Contemplation leads to revelation

Thanks to Don Martin of the National Post, who was writing about something entirely different, I found a sentence that so exactly sums up what happened in Ontario in order for the Fiberals to pass breed specific legislation.

"That's the beauty of securing a conviction in the court of public opinion -- optics, hearsay and circumstantial evidence can instantly gas chamber the innocent with no avenue of appeal."

That is exactly what happened in Ontario. The Fibs, with taxpayers' money, tub-thumped fallacies about types of dogs and their owners until the average person on the street, inundated with Fib propaganda, would unthinkingly repeat these fallacies. The Fibs used the media wisely - well, hell, they have unlimited access to the media and OUR money for PR people to devise campaigns, we anti-BSLers usually can't get arrested by the media (which is why so many of us started blogs) and have only working folks' money. What's left, that is, after the Fibs have finished pillaging our pockets for their PR.

The sham Committee hearings on Bill 132 were a revelation to me. I'm a cynic, but the Fibs surpassed even my low expectations. The Fibs sitting on the Committee looked like bobble head dolls, nodding when their POV was being presented, obsessively checking their Blackberries and smirking when it wasn't. It was disgusting. Michael Bryant didn't attend one day of Committee hearings and, before the final witnesses had presented, was courting the media with an announcement that he would pursue breed specific legislation.

Then the whipped Fibs, with a majority government (what idiots voted for them?), with the exception of a few who could only abstain from voting rather than vote against the Bill because it was tabled by a cabinet minister, passed the legislation that made innocent, responsible dog owners' lives living hell, legislated them into second-class citizenship, and set in motion the wheels that would kill thousands of dogs solely because of their shape. The Fibs hurt innocent people and killed their dogs.

Worst of all, I still have to tolerate the smirking, smarmy face of McSquinty in the papers because the majority of Ontarians are morons and voted them back in after a Fib campaign that stank of subliminal xenophobia against a minor plank in another party's platform. Personally, I'm hoping that if McSquinty steps down mid-term, the internal battle for leadership among Smitherman, Bryant and other heirs apparent decimates the party and leaves it in shambles. That would be a good alternative to the "govern by flailing", unthinking platitudes, patronizing tone or unwarranted aggression, and unceasing spin doctoring to which we're currently subjected.

Anyway....nice line, Mr. Martin. Hope you don't mind that I borrowed it.

Something is so bloody wrong with this picture...

Rambo, a puppy who went for a frolic through the gate of his yard and did no harm, is on death row solely because of his shape.

A German Shepherd (Michael Bryant's family's breed), which according to the owner was usually muzzled but but wasn't, mauled a 2 year old child and is now at home waiting for investigation and a decision on whether charges will be laid.

What's wrong with this picture? A dog that has done nothing wrong is condemned to death solely because of his shape, while a dog that mauled a child (and reportedly has bitten before) is at home with his owner, not under a death sentence.

Why? Because the Ontario Liberals passed unfounded, unjust, vague and shoddy breed specific legislation that condemns a dog to death for its shape, and not its behaviour.

At least Rambo got a visit from his owner. Read about it in the Mississauga News and the Random Access blog.

Munchie was killed while his owners thought they had time to appeal his death sentence, while his lookalike Huckleberry was rescued in an effort that involved police and animal services.

The Ontario Liberals made this province into a foul joke for responsible, thinking dog owners.

Contribute to the legal challenge of Ontario's unfounded, unjust, vague and shoddy breed specific legislation.

Banned Aid.

More breed discrimination - shar-pei and dobermans

An acquaintance who has bred and shown purebred dogs for almost 20 years got the following response to an enquiry about "dog camp" for her shar-pei.

"I am sorry, but due to a great deal of genetical problems in behaviour seen in the doberman and the shar-pei, I can't accept them at the camp, for reasons of safety and sens of security. Thank you for the interest in my camp, sincerely, Carole Lesage Présidente Camp Enfantset Chiens"

I think Ms. Lesage means a false sense of security. The breed or shape of a dog in no way determines its character and behaviour.

This is very sad. Anyone with meaningful dog experience knows that the owner is the final and determining factor in a dog's behaviour. And, there is absolutely no scientific basis for a claim of genetic behaviour across a breed.

This woman's statement sounds like the urban myths that the Ontario Liberals used to promote their unfounded, unjust, vague and shoddy law, which was passed by a whipped vote.

I hope Laurel Broten, proud shar-pei owner and Ontario Liberal MPP who voted in favour of the Fibs' breed specific legislation, is hearing this. According to this dog camp owner, Ms. Broten's dog is the same as the mythical "pit bull" - a genetic "ticking time bomb".

I hope that Ms. Broten personally suffers the same discrimination because of the shape of her dog as those dog owners who were voted into second-class citizenship by the Ontario Liberals...although I don't wish death on any dog, and cry for the thousands of unoffending dogs and puppies killed by the Liberals' law solely on the basis of their shape.

Mikey missing? Say it ain't so.

Apparently people in besieged Caledonia are concerned that Michael Bryant, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, is missing from the Caledonia debacle. They've put out an APB (not an APBT) on him. Read it here.

And if you can, put up the Missing Minister poster.

H/T to Caveat.