"Media Lies"

"Media Lies"

[font=times new roman, times, serif]The following article from the Benton Evening News is a perfect example of media hysteria and the lies they tell which disparage our dogs and us as owners while paving the way for breed-specific legislation (BSL). Media lies aren't limited to any one paper but I chose the following article because it was a glaring example of irresponsible reporting. The Animal Control (AC) officer interviewed, Jarrett Broy, is making wildly unsupportable claims and yet the paper reports them as fact, offering no counterpoint. Is the media simply a mouthpiece for municipal and state governments that simply want to confiscate our dogs? You decide.[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]From a Benton Evening News [/font][font=times new roman, times, serif]article[/font][font=times new roman, times, serif] in Benton, IL, and their interview with Animal Control supervisor Jarrett Broy: [/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]" 'In order to have a dog deemed vicious, the administrator, deputy administrator, animal control warden, or law enforcement officer must give notice of the infraction that is the basis of the investigation, conduct a thorough investigation, interview any witnesses, including the owner, gather any existing medical records, veterinary medical records or behavioral evidence, make a detailed report and give a copy of the report to the State's Attorney's Office'."[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]Oh boo hoo. The lazy AC supervisor has to do (gulp!) actual work! Oh the humanity! Yeah, wouldn't it just be so much easier if there was a presumption of guilt instead of having to prove it all the time? That way we could lock up dogs AND their owners and everyone would be safe. Oh wait, no they wouldn't because breed-specific legislation has been proven NOT to make the public any safer! We know they know that BSL doesn't work. So why do they keep pushing for it? And the paper presents Broy's insinuation that the rule of law is a burden to Animal Control as if it were a tangible stance to take instead of refuting Broy and saying that we have the presumption of innocence in this country in stark contrast to the British tyranny from whence we came.[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]Broy goes on to say,[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]"...a dog could not be considered dangerous without clear and convincing evidence."[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]Has someone hijacked democracy in this country??? Are AC officers going to be the next storm troopers??? A dog shouldn't be considered dangerous without clear and convincing evidence, otherwise actions taken against them and their owners would be illegal! That's because of a thing called owners' property rights and the presumption of innocence until owners are proven guilty. Broy continues,[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]“ 'Something needs to be done on the state level' ... 'Animal control agencies have compiled a list of 10 breeds of dogs that should be regulated. We believe, as animal control officers, we should have the authority to regulate these certain breeds. We also realize it is not the dog, it is the owner that is responsible for the dog's behavior. But, it is a proven fact that pit bulls, in particular, turn mean as they get older'."[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]So Broy admits there is an Animal Control agenda in AC agencies nationwide to stricture or outright ban at least 10 breeds of dog (and I'm guessing that is just a start). Are you starting to get the picture? And these Animal Control agencies in tandem with the municipal and state legislatures are using the media to push their propagandist lies that certain breeds are more dangerous than others, and there is absolutely no scientific evidence to substantiate their claims as evidenced by the fact that Broy claims "pitbulls" turn mean as they get older. Oh really? Let's see the scientific study that proves it. [/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]And do you see the mentality of Broy and possibly other AC officers? He doesn't understand the law and yet is tasked with upholding it. If the owner is responsible for their dogs as Broy admits, then why does the animal have to pay with its life or by having unreasonable strictures placed upon it? [/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]The fact that Animal Control agencies have compiled a list of 10 breeds just proves what we already know: our state and municipal governments have an agenda to control ownership of dogs or completely eradicate ownership altogether. And for some reason BSL proponents all seem to get their plays from the same playbook. How many times have we seen politicians recite myths about "pitbulls" over and over ad nauseam? For instance I've heard quite frequently that "pitbulls" have locking jaws, exert 2,000 pounds per square inch of pressure when they bite, have greater musculature and therefore greater strength than other dogs, and have "gameness" which, according to politicians, makes "pitbulls" tenacious in an attack and therefore "inherently" deadly. These lies used to be told by braggarts to derive self-esteem via their dogs. But now politicians have picked up on these urban myths and are spouting them as though they were real to an unsuspecting public. These politicians are using the media as a means of conveyance for their lies, and there are very few responsible journalists left to refute them.[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]Here are the facts: Bully breeds do not have locking jaws. Scientific evidence refuting this erroneous claim has been put forth in several court cases (the most recent being the Ohio Appeals Court decision) by canine physiology experts. Nor do bully breeds exert 2,000 pounds per square inch of pressure when they bite. This false claim has also been refuted in trial by expert [/font][font=times new roman, times, serif]testimony[/font][font=times new roman, times, serif]. To put such a claim in perspective, the Great White Shark exerts 1,000 pounds of pressure per square inch when it bites, and its jaws are several times larger than those of a canine. And yes, while bullies are a muscular breed they are no stronger for their size than any other well-muscled dog. Expert [/font][font=times new roman, times, serif]testimony[/font][font=times new roman, times, serif] has shown that "A pit bull's musculature is no different than other strong, well muscled dogs, such as Saint Bernards, bull mastiffs, Rottweilers, and malamutes."[/font]







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Re: "Media Lies"

