Chicago, again!

[KIKO AND THE MAN]

A 3 year old girl was killed by a Rottweiler in Chicago today. A news report mentioned a new and improved dog ordinance would be introduced tomorrow.

The links below contain all the pertinent details.

http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sho...hirley+coleman


http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sho...hirley+coleman

[Troy]

I would like some more details on this one. Is Coleman involved again? I can't believe the city would revisit this kind of initiative again.
Anyone in Chicagoland that can throw some light???

[Troy]

Well I just caught WGN and sure enough...Shirley Coleman again is pushing for 100,000 in liability insurance for owners of "pitbulls" and rottweilers that are deemed dangerous. What standards will be used and how they possibly will be applied is beyond me.

Here is her E-mail address:

sacoleman@cityofchicago.org

She doesn't reply to E mail, but we need to continue to ask her how her ridiculous ordinance would have prevented these fatal attacks...as well as why the owners of these dogs will face no criminal penalty....?

Lets get to it.

[rott60827]

I am from the Chicago suburbs and yes, Alderman Coleman is again involved.
What happened is that the rottie was tied out in the neighbors yard, it broke it's chain and attacked and killed this little girl. Now it gets a little sketchy as to who actually owns the dog. One report says it belonged to the neighbor, another said it belonged to the landlord, but the landlord did not live on the premises. (From what I understand this was a rental duplex). Everyone is in agreement that the dog was vicious. What many of us can't understand is why the family allowed their child to be out in a yard near this dog. I have watched the interviews with the father, and found them interesting as he didn't say a word about the dog. He kept commenting that you have to keep an eye on your children, watch them all the time. Very odd. The dogs owner will not be cited on any criminal charges, he was fined though for not having his dog licensed or properly restrained. Coleman wants an ordnance that would make people accountable for their animals. This is fine and dandy, but those that are the problem will not make sure that they have $100,000 liability insurance policies. Mayor Daley as usual is wishy-washy on the subject. He is not known for his love of animals. This certainly shows in the budget for the city animal control compared to that of fireworks for lakefront festivals.
Anyhow, hearings are being scheduled for Coleman's ordnance over the next couple of weeks. We will be following these hearings and their ultimate outcome.
Since I run the rott rescue (Recycled Rotts) in this area, we have already started to receive calls from the media asking for our two cents worth on the subject. My partner was interviewed and my photo, along with my rottie girls, is scheduled for an article in tomorrows (8/23) edition of the Chicago Sun Times about this situation. Why can't we get the publicity in connection to something good. It is now back to square one in educating about our wonderful breed.

[grrlpwr]

This Shirley Coleman is starting to get on my LAST NERVE. I just watched her little speech defending her ordnance proposal on FOX News Chicago. She mentioned that many people are upset and wonder why she's only targeting "ROCK-weilers" and pitbulls. Her answer? Because these 2 breeds have the highest records for fatal attacks.

Why can't she get it through her THICK HEAD that the REASON for these statistics is because BAD & DANGEROUS PEOPLE specifically pick these 2 breeds to be trained to be vicious in dogfights and "guarding" (what they usually have in mind for the second job is to keep the dog roaming in a junkyard at night or permanently chained to one spot).

Disgusting people like those who engage in dogfights don't pick labs, nor poodles, nor Jack Russell terriers... they pick ROTTWEILERS and PITBULLS for their sheer power and strength. Prosecute these human scums to the fullest extent of the law! Don't blame the breed!

Here's a VERY interesting tidbit about Ms. Coleman. SHE owns a German Shepherd/Chow mix. ?!?!? Do you mean to tell me that these 2 breeds have been known to be completely docile and weak? Of course not! Fatal attacks on children CAN be made by ANY breed of over a certain size. The reason Ms. Coleman's dog hasn't attacked anyone yet is because SHE does not train her dog to be a vicious one. And yet, it HAS the potential to be a killer if trained to be so.

I'm mainly angry about the proposed legislation based on "DANGEROUS" breeds. My Chloe and Samson are far from being dangerous or vicious. Yet they're definitely Rottweilers. My 15-pound American Eskimo Dog IS pretty vicious (and HATES children). Yet she wouldn't be considered as being part of a "dangerous" breed.

Ms. Coleman's reason for targeting 2 specific breeds is a dangerous one. I don't think she even realizes what she's implying. Is she saying that an entire group should be judged from the actions of a few in the same group? In that case, is racial profiling justifiable? Without realizing it, she's opened a whole can of worms.

I feel so powerless in this whole issue. I'm going to so whatever I can, and intend to write Ms. Coleman a letter. She's been known not to acknowledge e-mails, so here's her mailing address:

Alderman Shirley A. Coleman

Ward Office: 1249 W. 63rd Street
Chicago, IL 60636

Ward Phone: 773-918-1670

City Hall Office: 121 N. LaSalle St.
Room 300
Chicago, IL 60602

City Hall Phone: 312-744-3069

Sorry for this long post... I just needed SO MUCH to vent.

[Troy]

http://www.chicityclerk.com/citycoun...rman/find.html

The above link will list all the Alderman and their E mail links. Being the zealot I am with this I e-mailed every last one.

The fight goes on...

[KIKO AND THE MAN]

Here is are some local news reports featuring Shirley Coleman.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...i%2Dnews%2Dhed


http://abclocal.go.com/wls/features/...CT=SWF.4000000


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[Elijah's Mom]

I just watched the replay of the 10pm Chicago news on channel 2. Seems they did a phone in poll..voting yes or no that owners of Rotties and Pit Bulls should have to carry the $100,oo insurance. Results: 83% yes, 13% no, and 4% undecided. How can the public be so stupid as to think that the type of dog owners that are in the news with these Rottie attacks are going to run right down to their local insurance office and take out a policy? Unbelieveable.

