This little guy is "Ace". Ace was found near an Ace Hardware store in Detroit last Friday, unbelievably emaciated and near death. He was turned over to Detroit Animal Control who operate under a Detroit law that says they must hold him for four days unless the owner retrieves him. After that, he will be euthanized because adoption of pit bulls to non-owners is not allowed in the city.
Ace's story has taken off like wildfire. A Facebook page was created. The page had around 4,000 likes this morning. As I type this Tuesday evening, it has almost 7,300 (300+ just while I was writing it.) An online petition was put up. It currently has over 5,700.
Why the hue and cry? Because there are animal rescuers ready, willing and able to take Ace and rehabilitate him back to health. These are certified, trained dog lovers who have reached out to take a personal interest in helping Ace. The group, the K9 Stray Rescue League, has volunteers speaking with media and working with the Detroit City Council in an effort to resolve this situation in a way that prevents the animal shelter from killing Ace. The Detroit Humane Society and the Detroit Dog Rescue have also offered to rescue him. The Facebook page is filled with offers of people willing to bring this dog in and nurse him back to health.
Right now, things don't look so good. At a City Council meeting today, City Council President Charles Pugh took up the cause of Ace and asked that a resolution be drafted that would shield the city from any liability and allow Ace to be adopted. Because of a law, an exception will need to be made.
The fate of Ace the dog is still up in the air. Tuesday, Detroit City Council drafted a resolution to save the stray's life, but it may not be enough.
"It seems like a simple request. If we can make sure that we are not liable for what happens with the dog if we were to transfer it to this rescue league, then why is that such a big deal?" City Council President Charles Pugh said. [...]
Tereasa Michalak showed reporters a license from the Department of Agriculture to prove her group, K-9 Strays, is legitimate. They're asking for Ace to be transferred to their care, taking cost and liability away from the city. [...]
Later Tuesday, Michalak and her group met with a representative from the Health Department.
"They told me they would not be breaking any of the procedures that are currently in place, that they will not release any kind of pit bull, including Ace," Michalak told us.
The group is now considering legal action against the city. For now, the city's policy sticks. Thursday will be the end of four business days. Friday, Ace is scheduled to be euthanized.
Ace's compelling story is resurrecting an on-going debate about breed-specific bans of particular types of dogs. Earlier this year, Rep. Timothy Bledsoe (D-Grosse Pointe) sponsored a bill, Michigan House Bill 4714, that would ban ownership of pit bull breeds (and mixes) in Michigan within ten years. Outside of simple common sense, there is ample evidence and significant studies that show that aggressive dog behavior toward humans is not related to breed but to how the dog is raised.
Fortunately, Bledsoe's bill is going nowhere. Rep. Hugh Crawford (R-Novi), chair of the Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee where Bledsoe's ill-informed bill sits isn't having it.
It was assigned to my committee and I have no intention of running the bill through the committee, particularly at this time...As a politician, I've learned never to say never, because some day there may be a compelling reason to take testimony on this.
But I don't think it's necessary for our state to be in the dog policing business. We don't need a ban on a particular breed for life here in the next 10 years, which is what the bill was. I have no intention of hearing it.
There are numerous municipalities across Michigan that do have pit bull bans or where there are restrictions against adoption that ensure the destruction of strays. As unfortunate as Ace's situation is, it is having the desirable impact of bringing the conversation back into the forefront. Council President Pugh, at least, is bringing some common sense to the table:
"We don't want our policy to get in the way of the dog's life," Pugh said. "If we can save the dog, then let's save the dog."
Council is expected to vote on a resolution during today's session and members said they'd like to re-examine the pit bull policy at a later date.
Ace's plight is also giving folks like Tereasa Michalak and her group the opportunity to advocate for changing the law that destroys animals who could be saved. Her group is meeting with Detroit Mayor Bing and "will be sitting down after the holidays with the city to try to change the policy and allow shelter to shelter rescues".
This is a tough story for my wife Anne and I to follow. This past summer we lost our pit bull mix, Hara (pictured on the right.) I had never been a pit bull-lover before I met her but she soon became my biggest fan and I hers. I came to love her probably more than any other pet I've ever had. Gentle around people, loving, affectionate and obedient, Hara won me over.
