Tag: BSL

Denver’s Unfair Pit Bull Ban Could Have Finally Ended, But the Mayor Says No

People like me who have spent years advocating for the end of breed-specific legislation (BSL) — unfair laws, including breed bans, that single out dogs only because of how they look — were overjoyed earlier this week with the news that the Denver City Council had voted 7-4 to end the city’s 30-year Pit Bull ban.

Finally! It was so encouraging that the city officials of Denver, whose ban was one of the world’s most notorious, had realized BSL does not increase public safety. It’s also a big waste of money, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to enforce. All BSL effectively does is punish well-behaved dogs and responsible dog owners.

But cancel those party plans. In a letter to the Denver City Council yesterday, Mayor Michael Hancock decided he could not “in good conscience support this legislation.” He claimed he’d heard from “thousands of residents” about the end of the ban. (And you can bet he heard from the hate group behind DogsBite.org, a website founded by a dog bite victim who wants all Pit Bulls destroyed.

Hancock claimed he talked to experts in veterinary care. That’s interesting, because the largest veterinary care group in the United States, the American Veterinary Medical Association, opposes BSL because it’s unfair and ineffective.

Although the Pit Bull ban could have been lifted, there still would have been special requirements for the owners of Pit Bulls, mixes and dogs that happen to look like Pit Bulls. The owners would have had to register their dogs with Denver Animal Protection, obtain a breed-restricted license, and have no more than two Pit Bulls.

Yes, these regulations singling out these dogs are still BSL (and B.S.), but removing the ban would have been an important, positive step.

“At the end of the day, I must ask whether passage of this ordinance would make our homes and neighborhoods safer or pose an increased risk to public safety,” Hancock wrote in his letter. “I have concluded that it would pose an increased risk.”

It would really be helpful to know what, if any, facts led the mayor to this decision. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), for example, states that it’s unaware that BSL makes communities safer for children or adults.

Denver’s Pit Bull ban was enacted in 1989 after a 3-year-old boy wandered into his neighbor’s yard and was fatally attacked by an unspayed Pit Bull who was chained to a carport, according to the Denver Post. Three years earlier, another of the owner’s dogs had bitten an 8-year-old boy. Because of that one irresponsible owner 30 years ago, thousands of Denver residents have had to make the terrible choice of finding a new home for themselves or their beloved dogs, or relinquishing their pets to the city to be euthanized.

“Breed bans usually come on the heels of a fatal dog attack, a knee-jerk reaction by city and county officials that might pacify a community for a while, but doesn’t do a thing to keep communities safer,” notes the Best Friends Animal Society. “It’s much easier to institute breed bans than to look at what caused those attacks.”

The potential good news is that Denver Councilman Christopher Herndon, who proposed ending the Pit Bull ban, promised he will introduce a ballot measure allowing voters to end the ban next November.

“I’m disappointed the mayor is choosing to disregard the science on the issue of breed-specific legislation,” Herndon said in a statement, according to the New York Times. “Research tells us breed-specific legislation is ineffective at keeping communities safe and experts in the field — from the local level to the national level — agree it is no longer best practice.”

So, Denver voters, please do the right thing in November and end your city’s unfair Pit Bull ban. You’ll not only be saving a lot of money but also the lives of countless dogs.

Photo: JussyD

Hooray! US Dept. of Transportation Says Delta Airlines Can’t Ban Pit Bull Service Dogs

In response to a growing number of passengers bringing aboard questionable emotional support animals, last year several major U.S. airlines changed their policies regarding these and service animals allowed on flights.

American Airlines, for example, prohibited hedgehogs, chickens, ferrets, snakes and some other rather unusual critters. JetBlue only allows dogs, cats and miniature horses aboard as emotional support animals. Southwest Airlines allows emotional support dogs and cats on leashes.

Unlike any other major airline, in June 2018 Delta Airlines banned all “Pit Bull-type” service and emotional support dogs from flights.

This controversial ban was “the direct result of growing safety concerns following recent incidents in which several employees were bitten,” according to a statement at the time from Delta. In one of those incidents, two flight attendants were bitten by a dog identified as a Pit Bull.

What’s interesting is that a Delta passenger was mauled in 2017 by an emotional support dog identified as a Labrador/Pointer mix — yet the airline banned neither of those breeds.

So instead of doing the sensible thing and taking action against the owner of the dog in the most recent biting incident, Delta decided to punish hundreds of dogs and their responsible owners. Breed bans and breed-specific legislation (BSL) unfairly single out dogs, usually Pit Bulls, based on their looks instead of their behavior. It’s sometimes referred to as “breedism.”

Because BSL is so unfair and has proven to be ineffective in increasing public safety, it’s opposed by almost every major animal welfare organization. The heads of both the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) quickly released statements condemning Delta Airlines’ new policy.

