Tennessee Breed Specific Legislation Introduced


From the AKC:

Tennessee Senator Tommy Kilby of Wartburg has introduced Senate Bill 2738. If adopted, this bill will make it a crime to own a “pit bull dog” in the state of Tennessee. It is imperative that all Tennessee concerned dog owners voice their strong opposition to this wrongheaded legislation…

SB 2738 proposes to:

  • Make it a crime for any person to knowingly own a “pit bull dog” in Tennessee.
  • Define “pit bull dog” as any American pit bull terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American bulldog, or American Staffordshire Terrier, or any mixed breed dog that contains fifty percent of its lineage from those breeds.
  • Force any person found guilty of owning a “pit bull dog” to surrender custody and forfeit ownership of the dog to a humane society.

To see a copy of this bill, click here.
To find out what you can do, click here.


9 responses to “Tennessee Breed Specific Legislation Introduced”

  1. I do not believe that the state of Tennessee should be able to do this. Not all pit bulls are trained to be malicious.

  2. It is people such as Mr. Kilby who have nothing better to do than to try and pass legislation that has no business being proposed! Why not balance our budget, correct the top heavy school systems or simply stop these insane bills!

    This is Tennessee, not California!

  3. Why not worry about the real dangerous animals in this world. The rapists, murderers, child molesters, etc., are the ones that most people are truly afraid of. Put down the criminals not a law bidding citizen that just happens to love pitbulls.

  4. Kind of woke people up though, didn’t it? We’ve been fighting this for years, trying to sound the alarm, warn everybody about what’s happening.

    Get writing, people! Tell your friends!

  5. Update – Sen. Kilby apparently knows that not all ‘pit bulls’ are bad and only wanted to get something, anything, filed before the deadline.

    What a twit – doesn’t he know that a lot of these bills get passed because nobody bothers to actually read them?

    Anyway, it sounds as though there is still hope for some sane regulation in the state.

  6. Thankfully, this bill was withdrawn on 1/18/2008 although several cities, including the City of Mt. Juliet, are currently trying to pass similar local ordinance.

  7. Only ignorant people would try to ban ownership of a breed if dogs. Why not go after the PEOPLE who give pit bulls their bad reputation, NOT the DOG!!!

  8. Once again, we see the waste of our hard earned tax dollars. One of our highly overpaid legislators submit a bill based on emotion not fact trying to limit our freedoms. Can’t our lawmakers be doing something more productive like maybe helping keep jobs in this country, helping the economy, reducing crime, fixing the healthcare problem, etc etc etc. No, they worry about a dog. Many lawmakers such as the Tommy Kilbys of the world don’t realize why they are in office. It should not be to waste our tax dollars on bills that ban dogs, worry about which pitchers did steroids or the numerous other ridiculous endeavors they get involved in. Just ridiculous. Vote him out.

  9. I am from Oklahoma there is a law against BSL here. However, my husband is in the Army and we are moving to TN how afraid should I be? We fought it in Oklahoma and I will fight in Tennessee or move back to Oklahoma if I have to, nobody will take my babies from me!

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