Pit Bull Muzzle Law
Malden, MA - On Tuesday, Malden City Council approved a measure requiring pit bull-type dogs to wear a muzzle in public. The city now joins a growing number of municipalities in Massachusetts to place restrictions on the notorious breed, including: Boston, Lowell, Lynn, Worcester and others (See: Full list). The 7-4 vote follows three years of discussion and debate and represents a legislative victory for Councillor Neil C. Kinnon who has fought for the pit bull muzzle law.
At one point during Tuesday's meeting -- packed with hollering pit bull fans -- Kinnon questioned three "animal experts" who advocate against breed-specific laws. Ethics sell-out Dr. Amy Marder,1 director of the center for behavior and training at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, said: "A leash will prevent dog bites as well as a muzzle." Obviously that is entirely untrue. Who knows? Perhaps Kinnon even read the anniversary post written by the founder of DogsBite.org?
Notably, the new muzzle law will not effect existing pit bull owners who register their dog before May 1. The ordinance only applies to pit bulls obtained or brought into the city after this date and to current owners who fail to register their dog. The question is, how many so-called responsible pit bull owners in Malden City will follow through with registration by May 1? This overly generous grandfather clause was apparently missed by the hollering pit bull owners Tuesday night.
Related articles:
03/21/12: Pit Bulls Lead 'Bite' Counts Across U.S. Cities and Counties
10/22/11: Mother of Two Responds to 'Pit Bull Awareness Day' in Massachusetts
06/11/11: Founder Colleen Lynn Reflects Upon Four Year Anniversary of Her Attack
06/07/10: Leashed Pit Bull Bites Through Chest Pack to Attack Baby on Sidewalk
03/24/10: Editorial: Lynn Journal Writes, Pit Bulls 'Love Violence and Mayhem'
10/28/09: In Massachusetts, Landlords May Be Liable When Tenant's Pit Bull Attacks
Amy Marder is a long-time liar. She has been caught in so many lies that it boggles the mind. This woman has connections to the breeder industry and in particular the pit bull breeding industry, as does her associate Martha Smith, who also works at Animal Rescue League in Boston Massachusetts.
These two women, with the help of some of the Tufts University for-profit animal interests, have hijacked this Animal Rescue League and turned a once-respected organization into a fighting dog pit.
PIT BULLS ON LEASHES HAVE KILLED OTHER DOGS AND ATTACKED PEOPLE AND SERIOUSLY HARMED THEM IN MASSACHUSETTS, never mind other parts of the country.
Amy Marder knows this.
A leash does nothing to stop a pit bull attack. When a pit bull is in attack mode, they either pull the leash out of the hands of the owner, or engage in full attack with the owner toted along at the end of a leash.
Should we remind Amy Marder that a leashed pit bull killed its owner by dragging the woman into the path of a train?
A leash is more often than not useless with a pit bull. Even very athletic, strong, large men have not been able to control "trained" pit bulls on leashes.
Amy Marder and Martha Smith need to be held responsible for the injuries and deaths they have helped support.
Amy Marder's activities have brought her a lot of scrutiny from even outside that state.
She has long promoted herself as an "animal behaviorist" but her failures at that have long been a subject of conversation. One woman who hired her commented in disgust that Marder couldn't even help solve cat litterbox problems and seemed completely out of touch.
Amy Marder has had connections to the profiteering breeding industry for some time, and has discussed breeding her own purebred dogs.
Marder represents the money interests of breeders, not animal welfare and not public safety.
She also has connections to the AKC puppy mill lobbying group NAIA
http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patti_Strand which has members and board members in Massachusetts, including pit bull breeder Holly Gump of Ipswich Massachusetts, who has directly manipulated animal control officers and politicians (including her state representative Brad Hill) to protect dangerous dogs, especially pit bulls.
Amy Marder and friends even got Gary Patronek, a DVM from Tufts University and VP for Animal Welfare and New Program Development at Animal Rescue League, to go to a NAIA "conference" to make some kind of presentation. Since NAIA lobbies for animal abuse for profit, his appearance undermined the credibility of Animal Rescue League.
