Monthly Archives: December 2009

Flora, Illinois: Man wants breed ban

Posted on December 17, 2009 by | Comments Off

Man whose mom was killed by pit bull wants to ban breed

Kevin Held
Date last updated: 12/16/2009 8:12:43 PM

KSDK — Bob Koehler’s front yard sign is a conversation starter. It reads: “Ban Pit Bulls.”

“I’m going to be very vocal about it, I don’t care who likes it or who don’t,” Koehler said.

[...] Even if the city of Flora wanted to ban pit bulls, it could not. An Illinois law prohibits municipalities from targeting a specific breed.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/17/09 from http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=191983&catid=3

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Posted in Illinois, Whispers of BSL

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Wichita, KS: Wichita City Council OKs changes in pit bull law

Posted on December 16, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Previous alerts for Wichita: http://stopbsl.com/?s=%22wichita%2C+ks%22

Wichita City Council OKs changes in pit bull law

BY dion lefler
The Wichita Eagle

Regulations meant to control pit bulls, set to take effect Jan. 1, underwent some tweaking by the Wichita City Council on Tuesday.

The major provisions of the new ordinance:

* Require pit bull owners to sterilize their dogs.

* Require a breeder’s license if an owner wants to keep more than two pit bulls.

* Require pit bulls to be implanted with an identifying electronic microchip.

The council carved out an exemption to the sterilization requirement for current pit bull owners who show their dogs in legitimate dog shows.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/16/09 from http://www.kansas.com/news/story/1100259.html

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Posted in BSL Passed, Kansas

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Denver, CO: Johnson: If experts cannot ID dog breeds, how can cities?

Posted on December 16, 2009 by | Comments Off

Breed-specific legislation requires breed identification. Breed ID is only rarely done with DNA testing, usually when an owner appeals a breed determination.

Johnson: If experts cannot ID dog breeds, how can cities?

By Bill Johnson
Denver Post Columnist
Updated: 12/16/2009 02:22:00 AM MST

[...] “Think you can tell just by looking?” was the teaser for the breed identification study we participated in. It was run by Victoria L. Voith, a professor of animal behavior in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Western University in Pomona, Calif.

What I and the others ultimately learned is you cannot simply look at a dog and know what it is.

Shelter workers, she explained, are generally 75 percent wrong when they list or tell you the breed of a dog. The only sure-fire way of knowing, she said, is DNA testing.

[...] “Visual identification simply is not in high agreement with DNA analysis,” she said when I protested that a dog I had falsely, dead-to-rights identified as a pit bull turned out through DNA testing to be mostly Dalmatian. “Dogs in Denver may be dying needlessly,” she said.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/16/09 from http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14005785

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Posted in Breed Identification, Colorado, Results of BSL

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Miami-Dade County, FL: Woman flees Cutler Bay home to keep banned dog

Posted on December 13, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Visit the article link for a video about efforts to fight BSL in Miami-Dade.

Note: this article contains several inaccuracies, such as the suggestion that communities in Texas have “pit bull” bans in place.

Woman flees Cutler Bay home to keep banned dog

A woman left her Cutler Bay home rather than give up her dog, an outlawed pit bull in Miami-Dade County.

BY ELYSE COLEMAN
South Florida News Service

[...] Miami-Dade residents are banned from owning pit bulls. Any dog fitting the physical characteristics of a pit bull by more than 51 percent may also be banned.

[...] “This ordinance, basically, is the version of racial profiling,” said Dahlia Canes, a founder and director of the coalition. “It is discriminatory. It is unjust. Thousands of innocent animals are targeted on a daily basis in Dade County.”

Kathy Labrada, investigation supervisor for Miami-Dade Animal Services, said the criteria used to determine if a dog is a pit bull is based entirely on appearance.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/13/09 from http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/pinecrest/story/1378374.html

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Posted in Florida, Results of BSL

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Livonia, MI: Some want more teeth in vicious animals law (not BSL)

Posted on December 10, 2009 by | Comments Off

Here’s an idea: don’t record the agenda item as “Subject of a proposed Ordinance banning pit bull dogs and/or dangerous dogs in the City” and then act surprised when people think city council is going to talk about a breed ban.

Previous alerts for Livonia: http://stopbsl.com/?s=livonia

Some want more teeth in vicious animals law

‘The point is to encourage good behavior and prevent a problem before there is one.’ Don Knapp, city attorney

By KEN ABRAMCZYK
OBSERVER Staff Writer
December 10, 2009

[...] The council heard Monday from several residents concerned about public safety and suggested the council also look at a leash law. Some who attended the meeting and thought the ordinance would ban pit bulls were told that the ordinance instead polices vicious animals and was not breed-specific.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/10/09 from http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20091210/NEWS10/912100610/1027/Some+want+more+teeth+in+vicious+animals+law

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Posted in Michigan, Non-BSL Proposed

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City of Elkhart, IN: Proposed animal control ordinance unveiled (not BSL)

Posted on December 7, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Previous alerts for Elkhart: http://stopbsl.com/?s=elkhart

Read Elkhart’s final animal ordinance proposal and have your say

If you don’t like what you see here, you can go to tonight’s city council session and tell council members what the pet laws ought to be.

