Salem has gone to the dogs on pet rules

Image via Wikipedia

UPDATE: Even more letters highlighting the absurdity of Salem's hen-hostility compared when compared to its love of all things canine.

Great letter in the SJ today from a dog-attack victim who was sent to the hospital after her incident -- which is how she learned that people basically have no protection against dog attacks except to try a lawsuit after the fact (good luck with that, usually).

Meanwhile, Salem is slowly grinding towards an onerous, top-heavy, overly bureaucratic and fantastically -- and needlessly -- expensive program to permit residents to keep a few hens as pets. The rules of the program, which appear to be designed more to discourage people than anything else, stands in stark contrast with the total absence of rules or limits on dogs, meaning you can keep any number of dogs of any size, including breeds with aggressive tendencies and unpredictable behaviors, anywhere in the city.

So we've got draft rules for hens that make it seem like hens are lethal weapons, whereas we have no rules at all on dogs, despite things like this,

Marion County sheriff's deputies shot and killed a pit bull Friday morning that attacked a deputy, minutes after another pit bull tried to jump into a patrol car, investigators said.

The mid-morning incident began with a 9-1-1 call from a man on SE Oda Lane who said a neighbor's 60 to 70-pound pit bull chased him into his house when he tried to put the garbage out.

When deputies arrived, they learned that the dog's owner lived on nearby Beck Lane. The dog was seen unleashed in the yard. It charged the deputies, trying to jump in the open window of the patrol car.

The deputies stayed in the car, honking the horn to get the attention of the owner, who came out of and put the dog behind a fence.

The county animal control officer was called to the home. As one deputy spoke with the owner, the other joined the animal control officer when a second pit bull showed up in the yard and charged the deputy.

Attempts by the owner to call off the dog failed. The deputy kicked the dog several times but the attack continued and the deputy shot the dog dead.

and this (attacking police on command of the owner), and this (attack on boy riding a scooter), and this (police had to use an electroshock weapon to break up a dog fight), and this (number of people killed by dog attacks rising sharply, with thousands hospitalized every year by serious attacks).