May 23rd, 2011 by Editor

Update: Given that Joplin, Missouri was devastated by a horrific tornado over the weekend and that Joplin neighbors Webb City, it is doubtful that Webb City will be having a council meeting tonight as scheduled.  The breed-specific ordinance will, of course, still be under consideration so please keep vigilant.  Our ongoing prayers go out to those folks in Joplin.  Know that we are thinking about you and praying for you constantly.

Editor’s note: Please contact the Webb City City Council here and politely inform them that “pit bull” is not a breed (their own ordinance defines “pit bull” as a handful of breeds, their mixes, and lookalikes!) meaning statistics on so-called “pit bulls” are massively skewed and therefore meaningless.  Also, please inform them that breed-specific ordinances, whether restrictions or an outright ban, have time and again shown to be ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional.

From The Joplin Globe:

A recent attack by a pit bull on another dog within the city limits has prompted the City Council to take a look at whether to adopt an ordinance banning the breed.

The topic drew comments from residents at the council meeting May 9, and it is expected to be back before the panel May 23….

Read this article in its entirety here.

April 14th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: If a resident’s dog was attacked by a “pit bull” (though “pit bull” is not a breed) then the issue is a free-roaming or uncontained dog problem, not a breed problem since the same scenario is possible with any breed of dog.  Please contact the Manton City Commission here and politely inform them that breed-specific legislation in any form is ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional.

From UpNorthLive.com:

Manton leaders are considering drafting an ordinance that would prohibit city residents from owning or purchasing a Pitbull.  Read the rest of this entry »

April 14th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: Once again a city points a finger at breed (though “pit bull” is not a breed) instead of identifying the real threat: free-roaming dogs.  Please contact the Xenia City Council as soon as possible and politely inform them that breed-specific legislation (BSL) is ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional. (For those writing letters, consider that Toledo’s BSL was ruled unconstitutional in January 2010 as it went well beyond the purview of state law and violated home-rule doctrine, and legislation currently in the Ohio legislature seeks to remove the archaic dangerous dog designation for “pit bulls” via HB 14.)

From whiotv.com:

An proposed ordinance would outlaw keeping pit bulls as pets inside Xenia city limits.  Xenia City Council will discuss the issue in a special session Thursday night…  Read the rest of this entry »

March 25th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: While our thanks go to Mayor Kuhns for voting against BSL, the rest of the Council appears to have been hellbent on ignoring the overwhelming evidence of the inefficacy of breed-specific legislation, instead subscribing to the long-debunked urban myths, skewed statistics, and junk science of the opposition.  Kirksville itself defines the “pit bull” as three breeds.  Does it not follow that if you define three breeds as if they were one (though “pit bull” is not a breed) that statistics on so-called “pit bulls” would be skewed and therefore meaningless?

And you can see the radical animal rightist mentality of introducing stepping-stone legislation with the end-goal of ending domestic pet ownership has been fully adopted by some in Kirksville.  For instance, the woman that thinks all dogs over 30 pounds should be restricted in true nanny-state style, or the city codes and planning director, who, like the council, still subscribes to the long-debunked urban mythology about the locking jaws or stronger jaws of “pit bulls.”  And is there any excuse for this ignorance when I wrote the Council and excerpted the following from Dr. I. Lehr Brisbin, Ph.D., who is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and an expert in training, handling, behavior and the anatomy of bulldog breeds?:

“The few studies which have been conducted of the structure of the skulls, mandibles and teeth of [American Pit Bull Terriers] show that, in proportion to their size, their jaw structure and thus its inferred functional morphology, is no different than that of any [other] breed of dog. There is absolutely no evidence for the existence of any kind of ’locking mechanism’ unique to the structure of the jaw and/or teeth of the American Pit Bull Terrier” (Source: American Dog Breeders Association, “Discover the American Pit Bull Terrier”).

