Yesterday, the Cleveland (OH) Public Safety Committee unanimously approved a breed neutral vicious dog ordinance. The bill will be heard Monday in front of the full city council.
Councilmann Michael Zone sponsored the breed-neutral ordinance after working with the city dog warden and local animal welfare groups on a new ordinance.
Cleveland Dog Warden John Baird says that it has become more difficult to identify pit bulls because of the abundance of mixed breed dogs. "It's not fair to the residents and to responsible dog owners that we use one breed as a vicious dog. We are seeing that any dog can cause a problem."
Best of luck to the folks in Cleveland as they move forward with their breed-neutral ordinance.
While the change in the Cleveland ordinance will be fantastic, the people in the city will still be under the halo of the state's breed-specific law (Ohio is the only state with any type of state-wide ordinance).
However, that too may change.
On Wednesday, June 8, the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee will hear HB 14 - -a bill that would remove the statewide breed restriction. The bill will be heard at 9 am. Getting HB 14 passed would make the lives better for a LOT of dogs and dog owners in the state of Ohio -- so if you can attend the hearings to show your support for HB 14, all help would be welcomed.
Some great news in the state of Ohio this week -- and hopefully more good news will come next.
To keep up with all of the updates - -follow the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates on Facebook.
Great news. I hope the state of Ohio follows the same logic. It gets tiresome when the pro-BSL people tout Ohio as the model for banning "dangerous" dogs such as pit bulls.
The dog warden's quote, "We are seeing that any dog can cause a problem" pretty much hits the nail on the head. To put it more succinctly, it should read: "... any OWNER of any dog can cause a problem."
Posted by: Jennifer Brighton | June 03, 2011 at 10:47 AM