[rott60827]

This mornings Chicago Sun Times article. It is actually a good article, and Recycled Rotts board member, Patti Samiec, who was afraid she would come across sounding stupid, actually made some good points.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-maul23.html

[Elijah's Mom]

I just read the Sun Times article and it was well done. Patti put it so well when she said that people have guns that aren't supposed to have them and we all should have car insurance but many don't comply.......makes sense that all Rottweiler owners and owners of Pit Bulls will not abide by any insurance law concerning their dog. Very well said, Patti! :)

[rott60827]

For those of you in the Chicago area. Patti Samiec, who was interviewed in the Sun Times, and is a board member with my rescue group Recycled Rotts, is scheduled to be interviewed tonight on WCKG Radio at 8 pm. She did so well with the newspaper, I "gracefully" backed off so she could be live on the radio. I think that WCKG is 105.4FM.

[grrlpwr]

I just finished listening to the Spike Manton show (Chicago WCKG 105.9).

The host, Spike Manton, was throughly infuriating. I was frantically searching for his phone number throughout the entire thing, but couldn't find it anywhere. I tuned in at exactly 8pm, but then realized that it runs from 7-9pm, so I missed the announcement of their hotline number.

There were quite a number of great callers (many Rottie owners) defending Rottweilers. Of course, everytime they tried to explain how great their Rotties are, Spike would shut them up by mocking, "Yeah, yeah and they even weave baskets, etc.". Spike Manton's main point FOR legislation against Rottweilers and Pitbulls is a list that was included in today's Chicago Sun-Times article. The list gives the number of fatal attacks by Pitbulls and Rottweilers (from 1979-1988) as 66 and 39 respectively. Therefore, reasons Spike, they are dangerous breeds, and SHOULD BE ELIMINATED (his exact words throughout the show).

What he doesn't understand is that the reason for these statistics is because these two breeds are the FAVORITES of sick individuals who relish having dogs that can be trained to maim, kill, attack and fight. People like these aren't going to buy a beagle for these jobs. They buy Rottweilers and Pitbulls. THAT is why these breeds rank on top.

Toward the last part of the show, there are a few callers that had very sound arguments. One guy identified himself as African-American, and hailing from the same neighborhood where these attacks have been occuring. He testified that even though he loves his old neighborhood, he can tell you honestly that the people there that own Rottweilers and Pitbulls are NOT the types who have them as pets living WITH the family. More often that not, dogs of these types in that neighborhood are tied to a chain 24 hours a day, or trained to be vicious "guard dogs", and have no positive socialization with humans whatsoever. It is therefore not surprising that a number of these dogs become hostile and vicious.

Another caller, a vet tech, called to ask Spike if he knew which breed bites the most people each year. Golden Retrievers. The caller got this information from every vet he's ever worked with. Still, Spike was adamant, saying well yeah, but they're not on this list. Obviously, they're not a dangerous breed because they just bite, not kill.

Whenever his arguments got shot down (when callers argue that irresponsible DOG owners in general should be punished, not the dogs), he would call them "fanatics" because they care more about the dogs' lives than humans. He kept emphasizing his "flowchart" of importance - HUMANS.... then dogs. He even admitted that he doesn't give a rat's a** about dogs. If a human gets hurt by a dog, it doesn't matter if the human provoked it, it doesn't matter if the dog was trying to defend itself, the dog should be punished. Thus, according to him, since Rottweilers and Pitbulls rank the highest in terms of fatal attacks, these breeds should be ELIMINATED altogether. They're "loaded guns".

The thing was, as soon as he mentioned "children", nobody could argue with him. Nobody feels comfortable saying that children sometimes are the ones who instigate the attack . It's just not a very PC thing to say. It doesn't matter if the child was poking or hitting the dog with a stick. Spike made everyone who was trying to defend the dogs' actions look like an animal-rights fanatic. "How can you put dogs before humans?" argument.

A few people pointed out to Spike that we need to prosecute irresponsible PEOPLE, not the dogs. But he argued that since we don't know how to do that, let's just "make life simpler" by ELIMINATING dangerous breeds altogether. In short, this guy's an idiot.

Just wanted to give you guys a summary of the show (especially for those of you not in the Chicago area). I'm STILL fumed up. Think I'm gonna go walk my Rotties now.

[RSQRottweiler]

Sorry, but it's hard to take a guy named "Spike" very seriously, even when he ISN'T spouting breed-specific nonsense.

I am in the process of writing letters to Coleman and the other Aldermen. . .I don't live in Chicago so I don't know if they'll even give a flip about an "out-of-towner's" point of view, but I might as well clog up the mailboxes. :)

Audrey

[kf7cg]

The only way to get to Coleman and to Spike is to find there base of financial support and decimate it for their opinions.

For Coleman that would be the businesses in here area of Chicago. Identify them and begin a general boycott if possible. E-mails sent to these businesses informing them that they are being held responsible for the actions of the Alderman that represents them can get her attention.

Spike is a talk show host I take it. Hit him through his program sponsors. Enough heat and they will pull their adds. No money, and the station will pull him from the air.

Remember, with politicians and talk show hosts, the most sensitive part of their body is the wallet!:p

My state has some of this idiocy also, they define Rottweilers and dangerous by law.

Dave

[KIKO AND THE MAN]

Unfortunately, more fuel for the fire today.

There was another dog attack in Chicago, today there was a Pit Bull involved.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...i%2Dnews%2Dhed