This testimony was affirmed by a court of law.  So does the Kirksville City Council think the court and a Ph.D. lied?  And, if you want to talk about lies, I would be curious to know what other lies the Council was told by the radical animal rightists who pushed BSL with the council.  We already know they told them one.  And again, I’m flabbergasted.  With the Internet at everyone’s disposal, is there any excuse for believing urban myths over science???  Going forward, we will certainly be avoiding Kirksville and will not patronize any of its businesses, and we hope that like in Midwest City, Oklahoma, citizens legally challenge Kirksville’s ordinance.

From HeartlandConnection.com:

The Kirksville City Council voted on Monday night to approve an ordinance that will add pit bulls to the city’s dangerous and vicious animal list.  Read the rest of this entry »

March 25th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: It is unfortunate that there is so much disinformation out there.  City councils and city attorneys are repeatedly misinformed by those with an agenda about the supposed effectiveness and constitutionality of breed-specific legislation (BSL).  The constant stream of repealed BSL nationally and internationally of late illustrates the ineffectiveness of BSL, and when a case against BSL is tried properly and the court is not a kangaroo court, BSL is often found to be unconstitutional.  And, as we so often say here, “pit bull” is not a breed.  As such, statistics that lump together the countless breeds mislabeled “pit bull” are greatly skewed and therefore meaningless.

Please contact the Seward County Commission here and politely inform them that BSL is ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional.

From the Leader & Times:

In February, the Seward County Commission passed a resolution banning the possession of pit bulls in the county. That resolution came 20 years after an original one was passed in 1991.

In the 1991 ordinance was included a grandfather clause that would allow pit bulls in the county to stay in the county, but none could be raised after that.

Monday, after a half hour discussion, the commission voted to revisit the resolution it passed in February. The talk began when county resident Gerald Valentine, who breeds pit bulls, asked the board if the new ordinance could include a grandfather clause similar to the one in the 1991 resolution, which was repealed through the  current law.  Read the rest of this entry »

March 25th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: The Hopkinton incident illustrates the danger, not of a specific breed, but of dogs that are constantly penned, unsocialized, and abused.  If Elkader seeks to be proactive, they should do what Hopkinton didn’t: respond in a timely manner to calls from citizens about possible animal abuse.  Folks want to point a finger at the breeds in the Hopkinton case, but it was the humans that failed that little girl, not the dogs, and certainly not the breed of dogs.

Please contact the Elkader Mayor and City Council via the City Clerk’s info that follows and politely inform them that breed-specific legislation in any form is ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional:

Jennifer K. Cowsert
City Administrator/Clerk
(563)245-2098
elkaderadmin@alpinecom.net

From the Clayton County Register:

The Elkader City Council will be taking another look at the city ordinance governing dog ownership at its next meeting.

Councilman Darryl Koehn said Monday that a concerned citizen approached him about the matter, prompted by a March 5 incident in Hopkinton in which three-year-old Vanessa Elizabeth Husmann was mauled to death in her backyard by two of her grandfather’s Rottweilers.  Read the rest of this entry »

March 25th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: A breed-specific ordinance, whether an outright ban or breed-specific restrictions like Beatrice is considering, is still ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional.  And while DNA tests (which are not at all as reliable as the public has been made to believe and certainly not enough to withstand a legal challenge) have been proposed as a means to enforce “pit bull” bans, how do you DNA test for a “breed” of dog, “pit bull,” which isn’t a breed at all?  And if an ordinance has to parse out a handful of breeds that they define as “pit bull” doesn’t it stand to reason that statistics on so-called “pit bulls” would be skewed since the catch-all slang term “pit bull” must then encompass many breeds instead of just one?

Please contact the Beatrice Mayor and City Council via the City Clerk’s info that follows and politely inform them that breed-specific legislation in any form is ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional:

City Clerk: Linda Koch lkoch@beatrice.ne.gov

400 Ella Street
Beatrice, NE 68310
(402) 228-5200
Fax (402) 228-2312

From the Beatrice Daily Sun:

The Beatrice City Council held its first discussion regarding a proposed new animal ordinance Monday night.

