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<< Previous   of   Next >> Dan Bates / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Christine Baker walks her dog Bailey near her home in the Monroe neighborhood where the small dog was attacked by pit bull terriers two months ago. Jupiter Images  (click to enlarge) A pit bull terrier Pleple2000  (click to enlarge) Cane Corso Mary Bloom / American Kennel Club  (click to enlarge) A bull terrier   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Owners protest Monroe plan for 'potentially dangerous' dogs 11/19/08 • No biting, Barney; you don't know where that reporter's been 11/16/08 • Cities differ on when to call dog a danger 11/16/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, November 16, 2008 Monroe may toughen rules for some dog breeds By Debra Smith Herald Writer MONROE -- Christine Baker doesn't like to walk her dog alone anymore. She also doesn't push her baby daughter in the stroller to the nearby park. And when it's time to get in her car, she looks first and moves quickly. Two months ago, her neighbor's two pit bulls escaped through their backyard fence and attacked her fleecy white lap dog Bailey while she walked him outside her Chain Lake home. "I saw them coming out of the corner of my eye," Baker said. "One went one way and one the other way." Baker tried to pick up her dog, but the pit bulls got there first. One grabbed Bailey near his neck, and the other sunk its teeth into the smaller dog's hindquarters and started to shake. "I was screaming bloody murder," she said. "It felt like a nightmare. I ended up on the ground wrestling and punching and kicking them." Bailey lived but required $400 in vet care. The attack left Baker scraped and shaken. This isn't the first incident with the pit bulls. Neighbors who feel terrorized by the dogs contacted city officials and demanded action. The result is a proposal that would label certain breeds of dogs, including pit bulls, as potentially dangerous. Strike one, strike two Monroe, like most area cities, uses a two-strike approach. Dogs earn the label of potentially dangerous once they bite or act aggressively. If a second incident happens, the dogs are registered as dangerous. That forces owners to keep stricter control of their dogs. The proposal would eliminate that first warning for certain breeds, essentially giving them no second chances. "It's taking one step out of the process for dogs that are known to be bred for fighting," said Debbie Willis, Monroe police spokeswoman. The city isn't banning the breeds. If someone owns one of these breeds and the dog doesn't cause problems, owners would have to take no additional measures, she said. Potentially dangerous dogs with no history of seriously injuring people or other pets could earn their way off the city's bad dog list if they and their owners complete a program teaching responsible dog ownership, such as the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen Program. The Monroe City Council plans to hold a public hearing to discuss the proposed rules at its 7 p.m. Tuesday meeting at Monroe City Hall. Breeds affected The breeds on the proposed list are Akita, American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, bull terrier, cane corso, dogo Argentino, dogue de Bordeaux, Kuvasz, pit bull terrier, presa Canario, Staffordshire bull terrier and Tosa inu. Dogs with a mix of one or more of these breeds would also be regulated. Just the suggestion of treating some breeds differently than others has raised the hackles of plenty of dog lovers. Dozens of angry e-mails have been sent from as far away as Texas and New York to City Councilman Mitch Ruth, arguing it's not fair to label an entire breed as bad. Ruth has raised and trained Rottweilers for competition. "I recognize most of the dogs on the list are powerful dogs with dominant genetic characteristics," he said. That itself isn't problematic, he said. The problems are with the owners, not the dogs, and he encourages strict penalties for irresponsible dog owners. Who's responsible? The dogs on Monroe's list are no more likely to be aggressive than most other breeds, said Marvin Versteeg, a professional dog trainer who lives in Monroe. Versteeg owns a pit bull named Cowboy, and the dog is sweet and well-behaved, he said. A dog's behavior has more to do with how it's treated than its pedigree, he said. A properly trained and socialized dog is happy and will defend itself only when threatened. Certain breeds have gotten a bad rap partly because people who wanted a "tough" dog gravitated toward these breeds and then encouraged aggressive behavior or neglected the dogs, Versteeg said. He suggested the city back a program for dog ownership that educates people on how to choose a breed that fits their lifestyle. Other municipalities are grappling with what to do with dangerous dogs. Two pit bulls in King County viciously attacked a 72-year-old SeaTac woman in September. The Metropolitan King County Council is taking a closer look at banning dog owners from continuous chaining of their animals. Dogs chained for long periods of time are more likely to attack people or other dogs, according to the Humane Society of the United States. The