Pit Bull Case Ruling Raises Question About Non-prosecution

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Postby Marinepits » February 7th, 2009, 11:53 am

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_ ... 916.column

Pit bull case ruling raises question about non-prosecution

Paul Carpenter
February 4, 2009

It's so hard to understand. We let our small children play with loaded pistols all the time and nothing ever went wrong . Then suddenly, to our shock and dismay, our 4-year-old blew a hole in himself! Who could have seen this coming? That gun was always such a great toy, with no problems if we and the kids handled it properly.

We simply cannot figure out how this could happen.

You never hear such a dialogue recounted in a news story because, I suppose, few people are stupid enough to let small children play with loaded guns. Even if they were, they would not try to argue that problems were unforeseeable.

Pistols are designed to blow holes in living things, just as pit bulls -- unlike most dogs -- are designed, through hundreds of generations of deliberate breeding, to aggressively rip apart living things. If you replace ''pistol'' with ''pit bull'' in the above dialogue, it's the sort of thing you frequently will hear when one of these curs mangles a child.

As we learned the other day, a pit bull mongrel was an element in the criminal case against a Carbon County woman. The story said the Pennsylvania Superior Court, one rung down from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, overturned the conviction of Wendy Colleen Kneller of Weissport, who had been prosecuted on animal cruelty charges.

Kneller and her sweetheart, Randy Miller, had a pit bull named Bouta that attacked Kneller's 4-year-old son, it was reported, and they conspired to have Miller whack Bouta with a shovel and then shoot him.

They were not prosecuted for child endangerment, but Carbon County District Attorney Gary Dobias did prosecute them for being unpleasant to Bouta.

The animal cruelty convictions were overturned by a three-judge ruling a year ago, and now the full Superior Court, in an 8-1 decision, has upheld that ruling. There is no state law, the Superiors determined, that prohibits people from dispatching their own animals. Such a law, no doubt, could cause problems for farmers.

''If the Legislature wishes to make it criminal to shoot one's own dog or cat, it must do so in a clear, unambiguous manner'' said the latest opinion, written by Judge Richard Klein. ''It did not do so in this case.''

Imagine that! The judges want there to be a law against something before a DA prosecutes you for it. They believe in the rule of law , which must have their wanton Supreme Court brethren reeling in horror.

There are laws against mistreating children, so I asked DA Dobias why he did not prosecute Kneller for that. (Previous stories said she had 16 dogs, mostly pit bull mongrels, in her home, and they were so scary a state trooper was afraid to enter when he went to investigate the tragic demise of Bouta.)

''There was a dispute over whether these dogs were dangerous,'' Dobias replied, saying he has not decided whether to appeal the Superior Court ruling.

A dispute ? Involving a house full of 16 pit bulls?

I must confess that I am detested by some animal rights zealots because I believe the rights of human beings transcend the rights of dogs, and not the other way around. When it comes to pit bulls and similar breeds, that goes double.

Years ago, for example, I bashed the prosecution of a Saylorsburg man who shot a pit bull that was attacking him, his family and his pet dog, on his own property.

Until that bogus case got the heave-ho, it was pursued by Monroe County's then-Assistant DA E. David Christine. (As proof of that county's voter acumen, Christine is now DA, replacing Mark Pazuhanich, who was elected judge, but whose career was interrupted by his no-contest plea for molesting a 10-year-old girl.)

My opinion of pit bulls and other vicious breeds does not extend to all dogs. In fact, one of my favorite breeds is the golden retriever, and my favorite golden was Sam, the gentle pet of my son Neal and his family.

Sam was only 8 years old when, last week, his life ended because of a painful tumor. He was put to sleep by a veterinarian, not killed with a shovel and a gun.

