Lakewood and their view on dogs...

Meet Stuey. He's my dog. He's an American Bulldog. He's a great pet.

I live in Lakewood, Ohio.

It's a nice suburban area of Cleveland, Ohio on the beautiful shores of Lake Erie.

It's a rather tranquil place. Enough bustle going on to keep us busy. We've got the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Cavaliers. We have a world renowned philharmonic, an award winning Museum of Art, several smaller museums and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There are numerous other attractions around the area such as Boston Mills for skiing and Blossom Music Center. We have a park system that runs for 60+ miles, so you can bike or hike to your hearts content. We have four seasons so we can enjoy all nature has to offer. We even have a pretty good cost of living compared to other cities, so you get all this for less money.

But with all these benefits, we have a city that doesn't really like dogs. And now we have National Media coverage of an event that happened last week. We now have Otis, the Boxer. And the policeman and animal control warden who felt it necessary to taser the poor animal...twice.

I saw the blurp on the news, but was doing other things and didn't pay much attention to it. Then it was on the news again. And again. And again. And now it's world news.

Lakewood has (amid numerous objections from many of its residents) a 'Dangerous Dog Ordinance'.

If you own a Pitt Bull or a Canary Dog, Lakewood considers them to be 'dangerous dogs'. There is a grandfather clause in place for dogs of those breeds, but they must be registered as such for a $50 fee. No one within city limits can now own one, or any mix of one. Any 'dangerous' dog must be on a leash at all times and be muzzled if walking or out of it's home. If not, the city will round them up and destroy them.

So in a nutshell, this is what happened last week with the Boxer, Otis.

Otis's owner fell asleep.

Otis got out of a mislatched screen door.

Otis took himself for a walk.

A neighbor called the police.

The police called the animal warden.

The cop pulled a gun on the dog and then thought better of it. He was 'afraid the bullet may ricochet and hit something other than the dog.

The policeman tasered Otis.

The animal warden had the loop around Otis's neck.

And then Officer Terry Lowther proceeded to taser the dog...again.

As Otis was on the ground, whimpering, still and looped by animal control, the officer continued to taser the dog. Even as animal control dragged unconsciuos Otis over to his vehicle and tossed the dog in like a bag of trash. Only then did the officer stop using the taser gun. The policeman said the dog was 'aggressive'. The animal control warden had no comment. The video shows otherwise. Before Otis was tasered, he appeared nervous. Dog trainers have looked at the raw video and said that the dogs mannerisms do not show an aggressive dog, at all.

The video from the taser gun is disgusting. (You can watch it here if you'd like, warning: it's disturbing.)

The video shown initially on TV was just a portion of the raw footage. And it didn't have the sound. This is the video from the taser gun. You can hear the warden and officer calling , "here puppy, puppy" and yelling at the dog to "go home." No wonder the dog was confused. They can also be heard agreeing that neither knows what breed of dog Otis is. And then you hear the dogs cries of pain.

It's shameful.

And I live here.

WITH a dog that could be taken for a 'dangerous dog' since all the police and animal wardens seem to think ALL dogs have Pitt in them. Imbeciles.

In Lakewood, Ohio we have beautiful parks. But no one is allowed to walk their dogs in them. We have beautiful beaches, but dogs are not allowed to go to the water because they are not allowed on the beach in the parks.

It has become a non-pet friendly city. They stopped allowing dogs in the parks in 1973. The residents have started to petition to have that removed. The city says that it will cost too much money to post signs and waste stations, so they want it to remain in place.

But having this 'Dangerous Dog' ordinance just instills fear into people. They are beginning to automatically think that if it looks like a Pitt Bull, it is a Pitt Bull and it is vicious. Otis isn't even a Pitt Bull, he's a Boxer. The city wanted to destroy him. But they settled with the owner that Otis is just banned from living in the city. I own an American Bulldog, and now just because he has a big head, people automatically think he's a Pitt or has Pitt in him. That would qualify him by Lakewood standards to then be a dangerous dog and vicious animal.

Stuey is not vicious. Or mean.

It's not the breed of dog that's dangerous. It's the owners that raise dangerous dogs! I've met a few Chihuahua's that'll take your arm off. So if they ban Pitts, what's to say that they won't ban Bulldogs, or Labradors, or German Shepard's? Once they start doing this, it's a slippery slope. Who has the power to control it, and why wasn't the animal control employee able to identify correctly the breed before going to such extreme?

Granted the owner of Otis, Daniel Kier, has some explaining to do. Why didn't the dog have an identification tag. He wasn't a registered dog. But he wasn't a Pitt Bull either. So why then should he be banned from the city?

I recently watched from my car as some kids were hanging out on the sidewalk in front of a local park. They weren't doing anything. Just standing there. A police officer pulled his cruiser over because they had a dog with them. It's possible that the dog was a Pitt Bull, but looked like a boxer or bulldog to me. I watched as the officer made the kid show identification and talk with the officer for quite awhile. But he let them go.

Since this ordinance has been put into place, there have been many instances reported that the police are out looking for people with 'dangerous dogs' within city limits. There have been many others that have come forward and expressed concern because they felt harassed by police because of their dogs. Many have had their dogs DNA tested to prove that it isn't a pit bull terrier. Isn't that a case of guilty before proven innocent?

I have the Invisible Fencing system. I've had it for years and it works great. But since my dogs have the run of the backyard, who's to say that someone isn't going to come by while I'm gone and take my dog. He'd bark or growl like crazy if someone was aggressive with him, but he's really a little lover. Ask any of my friends.

The whole thing bothers me.

For instance, while out for a walk yesterday afternoon with my dogs several people stopped to ask their breeds. I'm used to it because both Sienna and Stuey are interesting, handsome dogs. And friendly. But the people today when they asked seemed wary of Stuey until I told them that indeed "he is not a Pitt Bull". Only then did the approach and were liberally drooled on.

So how long will it be before I have the police coming to my doorstep and asking for Stuey's identification papers. I have them all, he IS an American Bulldog, but it's the principal of the matter.

What do you think?

Should a city be able to ban certain breeds from city limits? Should an ordinance for Dangerous Dogs be in place?

And if you want a little drool, stop on over.

Stuey's got a lot to share.

:-)

What Can YOU Do?

If you are so inclined, below I have listed some contact information for some individuals in Lakewood, OH.

MayorEdward FitzGeraldMayor’s Office

12650 Detroit AvenueLakewood, Ohio 44107(216) 529-6600email – mayor@lakewoodoh.net
City CouncilLakewood City Hall

12650 Detroit AvenueLakewood, Ohio 44107(216) 529-6055email: council@lakewoodoh.net
The seven members of the city council include:

Kevin Butler – Ward 1(216) 221-7953email: butler@councilmanbutler.com
Thomas Bullock – Ward 2(216) 337-1318email: tom.bullock@lakewoodoh.net
Michael Summers – Ward 3(216) 228-6905email: mike.summers@lakewoodoh.net
Mary Louise Madigan – Ward 4(216) 228-9578email: mary.madigan@lakewoodoh.net
Nickie J. Antonio – At Large(216) 221-4421email: nickieantonio@aol.com
Michael Dever – President – At LargeHome (216) 221-6737email: michael_dever@sbcglobal.net
Brian E. Powers – At Large(216) 496-3238email: bpowers@lazorpoint.com
Police ChiefTimothy J. Malley(216) 521-6773email: police@lakewoodoh.net
Animal Control(216) 529-5020