Moses Lake, WA Repeals Breed Specific Law

Last week, news began to circulate that Moses Lake, WA decided to repeal its breed specific law that defined pit bulls, Rottweilers and Presa Canarios as hazardous dogs.

The law was repealed, in part due to legal issues the city was facing when a resident, Nick Criscuolo, sued the city that the law violated his civil rights. The complaint (which you can read in its entirety here) focuses on a terrible story in which one of two dogs owned by Criscuolo was shot and killed by a police officer in a display of unnecessary force.

Meanwhile,Criscuolo was then forced to register his other dog as a "hazardous" dog under the city law.  As such, the complaint challenges the law based on the subjective nature of the law based purely on subjective visual assessment, and the reality that the restraints required by the law are based on "perceived, imprecise, methodologically deficient and unpublicized visual identification".  Also, allowing for animals to be seized under these impricise judgments is a violation of due process.

Among the federal claims, the suit claims that the breed specific law violates the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments (seizure, due process, vagueness, overbreadth, underbreath and equal protection).

Moses Lake enacted the law as an act of Panic Policy Making after a dog bite that occurred in 2008. You can get the full lowdown on how the law was passed from Pit Bulletin Legal News. After suffering the costs from the lawsuit, and realizing the inappropriateness of the law, the city has now backed away from the law and repealed it in its entirety.

Congrats to the city of Moses Lake for realizing their mistake -- and to Mr. Criscuolo for forcing change upon the city (although, I'm very sorry to hear about your dog being killed).

 

Comments

[Ollypaw]

Although I know BSL is a very important issue, I am also concerned the Dangerous Dog Ordnance being implemented in many cities is of concern also. It is not inforced uniformly and it really does concern me. Here locally a puppy growled (Retriever type dog) and he was deemed dangerous. I just thought I would bring up another subject that seems to be of real concern and in need of some sort of consistency.

[Brent]

Ollypaw -- your concerns about dangerous dog ordinances are valid. Obviously, there is a legitimate need for dangerous dog ordinances and people DO need to be protected from truly dangerous and aggressive dogs (which are not terribly common). Unfortunately, it has come to the point where many cities have lost all their sense and are looking at normal dog behavior (like barking) as aggressive behavior. Common sense would go a long way in protecting people from aggressive dogs and still being fair to dogs and dog owners.

[Dianne R.]

As far as the dog who was murdered he should sue the pants off them as did our local mayor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheye_Calvo

(he formerly lived across the street from my dad)

[Royal Canin Coupons]

It is nice to know that people like Mr. Criscuolo still exist. There are many people who would not have taken any steps after their dogs were shot dead.
It is because of Mr. Criscuolo, that dogs in his area will get the rights they deserve.

[Jennifer Brighton]

And thank you, Adam Karp, who represented Mr. Criscuolo. Adam is an attorney in the city I live in. While I hope to never have need for one, it's nice to know there is a competent dog advocate attorney in my area.

Also, thanks to Pit Bulletin Legal News for keeping us up-to-date on pit bull news, both good and bad.

[Hanna at Dog Products]

Hi Bret,

I like the idea of repealing laws which are aimed at specific breeds because I’m a firm believer that breeds like pit bull, etc. have been given a bad rep. Any acts of aggression they perform are due to human owners who train them for that purpose.

Hanna

[Alissa Starkweather]

Thank you for standing up for yourself and ultimately the rest of us who live in the same city. We lost 3 dogs due to this biased law and I still miss them regularly so I'm truly sorry for your loss.