Mail send to politicians.....

Written by Theresa Kjær

Translated by Michelle Otterstrøm Jensen

Fanbookpage http://www.facebook.com/BSL.Denmark

Mail sent to the following politicians:
Mette Gjerskov
Karina Lorentzen
Dennis Flydtkjær
Michael Aastrup Jensen
Morten Bødskov

This was added to the email

I am writing you this mail, in the hopes that you will read it and take it seriously. Prior
to your successful election, you promised to look into reassessing the Law on Canines. 2
years have passed since that promise was made.

In 2010, the government passed a ban on 13 breeds of canines, as well as an obligatory
registration of puppies at 8 weeks of age. The registration part of this law is fine, but the
breed ban has now cost more than 1400 dogs their lives.

I must emphasize that the law was NOT made because of bite, but because of symbolic politics
and hysteria in the media. Studies support this fact.

Dogs that may LOOK like the ones on the banned breed list are also euthanized, not to mention
the ones caught up in the law for other reasons altogether. Bite incidents where the dog has
returned a bite in self-defense or bitten because they were startled, are problematic. The
biting dog is quite often sentenced to be euthanized, despite extenuating circumstances, and
particularly if it could be categorized into one of the more muscular breeds.

The Law on Canines urgently needs to be reassessed.

Remove the breed ban:
The 13 breeds on the list are not the ones that do the most damage, according to a study made
by Fairdog (link at the bottom of the page).
A lot of owners are left without legal certainty if the police decide that the dog is (or is a
mix of) one of the banned breeds. These dogs are euthanized without a case being tried by the
courts.
IF the owner gets the case as far as the courts, it is in most cases AFTER the dog has already
been euthanized.

I, myself, have been stopped by the police numerous times, and listened to claims that my dog
is of the Amstaff breed. Look at the attached picture and judge for yourself…which brings me
to my next point; defining a breed from a picture is nearly impossible in most cases. Breed
experts need to have the dog in front of them, to make any kind of realistic evaluation of
breed. The police do not have the expertise to evaluate breeds, which again has led to
unnecessary euthanasia of healthy dogs.

To top it all off, the burden of proving the breed is reversed, which is almost impossible for
the owners of mixed breed dogs. Again, healthy dogs are euthanized based on guesswork.

Biting:
In cases of biting, a professional canine behavioral analyst, or the like, should be
consulted. A bite is not always just a bite, and extenuating circumstances may be present,
such as self-defense or a case of being startled. If the owner of the bitten dog does not
make sure to have the wound cleaned, even the smallest breakage of skin can cause a serious
infection.

The time is now, for you to live up to your pre-election promises. Symbolic politics have
NEVER worked, and never will. Just look at the law that was passed on carrying knives…if you
can change that, then the Law on Canines shouldn’t be too hard to reassess.

So, to summarize:

1. Remove the breed ban.
2. Return legal certainty to owners.
3. The parts on biting need to be more clearly defined.
4. Experts need to be consulted to assess the dogs, not lawyers or police.

I hope that you will take this into consideration. The link to the studies:
http://dyresnak.blogspot.dk/2012/11/fakta-over-fiktion.html

Yours truly,
Maria-Theresa Kjær Larsen( info to my blogreaders: this is my full name)
Advocate for canine rights

Politician Dennis Flydtkjær takes a stand

private note: his termination has been postponed. this is an article just before the decision to postpone it.

translation by Dorte Møller Jakobsen

the dog Thor must after a long time with disagreement , between his owner and the police has now come to an end. The police has today this afternoon at 14,00.desided to put Thor down. Thor came on 23 last September in a fight with the dachshund Mudi. Both dogs escaped unharmed from the fight, but the police took it as an attack from Thor's side, the dog was placed in custody for later to be put down. The police believes that Thor, was a mix dog with the genes of Amstaff mix - and therefore figures in the list of illegal dog breeds.

The dog's owner, Leslie Jorgensen, claiming that his dog is not a Amstaff mix. According to him, the dog is a mix of an Olde English Bulldog and a Mastiff Mallorca - and all three independent experts agree with him.

Society Fair Dog decided to send a request in to the Court in Odense to get court order to have an independent expert to examine whether Thor belong to the list or not. But the association has not yet heard from the court, and the police are not going to wait for answers. They still want to put the dog down as planned.

Animal welfare Rapport: It is a very unfortunate case

The Story of Thor has awaked many people - among Danish People's Party animal welfare spokesman Mr. Dennis Flydtkjær:

- I think it's a really unfortunate case when one chooses to say that a dog to be killed simply because it's the wrong race - and this despite the fact that three dogs experts unanimously say that this is not one of the dogs appearing on the list of illegal racing.

