Face the State - a political talk show covering Colorado politics -- has a good story on the struggles Denver and Aurora are facing with their current breed bans.
While the article doesn't hit on much incredibly new, it is great to see a state wide political source covering the cities' costly struggle with BSL.
The article begins with the current, pending lawsuits against both cities and how their policies violate the American Disabilities Act by not allowing people with with 'pit bull-type' service dogs to enter their city. In one of the cases involving Vietnam veteran Allen Grider, Aurora Animal Contorl seized his therapy dog Precious and held the dog for 10 days. Grider was only able to get the dog back if it went to live with someone out of the city -- forcing him to be away from his dog fro 4-5 months -- the dog helps him manage his acute Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The lawsuits both cities are facing are just a long list of the struggles both have had with the laws. According to the news story, Denver has killed more than 3,500 dogs under their breed ban and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in enforcement and faced a bevy of lawsuits over the past 2 decades.
In January, the city paid $5,000 to settle with a woman who had filed a suit and has agreed to formalize its proceedings for impounding, assessing and destroying dogs it considers to be 'pit bulls'.
In a separate case, Denver racked up at least $15,000 in legal fees -- and if Grider wins his case, he is asking for $75,000 in the suit.
All of this is at a time when Denver is facing a $120 million budget shortfall.
Denver Animal Control director Doug Kelley notes that it is difficult for agencies to determine if a service animal is legitimate under federal law. "We need some type of documentation that this is a bona fide service animal." However, in a separate phone call, apparently a staffer at Animal Control noted that they don't accept most types of documentation. However, multiple court rulings have held that entities cannot demand proof of an animal's service training as stipulation to allowing individuals to keep their animals.
Denver is another shining example of the difficulties and expense that are incurred when breed bans are put into effect. They're costly, and impossible to enforce. And they don't work.
It's great to see the folks at a state-wide political news service covering such a high-profile failure...
For more:
Denver (and its Taxpayers) stay losing due to Denver Breed Ban
More legal problems for the city of Denver (and Aurora too)
More on Denver Lawsuits and a Councilwoman with an agenda
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