[Marty]

Blue Springs / Independence,MO -- Kim M. Krohn Blue Springs

To the editor:

I have no idea which epidemiological genius at The Examiner (Our opinion, May 7, "Progress on dog attacks") conducted the research determining that a "pit bull" ban has made Independence any safer, an opinion contrary to that of no fewer than 14 professional animal and medical organizations, which agree that singling out specific breeds does nothing to improve public safety.

The ban in Independence accomplished several things. Pet owners live in fear that a neighbor or meter reader will report their dog because it bears some resemblance to a "pit bull," creating a Gestapo-like atmosphere. How many other animal control officers in the metro area wear bulletproof vests? The employees at The Examiner may feel all safe and cozy in their offices, but I'm certain Independence Animal Control doesn't exactly have a warm, fuzzy feeling right now, and all for no real reason.

The energy wasted on this fiasco should have been put to use amending Independence's punitive pet-limit law and finding resources to build a sorely needed new animal shelter. Instead, the city wasted months last year arguing about a solution that was looking for a problem where none truly existed. The City Council enhanced the generic dangerous dog ordinance, yet was pressured and blackmailed into passing breed-specific legislation that only served to unfairly penalize innocent pets and their owners. Reasonable people should have looked at the incident and concluded that there were any number of problems in that scenario other than the dogs, and moved on.

People need to quit whining and expecting government to cater to their every whim. The civil courts exist so victims can extract their pound of flesh from people who harm, frighten and merely annoy them.

I'm happy to report that I feel perfectly safe in Blue Springs, where animal control officers don't need to wear bulletproof vests.

http://www.examiner.net/stories/0519...51907044.shtml

[Miakoda]

I like the author of this editorial!