[font=times new roman, times, serif]And though some bullies exhibit gameness, which [/font][font=times new roman, times, serif]experts[/font][font=times new roman, times, serif] define as "the ability or willingness to continue doing an action once begun," gameness "is not a negative trait. For example, the ability to carry out duties or trained tasks, despite injury, distraction, or frustration, is desirable in pit bulls which have been trained to be search and rescue dogs, protection dogs in the U.S. military, drug sniffing dogs, and therapy dogs." As Janis Bradley has said in her book Dogs Bite: But Balloons and Slippers Are More Dangerous, it would be more accurate to say that bans or strictures on bullies could see more people hurt or killed due to their absence as search and rescue dogs, just as an example, than bullies' potentiality to harm someone. It should also be noted that not all bullies have gameness, and not all bullies who do have gameness can have their gameness misdirected to dog fighting as politicians' maintain. Nor does gameness overarchingly translate into inherently human-aggressive bullies as is often implied or reported. [/font]
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[font=times new roman, times, serif]Despite expert testimony that "pitbulls" are not inherently vicious, if the media blacks out the truth then the public only hears anecdotes or urban myth claims about "pitbulls" such as the following quote by Broy:[/font]
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[font=times new roman, times, serif]"I worry about what the summer months will bring. I see kids standing out waiting for the school bus with pit bulls standing on the other side of the fence and lunging at the fence to get to these kids. It is scary and that is something the people who make these laws don't see."[/font]
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[font=times new roman, times, serif]It is more likely that these "pitbulls" were jumping up on the fence, wagging their tails wildly and begging for some attention. Have we forgotten how much American Pit Bull Terriers love children?? They were once referred to as the "nanny dog" for their inherent love and dutiful vigilance of children. It is clear Broy knows little if anything about bully breeds and yet is posited as some sort of expert on the issue in the Benton Evening News article.[/font]

[font=times new roman, times, serif]It's time to wake up America. These fascists won't just stop with bullies. You can see as more and more of this BSL is passing that they are getting bolder and bolder in their demands, and more and more dishonest about the breeds they seek to ban using the media as a propagandist tool to do it. For instance, as MO's HB1686 shows, the state now wants to codify manditory psychological evaluations to supposedly understand the mentality of one who owns a supposed "vicious" dog. Can these legislators, Animal Control agencies, and other "officials" really claim to be patriots when they are working so hard to negate our rights? [/font]

 

Re: "Media Lies"

exactly what young 14Rock and I have been preaching Media BS sells papers. Not truth. Dramatize it stretch it and fabracate it. Good post.

 

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I have a big pet peeve with anybody calling a dog "mean." My dictionary is still packed in a box somewhere, so I can't look up the true meaning of the word. But for a dog to be "mean," it seems like they would have to have the desire to be hurtful, which is usually reserved for our species.

 

Re: "Media Lies"

Part of organizing against BSL needs to be coming up with some PR experts to counter the disinformation being spread by our enemies. The thing about "old" Pitbulls getting "mean" really got my goat. Stockey has gotten more fond of comfort and affection as he's gotten older.

 

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I vote for Suki as our PR lady. She is sweet, rides a motorcycle, and has the looks to captivate any person.

 

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TX, as always, Attila :o ....

...ummmm, used to ride, tx to that a-hole, blowing that stop sign....:mad:
but I'll do what ever I can, you guys know that....lemme know....

 

Re: "Media Lies"

I wanted to look at this story but when I hit the link I was given the option of paying 5, 10 or 20 dollars to be able to see it. I passed on the sales pitch but I am glad that some people have seen it.

It is incumbent upon us to take these guys to task for their lies and misinformation about the breed. This is not the american/canadian way to give unbiased reporting and coverage to any story. There are too many people in the media establishment that think that they not only are responsible for putting out the news but also responsible for telling us how we should think if we wish to remain good citizens in society?

I am sure (as there is in Canada) that there must be some sort of agency or press council that requires that the writers of news must show their work to be able to pass muster in the scheme of things. This story, apparently, doesn't meet any standards other than being fraught with lies and unsubstantiated, unscientific innuendo about the breed.

These are the types of people that should be made to pay for their laziness. Once a media outlet has been shown to be biased they will begin to lose readership because no one wants to read lies or fantastic news. Using the word "fascist" is telling it like it is.

Once again, my hat's off to Suki's unfailing ability to expose the existence of these low-lifes. Now that we've got the bead on them... let's put this beast out of its misery.

 

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Decided that I couldn't let this pass so-o-o-o... I sent them this little missive.

I was given this address to view a story that was done on pit bulls.

When I got to your site I was given the option of paying 5, 10 or 20 dollars in order to get into your archive. I passed on this opportunity because I really only wanted to see if what I had been told about this story was true. I was told that it was a pack of biased unsubstantiated lies and prevarications about the breed.

Is there anyone that works at your newspaper that is responsible for seeing that the news that is printed is factual. If, as I have been told by others, what has been written is full of unscientific, unsubstantiated drivel from some lazy journalist then your staff and paper should be run out of the press corps.
It is galling to read lies in any story but to have the lies being pressed into the readership's psyche as being the truth , the whole truth and nothing but the truth is reprehensible.

To have allowed one lie in a story is sometimes forgivable when they are questioned and re-run pointing out the truth in the matter. Making up for having been led astray by some disingenuous interviewee is the hallmark of Western journalism. To write falsehood after falsehood and stating them, as if they were God-given truth, to be the ultimate veracity of investigative journalism amounts to malfeasance.

Pit bulls do not have locking jaws nor is their bite any more powerful than any other canine of its size. I, if I could have read the item, could probably have gone point by point in elucidating on the fantasy that your writer was creating but I am not going to waste my money by paying a substandard newspaper and school of yellow journalism to continue propagating its baseless facts.

Your paper reeks of small town gossip being touted as being factually newsworthy. I would hope that your imitation for a newspaper will be taken before some sort of American Press Council where they will castigate your editorial staff for its dereliction of duty as pertaining to assuring the readership of your... ?... that they are being met with the highest standards of journalism.

Yours Sincerely,

 

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Kennslof, you write a very forceful letter, I hope you shamed them into better conduct in the future.

 

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I second the nomination!!! That was a great post!! I do love to get upon my soapbox about BSL, but I would proudly have you as our mouthpiece!!
J

 

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That is two all in favor say eiy

 

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aye i think it's a hell of an idea.