Patronek is trying to promote himself as an expert on animal hoarding. Making a presentation to puppy mill and pro-animal abuse advocates was complete hypocrisy on his part. Perhaps he was misled about the activities of NAIA, perhaps not.
Pit bull breeder Holly Gump is on the board of NAIA.
These are the people that Amy Marder and Martha Smith represent. They have hijacked a humane organization and turned it into a fighting breed enablement business, that supports cruelty to other breeds and mixed breeds and other animals. Marder and Smith don't care that pit bulls are killing and maiming other dogs, cats, and wildlife and large animals in record numbers.
What is pitiful beyond description is that they are enabling dog fighters and pit bull breeders to continue to persecute the pit bulls themselves.
Management at Animal Rescue League is highly paid, despite the fact that they have closed down shelters that served the public.
One hopes that money from pit bull breeders and their lobbyists is not providing those large salaries.
Amy Marder discussed breeding her purebred dogs while writing her column for Prevention magazine some years ago. She even wrote about wondering whether or not she should breed her congenitally malformed male dog. That does not imply success even as a breeder.
Marder has always promoted herself heavily, trying to attract attention as some kind of "expert" or another through the years.
Marder's cohort at Animal Rescue League, Martha Smith DVM aka Martha Smith-Blackmore, is connected to pit bull breeders and has a house full of pit bulls.
She is director of veterinary medical services at Animal Rescue League.
She also aggressively promotes herself, including a hypocritical association with medhelp.org
http://www.medhelp.org/doctor_profiles/show/931656
where she does NOT discuss medical help for the pets and people that are victims of her fighting breed of choice.
Martha Smith actually worked (her fellowship) at the New England Primate Research Center at Harvard University that has been involved with terrible abuse to primates and has been caught numerous times breaking animal welfare laws and abusing monkeys and apes, and continues to do so to this day.
NAIA also has laboratory animal researchers on their board.
Tufts University school of veterinary medicine, where she obtained her DVM, has an unfortunate and disturbing connection with profiteering animal abuse industries.
Smith also pushed herself in the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association, an association that has catered too often to the interests of abusive animal profiteers, and has helped protect abusive and malpracticing veterinarians to keep their licenses.
The state and national veterinary associations have typically lobbied on behalf of profiteers, NOT animal welfare or even health.
The history represents the unfortunate issue of animal profiteering interests contradicting animal welfare/public safety, and that has infected Animal Rescue League. They don't even represent the best interests of the pit bulls! They represent those who profit from pit bull exploitation.
I have found reference from someone criticizing Animal Rescue League for their magazine, where Amy Marder and Martha Smith are pushing pit bulls for adoption that try to attack and kill other dogs and cats.
They request a "single pet househould."
How will Marder and Smith stop that dog from attacking the adopter's neighbor's pets?
It is clear that Animal Rescue League is put in the position of begging for a lawsuit from the damage these two do. Animal Rescue League is also approving of cruelty and death to other pets.
Martha Smith also also president of Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association Charities, Inc.
Is money from that "charity" bering directed into the hands of pit bull breeders and even dog fighter lobbyists so they can promote and sell more pit bulls?
Perhaps that charity should be paying the veterinary and burial bills for the pets maimed and killed by Martha Smith's chosen fighting breeds.
The hypocrisy here is astounding.
The overwhelming number of Malden Massachusetts citizens wanted this muzzling ordinance passed, but apparently people in favor of it were afraid to attend the meeting because of threats of attacks by the pit bull lobby, many of whom don't even live in the town.
I correct that
Most of the aggressive, bullying pit bull lobbyists don't live in town, including Amy Marder.
Boggles the mind, reveals a great deal.
Any competent trainer knows how to teach a dog to wear a muzzle without the dog being bothered by it. And once trained and used to it, dogs really aren't bothered by it.
So the reason to object to muzzling has nothing to do with animal well-being. It's all about owners being worried their pit bull will seem less intimidating to others. So sad…