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Breed Discriminatory Legislation Introduced in Florida

January 28, 2009, 5:44PM MT

By Judy L Marshall

Ask your Florida Representatives and Senators to oppose H.B. 189 and S.B 922

Ask your Florida Representatives and Senators to oppose H.B. 189 and S.B 922

Written by Best Friends Staff

Florida State Rep. Perry E. Thurston, Jr. filed H.B. 189, "an act relating to dangerous dogs," to repeal the prohibition on breed discriminatory legislation (BDL) in Florida. An identical bill, S.B. 922, has also been filed by Senator Anthony C. Hill.

H.B. 189 and S.B. 922 would allow any Florida local government to restrict or regulate any breed of dog. A similar effort to legislate BDL was unsuccessful in 2008.

Click on photo to the right for a video interview "Owning a pit bull could
soon be illegal" from Fox 9, Tampa Bay news.

Currently Miami-Dade is the only county in Florida that is allowed to “profile” dogs and destroy them because of this. They enacted a “pit bull” ban in 1989 and last year around 800 “pit bulls” were picked up and destroyed simply because of their breed.

Best Friends opposes canine profiling. The problem of dangerous dogs is not remedied by the quick fix of breed-discriminatory laws. All dogs can bite. Dogs are individuals and should not be judged by their appearance, but by their temperament.

In its study of human fatalities resulting from dog bites, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) did not support the breed specific approach. The CDC noted many other factors beyond a dog’s breed may affect a dog’s tendency toward aggression – things such as reproductive status, heredity, sex, early experience, and socialization and training.

These concerns seem well-founded, given that more than 70% of all dog bite cases involve unsterilized male dogs. In fact, an unneutered male dog is 2.6 times more likely to bite than a neutered dog and in 2006, 97% of all dog related human fatalities in the United States involved unsterilized canines.

Another insidious problem seen with canine profiling is the potential for abuse. Selective enforcement can be triggered simply by the ethnic background of the owner.

Breed discriminatory laws cause unintended hardship to responsible guardians of entirely friendly, properly supervised and well-socialized dogs who happen to fall within the regulated breed category. Although these dog owners have done nothing to endanger the public, they may be forced by the municipality to either give up their dogs or move. Those pets who are relinquished are then killed.

The most harmful consequence of breed-discriminatory laws is their tendency to compromise, rather than enhance, public safety. Resources are shifted away from routine, effective enforcement of laws that have the best chance of making our communities safer: leash laws, dog license laws, spay/neuter laws and animal fighting laws.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Politics is not a spectator sport. Please take action on behalf of animals.

? H.B. 192 was referred to the committee on January 22, 2009. Florida residents are asked to please write the members of the House Agricultural and Natural Resources Policy Committee and ask them to vote “NO” on H.B. 189

? Also, constituents are asked to please write or call your Florida Representatives and Senators and respectfully ask them to vote “NO” on H.B. 189 and S.B. 922, "an act relating to dangerous dogs." Local governments already have the ability to adopt regulations regarding dangerous dogs and protect the public as they see fit. Breed bans are ineffective, costly to enforce, and penalize responsible dog owners.

To find your Representatives and Senators, please click on the following links:
FL Representatives and FL Senators

For some ideas on alternatives to BDL, please view the Best Friends Community Safety Program.

You can also download the following article posted on Animal Law Coalition’s website to send to your legislators. It contains additional information that confirms that BDL is ineffective and offers real solutions to keep communities safe.

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

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

**Best Friends Animal Society opposes this legislation.

Comments

Posted February 03, 2009, 4:6PM by southerndogmom

The City of Mobile, Alabama, is proposing similar legislation so I contacted the mayor and council members, forwarding them a copy of the article from the March/April 2008 BF magazine called "Wrong End of the Leash" and explaining why BSL does not work. If any of you who post here live in Florida are willing to share the names of the elected officials for your jurisdiction, let me know and I'll write to them with concern from a sister state, so to speak. I don't know that it would be effective to contact them all as a non-resident but I'm happy to piggy back on someone else's residency.

Posted January 31, 2009, 3:47PM by Kelly4cats

Are we going backwards in animal welfare? It really seems like we are losing many battles and progress we have made over the years. Shelters are getting more abandoned animals than ever before, BSL is spreading and ferals continue to be threatened and killed by the millions. There is some progress in stopping some of the puppy mills but that's a drop in the bucket. What are we doing wrong and how do we start making real progress?

Posted June 18, 2009, 8:6PM by topazwolves

Thank you all who wrote your Reps!!!!! Both bills died. According to the FL Reps website: HB 189 Dangerous Dogs - General Bill by Thurston - Last Event: Saturday, May 02, 2009 - Died in Agriculture & Natural Resources Policy Committee
SB 922 Dangerous Dogs/Breed-specific Regulation [EPSC] - General Bill by Hill - Last Event: Saturday, May 02, 2009 - 05/02/09 S Died in Committee on Community Affairs

Posted January 30, 2009, 5:45PM by watsonsmom1

When will someone introduce PSL (Politician- Specific- Legislation) to keep dangerous politicians endangering and ruining our society?

