draggonlaady

but chances are (given past, similar cases) that it's going to suck more for the dogs and their owner than it will for the kids who were trespassing and, in my view, at fault.

Please note several important things here:
1. The dogs were well contained behind a six foot tall fence, which the kid went to some lengths to climb over. This was not an accidental trespassing, or uncontrolled dogs.
2. There were several people home at the time of the incident (who broke the dogs off, and thus possibly/probably saved the kid much more damage and even his life), but whom the kids did NOT bother to ask permission to go into the yard, or ask them to retrieve their ball.
3. These are not pit bulls. Just throwing this in here in light of the breed ban article from earlier. Start banning every breed associated with incidents like these, and pretty soon the only thing you'll be allowed to keep is Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Bichons.

I am... shocked. I saw this headline, and went to the article expecting it to be yet another breed-specific ban proposal somewhere. In case you don't recall, I am flatly opposed to breed-specific dog bans. If you want reasoning behind that, feel free to ask. Instead, the ban is actually aimed at sexually intact dogs, and felon owners. Shockingly enough, in a recent study in Oregon of dog bite risk factors, the single strongest association with bite risk was being sexually intact--breed type didn't even make the list until number 4 or 5. Second on the list after sexual status? Average income of the neighborhood; the lower the income, the higher the bite risk. I'm a bit uncertain on the 20# limit--I'd as soon there was no weight limit and it applied to all dogs of all breeds, since in my experience I'm much more likely to be bitten by a Chihuahua than a Great Pyrenees, but I can see the point in different damage potentials.

Watsonville City Council put more teeth in vicious dog ordinance
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_14879792

Also, what color crack do you suppose this gent is smoking? What does this even MEAN?

"We have a tendency to overreact," (Councilman Greg) Caput said. "I do want to do something. ... A Christmas turkey can weigh 20 pounds or more so I have a problem with that."