City council letter
March 24, 2006
Fall River City Council
1 Government Center, 2nd Floor
Fall River, MA 02722
Dear City Council:
On behalf of the 245,000 members and constituents of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in Massachusetts, I am writing to ask that you withdraw your support of a proposed ordinance that would require all pit bulls and Rottweilers to be confined on their owners’ property except to receive veterinary care or to be relocated outside the city.
A breed-specific ordinance will not prevent dog bites and may be unconstitutional, as explained in further detail below. Instead, I would encourage you to consider a comprehensive bite prevention ordinance, like the one enclosed.
Breed-Specific Ordinances Do Not Keep People Safe
The HSUS opposes legislation aimed at banning or strictly regulating dogs based solely on their breed for these reasons:
1) Breed alone is not a reliable indicator of a dog’s temperament. Although a dog’s breed may be one part of evaluating temperament, it cannot be used to predict whether a dog may turn "vicious" or not. A dog’s tendency to bite is a product of several factors, including but not limited to a lack of early socialization; mis-training for fighting or increased aggression; genetic makeup; quality of care and supervision by the owner; and behavior of the victim.
2) Breed-specific ordinances do not protect the public from dangerous dogs. Dog bites are unfortunately a daily occurrence in this country. There are more than 4.5 million dog bites each year, 10 to 20 being fatal. A September 2000 study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (VetMed Today: Special Report), that detailed dog bite related fatalities in the U.S., revealed that over the 19 years examined (1979-1998) at least 25 different breeds or crossbreeds were involved in fatally wounding a human being. Breeds cited range from the oft-maligned pit bulls and Rottweilers to the legendary "forever loyal" St. Bernard. The study was conducted by a group of veterinarians, medical doctors, and psychology and public health experts. The main conclusion of the study was that breed-specific laws
don’t work; this conclusion was echoed again in a recent publication produced by the AVMA, A Community Approach to Dog Bite Prevention. (Note: This Report is available online at www.avma.org under the Reference section)
3) Restricting ownership of one kind of dog will simply shift – not solve – the problem. Unfortunately, the "problem dog" at any given time is often the most popular breed among individuals who tend to be irresponsible, if not abusive, in the control and keeping of their pets. Simply put, if you restrict one or two breeds, individuals will just move on to another one. Meanwhile, restrictions placed on specific breeds fail to address the larger problems of abuse, aggression training, and irresponsible dog ownership.
Breed-Specific Ordinances May Not Be Constitutional
Many breed-specific laws have been overturned because they were not constitutional. As a recent example, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled on March 3, 2006 [Toledo v. Tellings, 2006-Ohio-975] that breed-specific legislation in that state, which defines pit bulls as vicious dogs, is unconstitutional for these reasons:
1) It violates procedural due process by failing to provide a means by which owners can dispute that dogs are either pit bulls or "vicious;"
2) It violates rights to equal protection and substantive due process, because pit bulls are "not inherently dangerous or vicious" and the regulation of a breed on mere ownership is "arbitrary, unreasonable, and discriminatory;"
3) It is unconstitutionally vague "when practically applied to the identification of pit bulls," given that "more than ten non-pit bull breeds look very much like pit bulls."
Experts testified in this case that of the approximately 52 million dogs in the United States, 4.8 million are some form of pit bull. Pit bulls are strong, but no stronger than many other breeds of dogs, and experts agreed that pit bulls do not have "locking jaws," as has been purported in the past. In its decision, the court stated: "Much evidence was presented that pit bulls which have not been trained to be aggressive are highly obedient, eager-to-please, good family pets."
Dog Bite Prevention Legislation Is Effective
Communities that fought so vigorously for breed-specific ordinances a few years ago are now looking into repealing those laws because they have been such failures. Moreover, the majority of cities and towns that have passed breed-specific legislation have been forced to reconsider such laws after they have been overturned by the courts for being unconstitutional. In cases where laws have withstood a court challenge, even the most well funded and equipped animal control officers have found the laws to be an enforcement nightmare. Instead, those communities that have passed aggressive legislation aimed at punishing the owner of the dog rather than the animal have seen a decrease in the number of dog bites and attacks suffered by the community.
Comprehensive "dog bite" legislation, coupled with better consumer education and stricter, enforceable regulations regarding responsible pet keeping, does far more to protect communities than restricting specific breeds. After reviewing the ways various communities have responded to the problem of dangerous dogs, we remain convinced that well-enforced, non-breed-specific laws offer an effective, constitutional, and fair solution to the problem of dangerous dogs in any given community.
We would be happy to work with your city council on language that would more effectively address your concerns about preventing dog bites without unfairly targeting responsible dog owners.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss this issue. I would be pleased to address any questions you may have about addressing dangerous dog issues in a non-breed specific way. For more information on keeping your families and your dog safe, please see The HSUS’s website, www.nodogbites.org
Sincerely,
Linda Huebner
Regional Program Manager
New England Regional Office
The Humane Society of the United States
Download
HSUS Letter to FR