Posted February 03, 2009, 9:7AM by lmiller

Remember Nazi Germany, Rowanda, Bosnia, Kenya. That is what these states are doing,

Posted February 08, 2009, 8:11AM by kathy_g

Friedvi-
Speaking as an owner of 2 pits:

I'm very sorry this happened; but please remember-this incident is NOT the fault of the DOG....it is the fault of the OWNER for having their dog outside unsupervised. No matter the breed; no dog should remain outside, and unsupervised at that. This is owner error-not dog error.

Secondly-there is no dog on earth who can actually "lock" their jaws; it's physically impossible. The locking jaw is myth, and nothing more.
True-the bully breeds do have very strong jaw muscles which make it seem that their jaws can "lock"; but numerous necropsies and physical biology proves that a pitbull jaw cannot actually "lock". A dog cannot be faulted for who she/he is, anymore than a person of various races different from our own can be.

My neighbor's 3 Chi dogs roam free each day, come into my yard; and if I'm walking my dogs at that time-they terrorize my pits(and my 2 labs). My dogs spent 3 months living with a lot of Chi's and MinPins at a rescue with no incident-but now I have to be concerned as to how this is going to cause my dogs to react going forward with friendly little dogs. Owner error-not my dog's(nor mine)....but now the responsibility lies with me to ensure the safety of other small dogs they come in contact with in the future. If an altercation should occur with any of the above Chi's-the burden would lie with me; and my dogs would be at fault- based ONLY on the fact my dogs fall under the "pitbull" breeding, and nothing more. As it is; in my county here in Fl-a pit can walk into Animal Control; but they ALL go out in a body bag-no matter how friendly they are....and no; I don't live in Miami-Dade. How would this reversal of protection that currently exists for my dogs affect them and I? Should I allow AC&C to come and kill my dogs due to blind discrimination? NO. They would have to kill me first....my dogs are my family just as any human is.

Owners are responsible for the actions of their dogs-just as parents are responsible for their children....the problem does not lie with the dog or the child.

Southerdogmom-
You'll be hearing from me. :)

Posted January 30, 2009, 6:9PM by cambridgeratmom

"Cain't fix stupid."

Posted January 31, 2009, 1:14AM by bigb

that would be easy, no discrimination is necessary. all politicians should be included.

Posted February 01, 2009, 5:35PM by Stacie715

Come on guys! How long is it going to take you to relize that its not one certain breed! Ok maybe it is, the PEOPLE! I own a shepherd and a big hound. There is a pit in the family. They all are some of the best dogs I have ever known. Not saying anything bad about small dogs like chis or anything, but they can also bite.

Posted February 06, 2009, 10:14AM by madbeachdogs

The wrong animal is being murdered!
Do we have to smash it in their faces for
the powers that be to see the real criminals -
the owners.
Put the rotten, unworthy owners down!

Posted January 31, 2009, 2:22PM by jwoo1951

Gun legislation is akin to breed specific as the gun/dog are blamed instead of placing the blame where it belongs.....PEOPLE.....that are in control of either. People train dogs to be mean, ugly beings and people pull the triggers to take lives. Education will only help those willing to be taught, what to do with the rest...............?

Posted January 30, 2009, 2:15PM by cambridgeratmom

What the hell is going on with the introduction of all this BSL in different states? Did they lose their senses over the holidays?

Posted February 07, 2009, 5:35PM by misstoocuteearthlinknet

please don't discriminate against man's best friend, but the sorry human people themselves,
dogs are not the problem, people are.

Posted February 02, 2009, 11:37AM by Barracudagirl

I agree with the statement that jwoo1951 made...its true that they are similar. It is the person who is at fault, I have been around pitbulls and they have never even growled at me but I've been bitten by a cocker spaniel. Its not the breed...people should know by now that you can't judge someone by where they come from or their race....so why do we insist to do it to an animal? Such ignorance makes me crazy mad.

Posted February 06, 2009, 9:3AM by friedvi

I know that I am in the minority on this issue, but I think pitt bulls should be banned. On December 30, 2008 a neighbors pitt bull almost killed my 40 pound shelter mutt. We were walking our dog (on a lease and on the sidewalk) across the street from a neighbors house when their pitt charged down the driveway, across the street and barreled rolled my dog. My dogs shoulder was ripped off, my husband received 16 stitches and we spent the night at the emergency care unit to see if they could save my dog. According to my neighbor, this pitt has been in the family for 3 years and has never shown any acts of aggression. However, this dog turned evil for no apparent reason. Its jaws were locked onto my dog and it took two men to pull the jaw apart so the pitt would release my dog. I am currently fighting the home owners association because they refuse to do anything about this dog or its owner.

Posted February 06, 2009, 9:37AM by abingham78

If we let them take away our choice in the pets we have then whats next…our freedom of speech? You’re walking on dangerous ground when little by little we let other people tell us whats best for us…like taking away my 2 wonderful pit bulls when other people are just irresponsible owners is not right. Friedvi your very closed minded and uneducated about this wonderful breed. Not ever pit bull is bad actually more are good then bad. I truly believe it’s the owners that make them bad. We need to do something about bad owners not the breed.