I understand the argument and even fear that some have about specific dog breeds. For many years it was German Shepherds. Then it was Doberman Pinschers. Then it was Rottweilers. Now its Pit Bulls. But, in every case, the desire to ban these animals arises from the fact that they happen to be the "attack dog du jour" for the group of people that desire to have powerful, vicious, aggressive dogs. The dogs aren't inherently aggressive toward people; they are trained from birth to be that way. The fault lies with those that bring them up to be vicious and not with the dogs themselves. Banning these animals does not address the root cause: humans who raise attack dogs. Pit bulls aren't the first breed to bred this way and they most certainly will not be the last.
I am hopeful that the animal rescue groups working on behalf of Ace will ultimately be successful and that he will not be killed by the City of Detroit this week. He seems to me to be the Poster Dog for moving past breed-specific laws to a more sensible approach that actually saves dogs of all breeds. Wouldn't it be amazing if this little guy was the catalyst for that?
UPDATE: I have received a rather unfortunate update from Monica Martino, the co-founder & CEO of Detroit Dog Rescue. The original post about Ace is HERE. Here's the latest news:
Detroit Dog Rescue has become very involved in this fight — we were able to find the owner of “Ace” (she saw him on the news — he had been stolen from her months ago). My partner Hush went to the Department of Animal Control this morning with her to claim Ace. She brought all the proper documentation, including vet records, rabies certificates, and personal photos of her dog. Department of Animal Control showed her the wrong dog and tried to convince her it was Ace, despite her protests. We have proof that the dog was NOT Ace.
Now we are trying to get legal counsel involved, as it is our belief that Ace was likely killed by DAC as soon as he was picked up and they have been trying to cover their tracks ever since. All the latest updates are on our Facebook page — www.facebook.com/detroitdogrescue.
We have over 10,000 supporters who have joined our fight to save Ace as well as the other 99,999 stray dogs in Detroit who deserve a fighting chance. Our goal is to open up a no-kill shelter in the city so that we can change the policy in Detroit, which currently has a euthanisation rate of 98% for its stray dogs.
Another update from their Facebook page:
BREAKING NEWS AS OF 3:12 PM EST: We have NO confirmation on whether Ace is alive or dead. We do know that Detroit Animal Control (DAC) tried to show Ace's real owner a dog that was NOT Ace, therefore we fear the worst and believe that Ace has been put down already. Hush did go to DAC with Ace's owner but Harry Ward refused to speak with him. DAC called security and the police were called to escort Hush off the property. He stayed in order to support the owner as she tried to find out what happened to her dog. We have PROOF that the dog DAC showed her is not her dog. We have secured representation for DDR as well as for the owner of Ace. We will be filing an injunction today to put a freeze on all euthanization of ANY AND ALL DAC dogs until this matter is resolved. We are NOT affiliated with The Lexus Project or with Save Ace and we are not receiving any donations from the chip-in set up by those parties. Please tune in tonight to local news Channels 2, 4, and 7 at 5:30 p.m. for this story, and please consider donating to www.detroitdogrescue.com if you would like to help.
This is all I have for now. I'll update as I learn more. Please note that I do not have an opinion on whether or not you should donate to Detroit Dog Rescue. I have no knowledge of them and do endorse them one way or the other. Please do your homework if you decide to help out.
Another update from DDR:
BREAKING NEWS (please use instead as I had to clarify the wording of the injunction): Detroit Dog Rescue and Ace's owner filed an injunction today, and the judge has ruled that the Department of Animal Control in Detroit is to halt killing ANY dogs in their control which are pitbull or pit mixes that could be Ace or that look like Ace until November 16 so that we can confirm whether they have Ace or not. On November 16 there will be a hearing - more details on that to follow. This is a HUGE victory for DDR and is unprecedented for the City of Detroit as well as for Animal Control. We feel very lucky that we were able to get this filed before the furlough day tomorrow, as I am certain that they were hoping to count the day the city is closed as one of Ace's four "hold" days. As I said before, we have only begun this fight, but this gives me, Hush, Jessica, Dante, Shance and the whole DDR crew SO much hope. -Monica
An official statement from Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh:
It would be devastating to the good will of this City for the Mayor’s office to allow ACE to die when a reputable, state-approved rescue agency has told us that they will rehabilitate the dog and determine if it’s adoptable. My concern is the liability to the City, but this can be remedied by drafting a legal document relieving the City of its liability.
Another option is for the Mayor to temporarily suspend the City’s policy. My office is looking at how we can amend the City’s ordinance to allow dogs like ACE to live through a shelter-to-shelter exchange if we can have our liability removed.
The bigger picture is that this is not a battle we should be fighting right now given the more critical priorities we are faced with. In the meantime, the Mayor’s office should do whatever is necessary to keep ACE alive.
Cross-posted from Eclectablog.