When the leader of the free world comes out against breed-specific legislation (BSL) saying it is wholly ineffective based on research from the CDC, what excuse do communities still have for proposing and passing archaic, passé, impotent breed-specific bans? Yet Dover, Arkansas passed a “pit bull” ban October 8, 2013, even though hundreds from the dog lobby almost certainly sent them research, including the same research Obama’s White House did and then some, to illustrate that breed bans and breed-specific restrictions are wholly impotent pieces of legislation. (I wonder if Dover would have passed a “pit bull” ban if Bill Clinton were still in the White House and came out against BSL.)
Not only did Dover pass a “pit bull” ban, but they did so claiming it was an “emergency” which meant the ordinance immediately went into effect. What was the emergency? Where was the fire? They make it sound like “pit bulls” were running like bulls in the streets of Pamplona and the only salvation was a breed ban.
Dover’s population is a little over one thousand and so perhaps the City Council likes the isolation. Perhaps they don’t believe they have to answer to anyone outside their city, county, or state, as if they somehow had a different Constitution than the rest of the country, and that it shouldn’t therefore matter that their passage of bad legislation like BSL is a violation of the Constitution. After all, what are their poor constituents going to do? Sue them to challenge their ridiculous breed-specific ordinance? People are too busy just trying to survive.
And while the Dover City Council may like its isolation, it certainly had no trouble entertaining outside influences like the same radical animal rights groups who have sponsored the same BSL we’ve been seeing for decades now with the same exact provisions we’ve seen hundreds of times over:
- Persons owning pit bull dogs already in the city may keep their dogs, but must register them with the Dover City Clerk within 60 days.
- With limited exceptions, pit bull dogs remaining within the city limits must be spayed or neutered and either tattooed or microchipped for identification purposes.
- Other restrictions include the requirement for the display of a beware of dog sign on the premises where a pit bull-type dog is kept.