Dog Bites, Law, and Your Business

November 14th, 2014

What do these things have in common?

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Executive Assistant at SafeSourcing.

Research. These three especially require digging in and getting all the information available.

Recently there was an article  about a suburban neighborhood’s ban on Pit Bulls. Having never heard of such a ban before, it was surprising that one particular breed had been outlawed in an area. The news article talked about how the city officials issuing the citations did not have a formal way of testing what breed a particular dog was, other than visual, and the main story was about how a family was repeatedly cited and fined when their family pet was in fact a Boxer, not a Pit Bull.

Despite strongly disagreeing with this city’s policy of banning one breed of dog when there are many breeds of dog that bite (and are more likely to come from a small breed ) and that the behavior of an animal has a huge amount to do with how that animal is raised, one important lesson here is that there is very little to back this law. The notion that a family can be repeatedly fined over a “dangerous” breed of dog when their dog is neither dangerous nor of that breed, is reminiscent of mob mentality without due process. Perhaps mob mentality is a bit extreme, but the principal is the same. Fear should not dictate law and those making the laws ought to know better than to pass something with no checks or balances.

The purpose of bringing this situation to light is that if a business were to run its operations similarly, it would fail horribly (unnecessary expenses, delay in parts and production, perhaps even lawsuits). A business cannot start implementing policies without having knowledge and research to back it up. For example, when ordering manufacturing parts, a business has to know the specifications of a part before ordering it. Just like not knowing the difference between a Boxer and a Pit Bull, using a nail when you need a screw is going to cause problems. In other words, do your research.

One way to ensure that your business is doing the research it needs is by implementing a SME, or Subject Matter Expert. This is just one way SafeSourcing can help your business, by providing experience and knowledge on your supplies and the industry.

If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help with your business research or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

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