council directed County Executive Ron Sims on Monday to report by Feb. 28 on the practicality of an ordinance. Everett is the only city in Snohomish County that targets specific breeds as potentially dangerous. Pit bulls, Staffordshire bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers and mixes of these breeds are considered "potentially dangerous" and Everett requires these dogs to be registered, licensed and fitted with a microchip. No one answered the door at the Chain Lake house of the pit bulls' owners when a reporter attempted to seek comment. Past incidents The Baker family and their neighbors would like to see something done before a more serious incident happens. Over the past few months, one of the three dogs bit three people, including a toddler being pulled in a wagon by her grandfather. The owner of the dog opted to have it euthanized, and the two remaining dogs have been classified as potentially dangerous, according to animal control officers. There are several "Beware of Dog" signs around the owner's fenced back yard, and scrap wood is nailed along the bottom of his fence. Neighbors say that's not enough to help them be safe. A school bus stop is directly in front of the man's house and the dogs have been seen running in the neighborhood without leashes or muzzles. Neighbor Dawna Golden said she has seen the dogs running loose several times and supports the proposal. She's worried for her family, which includes three teenagers. "I think there are (types of) dogs that are more dangerous," she said. Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com. Hearing scheduled on one-strike rule The Monroe City Council plans a public hearing on the proposed rules at its meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday at Monroe City Hall, 806 W. Main St. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out A comedy show Your newspaper should rather run the above,too bad so many animals will DIE as a result. selwyn marock | Nov 21, 2008 1:06 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal The Truth about cats and dogs Sorry Kelly, you are wrong. The reason the fence is so shoddy is because Ronnie built it. Not exactly a rocket scientist that Ronnie. He didn't get a permit, he didn't follow code and sure as hell didn't do a very good job, as even his dog used to get out frequently. I blame Ronnie as much as his crappy renters. He built a crap fence, has gone through TWO sets of trashy renters, and wasn't smart enough to produce a lease with pet clause. These people moved in with 3 dogs and had 11 pitbulls within a week of moving in due to the birth of puppies. Secondly, this boils down to a culture issue. The residents that live there are just g to the h e t t o. The guy plays his rap music loud late at night; they stay up and play pool in the garage; make noise and drink beer until 1 am even though they just had a baby; have had a microwave and a bumper on their porch since they moved in, and pay like 1800 dollars a month to rent a house. Somehow I don't think they're on MENSA's mailing list... Plain and simple, this is a family oriented neighborhood. When you threaten peoples homes, kids or safety, they're going to get angry. Even animals come with this instinct, I don't know why it is absent from these people and their sympathizers. Robert Molina | Nov 18, 2008 7:03 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Who cares? LOOK! I am so sick and tired of people saying, "It's not the dogs, it's their owners"!!! I've had four incidents in Monroe with loose pit bulls over the last ten years. Even a cursory examination of news stories from around the country reveals a pattern of pit bulls attacking peacable people and their pets. Do I care about whether these dogs have good or bad owners? NO!!! It's irrelevant. The pertinent fact is that the dogs are dangerous. These people have a reasonable expectation of not being attacked by them. Wherever you live, if there are dangerous dogs running loose, the city government has an obligation to its citizens to adjust its laws to correct the problem. In my experience, wherever there are pit bulls running around, the problem of in-breeding is evident, and not just in the dogs... C. Baldwin | Nov 17, 2008 12:25 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) I am sorry but that is just not fair... "It is not the dogs fault it is all on how they are trained." I have two male pit bulls that I love more then anything. I have had them since they were 6 wks old and they have never once bit anyone and they are now 3 years old. AND I WOULDNT TRADE THEM FOR ANYOTHER DOG IN THE WORLD THEY ARE THE BEST. They growl when you knock on the door but what dog doesnt do that. I dont think that it is fair to go agianst one breed of dog. Here is a way to think of this situations. They are just like people they start out as puppies. You could have one pit that is an absolute sweet heart and a pit that fights and attacks it is base on how they are trained. Just like a person if a baby grows up in a abusive family or family with problems then 80 to 90 percent of the time that baby is going to grow up to be abusive and sound even hurt someone else. So instead of picking on one breed something else needs to be