Click Here for OTHER Dog Press (Click Here for Referendum/SB 861 related news or scroll)

Are news agencies fair and objective when they report dog-related stories?
 

• Dog Kills 91 year-old Woman in Detroit. Is it a Pit Bull or a Bullmastiff?
  Two news agencies reported this attack to be a Pit Bull. A later story with a graphic stated the dog was a bullmastiff.
  
  Yahoo! labels the dog as a Pit bull:
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/wdiv/20051205/lo_wdiv/3103922
  "A 92-year-old woman was mauled and killed by her pit bull...."
  
  http://www.detnow.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_4291334,00.html
  "The Detroit woman was preparing dinner at her home on Tyler, on the city’s west side, when she was attacked by the dog which her family identified as a pit bull."
  
  This story declares the dog a bullmastiff:
  http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005512060397
  "When her grandson died a year ago, Stiles, 91, adopted his dog Butch, a bullmastiff...."
   

• Scarborough Report
   On Wed., November 16, 2005, Joe Scarborough interviewed Dawn Capp and B. Fitzgerald regarding Pit Bulls and breed specific legislation. On Monday,  November 21, the segment aired (though MSNBC representative Greg Cockrell could offer no explanation for the delay). When finally aired, the Scarborough folks cut out the following:
  
  (a) Dawn Capp rebutting a false statement by Fitzgerald that Pit Bulls bite with 1200 lbs per Square Inch of pressure. Dawn Capp presented information about a National Geographic study that showed Domestic dogs, including Pit Bulls, bite with jaw pressure around 320 lbs per square inch. 
  
  (b) Information about the effectiveness of breed bans, such as the one in Denver, citing statistics showing that, after implementing a ban on Pit Bulls, the average number of dogs bites per year in Denver is over 600, with less than 1% caused by Pit Bulls. Denver has had 5 fatal dog attacks, including 30 serious injuries caused by dogs, since implementing its Pit Bull ban, and 99% of those aggressive dogs are NOT Pit Bulls, despite the fact that the number of Pit Bulls Denver confiscates each year increases.
  
  (c) Information regarding fatal attacks by non Pit Bull breeds, such as Colorado's Kate-Lynn Logel, a seven year-old girl killed by her family's Alaskan Malamute.
  
  Not only did over half of the information presented by Dawn Capp get cut OUT of the segment, almost NONE of the information presented by Fitzgerald was cut. Furthermore, during much of the segment, scenes of Pit Bulls fighting or being dragged off played on the screen with captions about "controlling dangerous dogs." At one point, what looked like JACK RUSSELL TERRIERS flashed across the screen. Can the Scarborough producers NOT even tell the difference between Jack Russell Terriers and Pit Bulls?
  
  What happened during the unusual five days delay? Creative editing?
   

• Take a look at how one station reports two different incidents of police officers shooting dogs:
  KOTV (Oklahoma):  Pit Bull Involved vs. Golden Retriever Involved
   

• Why does a Pit Bull attack make national headlines, but fatal attacks by other breeds do NOT?
  Nicholas Faibish (fatally mauled by alleged Pit Bull)
  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/06/national/main699773.shtml
  made national headlines, so the reporting agencies are too numerous to list completely)
  (incidentally, CBS erroneously refers to Diane Whipple as being killed by Pit Bulls. She was actually  tragically killed by two Presa Canarios, a breed unrelated to Pit Bulls. Now, it's a Pit Bull if it attacks...even if it ISN'T actually a Pit Bull)
  
  Kate-Lynn Logel (fatally mauled by alleged Alaskan Malamute)
  (didn't come up on a search of cbsnews)
  Published in Denver, locally:
  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3763038,00.html
  (Note, Denver CO bans Pit Bulls, but no talk of banning Alaskan Malamutes after this fatal mauling)
  
  Samantha (fatally mauled by alleged Siberian Huskies): local coverage
  http://www1.wxyz.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_3758313,00.html
  (Note: again, CBS doesn't pull this one up on a search. I guess a little boy's life is more valuable than a little girl's? Or is it just not newsworthy because it doesn't involve a Pit Bull?)

SB 861 and the Referendum effort:

1. Napa Valley Register
   Things are rough for dog owner (by Dawn Capp), December 2005
    

2. Associated Press
   http://www.miami.com/mld/ohio/news/photos/13178264.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
   San Francisco Passes Sweeping Dog Laws
    

3. Associated Press
   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/12/state/n104707S69.DTL
   http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/13152217.htm
   Dog owners seek to overturn laws aimed at troublesome breeds, Nov. 12, 2005
    

4. Sacramento News & Review
   http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/current/upfront.asp
   Dog Law Breeds Fear, November 10, 2005
    

5. The Fresno Bee
   http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/11449933p-12191729c.html
   Pet law already faces battle
   Breed-specific option looms, as foes seek reversal., Nov. 7, 2005
   By Jennifer M. Fitzenberger / Bee Capitol Bureau
    

6. San Francisco Chronicle:
   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/03/BAGNLFI4V61.DTL&type=printable
   Foes of new dog law start signature drive
   Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
   Thursday, November 3, 2005
    

7. The California Aggie
   http://www.californiaaggie.com/article/?id=11390
   Dog legislation faces late opposition
   by Mark Miles
    

8. Sign on San Diego (Union-Tribune)
   http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050901/news_1n1devildogs.html
   Forced spaying, neutering gains senate passage
   by Michael Gardner