I know, your first questions is “What is a Hovawart?”. Can I answer that by saying that Kenzo and Viva live in Denmark. I know that’s not an answer, especially since the breed appears to be almost as rare in Europe as it is here in the US.
Hovawarts look kind of like Golden Retrievers to me, so it amazes me that they are one of the breeds often discriminated against, as a “dangerous”, but they are.
I hate breed specific legislation and my favorite thing about this blog is the dedication to making it visible, and fighting against it.
Tags: breed specific legislation, bsl, dangerous dogs, hovawart, kenzo the hovawart and viva
Welcome to our world. We are in Denver, CO and this city led the way with a ban on Pit Bulls. It was the first of its kind in 1989, was a knee jerk reaction to two isolated incendents. Since then, the city has been under constant attack of litigation (including the Dept of Justice and Americans with Disabilities Act), the city has been called on the carpet for seizing and destroying the wrong breed (multiple times), the ban costs over 3/4 million dollars annually to enforce (with no documented proof as to its effectiveness) while other funding to vital city functions is cut, and the ban NOW is based entirely on politcal agenda and ego.
HELP US… Sign the petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/occupit-denver-th…
This is the promo video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YRpDwoBfmM
I'm well aware of the CO issues. We lost his this spring, but we had a Lab/Pit mix (my Smokey angel) who was the perfect dog. Luckily, while the dangerous dog laws in my area do automatically make Pits "dangerous" no one seems to enforce them. But I know a lot of people who against the BSL.
One of the things I like most about the Kenzo blog is that it reminds me the US is not the only place dog lovers are struggling with this. We can learn from what they are doing over there- both things that work and don't work. The more information we all have in fighting BSL, the better.
I whole heartedly agree. We CAN learn alot from other cities. Tactics, arguments and strategies can be shared. This issue is not information or the lack of… its the complacency of people and their opposition to get out of their easy chair and get involved. Granted, their are groups, organizations individuals in places like Miami-Dade, the state of Ohio, Eastern Texas, and our neighbors to the north in Ontario, Canada that are fighting a good fight. In a perfect world, we would assemble the leaders from those places and create a sort of Anti BSL traveling show… crushing BSL everywhere it exists and replacing it with thorough and effective dangerous dog laws that target irresponsible owners, abusers, dog fighters, etc.
But, we dont live in that perfect world. We are left with the reality of laziness, "other" agendas, policitics, and drama. At least here in Denver, these have proven to accomplish nothing.
Now, a small and devoted group of us have grabbed the reigns and are taking this charge very seriously. The unfortunate thing is… most dont want to commit or take it seriously, so… we are joined by little to no support.
I assume others in BSL cities and states are running into the same issues.
The biggest frustration is… when people organize and commit to a cause, the human spirit can accomplish unbelieveable things.
So I guess we are left with our plea… some human spirit here in Denver and anywhere BSL is enforced.