Broward County - And stopping the insanity

Broward County Florida is talking about banning pitbulls. The exact words
"Barbara Sharief, Vice Mayor of the Broward County Commission, will introduce a motion today to make it illegal to "own and keep" American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers -- or any dog that may "conform" to a pit bull breed." (1)

Miami-Dade also has BSL. It has been long controversial.

Now the interesting part here is the fact the State of Florida has a law prohibiting Breed Specific Legislation.

Does this mean the counties in Florida have greater power than the State Government?  If any county has the right to change the state law, why not allow them to run drugs, guns?  In other countries where drug lords run the show, the issue lies in the fact they own the government. Now if the counties in Florida have the right to change the State Laws, how long before we see the drug lords running a county in Florida? And if Florida government has allowed a precedent to be set, then what right do they have to complain about laws which deny other parts of the State Law.

If we allow counties to deny families their dogs, are we not forcing families apart? Breaking down the family structure? Putting more dogs into a broken system, and killing them for a lack of a place for them to live? How does this make us more American, we have the right to.. smoke pot, not have our pets, and crumble under the laws set forth by a government who no longer cares about the rights of the citizens but only the power of the governments.

Be Heard - Save A Family

Schedules and agendas can be found here.

Contact information for the commission:

The commissions websites and districts can be found here.

Vice Mayor Barbara Sharief
Broward County Governmental Center
115 S. Andrews Ave., Room 410
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-357-7008

Martin David Kiar
email: mkiar@broward.org
Phone: 954-357-7001

Mayor Kristin Jacobs, Phone: 954- 357-7002
Email: kjacobs@broward.org

Stacy Ritter
sritter@broward.org
Phone: 954-357-7003

Chip LaMarca
email: clamarca@broward.org
Phone: 954-357-7004

Lois Wexler
lwexler@broward.org
Phone: 954-357-7005

Sue Gunzburger
sgunzburger@broward.org
Telephone: 954-357-7006

Tim Ryan
email: tryan@broward.org
Phone: 954-357-7007

Dale Holness
dholness@broward.org
Phone: 954-357-7009


Broward Palm Beach News Times Feb 21, 2013 http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2013/02/broward_county_may_ban_owning.php

Domino's New Home

I have a new friend, and he is not a pittie. He is a rescue from South Carolina. This is the first time I saw Domino, and I wanted to help him, he had been labeled a bulldog mix, but we couldn't see it.
His trip started with a rough life, and then Carol Delle Donne Wallaeur took him home, after he had so many missed chances...

 

She had taken him in and fostered him, and she loved him. It was evident when you talked with her, and we talked about him alot. He was nervous, scared, and needed a safe home. I love my pitties, and I told her about them, how they lay on the bed and snore. But Dominos face touched deep in my heart, and I said, "I want him". Now we only had to get him from SC to OR.
We started searching out transportation options, and I learned about Paws and Pilots.  And we met Captain Keith Baker.  He not only had helped 60+ other babies get to their new homes, he was willing to help Domino get on his way to Oregon. Carol helped him get to the airport

He was nervous, and hiding in the back of his new crate. Not sure what was happening, little did he know he was on his way to a new life.

Captain Keiths Airplane!

Captain Keith stepped up and volunteered his time and his plane to help get Domino on the way to Oregon. He met Carol at the airport, and Domino got his first airplane ride.

 Captain Keith was wonderful. He took Domino to Charlotte, Nc and helped Domino get onto a great big United plane, and he told us how we could watch Dominos planes fly him to his forever home. I watched online as his plane traveled over the states, and he flew into Portland, Or.  He was still very skinny and his ribs showed. He watched all the cars drive by, and jumped at every noise.

We were so happy when he got here. We hugged him and helped him get settled into the house. Domino was very nervous, and wanted to hide in the bedroom, laying on the bed. He ran away from people, and he jumped at every loud noise. But every day we played and petted, and Domino made friends.

So today Domino is a member of the family. He sleeps on the bed, he snores, and he went for a ride in the car all by himself. Its a slow process, but Domino is learning to be a puppy again. And we are blessed to have a new family member.
 It is so funny to watch the changes in him.

