DOGGY STYLE - PART I

We were taken to task for supporting the dangerous dog legislation that recently passed by the Troy City Council. Here's another take on the legislation from Mahlon Goer, today's guest columnist.

Penises, Politics, and Pit bulls:
A Cautionary Tale
By Mahlon Goer

The rhetoric from Troy on dangerous dogs hit a few speed bumps this spring. Picking our way through the wreckage, we noted that City Councilmember Mark Wojcik led the charge against pit bulls.

Quoted in the Times Union:

We wish we could outlaw pit bulls. . .We want to make it as hard as possible for anybody who has a pit bull in this city." - Troy City Councilmember Mark Wojcik

From the Troy Record:

You can drive through certain areas of Troy at any given time
and see pitbulls all over the place. - Troy City Councilmember Mark Wojcik

This same lawmaker, elected public servant, and, it seems, dog expert, social scientist and psychotherapist, also apparently believes that:

the 'pit bull' is the dog of choice of the drug dealer, the street-level criminal's security or perhaps an emasculated male with penis envy. - Troy City Councilmember Mark Wojcik

Penis envy??? Oh, my.

Is Councilmember Wojcik concerned with problem dogs and problem dog owners, or is something else going on here? Anyone who owns a pit bull, anyone at all, who perhaps lives in certain areas of the city. . . is associated with drug dealers, street-level criminals and even emasculated males with penis envy? Is that the message?

Why profiling is a bad, bad thing

Councilmember Wojcik should be forewarned that this kind of distorted message, "the negative stereotyping/profiling/discriminatory kind of message”can backfire in a big way. Just ask ex New Jersey State Police Superintendent Carl "Driving While Black" Williams, for example.

Or maybe the U. S. Department of Justice, fresh from settling a civil right's suit on behalf certain areas in Chicago.

Or, best yet, check out a recent piece in The New Yorker magazine entitled 'What pit bulls can teach us about profiling' in which noted author Malcolm Gladwell quotes New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly:

We have a policy against racial profiling. . .It's the wrong thing to do, and its also ineffective.

Speaking of ineffectiveness, lets get back to Troy.

The City of Troy is barred by New York State law from enacting local law based on negative breed stereotypes. In other words, Troy is prohibited from creating bad legislation which would collaterally penalize the vast majority of caring and decent dog owners with well-managed dogs.

So, on May 4th Troy's city council moved to strengthen the city's dog control laws.

For the second time in three years.

Yup. Three years ago Troy amended the dog control ordinances. And animal control failed to enforce those changes. . . More recently, the city council brought in legal counsel from the NYS Dept. of Agriculture, and was told that Troy already had good ordinances on the books.

Part-II tomorrow.