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.1984/

Thursday, January 26, 2006  Terry

1984
by George Orwell

Oh no. Are you kidding me? Every single “Pit Bull” owner in Commerce City had their address published in the local paper.
Rocky Mountain News: Local: A newspaper editor in Commerce City has put her own spin on the old axiom of “publish or perish.”

The specter of a fatal pit bull mauling prompted Kathy McIntyre, editor of the Commerce City Gateway, to print the addresses of every registered pit bull owner in the city.

“If we have even one citizen attacked by a pit bull, that's enough for me,” McIntyre said.

She said she printed the 24 addresses for the “greater good of the community” and deliberately withheld names or phone numbers.

“My philosophy and my reason for doing this is if we know where the pit bulls in Commerce City live, we can take measures to protect ourselves,” McIntyre said.

But several pit bull owners are incensed that their addresses were published in the Jan. 6 edition of the weekly paper, which is distributed to about half of the city's 30,000 residents. They say it's an invasion of their privacy, subjects them to possible intimidation and paints them all as owners of vicious dogs.
Heck yeah it's an invasion of their privacy. Does nobody read George Orwell anymore? The most troubling thing about anti-pitbull fervor is that it seems to absolve irresponsible dog owners. If it's the dog's fault, why bother to train 'em? The dog can't be trained. It's an aggressive dog to begin with. Etc. Furthermore, it seems to imply that other dog breeds are less likely to attack. The truth is, all dogs bite, and if we chain and intimidate our dogs, they will learn nothing but fear and aggression. I'm probably too angry to be especially coherent about this. What else should cause the press to publish our address as a potentially hazardous zone? How about people who own cars? After all, people who own cars are far more likely to have cars that hit kids in a crosswalk, and if we can get people to avoid those areas where there are people who own cars, we can save lives, and if we save a life, it will have been worth it. I'm writing my local newspaper editor right now.
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