'Dangerous dogs' Ordinance

How often do you guys keep up with what your city or county says about dog ownership?  If you're like me it's not exactly a pressing issue.  There's a lot of other things on the'ol "to-do" list before poking around dog related city ordinances.  There is one in my community, however, that has been getting a lot of attention lately.  The 'Dangerous Dogs' Ordinance. 

Here's a link to the full article if you want to give it a read... it'll only take 5 minutes, promise. 
http://mobile.mlive.com/advsag/pm_29311/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=lNWh1kZt

Okay,  weather you read the whole thing or not there's my synopsis... see if I missed anything.  First, the ordinance is specific to "dangerous dogs" including: pit bulls, presa canario, bull mastiffs, rotweilers and german shepherds.  Now the owners of these breeds must:

1. register their dogs and pay an additional $20 fee to regular dog licensing
2. post a sign in the front of their homes that say "dog on premises"
3. keep their animals on leash or in a 4-foot pen. 

I can't help but feel this was a really poor use of our city councilman's time and energy.  Of all the news reported, none of them identified specific issues that the city has (or hasn't) been having with these dogs so I'm left to assume that usual suspects apply but in my mind it boils down to this... poor dog ownership leads to poorly trained and frustrated dogs that THEN become dangerous. 

You guys are are informed dog owners... am I wrong about this??? WE are the people that try to provide healthy and fulfilling lives for our pooch-partners and even sometimes WE don't get our fur-balls licensed on time (if at all) is an additional $20 free really going to help this problem?  Yes, a sign warns neighbors and visitors, fine, they can have that one... no issue there.  But what about that 4-foot pen?  That's the size of a baby's play-pen.  How much more frustrated and dangerous is a 80lb dog going to be in a pen they can hardly turn around in???  

I don't like this one bit... I think a dog-education class for these dog owners would be a much better way to go.  A class that talks about healthy diets, lots of exercise, proper training... and someone to teach the class that can convince some of these people that only PROFESSIONAL dog trainers should ever be responsible for "attack dogs."  Now, instead of establishing a program that promotes responsible dog ownership all that has happened is that when a dog does cause an issue... it's that much more likely to be put-down.  Sad. 

Hum... maybe that's an idea?  Can we lobby an amendment for education classes?  I wonder... anyway... that's my rant.  Where do you guys weigh in?  Oh and here... a photo of my not-so-dangerous corgi.  :-)  This girl makes me smile. 

I don't know what you're talking about... I just DESTROYED that rawhide.  Pish, I'm dangerous. 

Dogs and Moving the Furniture

In an effort to get ready for Baby we're moving some office furniture to the basement and turning the office into the nursery.  This sounds easy enough.  Although while my husband and I pack boxes and/or haul heavy things up and down stairs in a somewhat cheerful way... Winnie seems to be very worried about the changes.  I wish I had had my Flip handy because the poor creature just sat in the doorway of the office and whimpered.  She is seriously concerned about these changes.  Which leads me to ponder the following thought...

Don't mind me.  I'm just going to sit in my corner and pout.

When Baby actually gets here how will Winnie adjust to a new routine?  Maybe we should start making more of the changes now that way it's not such a big deal.  Hum... up every 2 hours for a bottle... maybe not THAT part of the routine.  :-)