Mayor Campbell,

It’s truly shameful that it takes a tragedy for the media to report stories of vicious dog attacks and the trauma that victims endure.

Who is responsible for the savage attack on this young girl? The City of Vancouver is. They should have acted long ago, as other local municipalities have, to enact bylaws that would make it an offence for anyone to socially isolate, lock up and mistreat a dog because the fact is that socially isolated, locked up and mistreated dogs will bite and will attack people.

Some Canadian provinces and many more States are seriously considering, if they haven’t already done so, legislation that would put the onus on our elected officials and pet owners to ensure the responsible socialization and care for dogs according to humane standards.

Animal Advocates is currently working on research that focuses on the connection between the anti-socialization treatment of dogs and dog bites. AAS has found that the Human Society of the US is more advanced in this matter than we are. They recognize that it’s possible to have an overlap between protecting society and treating animals humanely without compromising either position.

Animal control officers in the US acknowledge that it is our failure as people to treat dogs humanely that ultimately causes dogs to attack. Dogs aren’t born vicious. Irresponsible dogs owners make them vicious. Dogs that are neglected, beaten with ropes or chains, and burned with lit cigarettes will eventually bite. Dogs that are tied up, locked up in garages, forced to live their entire lives boarded up outdoors under the porch will eventually bite. Dogs that are unsocialized, desocialized, and trained to be guard dogs will eventually bite.

The BC SPCA points out in a recent newsletter how irresponsible and reprehensible it is to socially isolate a dog and to neglect its most basic needs for companionship. The article says that neglecting a dog’s social needs is as harmful as neglecting its physical and medical needs.

The irony of their message is that when a person calls the SPCA to report a case about a potentially vicious dog, there is most often no follow-up or investigation. There also isn’t any tracking system to log the action taken about these calls that would show the inhumane conditions these dogs have to endure. I would encourage the media to speak to the concerned people who phone either the SPCA or the Pound countless times about a neglected, abused dog only to be told that nothing can be done. Time and time again neither the City Pound nor the SPCA live up to their mandate.

The Pound has a duty to protect citizens from dog attacks, and the SPCA has a responsibility to hold irresponsible pet owners accountable for the way the inhumane way they treat their dogs.
Neither the pound nor the SPCA is doing their job. And much of the public still thinks that their tax dollars and personal donations are making a world of difference.

AAS has already warned the City of Vancouver about dogs that have become aggressive as a result of chaining and social isolation and the potential for Vancouver citizens to be viciously attacked by these dogs. AAS isn't the only group that is saying that it's pet owners that are ultimately responsible for the actions of their dogs. Both the SPCA and the City Pound as well as countless dog behaviour experts have acknowledged this. In fact, in my research for AAS into the connection between anti-socialization treatment of dogs and dog bites, I haven't read one article or quote that has stated the opposite opinion. An unsocialized, isolated, and restrained dog will attack if it accidentally gets loose. There isn't any evidence to contradict this because this is an irrefutable fact.

On behalf of the citizens of Vancouver and their right to feel safe in their own neighbourhoods, please act now to enact bylaws that will hold irresponsible pet owners accountable for their dogs' actions. This is the most proactive way to protect people from being attacked by an aggressive dog. And it's also the most humane way to prevent dogs from being destroyed is cases where any chance of rehabilitation has been ruined by irresponsible pet owners.

Jeri-Lyn Ratzlaff
AAS Research Team Coordinator

VIP Program Coordinator
CMHA Vancouver-Burnaby Branch
175 West Broadway Vancouver, BC V5Y 1P4