Any dog in Cincinnati: Postscript

Revised: June 26, 2014; 21:47 GMT
Revised: June 27, 2014; 17:59 GMT

Following the recent pit bull attack on 6-year-old Zainabou Drame in suburban Cincinnati, Mike Retzlaff, Director of Operations at the Cincinnati SPCA, expressed his belief that any breed of dog is likely to run down the street, enter a neighbor's yard, and maul a child the way Zainabou was mauled.¹

The attack on Zainabou is only one of an escalating string of attacks since Cincinnati's BSL was rescinded in 2012.²   Katy Blanton of the Cincinnati Pit Crew is the go-to person for the Cincinnati media following pit bull attacks, and she has been kept busy in recent weeks. Seeking comment from a pit bull advocate after a pit bull attack may be questionable journalism, but it has become established practice.

In the wake of the attack on Zainabou, while she remained in an induced coma, Ms Blanton organized a rally for pit bull advocates, which received extensive coverage. The following week Ms Blanton was called upon again, when Tammy Tucker, the victim of a previous Cincinnati pit bull mauling, was interviewed.

Ms Tucker was nearly killed in her home by her three pit bulls in May. We treated them like kids, like babies, [were] never mean to them. They weren't raised to fight other dogs, said Tucker's husband. During the attack, which the Tuckers are unable to explain, the dogs never stopped chewing on Ms Tucker. Officer Yvonne Gutapfel said, I had to get him off her, he was going to keep eating her.

How did pit bull advocate Katy Blanton of the Cincinnati Pit Crew respond to the attack on Tammy Tucker?

Accidents will happen and so you have to be able to recognize and look at -- well this happened and reflect back on how it happened, what the circumstances were and change that keep that from happening again.

And then, piling nonsense on top of nonsense, Ms Blanton reaffirmed Mr Retzlaff's dreadful assertion that any of our lovely dog breeds are prone to the same quirks of behavior that would lead them to attack their owners in this way:

She [Blanton] argues it's not just a pit bull problem, but all breeds, especially in a home with multiple dogs.

It is reprehensible that pit bull advocates would try to convince owners of other breeds that their dogs may kill and eat them, in the manner of pit bulls. But advocates of fighting breeds, including Mr Retzlaff,  Ms Blanton, and Ms VanKavage, persist in this corruption of reality.


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Notes:
¹ Details of that attack and the comments made by Mr Retzlaff can be found in Any dog in Cincinnati.
² See What has changed since Cincinnati lifted its ban on pit bulls? (see below)


Sources:
Pit bull owners rally in support of breed
   June 17, 2014; WLWT
Woman, 73, in rehabilitation after pit bull attack
   Dec 13, 2013; Fox 19


Sources: Attack on Tammy Tucker

Former pit bull owner recovering after attack
   June 23, 2014; Fox 19

Text of the original story of the attack on Ms Tucker on WKRC TV Cincinnati has been archived; portions appear on this ghoulish web page (reader advisory).

The WKRC video broadcast (with comments by Cincinnati SPCA President Harold Dates)  is now available here (viewer advisory).


What Has Changed Since Cincinnati Lifted It's Pit Bull Ban?
By Denise A Justin
Read the full article: Opposing Views; Tue, June 10, 2014

City Council members are reportedly now discussing what has happened since the city’s ban on Pit Bulls was lifted in May 2012, at the urging of advocates against breed-specific legislation (BSL).

“The city of Cincinnati still has a ban on vicious dogs. Now, a vicious dog is defined as one that has been trained for fighting, is kept for fighting or “without provocation has inflicted severe injury on a person.” In May 2012, it dropped the clause which also included “a dog commonly defined as a pit bull,” Cincinati.com explains.

Local 12 reports that members of the Law and Public Safety Committee are now looking for ways to make the vicious dog laws easier to enforce and to enhance or add provisions regarding owner responsibility. They will also be looking at options at the state level.

“Local 12 also learned about two more pit bull attacks over the weekend,” reports Rick Jaffe. Police reportedly shot and killed a Pit Bull being used to attack people, and on Sunday police shot and killed a pit bull that was running toward children playing and then turned on officers after he was first tazed.”

"That's four dead pit bulls in this city in less than a week,” Jaffe states.

Other links:
Katy Blanton
Katy Blanton
Cincinnati Pit Crew
Cincinnati Pit Crew

Statistics:

2014 Dog Bite Related Fatalities on Daxton's Friends
Index of canine fatalities on Daxton's Friends

32 years of logging fatal & disfiguring dog attacks
   Animals 24-7; September 27, 2014

Statistics quoted on SRUV are from the nation's authoritative source for current dog attack statistics, the 30+ year, continuously updated Dog attack deaths and maimings, U.S. & Canada.
View or download the current PDF

This page may also include information from Dogsbite and Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

Google News: Today's pit bull attacks

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