When Doctors Stray Outside of Expertise

Posted on November 6, 2017April 4, 2023Categories News, Research & PublicationsTags , ,

Study finds that the literature on dog bites written by human health care professionals is rife with distortions and errors, and laden with rhetorical devices that mischaracterize dog behavior and grossly overstate the actual risk of dog bite injuries. 

Study finds that the literature on dog bites written by human health care professionals is rife with distortions and errors, and laden with rhetorical devices that mischaracterize dog behavior and grossly overstate the actual risk of dog bite injuries. 

Breed-specific legislation on the decline

Posted on June 25, 2014March 18, 2021Categories News, Research & PublicationsTags ,

  Breed-Specific Legislation on the Decline : 5 more states no longer allow BSL & more than 7x as many U.S. Municipalities repealed or rejected proposed BSL, than enacted it between: January 2012 – May 2014. The national trend is moving steadily away from breed-specific legislation (BSL) and toward breed neutral laws that hold all owners equally accountable for the humane care, custody and control of their dogs. The list of states that are considering and passing legislation to preempt municipalities from … Continue reading “Breed-specific legislation on the decline”

Maryland General Assembly Says No to Dog Owner Discrimination, Passes Effective Breed Neutral Liability

Posted on April 4, 2014March 18, 2021Categories News

On April 3, 2014, the Maryland House of Delegates gave final approval to breed neutral dog bite liability legislation that would abrogate the 2012 Court of Appeals ruling in Tracey v. Solesky, which imposed “breed”-specific liability on dog owners, custodians, and landlords. From the beginning, Maryland residents and lawmakers have been in agreement that the Tracey v. Solesky ruling was not acceptable, but the House and the Senate disagreed on the appropriate standard for dog owner liability. This legislation, SB 247 … Continue reading “Maryland General Assembly Says No to Dog Owner Discrimination, Passes Effective Breed Neutral Liability”

Obama Administration opposes breed specific legislation (BSL)

Posted on August 20, 2013March 18, 2021Categories News

In an unprecedented initiative, the White House released a statement announcing that the Obama Administration does not support breed-specific legislation (BSL). The statement was a response to an anti-BSL petition created in December 2012, which quickly garnered more than 30,000 pet-loving signatures. Referring to the position taken more than a decade ago by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the White House reminded readers that “research shows that bans on certain types of … Continue reading “Obama Administration opposes breed specific legislation (BSL)”

HSUS “Pets for Life” toolkit: empowering pet owners in under-served areas and yielding significant results for animals in the creation of humane communities

Posted on October 15, 2012February 23, 2023Categories News, Uncategorized

All of us who love dogs – whether we live with them, raise them, provide professional services for them, or use them for a purpose – recognize the value they hold in our society. Yet the human-canine bond may be weakened by a disparate amount of resources and support available to human beings in under-served communities throughout the United States. A new “Pets for Life” (PFL) community outreach toolkit from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), made possible … Continue reading “HSUS “Pets for Life” toolkit: empowering pet owners in under-served areas and yielding significant results for animals in the creation of humane communities”

Winnipeg, Manitoba far behind Calgary in community safety

Posted on July 9, 2012May 31, 2022Categories News, UncategorizedTags

A paper published last week in the Journal Injury Prevention attempted to make the case that “pit bull” bans in Manitoba may have been effective in reducing dog bite injury hospitalizations (DBIH, in the language of the paper).  [1]  In attempting to do so, however, the authors revealed that the bans, applicable to the overwhelming majority of Manitobans, including citizens of Winnipeg, had not resulted in improved community safety; and that the safety record of Manitoba lags far behind that … Continue reading “Winnipeg, Manitoba far behind Calgary in community safety”