done. The only reason it is on one breed is cause that is the ONE breed that you hear about but trust me it happens with every breed. Kendra Atkinson | Nov 17, 2008 1:10 pm | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) I think the breed of dog is a non issue. Just like people, every dog is different. There should be a 1 strike per every dog or animal that attacks. I think the bigger picture is being missed. Monroe School District will not change the bus stop even though the family with the dogs in question live on the same corner. Why, just the other day I was standing waiting for the afternoon bus with my young child and all of a sudden the dogs came busting out of the house. The female that lives in the home came out yelling at the dogs,"I told you to get in the car!" Like the dogs understand that. Anyway, my daughter and I were very frightened. We don't feel safe standing and waiting for the bus there. The Monroe School District does not want to take action until a more serious attack occurs. M. Thoma | Nov 18, 2008 10:36 pm | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Ooooh, my wittly doggie is the tweetest... Memo to morons: EVERONE THINKS THEIR DOG IS THE SWEETEST DOG IN THE WORLD! Just because YOUR pit bull has never attacked anyone, doesn't mean that this breed is incapable of ferocious attacks. I think pit bull owners should be prosecuted criminally if their dog gets out and hurts or kills somebody, to the same extent that they would be if they, themselves, had committed an assault or manslaughter. That's right! If you want to play around with deadly weapons (i.e pit bulls) you should pay the price if you handle them irresponsibly. The problem is, the law is so lax that these idiots let their dogs loose frequently. Monroe should adopt stringent controls on pit bull owners, including specifying fence heights, chain guages, and requiring liability insurance. Once again, CHECK OUT THE FRIGGIN' NEWS! How many stories have you seen detailing pit bulls attacking their owners or their children? Get a clue!!! C. Baldwin | Nov 19, 2008 12:49 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal The King is wearing no clothes During the 40's the USA went to war to help rid the world of a fellow by the name of Adolph Hitler because this gentleman beleived in Ethnic Cleansing,now 60 years later the US is wanting to debate the very same principle and many municipalities are pretending that they are enacting this EVIL and HEINOUS law to protect their citizens when really it is merely a case that they are FAILING dismally on real issues e.g Dog-fighting Rape ,Paediophilia,Drug-dealers the list of more important priorities is neverending. Lets look at BSL in lets say Denver ,look at the prosecutors,the police they are MURDERING thousands and thousands of home pets not the dog-fighting rings not a mention of a single one.WHY? Its too DANGEROUS these dog-fighters run the DRUGS,ILLEGAL GAMBLING, TAX-EVASION once again the list is neverending and it is so much EASIER to knock on the door of a LAW- ABIDING citizen and take a small child's pet away and MURDER it. Get Real their are less than 20 dog FATALITIES in the US per annum,every other activity and crime you can mention levies many more DEATHS. Every DECENT HUMAN BEING in the US has to defy this EVIL and UNJUST piece of legislation or do not visit MEMORIALS of friends and relations who died in the 2nd world war proecting and creating your FREEDOM. "ALL THAT IS NEEDED FOR EVIL TO SUCCEED IS THAT DECENT HUMAN BEINGS DO NOTHING"-Edmund Burke selwyn marock | Nov 21, 2008 2:57 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Dangerous dogs in Monroe I would just like to say that the reporter on this story should have checked their facts! I am a neighbor of these dogs and can tell you that the dog that was put down was a lab, not a pit bull. The person stating that they are so scared to now walk their dog because it was attacked is not being truthfull. I watch her go for her walks and she crosses the street to walk directly in front of their house. People need to get a life, these poor people with their dogs have been harrassed up and down! They forgot to mention that each time the dogs go out someone has busted the gate open from the outside or kicked boards off of their fence. This is rediculus and they have chased these people out of they neighborhood for no reason! There are people in out neighborhood who allow their small dogs to run around and bark at people, but that is ok! CHECK YOUR FACTS NEXT TIME! kelly moulaison | Nov 16, 2008 1:02 pm | 2 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) I am sorry but that is just not fair... "It is not the dogs fault it is all on how they are trained." I have two male pit bulls that I love more then anything. I have had them since they were 6 wks old and they have never once bit anyone and they are now 3 years old. AND I WOULDNT TRADE THEM FOR ANYOTHER DOG IN THE WORLD THEY ARE THE BEST. They growl when you knock on the door but what dog doesnt do that. I dont think that it is fair to go agianst one breed of dog. Here is a way to think of this situations. They are just like people they start out as puppies. You could have one pit that is an absolute sweet