Topeka reforms animal ordinance, repeals "pit bull" ban

From the Topeka Capital-Journal, September 28, 2010

Topeka's governing body decided without objection Tuesday evening to make changes to city rules for stray cats and dangerous dogs that supporters described as being groundbreaking and progressive.

Mayor Bill Bunten and eight city council members voted 9-0 to pass a 39-page ordinance amending rules regarding animal control and animal cruelty to enhance public safety, protect animals and save taxpayer dollars.

The ordinance does away with the city's breed-specific rules requiring owners to obtain special licenses and to implant microchips in any dogs that have the appearance and characteristics of being predominantly of any of three types of pit bull dog.

The ordinance was crafted through a team effort involving Councilwoman Karen Hiller, city staff members and a committee of eight citizens who have an interest in animal-related matters. Committee members were among nine people who spoke before the council about the proposal Tuesday, with each expressing support for it.

"This is a groundbreaking ordinance, and it's going to revolutionize animal welfare in the city of Topeka," said committee member Mike Bauman, president of the Friends of Hill's Bark Park organization.

The committee also included University of Kansas law student Katie Bray Barnett, whom Hiller said is nationally recognized as an expert on animal control legislation. Barnett, a graduate of Topeka West High School, said the ordinance before the governing body Tuesday had garnered national attention and was being considered as a potential model ordinance by officials in Ellis, Kan.; Ogden, Utah; Toledo, Ohio; and Douglasville, Ga.

Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz said she had been contacted by a Denver City Council member about the ordinance.

Ruth Tessendorf, president of the Topeka Kennel Club, told governing body members Tuesday's vote was also being watched by a boxer dog group, which was considering holding a show next year at the Kansas Expocentre but wouldn't be willing to do that if the city kept in place its breed-specific rules for "pit bull" dogs.

The passage of Tuesday's ordinance overturns rules banning the ownership, keeping or harboring of "pit bull" dogs that haven't been licensed with the city and implanted with a microchip. The city had been requiring itself to confine dogs suspected of being "pit bull" dogs until any charges against their owners are resolved in Topeka Municipal Court.

In yet another example of the wasteful public expenses connected to breed specific regulation, Assistant city attorney Kyle Smith estimated the passage of Tuesday's ordinance would save the city $30,000 a year it spends to confine suspected "pit bull" dogs at the Helping Hands Humane Society.

The ordinance approved Tuesday also replaces the city's vicious animals ordinance with a similar but broader "dangerous dogs" ordinance regarding dogs that have shown inappropriate aggressive behavior.

It replaces city rules that allowed for dogs to be tethered outdoors for as long as an hour at a time and as much as three hours a day by allowing dog owners unlimited supervised tethering but reducing unsupervised tethering of dogs to 15 minutes.

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Since being rescued, Liam (pictured here) has gone on to earn his CGC. He now visits schools as part of an outreach program for the Lawrence Humane Society

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While serious attacks by dogs are very rare, the intense media coverage that may accompany such an incident can mislead the public and/or lawmakers into imagining that dogs pose a significant threat to the community. Sensationalized publicity, combined with a lack of understanding of the infrequency of dog attacks, and of their true causes, has resulted in reactive and uniformed policies directed against certain types of dogs.

More than a dozen towns, cities and counties in Kansas have banned or restricted certain types of dogs, in the mistaken belief that focusing on the appearance of a dog will address the behavior of a dog . . . or a dog's owner. While all of the breed bans / restrictions include "pit bull" dogs, some Kansas towns have targeted other breeds. A total of nine different breeds of dogs have been banned or restricted in various jurisdictions.

These ordinances can only be considered reactive and arbitrary. For example, Arkansas City has banned eight breeds. Not among those eight is the breed of dog implicated in a 2001 fatality. Town officials of Arkansas City did not ban that breed -- correctly, in the opinion of the NCRC. Nor should they should have banned the other eight.

Today, dogs contribute more to the welfare of individuals and society than perhaps any other time in the history of the human-dog bond. Over the past three decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in drastically lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide.

Fortunately, most of the residents of Kansas understand and recognize the value of dogs, and do not legislate their fate based upon physical appearance.

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Knight,  Kansas City K-9

Knight, a police dog, seen here jumping through a burning hoop,  highlighted the opening day ceremony of Law Observance Week at the Ward Parkway Shopping Center in Kansas City, October 31,1966.

Knight was trained and owned by Cpl. Ron Leslie of the Kansas City Police  Department. The department promoted him as  "Knight, the K9 that knows no fear!"

National Canine Research Council

What is a dog bite?

While the question seems simple enough, the answer is often not what we imagine.

Over the past 3 decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide.

While more than a dozen Kansas communities have enacted breed specific legislation in the mistaken belief that dog bites are a significant problem, and despite the sensationalized newspaper reports of about dog bites and which breeds are allegedly involved, it is a rare for any person in the state of Kansas to suffer a severe injury from a dog (any breed/type). On average, fewer than 30 people per year are hospitalized for dog-related injuries in Kansas. By way of comparison, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), approximately 13,000 Kansans were hospitalized for uninentional injuries of all kinds in 2006.

National Canine Research Council

Over the past 45 years (1965-present) there have been eleven (11) dog bite-related fatalities in Kansas, or an average of one (1) every 4 years.

NCRC's 2010 Preliminary Report on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities illustrates the challenge of accurately reporting on these extremely rare, tragic events. Our mission of preserving the human-canine bond obligates us to be as accurate about these emotionally charged incidents as we can, so that they are calmly, correctly and, therefore, usefully understood. Accuracy takes time.

At least eight (8) different breeds/types of dogs have been reported to be involved in these incidents.*

The victims were 2 adults and 9 children.

Recognizing that a number of these fatalities were a direct result of criminal recklessness, Kansas has been diligent in prosecuting owners it considered liable, and has the distinction of being the first state to convict an owner of murder.

In 1983, 19-year-old D. Reynolds of Harper was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after his attack-trained dogs fatally mauled his elderly neighbor. He was sentenced to 2-5 years in prison.

In 1997, S. Davidson of Geary was convicted of murder after her three dogs, whose aggressiveness she had actively encouraged, escaped from her yard and attacked an 11-year-old boy waiting at a school bus stop. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

In 2006, D. Lee of Kansas City was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after his dog attacked an elderly neighbor. The neighbor had died of a heart attack during the ordeal. Lee was sentenced to 4 years in prison and 2 years probation.

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*Note: In recent years, scientists have established that visual identification of dogs of unknown origin is extremely unreliable; therefore, while we can be sure these listed incidents involved varied types of dogs, we cannot be certain of the accuracy of most breed identifications.

In spite of the reckless and dangerous ownership practices of some dog owners, dogs still pose an incredibly low risk for causing a fatality in Kansas:

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

In 2007, ten (10) Kansas children died as a result of maltreatment (abuse/neglect).

In a single year, 2007, more Kansas children died from maltreatment than the total of all children killed by dogs in the state over the past 45 years.

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Fact is, people in Kansas accept far greater risks from ATVs, bicycles and swimming pools than any that are associated with companion animals.

National Canine Research Council