I am constantly on a daily basis being shown how many people out there both in our town and all around the state and the world really care about this whole situation and really care about how they can help us get our word out there. We have two different petition sites as well as this blog and we are doing well on each of them. The first petition site which is on here has over 600 signatures and the second petition which is on Change.org has almost 300 signatures. All of those signatures together are from all over the world. This battle that we are waging on animal cruelty, BSL, and animal injustice is hitting many people in a mighty way. It is something that affects all of us who love and adore animals.
Wearing our Justice for Coco shirts to different places and while passing out fliers, it amazes me how many people stop us and want to know what exactly happened to Coco, what is BSL, and what are we trying to do. I have spoke with people on the phone who the minute I say Coco, know just who I am and what I am trying to do. We have met so many different people that have shared many different views with us. Some of those views come with strong opinions and many of them have helped us explore avenues that we didn't even know about. An overwhelming majority is pro-Coco, but every once in awhile we will get a strong anti-Coco. While walking in the Edison Parade I had one person look at me and tell me that my dog deserved to die. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to fight the urge to fire back with negative words of my own. I just turned and continued passing fliers out to people. If I would have responded it would have just given people a bitter taste in their mouth of me. We have to be bigger and better than that, it is not easy, but we try to just let those negative comments roll off our back because everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and they are able to voice them. Those are just the opinions that we don't quite agree with! (LOL!) It is often overwhelming to hear so many people wanting to know exactly what is Justice for Coco. While walking down the road before passing out fliers we heard some many people reading our shirts and questioning out loud what it was all about. Each member of our family, as well as some friends have Justice for Coco shirts so people are definitely seeing a united front when it comes to our family. It gives us such a sense of pride to know that in wearing our shirts, it is really making a difference. I know that there are so many times I have seen people reading a shirt in public and I look down at the shirt and think that what it says is so meaningless. In wearing these Justice for Coco shirts, I know the meaning behind it, and it makes it that much better!
I sometimes wish I could just get everyone together in one place and be able to tell my story so that everyone was on the same page. That is a big reason for this blog so that we have a place, a sounding board, to do just that. We just need your help in making sure supporters like you know just how to get onto our page, know how to become followers, and who will help spread the word.
Last night while out, we were stopped by a couple who spoke with my husband about our story and by the time the conversation was over the female handed my husband $10.00 and said she wanted to be the first donation to the Coco fund. This was overwhelming to us because we never imagined that such a gesture would come into play. We spoke with the couple about our gratitude and I explained that we never wanted people to look at us and think we were doing the things that we do for money or anything like that, and she looked at me and said, "It take money"! I kind of laughed, but she is so right. Everything that we are trying to do is money related and sometimes I get a little discouraged and wonder how we will ever be able to manage everything, and for some reason little things like this donation just seem to put it all into perspective and I am reminded that with faith all things are possible! As a child my parents taught us children to always stand up for something no matter what it was, and we were told that if we truly believed in something then to not let it drop. It is the principle behind it that makes it worth the fight. As an adult I am reminded of the country song that says: you've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything. Well we are standing for something and this Justice for Coco is something that we feel strongly about, and we will continue to stand, continue to wear shirts in his memory, and will continue to ask for your ongoing support. If we don't take a stand and speak up for our animal, who will?
I just like to be able to check in with everyone and let you know my thoughts, update you on our progress, and also to let you know we are still out there going strong. We know this fight will not end over night, and we know that we have to be in it for the long haul.
If any one has any questions, concerns, or comments, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us on here or through our email at cygor64@gmail.com.
Again thank you all so much for your ongoing support. Please don't forget while you are visiting our blog to click on the FOLLOW tab and become a member of our blog. This allows you to post comments, view all updates, and even have email notifications when new posts and comments are added.
Coco: Family member, companion, and amazing friend! He will be forever missed but not forgotten!
February 07- January 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
YOU DO THE MATH: FIGHT BSL!
What is BSL?
Any law, ordinance or policy that affects only a specific breed or breeds. Breeds affected are usually Pit Bulls, American Bulldogs, Boxers, Rottweilers, Dobermans, and sometimes German Shepherds.
Most often these laws are proposed and passed after a city/county/state receives reports of several attacks by a specific breed of dog. BSL has been found many times over to be an ineffective proposal.
What makes BSL ineffective?
