Lawrence Yule - Part of the Problem

Why is the problem of the ignorant/incompetent/irresponsible owner getting so much worse?

Because people like Lawrence Yule get into positions of power and influence and do anything except what is needed.

Mr Yule, Mayor of Hastings and President of Local Government New Zealand, wants New Zealand to follow in the footsteps of the U.K. with an outright ban on American Pit Bull Terriers, mandatory spay/neuter etc., at enormous expense to NZ and which the U.K. experience proves incontrovertibly is a hiding to nothing.

Plainly, he has done no research before calling for such pointless and costly measures to be brought in here.

After an outright ban on Pit Bulls since 1991, courtesy of Lord Kenneth Baker of Dorking after 2 Rottweilers killed a child, the dog bite stats in the U.K. since have risen by 66%.

The Metropolitan Police report that from 2003 to 2006 they seized 38 dogs of 'the type'.

Between 2006 and 2007, that figure leapt to 173 in the space of a year.

Between 2007 and 2008: 480!

Their RSPCA reports that in 2007, 358 people complained that they had seen youths encouraging their dogs to fight. That is double the complaints for 2006, and fifteen times the number in 2004.

Breed bans don't work. They have the opposite effect.

Thanks to an irresponsible media marketing 'dangerous' dogs for the puppy millers, the resultant increase in incidents involving poorly socialised, attack-trained and unrestrained dogs is no surprise. The recipe for this disaster has been the same the world over.

As long as people like Mr Yule persist in promoting failed policies the situation will continue to deteriorate and will certainly result in deaths with the blame unfairly placed on a type of dog when it belongs with a type of owner.

Mr Yule is perpetuating the myths and propaganda surrounding the American Pit Bull Terrier.

Rather than scapegoating an entire breed in his ignorance, Mr Yule only needs to look to his own council for a major contributing factor in the proliferation of the problem owner in his city.

Where are the animal control services Hastings citizens pay for?

That is a question Mayors up and down this country need to answer to their ratepayers and registered dog owners who are paying for a service that all too often is not being provided.

Had Murupara's council and animal control contractors acted upon resident's complaints over a period of years, Victoria Ohlsen would still be alive today. The dogs who attacked her were not Pit Bulls, but they were roaming at large and despite their escalating behaviour nothing was done.

Having got their contractors off their behinds and earning their pay, the next major step in effectively addressing the problem of the dangerous owner is an ongoing public education programme promoting best practice in dog ownership and demystifying the factors that lead to dog attack incidents, whatever the breed.

In a cabinet paper released by the Office of the Associate Minister for Local Government October 2007 it was noted that public education was effective in the short term, required no further legislation with the cost described as low to medium.

Public Officials lobbying for legislation that is draconian, expensive and impracticable need to be put on notice that we expect better value for money from them than the knee-jerk, hysterical and ill-informed performance we have paid so dearly for to date.