During the hour and 15 minute discussion, the Council heard from multiple members of the community and discussed everything from how to determine the breed of a dog, to if pot-bellied pigs are considered “exotic” animals.  Read the rest of this entry »

March 10th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: See?  Municipalities who pass these breed-specific ordinances have no idea how to enforce them because “pit bull” is not a breed and so “pit bulls” become whatever arbitrary designation the ordinance wants them to be.  Used to be they defined “pit bulls” as American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, and Staffordshire Bull Terriers.  Now it looks like they think Bull Terriers are “pit bulls” too.  The truth is, “pit bull” is a catch-all that can literally be as many breeds as the ordinance defines it to be.  That’s why BSL for “pit bulls” in particular has been such a goldmine for those wanting to eradicate dog ownership, and why it is so blatantly unconstitutional.  Indeed, when even Chihuahuas are mistaken for “pit bulls” what can’t be called a “pit bull”?

From KFOR channel 4 in Oklahoma City:

A Midwest City family wins a long overdue court battle against the city. The family had been fighting for years to save their bull terrier pets. This week a state supreme court ruling ends the long legal battle.

Lower courts had previously ruled the dog ban violated state law.

This week the state supreme court refused to take up the issue, which means the Midwest City ban is now officially dead.

The dog owner at the heart of the lawsuit is obviously thrilled by the decision.

“It’s a huge relief,” said dog owner Jerry Stuckey.

The dispute centered on a now defunct Midwest City ordinance that banned dogs with “pit” or “bull” in their names as a danger to the community.

That included the Stuckey’s bull terrier dogs.

“It was just a bad ordinance. It was unconstitutional,” said Stuckey.  Read the rest of this entry »

March 9th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: The following article was written by Illinoisan Lee Williams, originally posted on Illinoispolicy.org and is currently posted on the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership website. I have excerpted parts of the article below because first and foremost we deal with constitutional rights on this blog, and secondly because Illinois, as the whole world knows by now, is full of nanny-staters so corrupt even Al Capone would blush.

From JPFO.org:

Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s recent edict, which orders the state police to release the names of every gun owner to the media, is bad policy that could put guns into the hands of criminals, and give them a handy database of unarmed victims.

Madigan’s office recently mediated a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) dispute between the state police and the Associated Press. The AP had sought the names of every Illinoisan who holds a Firearms Owner Identification Card—a much-derided requirement if you want to exercise what’s left of your Second Amendment rights in this state. You can’t so much as buy a box of shotgun shells without one, much less own a gun.  Read the rest of this entry »

March 7th, 2011 by Editor

Editor’s note: Fatal dog maulings almost always have mitigating factors — like the dog being sick, unaltered, abused, unsocialized, or some combination of these — that the media seldom takes into consideration.  What we know for sure is that dog-bite related fatalities are not a breed problem.  Any dog of any breed if left unsocialized or if abused can become dangerous.  Pete Murphy with the Dubuque Regional Humane Society sums it up best in the article below when he says, “There’s a potential for this to happen with every breed… it’s very important to supervise dogs with kids as well as socialize and train them.”  Indeed, even small-breed dogs have been known to kill infants, so parents, grandparents, guardians, etc. must always be vigilant.

Please contact* the Hopkinton Mayor and City Council at the following address and politely inform them that breed-specific legislation does not prevent dog bites/attacks; that it is ineffective, unenforceable, and has been ruled unconstitutional:

Hopkinton City Hall
115 First St SE
PO Box 154
Hopkinton, IA 52237-0154

Phone: 563-926-2181
Fax: 563-926-2065

Email: cityhopk@iowatelecom.net

From KWWL NBC 7:

We now know the name of a three year old girl killed after she was mauled by dogs this weekend. And some government leaders say they may make changes in their city as a result of the attack.  Read the rest of this entry »