Dogs, Power Plants, and Secondhand Smoke, oh my!
With the rash of breed bans and breed restrictions sweeping the nation, targeting breeds like Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Akitas, Boxers, and German Shepherds (among others), isn't it nice to know that our legislators are taking an interest in our welfare? These monster canines are responsible for an average of about 15 human deaths each and every year. That's 300 people between 1979 and the late 1990s. 300 people who might still be alive today if not for dogs. (http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/dog_attacks.html).
It's refreshing to see legislators taking such a keen interest in making sure people don't die. After all, one human death prevented certainly merits the banning of any and all breeds of dogs that have ever taken human life. And, imagine, if we can prevent 15 deaths every year by getting rid of all dogs (even toy breeds, because yes they've killed humans, too!) imagine what these legislators could do if they focused on things that kill even MORE people every year -- like power plants, which kill hundreds if not thousands of people. In fact, in Maryland alone, about 700 people have died prematurely thanks to power plants (http://www.comcast.net/news/health/index.jsp?cat=HEALTHWELLNESS&fn=/2006/02/15/327018.html). Those 700 people will never smile again, never smell a flower, never hug a loved one. If by getting rid of all power plants we can save even one human life, then it will be worth it to ban power plants.
I'd also like to see these genuinely concerned legislators completely ban the one thing that kills 53,000 Americans each and every year. This evil killer doesn't discriminate between adults and children, men and woman, or good people and bad people. It's secondhand smoke. (http://vanderbiltowc.wellsource.com/dh/content.asp?ID=109).
So, Jackie Speier, Kory Nelson, Michael Bryant, Tom Torlekson and all you other public figures out there who have taken an admirable interest in saving human life, get off your asses. Sure, making sure all those evil monster dogs that kill 15 people every year go bye bye is great and all, but how about doing something about power plants and secondhand smoke? Getting rid of those would save 3,500 times the number of human lives that would be saved if the entire nation banned all dogs.