Last night, Indianapolis tabled a bill that would have forced all owners of "pit bulls" to spay or neuter their dogs. The chairman of the Rules and Public Policy Committee, Bob Lutz, said it was tabled because the time it would take to address this would take away from other issues facing the city -- including large hits to their employment that jumped above 10% in March.
In spite of some crazy posturing by Mike Speedy -- including writing his own press release that ran in the Indy Star -- the city wisely chose to ignore his proposal. An ordinance like what Speedy proposed has led to the deaths of two thousand 'pit bulls' in Kansas City in less than two years, and to images of animal control confiscating unaltered and chained pit bulls in Little Rock, AR -- every one of which met the fate of death in their shelter.
This is why people were against the proposal. NOT because there is some big conspiracy like what some of the (quite scary actually) commenters are making it out to be. It's because in places like Indianapolis, when this type of legislation has been enacted, it has led to hundreds and thousands of pit bulls being confiscated from homes and killed in the area shelter -- the exact opposite effect that it is said to have.
Meanwhile, there was some talk a few weeks ago that Hays, KS may look into breed specific legislation, but I've received official word from a trustworthy source that that is now off the table in Hays.
More and more cities that look at BSL are continuing to see that universally, it has not worked in any situation and that there are much more effective solutions to dealing with the "dog bite problem" that are fair, enforcable, and actually work. And that's great news for all of us.
Umm just an FYI I personally called the City of Hays today and your reliable source is wrong. They are still going to discuss the ban at a later date not yet mentioned. Just thought I would let you know.
Posted by: Amanda H | May 15, 2009 at 02:03 AM
It is my understanding that they are taking the idea of a breed ban off the table. They may still be discussing changes to the dog ordinance.....
Ask for the notes from the city commission work session from last Thursday night...it should help clarify where they are. Let me know what you find out.
I certainly hope I'm right :)
Posted by: Brent | May 15, 2009 at 08:52 AM
I'll do some more checking. I really hope you are right too. I do not want to have to make life changes just to keep my dog. :(
Posted by: Amanda H | May 16, 2009 at 02:00 AM
Blogging on Speedy's letter to editor today.
What a dork.
Posted by: Anna Cluxton | May 27, 2009 at 09:39 AM