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Oregon Residents: Innocent Dogs Are At Risk In Your State!

March 04, 2009, 10:9PM MT

By Cheri Moon

Proposal Targets “Pit Bulls” and All Short-Haired Muscular Mix Breeds

Proposal Targets “Pit Bulls” and All Short-Haired Muscular Mix Breeds

By Ledy VanKavage, Esq., Best Friends Staff

To Oregon Residents Only:

Ask your state representative and state senator to oppose House Bill (H.B.) 2852 Today!

Representative Vicki Berger has introduced a breed discriminatory bill that will make it a Class C violation if the owner of a pit bull-type dog fails to have insurance in the amount of $1 million that provides coverage for any economic or non-economic damages resulting from physical injury or damage to personal or real property caused by the dog.

This bill is not limited to pure bred dogs, but would also impact any short-haired muscular mixed breed that resembles a pit bull-type dog and resides in Oregon. People who own mutts that resembled pit bulls would be forced to comply with this law or be in violation.

If this bill is passed, people who cannot afford to buy the insurance will have to surrender their dogs, increasing the number of canines killed at local shelters.

Breed Discriminatory Laws Ineffective
Breed-discriminatory laws do not fix the problem of dangerous dogs. It does guarantee that friendly, innocent dogs will be euthanized and responsible owners unjustly punished.

As a resident of Oregon, you can help save innocent dogs and keep your community safe by managing truly dangerous dogs—not judging a dog simply by its appearance.

Your representatives and senators need to hear from you today!

Please use the following information and call, write or email your legislators today and ask them to say, "No to H.B. 2852."

If You Decide to Write a Letter
An effective letter to your legislators needs only three things:

1. Your name and address at the end of your letter AND on the envelope or in the email.
Legislators want to know that you are one of the people they represent.

2. Ask for specific action from Legislature
Use the following information or your own words:

• H.B. 2852 is an unfunded mandate that will not result in a reduced number of dog bites nor effectively manage dangerous dogs.

• This bill will have significant fiscal impact in that the local governments will have to prove that a dog is a “pit bull” and people who have mixed breed dogs that resemble “pit bulls” will have to buy costly insurance.

• In essence this bill will require economically disadvantage people to give up their dogs—which will increase the number of dogs killed at Oregon animal shelters.

3. Give reasons and examples
Chose from the list below or share your own. Remember to be always be respectful and avoid being emotional. This is your chance to educate someone about truly effective ways to manage dangerous dogs.

• Breed profiling often fails. "Pit bull" is not a specific breed. It is a generic term that describes the American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier and Staffordshire bull terrier. The physical traits and characteristics of "pit bulls" are shared by approximately twenty-five (25) other breeds.

• DNA testing—the only reliable method to determine the heritage of a mixed breed dog—is extremely expensive for local governments.

• Breed discriminatory laws cause unintended hardship to responsible owners of friendly dogs that happen to fall within the regulated breed category.

• Breed-discriminatory laws compromise public safety by requiring officers to enforce regulations on dogs that may or may not be dangerous instead of investing resources into proven, effective tactics that make the community safer.

• Responsible dog guardians should be able to care for any dog they choose, while reckless owners should be prohibited from having any breed of dog.

• A dog is an individual with its own personality. It should be judged on its temperament and not its appearance.

**Best Friends Animal Society believes dogs are individuals and opposes any breed discriminatory law.

Contact Your Legislator Today!

? To find your state legislators, click here.

? Use the template email form supplied by the state of Oregon to email your legislators.

Thank you for taking action for animals!

Additional Information and Resources

• For alternatives to Breed Discriminatory Legislation (BDL), please view the Best Friends Community Safety Program.

• Download the following article from the Animal Law Coalition’s website and send to your legislators. It contains information that confirms BDL is ineffective and offers real solutions to keep communities safe.

• Join the Stop BDL community for more information on how you can help put an end to breed discrimination.

Stock Photograph by Clay Myers, Best Friends Staff
Posted by Cheri Moon, Best Friends Staff

Comments

Posted March 05, 2009, 11:55AM by muincat

I know! I can't believe it! Oregon is usually such a progressive state. I honestly have to say I've always had it in the back of my mind that "it will never happen to me."