- If there is to be no legal certainty for dog owners, then this matter has to stop, so the dog will not be put down before the case has had final decision on what kind of dog actually he is, Mr. D. Fyldtkjær says to tv2.dk.

'Alarm bells should ring at the police'

Despite the fact that the current dog law indicates that the burden of proof lies with the dog owner if the police suspect that a dog belongs to the list of illegal racing, Mr. Flydtkjær think that the police need to wake up.

- When there are three independent dog expert who said that this dog does not belong to the list, so I think that there should ring some alarm bells with the police. At the same time there are running a court case, and the dog owner might win, then it's too late if he wins, as is the dog could already be put down.

Danish People's Party animal welfare politician believes that there are a number of challenges on the dogs act - and especially one of them he does not like at all:

- There are clearly a number of challenges by the dog ​​law, and therefore I would also urge the government to get it evaluated already now . One thing that does not work in the dog law is precisely that the law give no certainty for dog owners. It is worrying that you can not challenge his case in court before the police step in and kill the dog.

The Minister of Justice must get into action

He believes that minister of Justice Morten Bødskov (S) must be in on this case and its proceedings

- The Minister of Justice must send a message to the police that it is simply not ok to kill a dog while the case still going on. The Minister of Justice must, as the heads of the police inform the police that enough is enough , and the party stops now.

Dogs Act, which came into force in 2010, should be revised in the course of 2013

source: http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-62515242:df-aflivningen-af-thor-skal-standses.html

Hunden Thor skal efter længere tids tovtrækkeri mellem ejeren og politiet aflives i dag senest klokken 14.


Thor kom den 23. september sidste år op at slås med gravhunden Mudi. Begge hunde slap uskadt fra slåskampen, men da politiet opfattede det som et angreb fra Thors side, blev hunden sat i forvaring med henblik på senere aflivning. Politiet mener nemlig, at Thor, som er en blandingshund, er en Amstaff-blanding - og derfor figurer på listen over ulovlige hunderacer.


Hundens ejer, Leslie Jørgensen, hævder at hans hund aldeles ikke er en Amstaff-blanding. Ifølge ham er hunden en blanding af en Olde English Bulldog og en Mallorca Mastiff - og hele tre uvildige eksperter giver ham ret.


Foreningen Fair Dog har for at redde Thor valgt at sende en anmodning ind til Retten i Odense for at få rettens ord for, at endnu en uvildig ekspert kan undersøge om Thor hører til på listen eller ej. Men foreningen har endnu ikke hørt fra retten, og politiet har ikke tænkt sig at vente på svar.


Dyrevelfærdsordfører: Det er en meget uheldig sag


Historien om Thor har fået mange op af stolen - her i blandt Dansk Folkepartis dyrevelfærdsordfører Dennis Flydtkjær:


- Jeg synes, at det er en rigtig uheldig sag, når man vælger at sige, at en hund skal aflives alene fordi, det er en forkert race - og det på trods af at tre hundesagkyndige enstemmigt siger, at det her ikke er en af de hunde, der figurerer på listen over de ulovlige racer.


- Hvis der skal være noget retssikkerhed for hundeejere, så skal denne her sag stoppes, så hunden ikke bliver aflivet, inden der er kommet en endelig afgørelse på, hvilken slags hunderace der faktisk er tale om, siger han til tv2.dk.


'Alarmklokkerne burde ringe hos politiet'


På trods af at den nuværende hundelov angiver at bevisbyrden ligger hos hundeejeren, hvis politiet har en formodning om, at en hund hører til på listen over ulovlige racer, så mener Flydtkjær, at politiet skal vågne op.


- Når der er tre uafhængige hundesagkyndige, der har sagt, at denne hund ikke hører til på listen, så synes jeg, at der burde ringe nogle alarmklokker hos politiet. Når der samtidig kører en sag, og hundeejeren måske vinder, så er det jo for sent, for så er hunden jo aflivet.


Dansk Folkepartis dyrevelfærdsordfører mener, at der er en række udfordringer ved hundeloven - og specielt én af dem går ham på:


- Der er helt klart en række udfordringer ved hundeloven, og derfor vil jeg også opfordre regeringen til at få den evalueret allerede nu. En ting der ikke fungerer i hundeloven er jo netop denne her retssikkerhed for hundeejerne. Det er betænkeligt at man ikke kan få prøvet sin sag i retten, inden politiet skrider ind og afliver hunden.


Justitsministeren må banke i bordet


Han mener, at Justitsminister Morten Bødskov (S) må på banen i sagen:


- Justitsministeren må sende en besked til politiet om, at det simpelthen ikke er ok at aflive en hund, mens sagen endnu ikke er afgjort. Justitsministeren må som den øverst ansvarlige for politiet banke i bordet og sige, at nu stopper festen altså.


Hundeloven, som trådte i kraft i 2010, skal revideres i løbet af 2013.