[Marty]

Breed specific legislation is exactly what sounds like...regulation of your right
to own or, in many cases, not own a dog based solely on the breed or "type"
of dog, not your responsibility as an owner.

Breed specific ordinances are quick fixes and not a sufficient long term solution for the following reasons:

1. Dog problems are generally problems with owner responsibility and are not limited to breeds. When breeds are singled out as dangerous or vicious, responsibility is removed from the dog owner which is where it belongs. Irresponsible people are also less likely to follow the law - and as a result, everyone has to suffer.

2. By limiting the ability of citizens to own certain breeds, responsible law abiding citizens will shy away from those breeds. These are the types of owners that communities need to encourage, not drive away.

3. Communities that have instituted such bans often find that the irresponsible owners and the criminals who use dogs for illegal purposes simply switch to another breed.

4. Breeds and mixes are hard to identify and often dogs are mis labeled and destroyed based on paranioa and prejudice and also punishes those that are good canine citizens. Many breeds function as assistance dogs for handicapped owners, search and rescue dogs, drug-sniffing dogs, police dogs, etc. and drives them out of the community.

The American Veterinary Medical Association and several state veterinary medical associations oppose breed-specific legislation for just this reason.

5. Passage of laws that are only enforced through complaints cause two problems: 1) they create disrespect for the law if authorities require compliance only upon complaint, and 2) they provide ammunition for neighborhood feuds.

Suggested alternatives to breed bans include:

1. Stronger enforcement of existing dangerous dog laws. If they are not already in place, lobby for protection from untrained and unsupervised dogs of any breed or mix. This is a broad-based effort that protects all citizens as any dog can bite and be a nuisance when owned by an irresponsible owner. Those who would deliberately train a dog to act aggressively towards people or other animals, or to use dogs in the commission of a felony or misdemeanor should face additional penalties.

2. Encourage local animal rescue and welfare agencies to provide responsible dog ownership seminars and canine safety education. The American Kennel Club has a free education program created for elementary school children.

3. Protect the rights of all citizens with nuisance ordinances such as anti-barking, pooper scooper regulations and leash laws. Reprinted.....

[Marty]

Fighthing BSL on the national level involves several important key factors:

When sending in letters to senators, representatives or council members if you are titled it makes a greater impression.

There are membership organizations, such as the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, The Association of Companion Animal Councelors, American Canine Foundation and other membership organizations you can join, some have other certifications available within their organization.

Example:


Joe Smith
2367 Front St
St Louis MO.
89765
800 444 6666
(ACABC) Association of Companion Animal Behavior Counselors
AKC Exhibitor
UKC Exhibitor
Red Rock Kennels

When writing the letter make sure you place your resume, tell your education
and what you have done regarding canine legislation, it's important because it
shows that not all Rottweiler/Pit Bull owners are criminals.

Example:

Dear Senator Thomas:

My name is Joe Smith, I'm a high school graduate with a family with three
children. I own Pitbulls and have been professionally training dogs
for 15 years in the city of St Louis. In this time I have been active in
canine legislation in various areas of the United States. (name were you
have written letters)

Remember if you are writing letters you are active in legislation
throughout the United States.

When writing a letter you need to make sure you know the reasons that the
city or state is attempting to enact the legislation. Remember you could be
in Texas and writing a letter to Florida you have to make a great impact on
the Legislator or his assistant to have your opinion taken seriously.

Before writing a letter it's always best to do your own research, via the
computer you can look up proposed ordinances and city council agenda, or
state sponsored bills. Sometimes BSL alerts do not always have all the
information needed. There are numerous websites set up for research
information to aid in preparing a letter. You can also place a call to any.

[Marty]

There are alot of manipulated statistics out there and the CDC is used to help pass BSL because it states Rottweilers and Pit Bulls are responsible for the majority of fatal attacks, this is bias infomation and only shows a certain period of years, when looked at more rationally we find mixed breeds are at the top of the fatal list. The CDC was used against us in Ohio in Toledo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AKC has generic dog laws, Rott-n-Chatter, ACF and Eurowaf have excellent resource information placed on their websites with statistics and quotes from Dr. I Lehr Brisbin, Dr. Wagner, Dr Stur and other well known scientists.

Join up with organizations like ACF, APDT and ACABC to help promote unity.

Marcy Setter from Michigan contacted ACF for assistance when the headlines broke two weeks ago calling for the banning of APBT's at the state level,
with the aid of Jan Coopers BSL-UPDATES it placed Marcy in contact with ACF, within one phone call and a meeting with attorney Reed, ACF faxed current
scientific statitistics with research done on APBT's and other dog breeds, that along with the assistance of thousands of letters that flooded the attorney and Senator Thomas from responsible dog owners from across the US and Michigan the Senator and attorney realize the truth about BSL.

The force comes from the local residents (responsible dog owners) who do the leg work, meet with the politicians and present the facts, the support comes
from the national organizations that will stand behind the dog owners and go as far as court litigation to protect their rights, it makes for a powerful combination then when national opposition is added it insures success.

When fighting in your own state politicans receive e-mail, what they like is one letter from all their constituents (voters) in their district with all the signatures included, this keeps the e-mails from overtaking the accounts.

The whole idea is to get the representative to believe your letter, the more you quote scientific findings and current statistics the better chances you have.

Sincerely,
Glen Bui
ACF

[chinasmom]

Great post. A lot of good info. Nice job.

[Marty]

Thanks young lady

[buddysmom]

That is GREAT!!!

[Michele]

great post!!!!!!

[Turner]

Excellent post!!