Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Nationally Recognized

The committee also included University of Kansas law student Katie Bray Barnett, whom Hiller said is nationally recognized as an expert on animal control legislation.
City approves animal ordinance
(Topeka Capital-Journal, Nov 28, 2010)

* * * * * *

SRUV has not been able to confirm any other mention of Ms. Bray-Barnett as a nationally recognized expert on animal control legislation. Topeka city council member Karen Hiller, who apparently fabricated this claim from whole cloth, was also a proponent of repealing Topeka's Breed Specific Legislation (BSL).

Calling attention to this fact in the wake of Savannah Edwards' death may appear needlessly petty, but it is not. SRUV will remain vigilant when advocates of fighting breeds inflate their resumes or credentials. It has been a long-standing pattern of these advocates to inflate their own or their colleagues' reputations.

Usually, advocates of fighting breeds have little need to inflate their own credentials; journalists often do it for them. SRUV has previously drawn attention to journalists' propensity to inflate the reputations of pit bull advocates in our posts Delise's Dark Shadows and Pit Bulls Don't Exist.

* * * * *
Notes:

News:
2-year-old Topeka girl dies from dog attack
     (Topeka Capital-Journal, Dec 13, 2012)
Child, 2, Dies Of Injuries Suffered In Dog Attack
     (WIBW.com, Dec 14, 2012)
Dog Attack Victim Identified
     (WIBW.com, Dec 14, 2012)

Related Post: Helping Hands

Google News: Today's pit bull attacks in the US