Big Liberal win... and A year after DOLA, dog bites have not decreased

In 680News comes this article of the Fiberals win to my shock and dismay. Even the mad man and dog murderer got re-elected in his riding. It's a very sad day in Ontario for so many of us that have faught hard and made sure we voted to be assured they wouldn't get in.

Unfortunately we lost this battle, but aren't giving up.

Big Liberal wins in the 416-area, Conservatives get shut out
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Toronto - It looks like the Progressive Conservatives are getting shut out of the 416-area, while the Liberals scored big wins.

It was a big loss for Conservative David Shiner in Willowdale. Shiner took an unpaid leave from his job as city councillor to run and lost the race to liberal incumbent David Zimmer.

No big changes for the NDP stronghold of Beaches-East York, where former East York Mayor Michael Prue took another win.

More orange in the Toronto-Danforth Riding was also seen, where Peter Tabuns was declared the winner once again.

In the Trinity-Spadina riding, Rosario Marchese continued his reign that began back in 1990. The NDP's Cheri DiNovo is the winner in Parkdale-High Park.

After Liberal Gerard Kennedy resigned, the 2006 by-election was marked by an unsuccessful Liberal smear campaign against DiNovo. Her top challenger was Liberal Sylvia Watson.

There were several Liberal wins in the 416-area as well.

In the Scarborough Rouge-River riding, Liberal incumbent and former city councillor Bas Balkissoon was declared winner of the Liberal fortress.

More Liberal wins in York Centre where Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monty Kwinter took a third win and in Toronto Centre, where Health Minister George Smitherman also received a third victory.

Liberal incumbent and Public Infrastructure Renewal Minister David Caplan was declared the winner in Don Valley East. Caplan has held the riding since 1999.

A Liberal win was also declared for incumbent Attorney General Michael Bryant in the super-educated riding of St. Paul's. Bryant made headlines with his pit-bull ban and favours abolishing the controversial Ontario Municipal Board. This will be his third term.

Liberal incumbent Brad Duguid received a victory in Scarborough Centre. Moreover, incumbent Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield has been elected once again in Etobicoke Centre. Cansfield has lived in the riding for 35 years.

Another Liberal victory was declared in Etobicoke Lakeshore, where Environment Minister Laurel Broten took the win. This is the second victory for the mother of twin boys in this bellweather riding.

An article in the Londoner describes how a year after DOLA, dog bites still have not decreased.

Yvette is not only a well known columnist, Writer, but also a Dog Trainer and Animal Behavior Consultant and a good friend that has helped me with Shasta in the past. I value and respect what she has to say.

Yvette Van Veen

PET BEHAVIOUR

A year after DOLA, dog bites have not decreased

During the past few years, Ontario has been a hotbed of controversy when it comes to animal issues.

We’ve seen the Liberals enact the Dog Owner’s Liability Act (DOLA), the bill often referred to as the pit bull ban. We’ve had international attention focused on the London area with Tyson the Kangaroo at the Lickity Split Ranch.

To the Liberal’s credit, they have announced some funding for Ontario SPCA agents so they are able to work with the ministry of natural resources on zoo inspections. I don’t think it’s nearly enough.

The problem is the funding announcement was made just prior to an election. The timing becomes suspect. One always ends up asking, “What is the motive?” I have read the Conservatives are also planning animal based initiatives.

We can’t look back at the funding move and ask, “How is it working?” There has not been enough time. We can, however, look at the Dog Owner’s Liability Act and ask if it really prevents dog bites. Animal statistics must always be taken with a grain of salt because most aren’t reported. But we do have the statistics on reported bites in London.

In 2005, the ban came into effect. So our first full year with DOLA is 2006. We do have the dog bite investigation numbers as reported by the London Animal Control.

The yearly average 2002 to 2005 was 276.75 bites. Last year 280 bites were reported. So dog bites have not decreased.

Yes, there were fewer pit bulls licensed. There were 858 rather than 974. With 116 fewer tagged pit bulls, some people might have expected bites to go down. But they did not. I would say this is because dog breed is a red herring that hides the real root of the problem.

Of course, industry experts said this law would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and do nothing for safety. The law did not help Korie Lyn Edwards, a 17-month-old mauled to death by a non pit bull type dog.

Here is the problem as I see it. Abuse is too loosely defined in our laws. This is why facilities such as Lickity Split or Kerwood make the news. Animal experts are not regulated. Breeders are not regulated. Anyone can do anything short of maiming an animal. People can intentionally create aggression in animals.

Why do we tolerate that in our communities? It’s the mauled child who pays the price.

Quite frankly, I don’t want loose promises. I do not want ineffective laws that do little more than siphon money from taxpayer pockets. We need to look at the root of the problem. We need to regulate the behaviour of people. But that will not happen until a better legal definition of humane is achieved. That will not happen until politicians look toward peer-reviewed scientific research as the source for their decision making process.

Whichever party gets elected, I do hope they are serious about creating laws that will make a long-term difference in the safety and well being of our communities. Banning pit bulls was supposed to make people safer. Like other countries, it did not work well enough. In England dog bites requiring hospitalization went up. In Italy, they have more than 90 banned breeds. The system is broken, and it is time we fix it.

Yvette Van Veen is an associate member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, a member of the CAPPDT, award winning pet writer and co-founder of Meeting Milo. Questions and comments can be submitted to questions@awesomedogs.ca or by phone at 519-936-8515. Free resources are available at www.awesomedogs.ca.