Denver (and its Taxpayers) stay losing due to Denver Breed Ban

The city of Denver - and its taxpayers -- continue to be victims of the city's breed ban that they so stubbornly hold onto.

Last year, Desiree Arnold (among others) filed a legal suite against the city of Denver for a variety of both written and executional violations associated with Denver's law banning 'pit bulls'. Among the legal violations that are mentioned:

1) The policy and practice of coercing the signing of waivers that violate due process rights. Like many cities with BSL, Denver coerces dog owners to sign a waiver that does help the owner save the life of the dog, but in the process, forces them to admit that the dog is one of the breeds included in the city ban, which violates due process rights.

2) Slowly scheduling hearings which causes dogs to be removed from homes for longer-than-necessary periods of time.

3) Lack of clarity on how evaluators determine the breed of dog -- which forces dog owners to guess at the evidentiary basis for the city's determination and deprives them of a meaningful opportunity to be heard.

Ms. Arnold's dog, Coco, was killed by the city during this process.

Word now is that the city of Denver has settled with Ms. Arnold in what is in the multiple thousands of dollars. In addition to the settlement, the city of Denver has also agreed to make some procedural changes to the enforcement of the ordinance that will begin this spring.

But that's not the only waythe city of Denver stays losing.

Because the Denver city attorney's office is short staffed, it has been confirmed through Colorado Open Records Act Requests that the city has now hired an outside lawfirm to handle the case of Dias vs Denver.  The Dias case was revived last May after a judge overturned a dismissal of the case back in March of 2008.  In just the months of December and January, the city-hired lawfirm has racked up over $15,000 in fees (all at taxpayer expense) to get up to speed on the Dias case.

There also may be one, or more, other lawsuits that are pending.

Of course, it's hard to miss the irony of this when Cory Nelson, Denver's now overworked city attorney, has been caught sending letters supporting breed bans to cities around the country on city letterhead stating, among other things, that concerns about litigation are mostly unfounded -- in spite of the number of suits his city is currently dealing with at a time when the city is facing a $160 million budget shortfall.

All of this to support an ordinance that even those who support it admit they have never done an audit to see if it is actually working to improve public safety.  On top of the extreme costs the city is facing due to litigation, the difficulty of breed identification continues to haunt the city, just like it has in all others who have dealt with the issue.

And this folks, is a reason why cities like Jackson, MS and Elgin, IL are deciding AGAINST breed-based policies and instead focusing on behavior-based ordinances that focus precious animal control resources only on problem dogs, and not any others, and avoids all of the problems that breed-specific policies create.

And for you folks in Florida, where SB 1276 would overturn the statewide law that prohibits laws just like the one in Denver, vote that law down. BSL is a huge waste of taxpayer resources and dollars, and citizens need to be protected from corrupt governments and wasteful laws like this.

Comments

[Alana]

I LOVE Colorado, and living in Kansas City it's a close, beautiful vacation destination. However we never travel without our pups and we've avoided the entire state, and Denver in particular, for years because of BSL. Our dogs are 'Bullies' but even if they weren't I wouldn't visit there on principle. I wonder if they ever consider the tourism $ they are missing out on.

[Barb]

Missed tourism dollars is a good point, but probably very difficult to determine. I know the Great Dane Club of America has avoided having their National Specialty in Denver when it is hosted by the Western Division - this just on principle because of the BSL. I doubt that they are the only national breed club that feels this way.

The Dane National is basically a big, week-long convention. Usually about a thousand people, 600-700 dogs for 7 to 8 days. Pumps at minimum an estimated 4 million dollars into the local economy.

Way to go, Denver!
BSL FAIL.

[Dawn]

My father and his wife live in Aurora, CO another city that has a ban. They know full well that my husband and I will NEVER set foot in the state until the BSL has been removed. It stinks because it's such a beautiful state, but that's what my father gets for raising a principled kid! I hope the voters reject Hickenlooper, the current mayor of Denver who is now running for governor.

[Jennifer Brighton]

I have friends that live in Evergreen, CO, and I refuse to visit the state until the ban is lifted. My husband would not believe me when I told him it is illegal to even transport our dog through the city in a vehicle until I showed him the ordinance.

I just finished reading a book by Hickenlooper's wife about immigration issues and found it highly interesting and that it comports with my feelings. The whole time I was reading the book, whenever she talked about her husband's stance, I found myself wondering how he could support BSL. I am going to write him a letter (not that I expect it will do any good). Maybe I should write his wife a letter instead and get her on the issue!

[Rinalia]

Geez, sometimes you just gotta let things go, realize you failed and try something else. BSL hasn't worked for Denver, yet they cling to it desperately. It's insane.

[Javadel]

And remember, Denver has the highest rate of hospitalizations for dog-related injuries in the State:

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/co-injury-hospitalization-rates.pdf

Yep, Denver has been almost as successful with their breed ban as the UK has been !

[EmilyS]

Sadly, few dog clubs avoid Denver or nearby Castle Rock (which has a very nice events center that is used for about half the agility trials in Colorado). Even more sadly, some owners of ASTs and SBTs will participate in those shows.. even though every dollar they spend goes (through sales taxes) to fund the killing of their breeds. Their reasoning is that people in Denver need to see good examples of the breed. But that is bogus, because Denver doesn't care about good examples. The few people like me who refuse to go to those shows make absolutely no difference either.

[Social Mange]

"Cory Nelson, Denver's now overworked city attorney, has been caught sending letters supporting breed bans to cities around the country on city letterhead stating, among other things, that concerns about litigation are mostly unfounded -- in spite of the number of suits his city is currently dealing with at a time when the city is facing a $160 million budget shortfall."

Hey, whatever happened to the pro-BSL Yahoo group that Corey was running? I always wondered if Denver taxpayers would be happy if he were doing it on city time.

[MichelleD]

You are so right Emily, its a cop-out. At some point Denver may have banned pit bulls because they truely believed it was the right thing to do. Now, Denver justs want to save face by refusing to admit they were wrong and got duped by a lunatic trying to build his career on the backs of innocent animals.

We were fighting BSL for MONTHs in Lee's Summit with a handful of people. Then some yahoo suggested MSN - low and behold all the show/breeder people showed up in force when it was their dog getting targeted. It end up getting passed just because the council was sick of dealing with it - and ya know, they "had to do something". If everyone would stick together we could have all of our problems solved within 5 years - ALL of them.

[Emily]

Loved the article, very informing, but wanted to point out to folks... focus your boycotting to those cities with BSL. Remember that Colorado as a STATE voted against all breed specific laws. Denver fought to have that overturned, and cities around Denver either sided with them, or against them. Here in Colorado Springs, bullies are celebrated. We have service bullies, rescued bullies, and just plain wonderful bullies. Since Denver's stupidity they have been overwhelmingly welcomed here.

Now imagine if some dog fancy groups who didn't want to support BSL specifically chose Colorado Springs and publicly announced why CS was chosen over Denver.

I refuse to go to Denver until the breed ban is overturned. I hate it, as someone who worked underground railroading the dogs out I absolutely hate it. Most of Colorado hates it.