melzawelza Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 (edited) The AIAM have just released the footage of the expert panel discussion re: BSL and dealing with dangerous dogs at their annual conference in October. From the newsletter: "The Institute decided this year that it was high time something illuminating and persuasive was done to stimulate a shift in official policy, away from BSL, towards adopting a more constructive and rational approach to the resolution of this important social problem. We were fortunate in being able to secure the services of Ellen Fanning, award-winning current affairs journalist and MC as moderator for a conference panel session on this theme on the Friday morning of the conference, with a view to constructively sorting through all the complexity. The result was that we did get right to the bottom of this business... and AIAM believes we have indeed flagged better ways to proceed from here on." Click here to watch. It's long but really worth it. Edited December 11, 2012 by melzawelza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJaq Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Wow that sounds great! Will have to watch this tonight when I have more time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeckoTree Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 It's great, political expedience summed it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphra Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 (edited) Excellent discussion. I'm fascinated by the tension between all of the people on the ground who know BSL doesn't work and the policy makers, community pressure and media on the other looking for a simple answer. "They legislate but put no processes in place to track if that legislation works". Edited December 11, 2012 by Aphra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melzawelza Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 I was lucky enough to be there on the day and amongst the people on the ground there is a mix of opinions. A lot know it doesn't work and we get very frustrated with the time and resources being spent on it. Others seem to be so obsessed by it BECAUSE it doesn't work - they are constantly complaining about dogs 'getting away' and loopholes. Pressuring for things to be tightened up even more. It's like they focus even harder on BSL rather than just admitting it's useless. Most people at the conference would disagree with it though, because the kind of AMO's that actually attend the conferences are generally passionate and know dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphra Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I was interested that no-one quote any of the American case studies because they're very detailed. For example, the common factors in deaths from dog bite tend to be lower socio-economic status, resident as opposed to family dogs, the use of drugs and alcohol and unsupervised children. You could certainly see all of those elements in the very small numbers of dog caused fatalities in Australia. There are always people who believe if something isn't working it's because you're not doing enough of it, rather than it not being efficacious. It's not usually an indication of a person comfortable with thinking as an activity! I was lucky enough to be there on the day and amongst the people on the ground there is a mix of opinions. A lot know it doesn't work and we get very frustrated with the time and resources being spent on it. Others seem to be so obsessed by it BECAUSE it doesn't work - they are constantly complaining about dogs 'getting away' and loopholes. Pressuring for things to be tightened up even more. It's like they focus even harder on BSL rather than just admitting it's useless. Most people at the conference would disagree with it though, because the kind of AMO's that actually attend the conferences are generally passionate and know dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melzawelza Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 I was interested that no-one quote any of the American case studies because they're very detailed. For example, the common factors in deaths from dog bite tend to be lower socio-economic status, resident as opposed to family dogs, the use of drugs and alcohol and unsupervised children. You could certainly see all of those elements in the very small numbers of dog caused fatalities in Australia. There are always people who believe if something isn't working it's because you're not doing enough of it, rather than it not being efficacious. It's not usually an indication of a person comfortable with thinking as an activity! Ha!!! Oh so true. Hope a few others watch it, It's a big commitment of time but it's so worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncarter Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 its was really good to see some common sense discussion. Hey i didnt realise that there was an amnesty already set up in Victoria and they just brought the date forward to the 29th of September 2011, is that right melzawelza? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melzawelza Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 its was really good to see some common sense discussion. Hey i didnt realise that there was an amnesty already set up in Victoria and they just brought the date forward to the 29th of September 2011, is that right melzawelza? Yep that's right NC! It was already in place just for a year later, but when Ayen Chol was killed it was quickly brought forward. Glad you enjoyed it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 (edited) I was interested that no-one quote any of the American case studies because they're very detailed. For example, the common factors in deaths from dog bite tend to be lower socio-economic status, resident as opposed to family dogs, the use of drugs and alcohol and unsupervised children. You could certainly see all of those elements in the very small numbers of dog caused fatalities in Australia. I was at the conference as well. It was discussed at some point. I thought there was some mention of the real problems when that fellow was talking about licensing hunting dogs. Did that get on the video? ETA AIAM I think has also released the conference proceedings. It has full papers in it. If it's not online yet it should be sooner or later. Edited December 12, 2012 by corvus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncarter Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 ah thanks, so when did they announce it and when did they originally expect it the amnesty to end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumosmum Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 The amnesty was meant to go for 2 years from September 2010 to September 2012, however, when the Ayon Chol incident happened, the amnesty was ceased within a few weeks of that incident. That meant it was cut short at 1 year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I was interested that no-one quote any of the American case studies because they're very detailed. For example, the common factors in deaths from dog bite tend to be lower socio-economic status, resident as opposed to family dogs, the use of drugs and alcohol and unsupervised children. You could certainly see all of those elements in the very small numbers of dog caused fatalities in Australia. Yes. Step 1 in looking at any issue, is to do a literature search of published research. And there's heaps of highly informative studies that point towards the kinds of situations where serious dog bites/attacks tend to occur, factors in the history of the dog... and even characteristics or aspects about the owners of dogs that offend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabbath Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 So frustrating watching some of this. I live on the gold coast and BSL isn't even understood by the average person. It appears to be one of those things people support because it was shoved down their throat. Councillors aren't known for their thinking or knowledge in this part of the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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