Published: Monday, December 07, 2009 — The Truth, A
Last updated: 12/6/2009 11:44:18 PM
By Josh Weinhold, Reporter

Click here to download a PDF copy of the 36-page proposal for Elkhart’s new animal control ordinance.

ELKHART — A piece of legislation more than three months in the making, a massive overhaul of the city’s animal control laws will soon be up for a council vote.

The ad hoc committee that spent weeks debating what to include in the new ordinance ultimately steered clear of the breed-specific animal ban that previous drafts featured. Instead, the proposed ordinance aims to crack down on all breeds of dangerous dogs while also emphasizing the need for every cat and dog to be licensed with the city.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/7/09 from http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?id=500190

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Posted in BSL Defeated, Indiana, Non-BSL Proposed

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Ohio: Ohio’s ‘pit bull’ law sticks despite tries for change

Posted on December 6, 2009 by | Comments Off

The full article explains how the breed-specific language was adopted by the Ohio legislature decades ago, and is recommended reading.

Ohio’s ‘pit bull’ law sticks despite tries for change

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF
Article published December 06, 2009

COLUMBUS – [...] The law has firmly stuck despite multiple attempts to repeal the language. Rep. Barbara Sears (R., Sylvania) has launched the latest offensive. Her bill would simply pull references to the “pit bull” from the definition of vicious dog. It has received its obligatory first hearing, but there’s been no action since.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/06/09 from http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091206/NEWS24/912060323

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Posted in Breed Identification, BSL, Community Initiatives, Court Cases, Ohio

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UK: Dangerous dogs law is a mess, warn campaigners

Posted on December 6, 2009 by | Comments Off

Dangerous dogs law is a mess, warn campaigners

Dog attacks and number of people taken to hospital have doubled since 1991 act, activists say

Helen Carter
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 December 2009 21.07 GMT

[...] Clarissa Baldwin, the Dogs Trust chief executive, said: “By banning certain breeds of dog rather than focusing on tackling anti-social behaviour it has not prevented a large number of dog attacks or reduced the number of pit bull terrier-type dogs in the UK. Since that act was introduced. the number of hospitalisations is reported as having doubled.”

[...] “If people have bull breed-type dogs they find it difficult to walk them and they will often not be allowed at training classes when they are legally held, exercised and treated by vets.”

[...] The pit bull was made illegal under the Dangerous Dogs Act, along with Japanese tosas, fila brasilero and dogo argentino. The only way they can be allowed is if the owner obtains a certificate of exemption from a court after having the dog neutered, insured and a transponder implanted and an identification tattoo.

Full article retrieved 12/6/09 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/06/dangerous-dogs-act-calls-repeal

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Posted in Outside of U.S., Results of BSL

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Mobridge, SD update: BSL passed

Posted on December 6, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Previous alerts for Mobridge: http://stopbsl.com/?s=mobridge

Dog Law Debate

Erich Schaffhauser
12/04/2009 10:03 PM

[...] Mobridge city council recently passed a law that doesn’t ban pit bulls but does single them out.

Pit bull owners are required to have $250,000 liability insurance and a sign warning people they have a pit bull. They also need to keep a pit bull fenced or kenneled if it’s running around outside.[...]

But the Mobridge law is tame compared with one passed by a public vote last year in Leola.

There, the law bans a handful of breeds. The city passed it after complaints of Rottweiler and German shepherds running in the streets. Concern also rose when a meter reader in a North Dakota town was a dog attack victim.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/6/09 from http://www.keloland.com/News/EyeonKELOLAND/NewsDetail6403.cfm?Id=93591

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Posted in BSL Passed, South Dakota

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Send Holiday Cards to Your Lawmakers

Posted on December 4, 2009 by | 1 Comment

The holiday season is a great opportunity to gently remind your lawmakers that they need to keep dog owners–especially those with breeds or mixes that are typically targeted by BSL–in mind when they’re writing legislation and voting on it.

Include them in your holiday card recipient list, and in your card, enclose a nice photo of your family and your dogs. (You don’t have to write anything political in the card; just sign and mail.)

It’s a simple gesture that reinforces the idea that you are a caring, concerned, active citizen—and it humanizes you. This makes it more difficult for lawmakers to discriminate against you.

Send a card to your state senators and representatives at a minimum; you might also consider local representatives like your city council or county commissioners.

Find your lawmakers’ contact info through a Google search.

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Posted in Community Initiatives

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