The small suburban community of Edwardsville, KS took steps to strengthen its Dangerous Dog Ordinance last night.
The centerpiece of the "modernized" ordinance is that it abandons thate proscription that all "pit bulsl" are dangerous in favor of a breed neutral ordinance that makes dogs dangerous or vicious based on behavior, not on 'breed'.
Dr. Sheila Dodson, the medical director for No More Homeless Pets KC supported the revisions. "We, as a profession, have come out very strongly against breed-specific bans."
“I applaud the recommendations,” she said. “I think they’re very well written.”
The key to success with an animal-control ordinance is in educating people how to behave around potentially dangerous animals, especially children, who are most often the victims of dog attacks, most of which occur in the home.
“What’s really important is educating the people in your city,” she said.
The new ordinance was unanimously approved by the city council -- and was modeled after Olathe, KS ordinance that was also extremely well written.
I know that much of the work was done by several Edwardsville residents (a couple of whom attended the Canine Legislation Conference sponsored by KCDA back in September) who worked with the mayor and the city council to make their ordinance stronger by enforcing their dangerous dog law equally across all breeds of dogs and that affect all dogs, regardless of breed, that might pose a public threat. A special thanks to these residents who sought out the tools to make a compelling case in their city and for taking action. Also, a special thank to Dr. Dodson and several KCDA members for their roles in helping the city as well.
Edwardsville has made a lot of great steps recently to be a really progressive city and this is another step in that direction.
I think it's important to note that the city started this process looking at how to strengthen their dangerous dog ordinance, and the repeal of the breed specific language became inherant in actually upgrading the ordinance to make people safer.
Great news.
Comments