Obama Administration opposes breed specific legislation (BSL)
In an unprecedented initiative, the White House released a statement announcing that the Obama Administration does not support breed-specific legislation (BSL). The statement was a response to an anti-BSL petition created in December 2012, which quickly garnered more than 30,000 pet-loving signatures. Referring to the position taken more than a decade ago by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), […]
Rhode Island Becomes Third State This Year to Preempt Breed-Specific Legislation.
Governor Lincoln Chafee has signed[1] into law a bill that prohibits any Rhode Island city or town from regulating dogs or cats on the basis of breed. Rhode Island becomes the third state this year, and the 16th state overall, to enact a breed preemption statute. The law took effect immediately upon Governor Chafee’s signature. […]
Connecticut joins state ranks preempting breed-specific laws
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has signed a bill that preempts municipalities from regulating dogs on the basis of breed. HB6311, which was co-sponsored by 31 state representatives and senators, addressed only the issue of breed-specific legislation. It provides that “no municipality shall adopt breed-specific dog ordinances.” HB6311 sailed through the state legislature, virtually unopposed. The […]
Nevada law prohibiting BSL signed by the Governor.
Nevada will become the 14th state to preempt its towns and counties from discriminating against dogs on the basis of breed or appearance. Governor Brian Sandoval has signed Assembly Bill No. 110, which both describes the circumstances under which local authority can declare an individual dog to be dangerous or vicious, and prohibits a local […]
Miami-Dade “pit bull” ban remains, despite overwhelming evidence of failure and county officials’ view
On August 14, 2012, 248,496 of Miami-Dade County’s 1.2 million registered voters (20%, or 202,637 people) went to the polls to decide if a 23-year-old ban on “pit bull” dogs would be repealed through a voter referendum. The outcome showed that 140,879 (63.2%) of participating voters opted to keep the ban in place, compared with […]
NCRC Interview with Bill Bruce on Ineffective Dog Laws
Bill Bruce, Calgary’s Director of Animal and By-Law Services discusses ineffective dog laws such as breed-specific legislation, pet limit laws, and mandatory spay-neuter, and why these broad-based forms of legislation are ineffective. NCRC Interview with Bill Bruce on Ineffective Dog Laws
American Bar Association (ABA) urges repeal of all breed-specific laws
On Monday, August 6, 2012, the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates, meeting at the 2012 ABA convention in Chicago, approved a resolution urging “all state, territorial, and local legislative bodies and governmental agencies [. . .] to repeal breed discriminatory or breed specific provisions.” This comprehensive recommendation is accompanied by an extensive report […]
Massachusetts joins the ranks of states with breed-specific legislation (BSL) preemptions
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed an historic, comprehensive overhaul of the state’s animal control regulation on Thursday, August 2, 2012.[1] Among the important reforms included in the bill are provisions that a dog may not be declared dangerous solely on the basis of breed, and that no city or town can regulate dogs in a manner that […]
Winnipeg, Manitoba far behind Calgary in community safety
A paper published last week in the Journal Injury Prevention attempted to make the case that “pit bull” bans in Manitoba may have been effective in reducing dog bite injury hospitalizations (DBIH, in the language of the paper). [1] In attempting to do so, however, the authors revealed that the bans, applicable to the overwhelming […]
Ontario Veterinary Medical Association urges repeal of breed specific provisions in Dog Owners’ Liability Act (DOLA)
The Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA), representing on behalf of the province’s 4,000 veterinarians, has published an open letter to all three of Ontario’s political party leaders, including Premier Dalton McGuinty, urging repeal of the breed specific provisions of the Dog Owner’s Liability Act (DOLA). Citing its science-based approach to issues of community safety, the […]