Dog attacks are usually the fault of an irresponsible owner, not a specific breed, therefore, banning an entire breed will solve nothing. The irresponsible owners will just most likely move on to another breed, and continue making bad choices regarding their dogs. BSL targets the breed, instead of the owner, where the responsibility belongs.There is a vicious circle surrounding Pit Bulls: a “tough guy” decides he wants a “tough” dog for his reputation. So, he gets a Pit Bull. When the dog passes the “fun” puppy stage, he is most likely tied out on a chain and left to spend his days with little or no attention from humans, or he is abused. When the dog does receive some attention, it’s from the “tough” guy’s “tough” friends, and they bully the dog, or play roughly and mean with him. The dog quickly becomes restless, starved for attention, and frustrated. One day, he breaks loose and runs free, charging a human, or another animal…not to bite them, but to be loved. Because he’s never been able to run free, he is so excited that his running and playing are mistaken for rampaging and acting vicious. All he’s ever known is abuse, and if a friendly human hand reaches out, he may very well bite, but it’s because he doesn’t know any better, not because he was born or bred that way. This is a prime example of an irresponsible owner. However, we see that the owner isn’t the one punished; it’s the dog and his entire breed’s reputation.
Other reasons BSL isn’t effective:
It’s very costly. It’s costly to the responsible owners because they are forced to pay for insurance policies, ridiculously tall fences to be built, etc. BSL is also costly to the place enforcing it. There will be kenneling costs and court costs to deal with.It’s unfair to responsible owners. It restricts your right as a responsible dog owner to own certain breeds. If the law states that you can own the dog, but there are restrictions (muzzling, short leashes, high fences), you are still punished. When you take your dog in public, you are frowned upon and sometimes harassed by others for owning what they believe to be a “vicious” breed.
Dogs can only be identified by appearance, and Pit Bulls are especially difficult for the average person to identify. There are far too many people that are not qualified to determine breeds of dogs and therefore Pit Bulls have become scapegoats. Any dog that bites or attacks often gets called a Pit Bull, but many of these are actually not Pit Bulls at all, or are mixes with another dominant breed. Because of this, many dogs will be wrongly identified, and countless lives taken.
BSL is actually unconstitutional!
Other Important Facts You Might Want to Know:
*There is no proof that a Pit Bull is any more dangerous than any other breed.
*Pit Bulls actually score higher on temperament tests than most other breeds. American Pit Bull Terriers as a breed have passed the American Temperament Test at an 84.1 percentage rate, and American Staffordshire Terriers have passed with an 83.9 percentage rate. This is above the scores of Golden Retrievers, who have a passing percentage rate of 83.8; and Collies with a passing rate of 79.2 percent. Please visit http://www.atts.org/ for more information on temperament testing.
*In one day, a Pit Bull attacked a child, as did a Labrador Retriever. Hundreds of reporters covered the Pit Bull attack, while only a few covered the other. They are portrayed only negatively in the media, rarely will they show a positive Pit Bull hero story, because the media believes positive doesn’t sell.
*Pit Bulls are some of the most effective dogs used in law enforcement. Please visit www.lawdogsusa.org for more information on how Pit Bulls are used in law enforcement, and why they are preferred.
*The Center for Disease Control conducted a study on fatal dog bites over a twenty year period between the years 1979 and 1998. Although the breeds of dogs involved were noted in this study, the CDC does not conclude that specific breeds are more likely to bite or fatally attack. Therefore, these findings should not be used for breed-specific policy making decisions relating to this topic. 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year and of that number, approximately 12 fatalities are the result (about 0.0002% of the total number of people bitten). Because there is no accurate method to determine the population of any particular breed, there is no conclusive way to measure which breeds are more likely to bite or kill. If it can not be determined that a breed is more likely to bite or kill than any other, a breed ban is obviously not the answer.
Source: http://www.bamabully.org/bsl.html
Any law, ordinance or policy that affects only a specific breed or breeds. Breeds affected are usually Pit Bulls, American Bulldogs, Boxers, Rottweilers, Dobermans, and sometimes German Shepherds.
Most often these laws are proposed and passed after a city/county/state receives reports of several attacks by a specific breed of dog. BSL has been found many times over to be an ineffective proposal.
What makes BSL ineffective?
