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he horrific mauling by a I Rottweiler that killed a fourâ€" yearâ€"old girl from _ the Georgian Bay area in Ontario on Jan. 27 raises serious safety conâ€" cerns. Nature of dog attacks must be analyzed The phrase "dog bite epidemic" appears on several USâ€"based webâ€" sites. Statistics show dog bites are on the rise in that country. In 1986, there were 585,000 dog bites requirâ€" ing medical attention. In 1998, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.7 million Americans â€" almost two per cent of the population â€" were bitten by dogs. The coroner‘s report on a sixâ€" yearâ€"old girl killed by dogs in 1999 found that 117,000 Quebeckers claimed to have been bitten by a dog between 1997 and 1998. Of these, 75 per cent were under the age of 10 and half were bitten by their own dogs. Extrapolating these numbers, the Canada Safety Council estimates that dogs bite 460,000 Canadians annually. Our problem is likely as serious as that of our southern neighbour. Just one year ago, in January 2001, murder charges were dropped against a Kingston mother accused of killing her sevenâ€"yearâ€"old daughâ€" ter. Forensic evidence attributed the 80 wounds on the child‘s body to a pit bull staying in the house. That same month, a 16â€"yearâ€"old Toronto girl was mauled by two Akita cross terriers in a vicious attack while delivering newspapers. She underwent three hours of plasâ€" tic surgery. European countries have started to enact laws to control dangerous dogs. Similarly, Canada must anaâ€" lyze the extent and nature of the problem in this country, and put into place measures to prevent deaths and injuries from dog attacks. We have no national data on canine â€" population, â€" dogâ€"related deaths and injuries, how many peoâ€" ple are being killed and seriously injured by dogs (and the circumâ€" stances}, or whether particular You said it PREDICTION FOR AN EARLY SPRING? QUESTION DO YOU HiHNS h breeds cause the most harm. Dog bites are a common reason for emergencyâ€"room visits. Yet there is no mandatory reporting of these bites â€" not to mention the ownerâ€" ship, breed, spay/neuter status or history of aggression of the dog. In Canada, animal control is largely a municipal responsibility. Municipalities need byâ€"laws to preâ€" vent harmful situations, bearing in mind that dangerous dogs are genâ€" erally the result of irresponsible ownership and that owners should be held responsible for their dog‘s behaviour. Ensuring the resources are in place to enforce animal conâ€" trol regulations will help a commuâ€" nity protect its residents from aggressive dogs. Stronger animal protection laws can help protect us all ecently, caring citizens were R:hocked and outraged to learn hat a mixedâ€"breed pit bull was found hanging dead from a fence six blocks from where another pit bull had been found tied to a tree, doused with furniture polish, and burned alive the previous week. The person(s) responsible for these terrible crimes remain at large, and it would be in the public‘s best interâ€" est that every effort be made to apprehend them. People who abuse animals rarely stop there. Research shows that people who are violent to animals often move on to abuse others, including classâ€" mates, spouses, or children. The FBI has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regâ€" ularly appear in its records of serial rapists and murderers. Psychiatrists, too, see a fascinaâ€" tion with cruelty to animals as a red flag. The standard diagnostic and treatment manual for psychiatric and emotional disorders lists cruelty "I think it‘s going to be a short winter. That groundhog is always right." "I agree that it‘s going to be a short winter. We‘ve already had a lot of mild weather." OMbSIX Drew Armstrong Ashley Phillips COMMENT Canadian legislators may or may not decide to focus on breeds as the Europeans have done. s Other approaches must also be considered: education of owners and the public, especially parents of young children; municipal animal control regulations with vigorous enforcement; _ and _ mandatory reporting of bites, including ownerâ€" ship, breed, spay/neuter status, hisâ€" tory of aggression, and restraint at the time of the incident. The bottom line is that the extent and nature of dog attacks must be analyzed, and measures put into place to protect the public. to animals as a diagnostic criterion for conduct disorders. Studies of criminals reiterate these findings. A study conducted by Northeastern University and the Massachusetts SPCA found that people who hurt animals are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against humans than those who don‘t. The majority of inmates scheduled to be executed for murâ€" der at California‘s San Quentin penâ€" itentiary "practised" their crimes on animals, according to the warden. Let‘s hope that the offender(s) are turned in and aggressively prosâ€" ecuted. Taking animal abuse seriâ€" ously and demanding stronger aniâ€" mal protection laws can protect us all. For more information, visit www.PETA.org/ For example, serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer impaled the heads of dogs and cats on sticks. â€" Liz Welsh, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) "I think it will be an early spring because we‘ve already had our big winter