October 21, 2009

i'm fired up...

You try and ban this sweet man and I'm gonna bring the hammer down :)

So it turns out that my hometown - Williamston, South Carolina - is considering banning pit bulls and rottweilers. Awesome. This means that I'll either have to make the choice to leave at least two of my dogs behind (or three depending on how broad their definition of "pit bull" is) whenever I visit my parents OR I just won't visit my parents.

Neither of these options makes me happy.

And I'm the lucky one... I don't actually live there anymore. I can't even let myself think of all the dogs that will be destroyed or abandoned if this law is passed.

I've posted here before about Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) but this is the first time it has actually affected me directly. So you can imagine how fired up I am about this.

First, let me explain something about my hometown... it's this little country town in the Upstate of South Carolina where probably 30%of the population still thinks it's ok to chain your dog out back and feed him leftover dinner scraps for nourishment (IF they bother to chain or feed them at all). Another 50% have the mindset that "a dog is a dog... so what?" And if anyone out there from Williamston is reading this, please don't be offended. If you care enough about your dog to read my blog, you obviously don't fall into the aforementioned categories.

But folks, if you think I'm ticked... well, you should talk to my mother. She is... ENRAGED. You don't mess with her kids - and this potential breed ban law does just that. It messes with her kid - me - and her four-legged grandkids. And my mom has never been one to shy away from a fight. So she's gearing up for a full-blown assault (figuratively, people... I mean an assault of the verbal variety) on the town mayor and town council.

I've been helping her compile information for talking points, information packets and letters to the editor. And I thought I'd pass this information along in case anyone out there is facing this same problem.

The information and links I'm providing here are only the tip of the iceberg. I highly recommend doing your own search for information on BSL should the need ever arise.

5 comments:

Princess said...

Good luck! Looks like you've already got your great resources lined up. Let us know if we can help sign a petition or anything.

JP said...

AWESOME BLOG ;-)

Kristen said...

Thanks for posting this Ryan! My own rescued pit bull Bella thanks you too. :) I liked to your great information from my own site.

Becca said...

Hey there! A mutual friend of ours (Danielle Gibbs) suggested I contact you via the blogosphere about my dog's bad habit of chewing on our house. Yes. On the house. If you go to my blog you'll see the story (among many others-- ie his appetite for swallowing underwear and socks whole) Anyway I've put hot sauce on the spots he's chewed and he doesn't chew there again but just moves onto a different spot. Suggestions? Helpful dog tips? He's a 9 month old Bernese Mtn dog and sweet as sweet could be. But he's doing a number on our house!

www.thescogins.wordpress.com

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