Indianapolis' Mayor Bart Peterson a Loser
Update: Despite his last minute efforts to appease animal welfare advocates and dog owners by supporting a dog fighting task force in the Indianapolis area, Mayor Bart Peterson, lost his bid for re-election. For more on the mayor's call for a pit bull ban that may have helped his opponent, mayor-elect Greg Ballard, read Animal Law Coalition's report below.
Ballard has said unquivocally he opposes a pit bull ban. Hopefully, this will put an end to that issue for Indianapolis.
Original report: Following attacks in Indianapolis by dogs reported to be "pit bulls", Mayor Bart Peterson, has been quoted as saying he wants all pit bulls banned from the city forever. Peterson has talked of how tired he is of seeing "little children" "torn to pieces" or with "faces and arms torn off".
As the November mayoral election approaches, Mayor Peterson seems to have increased his anti-pit bull rhetoric. It's easy to whip up hysteria and entice voters with simplistic solutions.
But banning pit bulls simply won't make Indianapolis' children any safer. Mayor Peterson fails to mention the Indianapolis city council passed a dangerous dog ordinance last November and in the past year the number of dog bites has dropped 20%. The ordinance imposes restrictions on owners who keep dogs declared dangerous regardless of breed and includes possible fines ranging from $500 to $1000 for a bite. The ordinance also includes "potentially dangerous dogs", a designation which encourages owners to take action before a serious injury occurs. Click here to read Indianapolis' animal control ordinances.
Also, dogs identified as "pit bulls" account for only about 15% of all dog bites. As one resident who asked not to be identified, noted, "If the mayor bans pit bulls, what's he then going to do about the dogs that cause 85% of the bites?" The city's Animal Control reports German Shepherds and Labrador retrievers cause many of these bites. Will the mayor propose a ban on these breeds, too?
The people of Indianapolis may not want a pit bull ban when they learn law enforcement officers cannot determine the breed of a dog in about 20% of bite incidents. Also, it is not clear how many bites are inaccurately attributed to pit bull type dogs. So, if the mayor's ban becomes law, how many dogs that are not even pit bull type dogs will be misidentified and rounded up and killed? And, how much in animal control resources will be wasted in rounding up and killing friendly pit bull type dogs? In Prince George's County, Maryland which bans pit bull type dogs, the cost of enforcement of a pit bull ban from 2001-2002 was at least $560,000. Animal control reported 720 of the 900 pit bulls euthanized were nice, friendly pets.
Mayor Peterson's opponent in the upcoming mayoral election, Greg Ballard, agrees dogs don't bite or attack because of their breed. Ballard states flatly, "I am against breed specific legislation." Ballard goes on to say, "I believe dog fighting is the overriding issue here and will work to aggressively enforce such laws."
As Ballard suggests, it makes much more sense to address the causes of dog bites and attacks and not simply ban dogs based on breed. Or put another way, maybe the mayor should stop playing politics with community safety and dogs' lives.
Bart Peterson is an idiot.
Bart Peterson is an idiot. I wouldn't vote for him no matter what and the idiotic statement he makes about banning pit bulls is just another reason why we need Greg Ballard as our new Mayor. It's time to get Chipmunk Cheeks Bart out of office.
Banning Pit Bulls
The mayor is looking for quick solutions to gain votes! "pit bulls" are not the problem...irresponsible owners are. And the sooner he realizes this and gets his head out of his #$@, the sooner the city can start resolving the real issues at hand!
I appreciate Ballards
I appreciate Ballards comments but the city of Indianapolis will need to do more than just focus on dog fighting.
The city ordinance does not do enough to punish irresponsible owners and to promote spaying/neutering. The city must strenghthen the current dog ordinance even more.
Smoke and mirrors
It's hard for me to believe that someone who is at least intelligent enough to get himself elected Mayor could actually believe the pit bull hysteria. It's akin to the McCarthyism of the 50s.
"Are you now, or have you ever been a pit bull?"
The mayor has absolutely no credible data to suggest that a breed ban or even breed specific restrictions would make an impact on public safety. Either he's been mesmerized by someone's propaganda and horror stories (Do you think he still believes that pit bulls have locking jaws? My money says he just might), or he's trying to draw attention to his complete failure to control crime in our city by dangling the dog biscuit of BSL. Nice little shell game, but if he can't control crimials, how's he going to criminal owners? Answer? He's not. He's going to continue to try to blame the dogs and hope that someone thinks it makes him look tough.
In reality, dog bites are not the public safety "epidemic" that some politicians would have us believe. More kids die on bicycles and in swimming pools. Sadly, more children are killed every hear by their own caretakers - by several orders of magnitude - than die in dog attacks. If Mayor Peterson is as concerned with childrens' welfare as he says, perhaps he should spend a little time looking into that phenomenon.
It's not as if we didn't see this coming. Just as the "terrorist threat" goes up around Presidential and midderm elections, so the "terrier threat" gets tossed out in Indianapolis in a cynical and manipulative bid to win votes over the backs of a population of dogs who are more victims than villains. It's disgusting, it's unjust and it needs to stop here.
My vote this year? Anyone but Bart.
It's about kids, huh?
"Peterson has talked of how tired he is of seeing "little children" "torn to pieces" or with "faces and arms torn off".
Apparently he's not tired of seeing them beaten or starved to death by their parents.
PIT BULLS
Mayor Peterson is barking up the wrong tree! When will we understand that it's not the breed, it's the owners! Maybe he should watch one episode of the 'Dog Whisperer', so he can understand this fact. There are certain breeds of dogs, Pit Bulls being one, which are a more aggressive breed, but that by no means justifies banning them! It is up to each individual owner to be responsible in training, and nurturing their dogs. Terriers & Sight Hounds are also aggressive hunters, but you surely don't see them getting the bad press, like Pit Bulls do!! I go back far enough to understand that German Shepherds & Dobermans used to be classified this way, as well...NOW THEY ARE NOT...Why is that?? Everybody needs to understand that this is a people issue, not a breed issue!!!
Respectfully,
Rich Russom