heart and a pit that fights and attacks it is base on how they are trained. Just like a person if a baby grows up in a abusive family or family with problems then 80 to 90 percent of the time that baby is going to grow up to be abusive and sound even hurt someone else. So instead of picking on one breed something else needs to be done. The only reason it is on one breed is cause that is the ONE breed that you hear about but trust me it happens with every breed. Kendra Atkinson | Nov 17, 2008 1:10 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Dangerous Dogs Mrs. Moulaison, I'm sorry you are misinformed by the dog owners/ your friends but these are the facts. A: The boards were not busted out nor was the gate busted from the outside. There were no boards on the bottom of the fence until after the dog got out and bit the child. Animal Control advised the dog owner to put the boards in. Also the dog owner stated to police "that someone must of busted his fence gate", after the dogs attacked my dog, because I'm really sure that's what everyone wanted, dangerous dogs running loose in the neighborhood. Besides, the gate wasn't busted, the latch had fallen off, which I doubt was done from the outside. To say that neighbors went out of their way to "remove" boards or "break" the latch is asinine, no one wants aggressive dogs roaming around in their neighborhood. B: My wife does not walk our dog in front of their house alone. The one time that she has walked near their house was across the street from their house and I was with her with a Mag light in case it was needed. In addition we checked to make sure that the man door for their gargage was unopen, as previously when it was open, that meant the dogs were outside. Also, if these dogs are fine, then why did your husband come out with a baseball bat when the dogs charged a lady and she started screaming? I would advise you that the next time you want to call someone a liar, perhaps you should come and talk to them, as you just live two doors away. Reed Baker | Nov 16, 2008 7:23 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Pit Bulls Your focus should not be on these dogs but upon their owners, and likewise your animal control contractors should be dealing with these owners more effectively before that imminently more serious incident occurs. These owners have already proven that they have failed to train, restrain and socialise their dogs, hence their undesirable behaviour. Their fences are plainly inadequate. They know that their dogs will offend yet they are still allowing them off leash and unmuzzled in public. Owners like these are your problem - whatever kind of dog they own - inflicting their feckless irresponsibility with impunity. Your animal control contractors need to take the situation a whole lot more seriously before someone is killed. The same situation went unaddressed here in New Zealand despite years of complaints from neighbours about two mix breeds and their misdeeds and nothing was done until finally someone died from their injuries. Pit Bulls are among the dogs least likely to bite you since a pit dog who bites his handler is a dead pit dog (see the Pit Rules to understand that there is no room for man-biters in the pit http://www.purebrednz.com/pit%20rules.htm) However, it seems your neighbours are among the worst kind of owner attracted to the breed due to the political and media hype (if in fact they are genuine Pit Bulls). Such owners inflict their ignorance and antisocial attitudes via their dogs but sadly it is the dogs who are vilified and demonised, and it is the dogs who pay with their lives at the end of the day. No bad dogs, just bad owners. Karen Batchelor | Nov 16, 2008 11:15 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Dangerous Dogs First of all, it's beyond me why a person would want to own one of these breeds in the first place--personal opinion. From what I understand, insurance companies don't cover dog-related claims when these dogs are owned by the policy holder. So where does that put a person that becomes a victim to an attack? Their only recourse is against the owner personally. Why would a person want that liability? (Maybe they don't care . . . I don't know. Maybe that's the problem . . . I don't know.) And, from the other side of the coin, there's the issue of responsible ownership, training, care and attention. I'm not one for "big brother" coming to the rescue regulating everything, but if owners aren't living up to their role of being responsible in those areas, what is the rest of society, the potential victims, to do? Not much we can do. It's because of the irresponsibility of owners that regulations have to be made to ensure the safety of citizens. People complaining about tighter regulations are barking up the wrong tree. It's the irresponsible owners that are the problem! Bark at them. And, that's what these laws are doing. ADDED NOTE: Don't get me wrong--I understand that not all owners of these breeds are irresponsible. But, I believe there are more "bad apples" in the bunch that are ruining it for those that are. Chris Summers | Nov 16, 2008 7:46 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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