Sending a Message
“This city council caved to the 1% who own pit bull type dogs in the U.S. and who could care about public safety. These are elected officials that are supposed to have the best interests, of the people they serve, at heart. Instead they are raising the importance of pit bull type dogs above that of their constituents.”-Julie Wall Volunteer at DogsBite.org
Despite the emails from Colleen Lynn, despite the emails typed by Jeff Borchardt, despite the attempts to influence the counsel from Carol Miller (Yet, another Dogsbite.org Board Member), despite the call for a flooding of emails, letters and harassing phone calls, Shaker Heights Ohio sent a clear message to BSL Advocates…
All but 2 counsel members voted AGAINST breed specific legislation, shutting the door in the face of out of state BSL advocacy groups that are attempting to force their unwelcomed views on communities.
After five public hearings over four months for three readings on a proposed pit bull ban, City Council voted it down 5-2 on Tuesday.-Thomas Jewell, Cleveland.com
Armed with the usual out of date and inaccurate statistics provided by disgraced and debunked statistical failure Merritt Clifton, BSL Advocates went to bed the night before satisfied that this vote would be an epic and monumental win for them and it was anything but that.
“And I don’t want to see us join the remaining list of communities” that still have the breed-specific ban, Zimmerman said, mentioning Garfield Heights, Lakewood, Parma, and Warrensville Heights.
Zimmerman is absolutely right, more communities are turning away from breed specific legislation in favor for an all breed legislation. Placing the responsibility on owners of dogs which is exactly were it should be. Irresponsible dog ownership is not breed specific and this is what communities are telling BSL advocates and it’s a message they don’t want to hear.
According to Lori Whelbourne, “If all pit bull type dogs were included in their ban, Matthew Brigmantas may be alive today.”, however, if she was being honest in her recent post in the Province, she would have stated exactly what the “pit bull type dog” was exactly, Shar Pei/Fila mix with known aggression issues and that had a history of biting other people. Breed Specific Legislation and/or bans have not prevented one dog attack or dog bite fatality, even concerning those dogs that fall under bans. Why is that? Because BSL/Bans only really affect law abiding citizens, which is the majority of all pit bull “type” owners
The death of Javon Dade Jr. shows just how ineffective bans are, once again showing that breed specific legislation has absolutely no affect on those that are purposefully breaking the law in the first place. Criminals, dog fighters and back yard breeders will not be affected by BSL/Bans, if anything, BSL/Bans will flood the streets with off springs’ of unethical back yard breeders with unstable temperament.
“The only thing that ban did was increase the value of (pit bulls) from $1,000 to $5,000.”– Gary White, Former dog fighter 2013
We can look across the ocean to see yet another example of how ineffective pit bull bans are when we look at the sky rocketing dog attacks in the UK and in 2010, “Toronto itself backed up the claim that BSL doesn’t reduce dog bites when in May 2010, the Toronto Humane Society released statistics from a survey they conducted which showed that “the number of dog bites in Ontario had changed little” since Ontario’s 2005 ban on “pit bull” “breeds” was instituted (nopitbullbans.com).”
Contrary to the myths told by the pit bull lobby, it is less expensive than what taxpayers pay out when attacks happen. In addition to that, lives are saved and severe injuries are prevented- Lori Whelbourne, Dogsbite.org member, Blogger for the Province
Not one single life has been saved and not one severe injury has been prevented due to BSL. In fact, it shows just the amount of damage yet another breed can do when it attacks. According to many cities, BSL is not cost effective, in fact, the price tag for enforcing BSL is rising every year.
The Prince George’s County task force findings are typical of findings in many other locations.
- In 2001, a Baltimore, Maryland, auditor estimated it would cost $750,000 to enforce a breed-specific ban.
- In 2008, Omaha proposed BSL that would cost over half a million dollars to enforce.
- The U.K.’s Dangerous Dog Act, which includes a ban on certain breeds of dogs, is estimated to have cost well over $14 million to enforce between the years 1991 and 1996 (no more recent numbers are available). It has come under fire lately as dog bites (committed by non-targeted dogs) rise despite the ban.
- Even small cities and communities can spend tens of thousands of dollars annually to uphold their BSL- StopBSL.org
Although the battle will rage on, Shaker Heights is just another community that turned a deaf ear to the fear and hate propaganda being offered to them by BSL advocates and decided to work this as a community. They won’t be alone this year and many communities will be working towards throwing out the outdated breed specific laws and start focusing on laws that will actually help communities become safer just like many did in 2015.
By...... Scribbles, Quotes & Cognitive Musing
More to come......
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