Here is the MA Supreme Court Ruling on BSL in Lynn, Ma
In American Dog Owners Assoc., Inc. v. City of Lynn,
[FN44] the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a trial court's finding that the City of Lynn's attempt to regulate Pit Bulls was unconstitutional.
[FN45] The Court noted that it is particularly problematic to determine a dog's breed. The Court held, "[t]here is no scientific means, by blood, enzyme, or otherwise, to determine whether a dog belongs to a particular breed, regardless of whether 'breed' is used in a formal sense or not."
[FN46] The Court upheld the trial court's finding that animal control officers had no real standards to identify Pit Bulls, in part because they had no training in breed identification.
[FN47] The ordinance included a ban on mixed-breed dogs that contained "any mixture" of Pit Bull.
[FN48] This provision was likewise found to be unconstitutional since it is scientifically "impossible to ascertain" whether a dog is part Pit Bull.
[FN49] The ordinance was also unconstitutional because it tried to define "Pit Bull" as including any breed where "common understanding and usage" dictated that the dog was, in fact, a Pit Bull.
[FN50] *11 The combination of these facts led the court to conclude that the statute was too vague to pass constitutional muster.
MA Supreme Court Ruling
