for taxpayer dollars to be used for "DNA testing" to promote and protect pit bulls DESPITE Ohio's legal definition of pit bulls as DANGEROUS.
Ledy wants the taxpayer to pay for DNA testing every dog!
Something the taxpayer has absolutely no obligation nor even right to do
Just to protect pit bull breeders and dog fighters, and help spread the breeding and ownership of pit bulls, and endanger the public!
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091106/NEWS16/911060345/0/SPORTS01
"Ms. VanKavage was in Toledo at the invitation of Jean Keating and her organization, the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates, which has been agitating for the firing of Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon"
"Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop, who has been pushing for change in the dog warden's operation, asked if there were DNA grants Lucas County might apply for. She said she thought funding was available."
Anonymous 12/26/2009 4:43 AM
1st documented kill at age 6!
Ever notice how Best Friends doesn't expend any of it's $20 Million in assets on busting dog fighters?!?
Trigger 2/25/2010 12:58 PM
The City of Flora is a home rule community and they do NOT have to abide by the Illinois law that prohibits BSL. Go for it Flora!