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Court eases up in pit bull case

Mark Humphrey/AP - Prada, a 4-year-old pit bull mix.

By Michael Dresser and Jill Rosen for the Baltimore Sun, Published: August 21

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story carried an incorrect byline.

Maryland’s highest court on Tuesday partly backed off its April decision that pit bulls are inherently dangerous, admitting that it went too far when it applied its standard to crossbred dogs. But the new ruling, which affects only purebred animals, does not clear the waters, according to experts.

The issue, they say, is that a “pit bull” is not a specific dog breed and that it’s difficult to positively identify a pit bull.

In a rare reversal, the Court of Appeals had granted a motion for reconsideration in a case — brought by the parents of a 10-year-old boy who was mauled by a pit bull — against the dog owner’s landlord.

The court’s 4 to 3 decision to impose a standard of “strict liability” in cases involving purebred and crossbred pit bulls sparked a protest among owners of the dogs and animal-welfare advocates.

Many expressed concern that the strict liability standard, which doesn’t make it a requirement to show negligence on the part of the pet owner, would lead landlords to bar pit bulls from their property rather than risk being sued when the animals attack. Critics of the ruling expressed concern that owners would be forced to choose between their pets and their homes and that many pit bulls would be taken to shelters and euthanized as a result.

The ruling led to a failed effort in the special session of the General Assembly that ended last week to override the court.

Tuesday’s ruling raised further questions.

“There actually is no such thing as a purebreed pit bull,” said Cory Smith, a senior director with the Humane Society of the United States. “It’s not a breed of dog.”

There are three types of purebred dogs that are of the pit bull variety, she said: the American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier and the Staffordshire Bull terrier.

But the vast majority of dogs most people consider pit bulls — with big heads, strong jaws and muscular bodies — are of mixed lineage.

“There is no way to visually identify a dog as a pit bull, and there’s no way to even prove it using DNA,” Smith said. “Even veterinarians . . . have a hard time identifying a dog as a pit bull.”

The Humane Society said that the original ruling would have applied to about 70,000 pit bull-type dogs in Maryland. Smith guessed that only a fraction of those are purebred pit varieties.

Tami Santelli, the Maryland director for the Humane Society of the United States, said that the new ruling could bring limited relief for some dog owners but allows a bad decision to stand.

“There’s really no question that families are going to be torn apart over the next four months until the General Assembly comes back in January,” Santelli said. She said owners of a large Baltimore apartment complex recently told all pit-bull owners they would have to get rid of their dogs.

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Lion Cub's First Meeting With Dad Captured on Camera

 

Lions are known as some of the most ferocious animals on the planet, so a tender moment between a father and his cub captured on camera in the wilds of Africa is generating a lot of buzz.

"The lion photos have hit it quite big because it's the cub meeting his dad for the first time ever," said the wildlife photographer who captured the meeting, Suzi Eszterhas. "It's a major part of a lion's life growing up."

This particular cub met his dad for the first time after seven weeks with his mom.

"When lion cubs are babies, the mom keeps them in a den for the first six to eight weeks of life, and it's during this time that she keeps them very hidden," Eszterhas told Goodmorningamerica.com."After, she will bring them out and introduce them to the pride. It's at that point they meet dad for the first time."

(Courtesy: Suzi Eszterhas)Eszterhas was able to capture such a rare moment by embedding herself with the pride of lions on the Masai Mara National Reservein Kenya for three months while she was living in Africa for three years. This particular series of photos was captured in 2008 or 2009, she said.

"That was literally the moment the cub first saw his dad ever," Eszterhas said. "He kind of walked up shyly and then the dad immediately tried to play with him and the mom is watching the whole time to make sure the dad behaves. The whole moment is really special."

The California-based photographer spends nine months of the year in the field, documenting wildlife around the world.

"I spent a lot of hours just sitting with these animals watching them from sunrise to sunset," said Eszterhas, who traveled alone around the reserve in a Jeep taking photos. "Very quickly you just become a part of the landscape and they don't notice you at all. You're always safe but you're quite close to them and they get quite used to you."

The lion photographs have been published in "Lion," the latest edition of her six-title series of children's books, titled " Eye on the Wild," which documents an animal's life from infancy to adulthood in photographs.

Other editions have focused on bears, gorillas and cheetahs.

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