storm last week." "I think is going to be a short winter. I always believe in what the groundhog Canada Safety Council presidentP CHRON Amanda Dampier Emileâ€"J. Therien, anadians have had three weeks to get used to their new fedâ€" eral cabinet. Jean Chretien found room for 10 new minisâ€" ters â€" nine of whom, as secretaries of state, will have to sit at the kids‘ table â€" saw two veteran ministers leave, and rid himâ€" self of several embarrassing underachievers. Several highâ€"profile ministers changed chairs, likely due to the sudden departure of reputed leadership hopeful Brian Tobin, who seems to specialize in sudden departures. Tobin is spending more time with his family. Maria Minna and Hedy Fry are spending more time in the backbenches. Herb Gray is enjoying both his new "Right Honourable" title and semiâ€"retireâ€" ment as coâ€"chair of the International Joint Commission (the body which regulates waterways shared by the United States and Canada). Meanwhile, Alfonso Gagliano is getting used to his new job as Ambassador to Denmark, where he will be hiding from controversy over his political interference in Crown corporations. A friend of mine with widespread international contacts reports that the Danes were not too pleased that Canada was sending them an ambassador tainted by allegations of corruption. While some of the changes appear designed simply to add a fresh face to the cabinet (possibly meaning that he‘s staying around to fight another election}, others have more ominous overtones. Allan Rock was getting ready to do battle with Ralph Klein, Gordon Campbell and Mike Harris over their drive to priâ€" vatize the healthâ€"care system. His replacement, Anne McLellan, seems to. have far less enthUSsiaSM fOT . on that task; having reversed her stated Poeet h I opposition to private hospitals and indiâ€" ANOTHER cated that she is willing to overlook vioâ€" VI F\\r lations of the Canada Health Act that | * would have sent Rock into a hissy fit. o = McLellan‘s willingness to be "flexible" . M * probably has less to do with the fact that S 2 °+ she is from Alberta (which was NDP ; 9""~* | leader Alexa McDonough‘s curious |f®® F explanation for opposing McLellan‘s 4 h | move to Health), than with the Liberals‘ pe* insd desire to make the provinces stop whinâ€" ing about inadequate funding. The realâ€" ity is that the provinces are going to SCOTT complain anyway, but that they would have done more complaining if Rock | PIATKOWSKI | had continued to fight them on privatiâ€" "~~ Sputcecmmenteatiemel zation. Tobacco companies must also be delighted to have a nicoâ€" tine addict replacing Rock as the head of the government‘s antiâ€" smoking initiative. As well, as Judy Rebick has pointed out, McLellan‘s move from Justice to Health is her apparent reward for turning her back on a lifetime of campaigning for civil liberties. Since McLellan seems to be following Rock, her move to the Industry portfolio is probably just a matter of time. McLellan is one of only nine women in a 39â€"member cabinet. Of those nine women, only four (McLellan, Sheila Copps, Jane Stewart and Lucienne Robillard) hold senior portfolios. One of the others is Sharon Carstairs, who is a fine individual, but is still merely a senator. Meanwhile, Elinor Caplan was actually demotâ€" ed, and Claudette Bradshaw was merely given Hedy Fry‘s responâ€" sibilities on top of her own. The other two are new Minister of International Coâ€"operation Susan Whelan and continuing Minister of State for Children and Youth Ethel Blondinâ€"Andrew. (Did you know that Canada even had a Minister of State for Children and Youth?) Chretien condemned Toronto MP Carolyn Bennett for daring to mention that he had brought nine new men and only one new woman into cabinet (this is known as "shooting the messenger"). Bennett herself, Montreal MP Marlene Jennings, Toronto MP Judy Sgro, Mississauga‘s Carolyn Parrish, London‘s Sue Barnes or even Karen Redman of Kitchener would have made more auspicious additions to the frontbenches than some of the men who were given promotions. I‘m sure that Chretien now wishes that he had shuffled hapless Defence Minister Art Eggleton to an ambassadorship or to the backbenches. A House of Commons committee is now considerâ€" ing claims that Eggleton showed "contempt for Parliament" when he gave wildly different answers on the question of when he knew that Canadian soldiers had captured fighters in Afghanistan days earlier and turned them over to the Americans. He first said that he heard about the incident on Jan. 25, but then admitted that he had been briefed on Jan. 21, but didn‘t tell Prime Minister Chretien or the cabinet for a week. Deputy Prime Minister John Manley claims that "it wouldn‘t have made any difference" had Chretien known what Eggleton knew. Anthony Germaine, host of CBC Radio‘s The House, showed how wrong that argument was when he pointed out that, during the intervening week, MPs had engaged in an emergency debate on the subject and that Chretien had continued to refer to prisoner captures as "hypothetical" â€" all without one crucial fact that they ought to have been told. It is clear that Eggleton‘s failâ€" ures have "made a difference"; they have further undermined the faith that Canadians have in this government. Doing the cabinet shuffle ANOTHER | _ VIEW Ex T ,p, L | I > yhn I