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Yakima, WA Pit Bull Ban Study Session: It’s Complicated
The Yakima, Washington City Council met Tuesday, November 12, 2013, for a study session. Under consideration was whether to repeal Yakima’s 26-year old breed-specific legislation (BSL), a pit bull ban, or whether to simply tweak it or leave it as is. While Yakima’s Code Administration Manager Joe Caruso staunchly supported leaving Yakima’s…
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Great Bend, Kansas Ad Hoc Committee Makes Final Recommendations Minus a “Pit Bull” Ban
The ad hoc committee tasked with researching a “pit bull” ban by the Great Bend, Kansas City Council made its final report on September 1, 2013. To its credit, the committee determined early on to not recommend a breed ban. Reportedly, the final recommendations include: ¢ Restrictions on tethering dogs. ¢ A new ordinance…
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Watertown, Wisconsin Final Reading on BSL Proposal
Watertown, Wisconsin will have its final reading on its breed-specific law (BSL) outlawing so-called “pit bulls” tonight, September 3, 2013, at 7 p.m. CST in council chambers at the Municipal Building, 106 Jones St. For the background on Watertown’s BSL proposal click here, here, here, here, and here. I don’t know what more we…
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Winnipeg “Pit Bull” Owner to Fight City’s “Pit Bull” Ban in Court; Winnipeg Bite Stats Increase Despite BSL
Steve Gagnon, owner of American Staffordshire Terrier, Odie, ran afoul of Winnipeg city officials when he moved to Winnipeg unaware his dog’s breed was banned. Now, faced with removing Odie from the city, Gagnon plans to fight Winnipeg’s “pit bull” ban in court. Gagnon maintains that, “It’s not the dog it’s his upbringing.…
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The BSL “gods” in Boston and Pawtucket Giveth and Taketh Away BSL
Do you ever get the feeling like the powers-that-be behind breed-specific legislation (BSL) play god and giveth and taketh BSL away? For instance, I wonder if people in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are wondering if their respective states passed legislation prohibiting BSL only long enough to supposedly “prove” that municipalities within that state supposedly…
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Pawtucket, Rhode Island Defiant in Maintaining BSL; “Pit Bull” Owner Plans to Sue
Writing about Boston and how they were forced to repeal their breed-specific legislation (BSL) after the state passed a law prohibiting breed-specific laws made me wonder why Pawtucket, Rhode Island hasn’t also had to repeal its BSL after Rhode Island likewise passed a law prohibiting breed-specific laws. In fact, Boston and Pawtucket have both…
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Boston: Abusive “pit bull” owners and breeders increase, as do maulings. Can’t they make the correlation?
Yesterday the Boston Herald reported that “pit bull” maulings are on the increase in Boston since Massachusetts prohibited breed-specific legislation (BSL) in 2012, thereby, in effect, repealing Boston’s 2004 “pit bull” ban. The article referred to the state BSL prohibition as “an animal-rights bill” that “nullified Bostons 2004 pit bull ordinance.” No, the…
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Bonner Springs, Kansas Task Force Still Looking at Repealing BSL
As we reported in a mid-July post, Bonner Springs, Kansas, has formed a task force to look into changing their breed-specific law (BSL) after resident Debi Baker, who did not know she owned a banned breed, was given a mere 15 days to remove her Staffordshire Bull Terrier Titan from the city. Currently, a…
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Hamilton, Ontario Admits Ontario’s “Pit Bull” Ban Not Working
Eight years after the Dog Owners’ Liability Act (DOLA) was passed in 2005 which banned so-called “pit bulls,” Hamilton, Ontario has admitted that “dog owners are getting around [Ontario’s] ban by registering their pets as another breed ” or not registering them at all.” Hamilton’s Animal Control Supervisor Jim Gillis acknowledged, “The fact that…
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Kangaroo Court Decision from Denver & Aurora, CO? ADA Doesnt Apply to Pit Bulls Apparently
[Warning: This post contains photos of a graphic nature and should not be viewed by youths or those who are sensitive to graphic imagery.] As most know by now, Denver and Aurora, Colorado had banned so-called “pit bulls” well before a lawsuit was filed alleging an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violation. Yes, that’s…