'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. 

The Dog License Dilemma.

Do you license your dog?  I know this sounds like a silly question since we're all SUPPOSED to license our dogs but my thought is that maybe not all of us do.  Apparently the cut off in Michigan to get the cheap rate ($12) for a dog license is February 28th.  Obviously we missed it.  I could have sworn it was in March but, no.  Instead the price doubled ($24) because I waited to get my license at our annual vet check up on March 16th.  I have two thoughts on this:

1. Yes, I think we all SHOULD get the license.  It helps our local government keep track of the needs and trends of its citizens which SHOULD lead to more dog-friendly cities that include parks, trails, clean-up bags, animal control, and other dog accommodations.  It also insures that licensed dogs are up-to-date on vaccinations... which is good. 
2. Doesn't this seem like old technology?  Why don't these things automatically renew or at least send a notice each year? 

We got a new ID tag just for good measure, too.

I feel like I got a little ripped off.  I'm a good dog owner.  Winnie is clean, vaccinated, well fed, well exercised, well trained, well socialized, AND neutered so she won't be adding any unwanted critters to the mix.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm good for the $24 bucks but why do I feel like the good-guys just got taken?  There are a TON of un-licensed dogs out there that are NOT so well taken care of and no one has the time or energy to police this anyway.  My point?  It would have been really easy to say at the vet "Oh, the price just went up?  Uhh... I don't have my checkbook today so I'll just take care of it later."  and skip out on my civic dog duty.  (Yup, I said dog duty and I'm sticking to it)  I wish someone in a municipal office out there would have said "Hey, let's give these otherwise proactive people a break and remind them they need to register their pooch... you know, the pooch that doesn't make any trouble for us anyway."  Instead they punish the people that are at the vet - doing the right thing - with a higher price. 

That's my rant.  Here's your $24 bucks Michigan.  Please put it to good use.