Local Media

City Code Costs Family Its Dog
6/24/2010 WOI Channel 5
Story and video on WOI Channel 5>
Another dog in the metro will be euthanized tomorrow because of a misunderstanding over a Des Moines city code. Pit bulls in Des Moines are considered a vicious breed, even if they’ve never bitten anyone. Owners have to follow certain rules, or their dog will be put down.

Three year old Tyler Fritz is wondering where his dog Smokey went.

“Give me my doggy back,” he said as he looked at a picture of Smokey. His mom Jessica is finding it hard to tell Tyler where what happened to Smokey. He will be put down tomorrow because her family didn’t follow a city code.

“He’s just a total family dog,” Jessica said. They’ve had Smokey since he was a puppy. He’s now almost five years old.

Jessica and her family didn’t understand Des Moines vicious breed code. Under the law, breeds like pit bulls need to be licensed, have a rabies tag, plus the owner needs proof of $100,000 of insurance. The dog also has to be on a leash at all times or in a special confined space if it’s outside. If an owner is caught not following this law two times, the dog will be put down.

Jessica says Smokey’s never hurt a soul, but he was caught loose two times and she doesn’t have insurance. So he’s going to be put down.

“It should be this dog attacked somebody so we are going to euthanize it,” Jessica said. ”It shouldn’t be the dog was sitting on a balcony relaxing, playing with his family; we are going to euthanize him.”

Cindy Holliday agrees with Jessica. She’s the director of the citizen group ADAPT4DSM. They teach owners to be more responsible and are working to change current laws.

“It’s not fair to that dog to be put to sleep because the owners were irresponsible,” Cindy said.

Jessica wants the code to change and warns other people to pay attention to their city code. She doesn’t want this happen to another family.

“Me and my husband have this on our shoulders. We are the reason our dog’s not here today.”

It’s important to note that every city has a different vicious breed code. So you need to check with your city to make sure you’re following the right rules.

November 23, 2009 Post City Council Meeting

D.M. tables plan to change vicious dog rules

By JASON PULLIAM • jpulliam@dmreg.com • November 24, 2009

A proposal to increase fees to license so-called vicious dogs has been tabled by the Des Moines City Council.

Council members called for more public input and time to study whether the fees and other proposed changes to the city’s vicious dog ordinance would have worthwhile results.

“The responsible dog owner will comply with all of this,” Councilwoman Christine Hensley said. “It’s the nonresponsible dog owner. How do we deal with them?”

City officials in recent months have debated whether to change a 22-year-old ordinance that classifies pit bulls as vicious by breed, in addition to animals that are declared vicious because of behavior. A string of recent incidents involving pit bulls prompted city leaders to scrutinize whether regulations should be changed.

City officials have called for a mix of tougher license fees, insurance requirements and owner training to improve Des Moines’ vicious-dog ordinance and reduce the number of attacks.

Skeptics contend the measures under consideration will do little to prevent attacks and will punish responsible owners.

“You’re not giving credit to responsible owners,” said Cindy Holliday, director of the volunteer citizens group All Dogs All People Together for Des Moines, or ADAPT4DSM.

Holliday and others want breed-specific language that labels pit bulls as vicious removed from the city code.

City officials had considered a pit bull ban, but “we weren’t sure we would be successful if we went that way,” said Assistant City Manager Randy Wetmore.

Under the pending proposal, vicious-dog license fees would be increased to $35 from $15 for spayed and neutered dogs and $55 for dogs that are not altered.

Other requirements under consideration include:

- Requiring owners of vicious dogs to show proof that the animals are microchipped at the time they are licensed.

- Banning owners of vicious dogs that are found running at large three or more times in a three-year period from owning any vicious dog for five years.

- Requiring training for vicious-dog owners if their dogs are not properly leashed or confined.

Skeptics say city officials need to focus on making sure that dogs declared vicious because they were involved in an attack are properly confined.

“Certain breeds that we have listed in our breed-specific ordinance guarantee that the dogs we’re worried about will never be socialized, or trained, vaccinated or (receive) proper veterinary care because people are hiding them,” said Dana Fedman, a licensed dog trainer who has called upon city leaders to reconsider breed-specific language.

Missouri Humane Society More Stories Regarding the Pit Bulls from the largest raid in US history

http://video.ap.org/?f=PAREA&pid=tRL6Lc3vYrnPjT3R2CCU7gCiRkfznQeL

October 22, 2009 Bad Rap Blog

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

out in Iowa and back at home in Oakland

There are always so many unspoken heroes behind the scenes of those larger criminal cases involving dog fighters. They stay in the background while making us look good by helping us get the dogs to safety. I was glad when Rita Mason (below) and Scott Wilson gave us the okay to tell people who they are.

Rita is your federal government, ladies and gentleman: US Marshals Service, Southern District of Iowa. And not only did she search out help for the bust dogs that landed in her state, she rooted for each dog during their evaluations and even had her heart broken when a favorite male showed some troubled behavior. (Read: She wept) Scott Wilson, Operations Manager of Animal Rescue League of Iowa, is another helper who was rooting for the dogs. His shelter does not adopt out pit bulls, so it was extra special to have his and his staff’s (Karen!) support. He smoothed our visit to the Des Moines shelter in a big way, stayed through almost every evaluation and hugged on every dog that ended up near his lap.

Thanks also to Maureen McGuire, Assistant U.S. Attorney, for bringing our recommendations to the judge and securing the dogs’ release. And to Shane Bunn, Assistant Counsel to the Inspector General USDA, for contract help.

This group of dogs they’ve been focusing their energies on are so very important because they represent a teeny bit of hope to this state that’s littered with a whole lotta bad news for pit bulls including breed restrictions and bans. So helping their bust dogs became a mission to help more than just the bust dogs: It meant demonstrating to Iowans that pit bulls matter, including the ones that most would cancel out without a second thought. We knew we had to get involved, but we didn’t know how we would be received until we met these big hearts during our visit. What a pleasure.