He will be missed. Bouta will not, at least not by me.

paul.carpenter@mcall.com 610-820-6176

Paul Carpenter's commentary appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.
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Postby LMM » February 7th, 2009, 2:41 pm

This entire articles leaves a bad taste in my mouth. What a prick.
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Postby SisMorphine » February 7th, 2009, 4:24 pm

What an idiot.
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Postby Mickle » February 7th, 2009, 5:13 pm

Ppl are so freakin stupid!
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Postby airwalk » February 7th, 2009, 9:56 pm

and of course we all know Goldens are never skitzy and never bite
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Postby SisMorphine » February 7th, 2009, 10:27 pm

airwalk wrote:and of course we all know Goldens are never skitzy and never bite

Yeah I posted a big long reply about that. LOL!!

Meanwhile I broke up a fight at work tonight between a Boxer and Golden . . . and there is no doubt the Golden started it. :rolleyes2:
"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France
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Postby SisMorphine » February 7th, 2009, 10:46 pm

Here is a copy of my reply . . . complete with typos (I SO wish I could edit the original . . . damn being pre-occupied with work!!).

Mr. Paul Carpenter: you sound like you know a lot about dogs. I mean heck, you've owned a Golden Retriever!! And as any good trainer, vet, or dog person will tell you, they are simple, loyal ... and essentially the skim milk of the dog world with the way that they are being bred today.

Have you ever known a real dog, Mr. Carpenter? A dog with prey drive, defense drive, fight drive? A dog who was bred to do a job, who was trained to do a job, and who did that job well? It is a gorgeous thing, Mr. Carpenter, to see a dog working in one of it's natural drives.

Now unfortunately for the "pit bull mongrel", as you so pleasantly call them, they were developed and bred for dog fighting. This awful sport, long since outlawed but unfortunately still practiced in the underground, is based around two dogs fighting until one dies, or simply just cannot go on. Bred and died for bloodsport. What a sad way to treat your dog, don't you agree Mr. Carpenter?

Most people now-a-days who own pit bulls (which, BTW, Mr. Carpenter, is not a breed but merely a general term used to describe any number of breeds with similar characteristics) do so because they are so loving. Because in addition to being bred to fight other dogs to the death, they were also bred to be loving companions, never to redirect on their owners, handlers, or anyone else in the ring during the fight. This intense love of their people is why so many families have brought this type of dog into their house.

Now does this mean that pit bulls don't bite? No, that would be a dumb thing to say. All dogs have the ability to bite, especially those which have been poorly bred in the backyards and puppy mills that supply much of America with their pets. And unfortunately for the American Pit Bull Terrier, since it is one of the more popular breeds in the US, there are numerous back yard breeders out there ruining the breed in both structure and mind. It is a sad thing, wouldn't you agree?

Now, Mr. Carpenter, I am a dog trainer. If I, and any trainer around here, goes through our records we can tell you that it is a rare case for us to see an American Pit Bull Terrier, or even a bully breed in general, in to see us because they have aggression towards humans. The truth is, the breed that we are most likely to see it ... wait for it ... the Golden Retriever. Now if I, and my colleagues, went by our numbers that would mean that Golden Retrievers are vicious baby killers!! Ban the Golden Retriever! What awful blood thirsty dogs! But in reality it is because there are so many back yard breeders around here that focus on the Golden, and much of the general public unfortunately doesn't know how to spot the good breeders from the bad.

So Mr. Carpenter, I ask you to take a step back and re-read your article: a sensationalized piece that attacks a type of dog, complete with total lies and misinformation. Are you a journalist, Mr. Carpenter? Did you go to middle school, high school, or perhaps even college? Have you ever had to write something where, oh I don't know, you actually had to do some research on a topic instead of just pulling stuff out of thin air?

I urge you, Mr. Carpenter, to remove your head from your anal cavity and do some research prior to your next incident of verbal diarrhea.

Take some Immodium and have a nice day!
"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » February 7th, 2009, 10:57 pm

Anal cavity. Priceless. lmao
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Postby LMM » February 7th, 2009, 11:37 pm

I freaking LOVE that response. LOVE it.
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