Prohibiting Pit Bulls only serves to spread “false and life-threatening stereotypes,” said Matt Bershadker, CEO of the ASPCA. “Every dog is unique, even dogs within the same breed, and their behavior is influenced by many factors.”

Kitty Block, president and CEO of the HSUS, agreed, pointing out that Delta’s ban also discriminates against passengers who need these dogs.

“People across the country and the world rely on their pets for their physical and emotional well-being,” she stated, “and this discriminatory policy hurts them without providing any associated safety benefits. … Federal laws in place to protect emotional support and service animals do not discriminate based on breed, but instead base exclusions solely on the behavior of the individual animal in question.”

Delta Airlines’ ban did, in fact, break those federal laws.

Banning Pit Bulls as service dogs violates both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). Under the ACAA, airlines may exclude service animals that are too large or heavy, pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others, cause a disruption of cabin service or are not allowed in a foreign country. Nothing in these regulations “permits the airline to deny ‘Pit Bull’ dogs (or whatever label someone subjectively wants to assign to them) as service dogs,” notes the Animal Farm Foundation (AFF), which provides service animals, including pit bull type dogs, to people with disabilities.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), which oversees the ACAA, confirmed this in June 2018, stating that “a limitation based exclusively on breed of the service animal is not allowed,” according to the Washington Post.

Fourteen months after enstating its Pit Bull ban, Delta Airlines will have to end it — but not because it wants to.

On August 8 the DOT released a Final Statement of Enforcement Priorities Regarding Service Animals. The final word is that U.S. airlines can’t discriminate against certain dog breeds. (Hooray!)

“The Department’s Enforcement Office views a limitation based exclusively on breed of the service animal to not be allowed under its service animal regulation,” the Final Statement says. “The Enforcement Office intends to use available resources to ensure that dogs as a species are accepted for transport. Airlines are permitted to find that any specific animal, regardless of breed, poses a direct threat.”

The DOT’s Final Statement also includes new rules that allow airline employees to ask passengers “reasonable” questions about a service animal’s vaccinations, training and behavior. Airlines can still require advance notice if passengers are bringing emotional support animals on flights. Any animal perceived by an airline to pose a threat to the health or safety of other airlines can be prohibited from a flight.

The new rules will go into effect after the Final Statement is published next week in the Federal Register. Airlines will have one month to start following them.

Many thanks to the DOT for this decision that will help save the lives of Pit Bulls and the people they support. As for Delta Airlines, I strongly recommend that all dog lovers take their business to an airline that doesn’t unfairly and illegally discriminate against certain dog breeds.

Portions of this story were originally published on Care2.com in July 2018.

Photo: MichaelDarby1976

Montreal SPCA Takes a Stand Against Proposed Pit Bull Ban

Breed-specific legislation (BSL), which includes Pit Bull bans, is very expensive to enforce and has not proven to increase public safety anywhere it’s been enacted. Yet for some reason, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre thinks it’s a great idea and wants to enforce it in the city, starting in January 2017.

Almost all major animal welfare organizations, including the RSPCA, SPCA, Humane Society of the United States and more, are opposed to BSL because it punishes dogs based on their looks instead of placing responsibility where it belongs: on the dog’s owner.

The Montreal SPCA, which is the leading organization for animal welfare in Canada, also opposes BSL — so much so that it announced it will no longer provide dog-control services to the city if officials vote this month to ban Pit Bulls.

“We hope that the proposed animal control bylaw will not be adopted on Sept. 26 and that we will not have to alter the contracts we currently have with boroughs,” Alanna Devine, the Montreal SPCA’s director of animal advocacy, said in a statement.

“We’ll be forced eventually to euthanize hundreds of dogs in good health,” said Benoit Tremblay, the SPCA’s executive director.

Despite the Montreal SPCA’s stance, and the fact that more than 1,500 people have shown up at protests and over 21,000 people have signed a petition opposing it, the ban will likely be passed.

“The Coderre administration is moving forward with its balanced bylaw on animal control,” Anie Samson, the vice-chair of Montreal’s executive committee, told CBC News. “The safety of all our citizens is a priority for our administration.”

There is nothing “balanced” about an unfair bylaw that only punishes dogs because of the breed they happen to be.

Credit: Montreal SPCA

Better Alternatives to BSL

The Montreal SPCA has a very helpful infographic on its website that should be reviewed closely by city officials (and anyone who thinks Pit Bulls are inherently dangerous). Instead of a breed ban, offficials should consider more effectively preventing dog bites by using these suggested alternatives instead:

  • Enforce existing laws requiring dogs to be on leash in public places
  • Enforce existing laws relating to the mandatory licensing and identification of dogs
  • Adopt laws that prohibit aversive training methods
  • Adopt laws that prohibit the use of guard dogs
  • Adopt laws that prohibit the permanent chaining of dogs
  • Adopt laws to regulate the breeding and sale of dogs

“Our mission is to save animals, to care for them, protect them from cruelty, and find them homes for life,” the Montreal SPCA wrote on its Facebook page. “We will not, due to biased criteria, euthanize dogs in perfect health who present no danger to the community.”

