Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Ignorant people

I have very little tolerance for the ignorant. I suppose truly stupid people should be excused, they are simply incapable of learning and can't be expected to know any better, but the ignorant drive me up a wall. Ignorance is nothing more than intellectual laziness and selfishness.

I was looking for a barking bulldog animation for a job I'm working on — yes, I could make one, but if I can find one, it will save me some time. In my travels around the web, I came across this site about RV Campground Reviews. I suppose I should create yet another login name and password and reply to the bozo "Big Ben", but the discussion is already months old and I'm betting Ben can't keep a thought in his skull for more than a day.

Ben claims to be a dog lover, then after slamming certain large breeds (and can you really identify a pit bull just by looking at a dog?), he starts mentioning insurance companies and owners in denial. Here's a newflash, Ben: people, specifically breeders and owners, *are* the problem. While it is unlikely that a Beagle can kill you, millions of dollars are spent on dog bite injuries, and statistically, they can't all be pinned on the bad breeds of dogs. Pound for pound, the most dangerous breed is the Chihuahua, and I speak from a lot of personal experience. I've met exactly one mean Doberman, and he was trained to be mean when his owner was away. When his owner was there, you could drop-kick that dog and he wouldn't so much as bat an eye. Read up on that loser Michael Vick's court case. The reason he was hanging and electrocuting dogs, mostly pitbulls and Rottweilers, was because they would not fight. Get it? Bad dogs are abused, inbred, and trained to be bad. Who's fault is that? I'll spell it out for you, Ben, since I'm convinced you couldn't get a spark by rubbing two brain cells together. PEOPLE ruin dogs. And despite doing our worst, Vick proves that even bad breeding and abuse won't always make a dog mean. Dogs are far better beings than people.

There are about 75 million dogs in the US. Careful statistics are kept regarding maiming and fatal attacks, but the actual number of dog bites in general must be estimated. Roughly 1,000 Americans per day are treated in emergency rooms as a result of dog bites. In 2007 there were 32 fatal dog attacks in the USA. Most of the victims who receive medical attention are children, half of whom are bitten in the face. Dog bite losses exceed $1 billion per year, with over $300 million paid by homeowners insurance...

The insurance companies can't be expected to be happy about dogs that are capable of killing or seriously maiming a person, and that takes a big breed dog, but *any* dog that is having a bad moment can bite you. And before the insurance companies get on their high horse about dogs, they should take a look at health care, or car accidents caused by senior citizens, or having matches and children in the same house, or the pernicious threat posed by old men who wear hats while driving.
In 1994, the most recent year for which published data are available, an estimated 4.7 million dog bites occurred in the United States, and approximately 799,700 persons required medical care (1). Of an estimated 333,700 patients treated for dog bites in emergency departments (EDs) in 1994 (2), approximately 6,000 (1.8%) were hospitalized (3). To estimate the number of nonfatal dog bite--related injuries treated in U.S. hospital EDs, CDC analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP). This report summarizes the results of the analysis, which indicate that in 2001, an estimated 368,245 persons were treated in U.S. hospital EDs for nonfatal dog bite--related injuries. Injury rates were highest among children aged 5--9 years. To reduce the number of dog bite--related injuries, adults and children should be educated about bite prevention, and persons with canine pets should practice responsible pet ownership...

btw, "BIG Ben", I'm betting you should pay more attention to those male enhancement infomercials.

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