Bothell, Washington Considers Restrictive Breed Discriminatory Ordinance

Your Action Needed to Prevent Breed Discrimination


To Washington Residents
The City of Bothell is considering a breed discriminatory ordinance, though it has not stated a specific meeting time or day for the issue to be debated.  The next city council meeting is scheduled for November 10, 2009.  A Bothell resident is pushing for a ban on certain breeds of dogs, specifically pit bull type dogs.   KOMO News.com reports that an outright ban on a certain breed would be difficult to enforce, so authorities are considering restrictions on owners of certain breeds.  Restrictions include muzzling the dogs, temperament testing of every dog classified as a pit bull type dog, and extended insurance for owners of certain breeds. 

Request More Effective Legislation
Best Friends opposes canine profiling as it does not reduce dog bite incidents nor effectively manage dangerous dogs. Rather than breed-discriminatory restrictions, legislators should mirror good generic dangerous dog/reckless owner laws that have been enacted in Illinois and Minnesota.

Some of these laws include regulations that:
•    Protect innocent dogs and responsible owners.
•    Encourage residents to spay/neuter their pets.
•    Effectively identify and manage truly dangerous dogs.
•    Restrict tethering.
•    Enforce stricter consequences for dog fighting.
•    Prevent reckless owners from having dogs.

1.  Provide your name and address
Legislators want to know that you are one of the people they represent.

2.  Ask for specific action
Ask members to oppose any ordinance that bans or regulates a specific breed of dog.

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.

•    It is often difficult for even experts to determine the breed of a dog-particularly with mixed breed dogs.  Click here to find the pit bulls on the web.  Many dogs are misidentified and confiscated simply for their appearance.

•    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 regulation on dogs that may or may not be dangerous instead of investing resources into proven, effective tactics that make the community safer.

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

Studies of pre and post breed ban dog-bite-rates in the United Kingdom and Spain concluded that their pit bull breed ban had no effect whatsoever on reducing dog bites. 

Italy recently revoked its breed ban stating the ban had no scientific justification.

Calgary, Canada has lowest dog bite rates in 25 years, without enacting BDL.

Contact City Council Members Today!
citystaff@ci.bothell.wa.us

Bob Stowe, City Manager
bob.stowe@ci.bothell.wa.us

Steve Anderson, Deputy City Manager
steve.anderson@ci.bothell.wa.us

Email City Council Members here. 



Thank you for taking action for animals!

Additional Information and Resources

Join the  Pit Bulls: Saving America’s Dog campaign to help put an end to breed discrimination.

Learn more about breed bans and dog bite facts at the National Canine Research Council


Posted by Katie Bray, Best Friends Volunteer