 

 

Racial Profiling for Fido

I seem to have taken on the roll of volunteer to save the worlds Pitbulls. I send at least an hour each night asking someone to help. I know we cannot save each and every one, but if we can save just one or two of them, then we have accomplished a great service to animals.
Hurricane Sandy has brought the issue to a forefront though. How many families will have to lose their dogs, their family friend, because they will not be able to find a place to live in the interim, because the breed of the pet? Imagine, Its the 50's in the deep south , and grandma is an african american. You have lost your house, your belongings, and all of the things you have held dear, but you are not a African American. So you get to live, but grandma is put behind bars and you leave knowing she may not make it out alive, because her skin color is different.
  Shocking thought huh. But the difference is its grandma, and she is not an animal. Now, imgaine how you would feel if grandma just looked like an African American? She wasn't really one, but she did have dark skin, and so you lost her because of the color of her skin? There are many people who do not think of their animals as pets but as family members, and now we are saying pick one or the other.
 Why, because someone said they are bad. Not because they are by their nature bad, but because someone said it. And once it has been said it must be true. Francis Jeffrey said "Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence."  There are some who say this breed was only designed to kill, to maim, to fight. The proponents of this will do everything within their means to prove pitbulls are killers, even to the extent of saying a dog is one after an attack, though the DNA proves otherwise. The same dogs are service dogs, family pets, companions, but you do not hear about the lives they save or the undying loyalty of the dog, because big news doesn't make money off good news.
We do not say everyone who comes from Columbia, South America has something to  do with drugs, we judge the person, not where they came from, or what they look like,but when it comes to the look of  dog, any dog, who someone decides is pitbull, whether the DNA backs it up or not, it is assumed by many the dog is going to hurt, maim, or kill someone.
   Mahatma Ghandi said "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated... I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man." If this is true then we as a nation have fallen from being a great nation, we do not spare the lives of  animals, we do not go out and fight for them. There are few laws which protect them from atrocities at the hands of humans. If we are to become more, then we must as a nation, not judge, or discriminate, but educate, train, and learn to love the differences.

 It all starts with a single step.

1-open the cage door
2-attach the leash
3-take the animal home
4-share your life and love


  

Beds

I bought a new queen bed, its awesome, I think it is. It is full, not of me, all snuggled up in a comforter, with a feather pillow. No, my pillows are fully owned, Koty, sleeps there. If I stretch out my legs, I will kick Hiro, he has taken up residence in my bed too. Its much harder to sleep in the fetal position left to me, because my blind kitten now wants to sleep between my husband and I.

    Oh yes, you are laughing aren't you?  You shouldn't you know, because it only takes a couple of times, and they are so cute as puppies. You know they are with those big floppy, tiny pointy, slightly crooked... ears. And those eyes, you know the term puppydog eyes, well where do you think it came from? It happens suddenly, they are at the edge of the bed, and you think, just this once. And there you have done it, they have control of the soft edges, the fluffy pillows, and your comforter now belongs to? Well it certainly isn't you, anymore.
   Its love you know, unconditional, forcing you to buy a bigger bed, so everyone can sleep comfortably. I'm thinking of remodeling once the teenagers are gone. Do you think, puppy bunks are too much?

meet my babies.

My grandson kisses my dog, he sticks his tongue out and licks her face. She in turn does him the same favor. He is 2, she is 5. His name is Aiden, hers is Dakota, we call her Coty,

My son wanted a dog, and I own my own home, so I was able to allow him to get a little red nose, his name is Hiro. Hiro likes to talk, he will chat at you until you are deaf, If I was Dr Doolittle, I am sure I could understand him, right now, I think he is just telling you. Pet me, See me, Love me.

They snore you know, and if you start by letting them sleep on your bed, they will always want to sleep on your bed. Don't let them start this habit, they are like children, only they don't stay teenagers as long.
I have two other dogs, but they are too busy running the house for me to talk about them tonight. But soon. Welcome, this is our journey, and by the way, we don't believe in Bad Breeds, just bad breeders....Come one. Share the leash and lets go....................