Dog attacks are usually the fault of an irresponsible owner, not a specific breed, therefore, banning an entire breed will solve nothing. The irresponsible owners will just most likely move on to another breed, and continue making bad choices regarding their dogs. BSL targets the breed, instead of the owner, where the responsibility belongs.There is a vicious circle surrounding Pit Bulls: a “tough guy” decides he wants a “tough” dog for his reputation. So, he gets a Pit Bull. When the dog passes the “fun” puppy stage, he is most likely tied out on a chain and left to spend his days with little or no attention from humans, or he is abused. When the dog does receive some attention, it’s from the “tough” guy’s “tough” friends, and they bully the dog, or play roughly and mean with him. The dog quickly becomes restless, starved for attention, and frustrated. One day, he breaks loose and runs free, charging a human, or another animal…not to bite them, but to be loved. Because he’s never been able to run free, he is so excited that his running and playing are mistaken for rampaging and acting vicious. All he’s ever known is abuse, and if a friendly human hand reaches out, he may very well bite, but it’s because he doesn’t know any better, not because he was born or bred that way. This is a prime example of an irresponsible owner. However, we see that the owner isn’t the one punished; it’s the dog and his entire breed’s reputation.
Other reasons BSL isn’t effective:
It’s very costly. It’s costly to the responsible owners because they are forced to pay for insurance policies, ridiculously tall fences to be built, etc. BSL is also costly to the place enforcing it. There will be kenneling costs and court costs to deal with.It’s unfair to responsible owners. It restricts your right as a responsible dog owner to own certain breeds. If the law states that you can own the dog, but there are restrictions (muzzling, short leashes, high fences), you are still punished. When you take your dog in public, you are frowned upon and sometimes harassed by others for owning what they believe to be a “vicious” breed.
Dogs can only be identified by appearance, and Pit Bulls are especially difficult for the average person to identify. There are far too many people that are not qualified to determine breeds of dogs and therefore Pit Bulls have become scapegoats. Any dog that bites or attacks often gets called a Pit Bull, but many of these are actually not Pit Bulls at all, or are mixes with another dominant breed. Because of this, many dogs will be wrongly identified, and countless lives taken.
BSL is actually unconstitutional!
Other Important Facts You Might Want to Know:
*There is no proof that a Pit Bull is any more dangerous than any other breed.
*Pit Bulls actually score higher on temperament tests than most other breeds. American Pit Bull Terriers as a breed have passed the American Temperament Test at an 84.1 percentage rate, and American Staffordshire Terriers have passed with an 83.9 percentage rate. This is above the scores of Golden Retrievers, who have a passing percentage rate of 83.8; and Collies with a passing rate of 79.2 percent. Please visit http://www.atts.org/ for more information on temperament testing.
*In one day, a Pit Bull attacked a child, as did a Labrador Retriever. Hundreds of reporters covered the Pit Bull attack, while only a few covered the other. They are portrayed only negatively in the media, rarely will they show a positive Pit Bull hero story, because the media believes positive doesn’t sell.
*Pit Bulls are some of the most effective dogs used in law enforcement. Please visit www.lawdogsusa.org for more information on how Pit Bulls are used in law enforcement, and why they are preferred.
*The Center for Disease Control conducted a study on fatal dog bites over a twenty year period between the years 1979 and 1998. Although the breeds of dogs involved were noted in this study, the CDC does not conclude that specific breeds are more likely to bite or fatally attack. Therefore, these findings should not be used for breed-specific policy making decisions relating to this topic. 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year and of that number, approximately 12 fatalities are the result (about 0.0002% of the total number of people bitten). Because there is no accurate method to determine the population of any particular breed, there is no conclusive way to measure which breeds are more likely to bite or kill. If it can not be determined that a breed is more likely to bite or kill than any other, a breed ban is obviously not the answer.
Source: http://www.bamabully.org/bsl.html
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Edison Festival of Lights
Wow, what a night! We passed out over 500 fliers to people while they were watching the parade. We met tons of supporters, were able to show off our Justice for Coco shirts, and just had an all around good time while fighting for our cause. The people we met and who got fliers from us were receptive to our cause and asked many questions. We were able to really explain details about BSL(breed specific legislature) and animal cruelty to many who took our fliers. We are hoping that many of those people that have our fliers going our blog and continue to also pass on the word for Coco's Justice.
In wearing our shirts that we made for ourselves, our children, and other family members it is such a great thing to walk into a store and be asked to explain what our shirt stands for. I truly believe that Coco is looking down on us and smiling because it finally feels like we are getting somewhere.
Thank you everyone that has supported us and who will continue to support us. We will keep you posted with any and all new leads.