My parents had such a sweet, mild mannered pit bull when I was in high school. He used to let kids climb all over him without so much as a growl. He'd just look at the humans with a look that said "A little help, please?" LOL

I did a little social experiment with him. Whenever we'd go somewhere, people would pet him and fawn all over him and when they asked what kind of a dog he was, I would either answer "pit bull" or "Staffordshire Terrier" (which is an English pit bull as opposed to American). When I said Terrier, no one batted a lash and kept right on petting him. If I said pit bull, they would noticeably shrink and hesitate.

I have a friend who's really good at writing political action letters, so I'm going to email this to her and ask her to write something up for me and I'll post it here for others to use as well.

Deana
Oregon Moderator

Posted March 09, 2009, 11:18PM by nicol

In order to fight BSL (banning of pit bulls) - please click on the following link. The message goes direct to President Obama and your elected officials.

http://www.rallycongress.com/stop-breed-banning-/1584/stop-breed-banning-now/

Posted March 05, 2009, 8:31PM by muincat

I'm glad to hear they're cooling their jets a little. My friend wrote a letter for me, so I'm just going to copy and paste what she said here to help everyone out. Also take note that she suggests a quick phone call as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...Because most politicians will simply think about it in terms of -- "Dogs don't vote - what's it to me?" -- I stuck with the human / legal angle.

By the way, when time is of the essence, phone calls are better. Just google for and send people their rep's phone number and tell them to call with a one sentence statement against the bill. These get logged, tallied, and reported instantly. Email takes too long to read - most politicians don't find out what people wanted until after they've cast their votes.

Sincerely,
Star*
--------------------------------------------------------
STAR'S ACTION LETTER DRAFT
---------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Vote "NO" on House Bill 2582!

Body:

Dear Representative,

I urge you to cast a "NO" vote on Vicki Berger's House Bill 2582. It is nothing better than "racial profiling" for dogs. It is unscientific and unfair, discriminating against and punishing owners of dogs that simply "look" a certain way.

Attacks by canines are, admittedly, a very serious issue that needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, this legislation does nothing to prevent contact with dangerous canines (like leash laws do). Furthermore, because the bill does not apply to every or even most breeds, it is haphazard, at best, in dealing with injuries or wrongful death suits after the fact. Indeed, this bill seems to be little more than an opportunistic play by insurance companies to squeeze more "protection money" from the less advantaged residents in our state.

Please do not allow our legal system to be used and abused in this manner. There are much better ways of keeping individually dangerous animals from harming people. I insist that you choose one that does not place undue financial burdens on your poorer and politically less powerful constituents (ie., those more likely to own "mutts" as well as the specific breed this bill targets). It should also go without saying that a selectively-applied law of this kind should be based on objective, specific facts relating to each dog and not simply "how scary" a dog looks to an insurance adjuster.

Thank you for your time and service to our area, and please let me know how you ended up voting on this bill.

Sincerely,
____________

A big thanks to Star for her eloquent and to the point letter! Yay Star! :-)

Posted March 10, 2009, 1:5PM by Kelly4cats

It was very easy to sign the petition and leave a comment. It said at the end you could even have your letter hand sent but it would cost. You can just send an email and its free and easy. I saw the numbers of people signing it has trippled since yesterday. This is so great keep them coming!!!!

Posted March 05, 2009, 1:43PM by MamaAussie

Here is what a Eugene local TV station is reporting regarding the bill but please, let's keep the letters coming to confirm how Oregonians feel about BSL:

KVAL -- A recently proposed pit bull bill by Oregon legislation drew a passionate response from people on both sides of the issue. However, as of Monday, lawmakers are saying that the bill will not be pushed any further. Senator Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro,) who introduced the bill, said he received an outpouring of interest over the past few days, and has learned that pit bulls are beloved pets, friends and family members.

Posted March 05, 2009, 4:21PM by marla

Thanks Deana
Most of us can use help in writing. It will be most helpful!

Posted March 04, 2009, 10:20PM by marla

Of all the places, I cannot believe this is happening in Oregon. I have notified everyone, and let all I know here in Oregon to notify their legislaters.