Merci beaucoup, Montreal SPCA.

Photo via Facebook

Thanks to Hero Pit Bull, Michigan Town Ends Breed Ban

As Jamie Dopke began beating his girlfriend, Jamie Kraczkowski, two months ago, her Pit Bull, Isis, sprang into action.

“When my head got hit against the wall, she just grabbed his pant leg and she was done,” Kraczkowski, of Hazel Park, Mich., told WJBK. “She was done with him abusing me — and abusing her.”

Kraczkowski’s now ex-boyfriend stopped hitting her and left. Unfortunately, because Hazel Park enforced a breed ban, Krackowski and Isis also had to leave their home, or the hero dog would have been confiscated and euthanized.

With help from a GoFundMe account Kraczkowski created, the two were able to move to another town, where they’re both “doing great,” she told the Huffington Post this week.

Because breed-specific legislation (BSL), which includes Pit Bull bans, is so unfair — not to mention costly to enforce and proven to be ineffective in increasing public safety — it is opposed by President Obama and virtually all major animal welfare organizations: the ASPCA, AVMA, HSUS, etc., etc. For these reasons, the trend has been to repeal these useless bans.

The latest town to repeal its ban? Hazel Park. Last week, city officials voted unanimously to end it, thanks to Isis.

“We are really excited,” Courtney Protz-Sanders, whose Michigan’s Political Action Committee for Animals campaigned for the repeal, told the Huffington Post. “We’re happy.”

Hazel Park is not, however, eliminating BSL altogether. It will still impose special requirements for Pit Bull owners. The dogs must be licensed, pass behavioral assessment tests and be fenced properly, and their owners must have home insurance.

“I am very happy with this decision. But I think we still have a long way to go,” Mike Toma, a Hazel Park resident who has two Pit Bulls, told the Daily Tribune. After Kraczkowski’s story made news headlines in March, Toma was also given five days to relocate his dogs.

“If it comes between where I live and my dogs, it’s gonna be my dogs 10 times out of 10,” he told the Daily Tribune at the time.

Photo via GoFundMe.com

Dog Mom May Have to Rehome Hero Pit Bull Due to Hazel Park Breed Ban

MAY 15, 2015 UPDATE: Thanks to Isis, officials in Hazel Park, Mich., have repealed the town’s breed ban.

When Jamie Kraczkowski’s increasingly violent boyfriend began beating her yet again last week, her 2-year old Pit Bull, Isis, came to her rescue.

“When my head got hit against the wall, she just grabbed his pant leg and she was done,” Kraczkowski, of Hazel Park, Mich., told WJBK. “She was done with him abusing me — and abusing her.”

Her now ex-boyfriend, Jamie Dopke, left. But when he turned himself in Thursday and was charged with domestic violence, he complained to police that Isis had attacked him, requiring 30 stitches in his leg.

Because Dopke had been abusing Kraczkowski at the time, Hazel Park police said Isis would not be euthanized.

“If I had a dog and I was being attacked by somebody, I’d hope my dog would intervene,” an unidentified police officer told WJBK.

Unfortunately, however, Hazel Park enforces a Pit Bull ban, so Kraczkowski has been ordered to find a new home for her hero within five days.

“Thank God they’re allowing me to do home quarantine now. But, you know, it’s been pretty traumatizing for me,” she told WJBK, her bruised hands shaking.

Kraczkowski said her home’s lease and utilities are in Dopke’s name. Dopke is currently free on bail.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with my dog,” she said. “I definitely don’t feel safe without her.”

Because it is so unfair — not to mention costly to enforce and proven to be ineffective in increasing public safety — breed-specific legislation (BSL), which includes Pit Bull bans, is opposed by President Obama and virtually all major animal welfare organizations: the ASPCA, AVMA, HSUS, etc., etc. For these reasons, the trend has been to repeal these useless bans.

Holly Bachor, who was born and raised in Hazel Park, wants the city to follow this trend.

“We are looking for residents who want to speak out against the breed discrimination law currently in effect in Hazel Park,” she wrote in a comment on the FOX 2 Detroit Facebook page. “This is an opportunity to repeal the law, but we need Hazel Park residents and animal welfare advocates to join the effort. Please email info@mi-paca.org to add your name to the Hazel Park team.”

In a comment on the WJBK story, the American Pit Bull Terrier Association Inc (NZ) wrote, “Let’s hope this young lady and her dog can get out of Hazel Park. Men who beat women are still dragging their knuckles along the ground. Authorities still banning breeds are also unevolved and dangerous.”

Kraczkowski has started an online fund to help her move with Isis to a dog-friendly city. As of this morning, $525 of her $2,500 goal has been raised.

Photo via GoFundMe.com

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