Man's Best Friend Outlawed?

When opening our presents at relatives on Christmas Day I heard a heartbreaking story that I just had to further investigate, especially since it hit so close to home. In Aurelia, IA (a town of about 1,100 people, 45 minutes east of Le Mars) a man named Jim Sak, who recently moved there with his wife to take care of her ailing mother, had his service dog taken away from him, because it was part pit bull. Apparently a meter reader for the city had been bitten by a Pit Bull several years before, prompting the city to ban the pit bull breed. This same meter reader was the one who saw Jim's dog and reported it to the authorities. The dog was then taken away into foster care and needless to say the Sak's are in the middle of lawsuit to be able to keep their dog, Snickers.

There are many ways to look at this story and as a good person we should look at them all before we cry OUTRAGE! First of all we should look at the meter reader. If you have ever been bitten by a dog before, it can be a scary experience, and one you will never forget. Though a dog bite can be explained as anything from simply breaking the skin to actually tearing the skin off, I would assume that the aforementioned meter reader got bit fairly hard to start asking officials to outlaw the pitbull that bit him. I certainly do not fault the man for wanting to be able to do his job safely, and for being scared at seeing another dog that resembled the one that bit him. Being a concerned citizen he did report the matter to proper authorities, so I can honestly say he did his job.

Next let's take a look at the cops that had to take the complaint and enforce it. Like it or not, it is a cops job to follow up on any complaint, assess the situation and do what is necessary to make sure the written law is followed. Therefore the cop had no choice but to tell Mr. Sak that he was in violation of a Pit Bull ban, whether the dog shows any agressiveness or not, within city limits and his dog would have to be taken away and followed through with the removal of the dog. I honestly believe the cop did his job.

As for Mr. Sak, he moved here from Chicago, to help out a family member, while he needed just a little help too. A few years ago, he suffered a stroke and required brain surgery. Sometimes one of Jim's legs begins to shake, and 85-pound Snickers will push him up against a wall so he doesn't fall. If Jim does fall, he's able to right himself by grasping onto Snickers. Jim was also a Vietnam War vet and a retired Chicago police officer. Now it can be argued that as a police officer he should have known to check out local laws before moving to Aurelia. However, it could also be reasonably argued that who would think to check out a pit bull ban in town that does not quite have 1,100 people? Especially since Snickers is figured to be a mix of pit bull, black lab and boxer and was a certified service dog.

Finally we come to the city in this situation. Within in days, 36 Aurelia residents signed a petition requesting the city to enforce its pit bull ordinance against Mr. Sak. The matter, brought before the council, was voted on and passed in a 3-2 vote to enforce the ordinance. Now a city needs to enforce the laws they write, or what is the purpose of writing them? However, maybe they should take a closer look at these laws as they write them and see how it may affect things outside of the box. Yes, a meter reader complained he was bitten by what some people say is a fierce dog, and probably had a few more backers behind him (as evidenced by the aforementioned petition). That is fact. However, did they think about cross breed dogs when they wrote their law? Did they manage to contemplate if there were any other problems that had happened with pit bulls within their city limits? Did it occur to them that there could be nice pit bulls out there, that like Snickers, could be service dogs. The answers to those questions are played out in the sad reality of this story - No, they did not. (In fairness, I could not find the actual written law online so I do not know the wording of it). The city council did not do it's job until it was forced to uphold it, obviously with at least 2 of the 5 member council knowing it was wrong. Even when faced with the fact that the American for Disabilities Act Guidelines (a federal law) states "The breed or mix is irrelevant when it comes to service dogs. The ADA isn't about dogs; it's about giving people with disabilities access and enhancing independence."

The attorney representing Aurelia, George Wittgraf, claims Aureila is "simply exercising its authority to protect and preserve the rights and property of its residents -- whether or not that's trumped by" federal law. It also must be mentioned that several people who signed the local petition seeking to force Snickers out of town have since apologized, saying the petition never indicated Snickers was a service dog. But here I must say shame on them too, for not getting the facts before they put their names on a paper that can so drastically change the life of a man and his dog.

And unfortunately in the middle of all of this is Snickers, a dog that has been described with a sweet personality and by all means has helped Mr. Sak many times, and by default, Mr. Sak's wife, Peggy. Peggy has a very hard time getting Jim back to his feet, but with Snickers, her job as wife and caretaker has been made much easier. But being away from his job and his best friend, poor Snickers has broken out into hives and a rash, most likely from stress.

For now a federal judge in Sioux City has ordered the temporary return of Snickers until the lawsuit against the town is over. I sincerely hope this is a wake-up call for Aurelia and all towns that are banning Pit Bulls. It is proof that not all dogs are bad, not to mention the fact that if pit bulls were humans, this law would be considered one of the most racist things ever to be put into print. So let us all have a lesson too, that before we sign our name to anything, we get the facts, not from a neighbor or a mad meterman, but from the source. And may we also encourage the people we elect to public offices to do the same.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/polit...

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/loc...

http://www.chronicletimes.com/story/1799...