In wearing our shirts that we made for ourselves, our children, and other family members it is such a great thing to walk into a store and be asked to explain what our shirt stands for. I truly believe that Coco is looking down on us and smiling because it finally feels like we are getting somewhere.
Thank you everyone that has supported us and who will continue to support us. We will keep you posted with any and all new leads.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
A little light in our fight...
We were recently contacted by a woman on Facebook that was very helpful in giving us some guidance about who we can contact regarding this situation that we have been dealing with. We were told to contact the ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND and the HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES. She gave us a phone number as well as an address. We can not explain how helpful this was, nor can we express enough gratitude for the support.
I am doing some research now, and have put in a call and am waiting to hear back from them. If anyone else has any suggestions on who to contact all suggestions are greatly appreciated and welcomed.
We are hoping to be walking in the Edison Festival of Lights evening parade in order to pass out fliers with the blog address on it, and a little about what we are fighting for. We are trying this week to see all of the stipulations for doing this. If you would like to help us with that, please email us and let us know. So, if you see us and you are a supporter, please be sure to wave and give off a great shout for the JUSTICE OF COCO!
I am doing some research now, and have put in a call and am waiting to hear back from them. If anyone else has any suggestions on who to contact all suggestions are greatly appreciated and welcomed.
We are hoping to be walking in the Edison Festival of Lights evening parade in order to pass out fliers with the blog address on it, and a little about what we are fighting for. We are trying this week to see all of the stipulations for doing this. If you would like to help us with that, please email us and let us know. So, if you see us and you are a supporter, please be sure to wave and give off a great shout for the JUSTICE OF COCO!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Just checking in..
We know things have been quiet lately on here, but we just want you to know that we are still fighting hard for Coco and working towards his justice. Things have been a little quiet on this end, but we are working behind the scenes to get all of our ducks in a row so that we can come out with guns blazing!(no pun intended!) We are still getting a great amount of support and that means so much to us. We know that Coco is looking down and smiling, knowing that so many people are flooding out support for him.
Our ultimate goal is to keep voicing our concerns for how Coco was killed and make people accountable for their actions. Right now it seems that everyone is covering for someone and no one wants to step up to the plate and take some blame. We are not going to back off of this. We know that we can not bring Coco back, but we sure can keep his memory alive and we can do everything in our power to make sure that something like this does not happen to another dog. We are also working on coming up with a type of rally where we can get supporters and pit bull lovers together in one location to talk about ways to help show that pit bulls are not the problem, and that it is the bad owners that have made so many people view them unfairly. At this rally we will make sure that our voices are heard! We are trying to make sure we have everything in order for this event, and when all the details are nailed down we will post a date and a location.
It is so crazy how so many people just sit around and bash pit bulls and talk about how bad of a dog/breed they are, but sitting in a courtroom the other day we heard how a standard poodle attacked a child! Isn't that crazy? So it isn't just pit bulls that have off days, it can be any breed of dog. We love the breed of pit bulls and we are setting a goal to eventually open a rescue specially designed for pit bulls who need to be re-homed due to circumstances beyond their control. Dogs are just like humans they just want someone to show them care and someone who will give them that unconditional love! We are doing our part, we just need more people that have the same thoughts and the same love for the breed to stand up and continue this fight with us.
Our ultimate goal is to keep voicing our concerns for how Coco was killed and make people accountable for their actions. Right now it seems that everyone is covering for someone and no one wants to step up to the plate and take some blame. We are not going to back off of this. We know that we can not bring Coco back, but we sure can keep his memory alive and we can do everything in our power to make sure that something like this does not happen to another dog. We are also working on coming up with a type of rally where we can get supporters and pit bull lovers together in one location to talk about ways to help show that pit bulls are not the problem, and that it is the bad owners that have made so many people view them unfairly. At this rally we will make sure that our voices are heard! We are trying to make sure we have everything in order for this event, and when all the details are nailed down we will post a date and a location.
It is so crazy how so many people just sit around and bash pit bulls and talk about how bad of a dog/breed they are, but sitting in a courtroom the other day we heard how a standard poodle attacked a child! Isn't that crazy? So it isn't just pit bulls that have off days, it can be any breed of dog. We love the breed of pit bulls and we are setting a goal to eventually open a rescue specially designed for pit bulls who need to be re-homed due to circumstances beyond their control. Dogs are just like humans they just want someone to show them care and someone who will give them that unconditional love! We are doing our part, we just need more people that have the same thoughts and the same love for the breed to stand up and continue this fight with us.
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