Last week, Kansas City, Kansas repealed its 29 year old ban on pit bulls. In the process, KCK joined 27 other cities in Kansas, and 25 in Missouri in repealing its laws. One of the more recent repeals was Liberty, MO, which became the first community in the United States (to the best that I can tell) to repeal a ban by popular vote of its citizens. Liberty joined 24 other Missouri Communities who have repealed their decades-old breed bans.
This type of progress would have been almost impossible to have imagined just 12 years ago.
So what's changed?
I'm convinced that the changing views of animal sheltering and the animal welfare community have been a key driver.
In Kansas City, MO for example, prior to 2009 pit bulls were never put up for adoption at the city shelter. They were killed as a matter of shelter policy unless they were pulled by one of the handful of rescues that rescued pit bull type dogs.
This changed dramatically in 2012, when Kansas City Pet Project took over the operations of the shelter. Since that time, Kansas City Pet Project has saved and adopted out more than 6,000 pit bulls into the community. Other shelters, including the shelter in Independence, MO began doing the same type of adoptions under the leadership of the Great Plains SPCA.
This has had a tremendous impact on the perceptions of pit bulls in the community. The volume of adoptions has increased the number of owners of pit bulls substantially. These owners impact perceptions of their neighbors with their daily interactions. It's also impacted volunteers. Theses shelters now welcome hundreds of volunteers annually who interact with the dogs at the shelters -- many of them pit bulls. And this forever changes these volunteer's perceptions as well.
And their perception becomes what is real -- that pit bulls are just dogs. They aren't "other". They play, and romp, and rest and do all of the things dogs do. And people love them for that. And it's changing perceptions -- at the public level first, then within city leadership. But it has been the animal welfare community's leadership and commitment to saving these dogs that has driven the change. And we're seeing it around the nation -- not only in increasing shelter save rates, but in how their communities also view pit bull type dogs.
And this is a very good thing.
Kansas City, Kansas was led by its own animal welfare organization. In 2014, Kansas City, KS passed a law allowing for the trap, neuter, release of community cats. Several local organizations stepped up to do the TNR work -- led by the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City, The Rescue Project, Spay & Neuter Kansas City, and others. The end result was a better relationship with the community they served, and their local government. The Kansas City Kansas Animal Shelter was also doing its part by working to save pit bulls that entered their shelter in spite of the ban. The increased average length of stay for pit bulls (71 days) and the added costs of valuing their lives was a driver in the decision to repeal the ban.
In these cases, it's been the leadership of the animal welfare community that has helped drive the change in their communities. Most people are not terribly familiar with animal welfare issues, so they look to the professionals in animal welfare to provide leadership. And when we do our jobs well, and lead our communities through both our words and actions, good things happen, policies get changed, and lives get saved. And that's something worth working for.
"Most people are not terribly familiar with animal welfare issues, so they look to the professionals in animal welfare to provide leadership. And when we do our jobs well, and lead our communities through both our words and actions, good things happen, policies get changed, and lives get saved. And that's something worth working for". Amen and Amen. My prayer is "most politicians"would look o professionals in animal welfare also.
Posted by: Fran C | June 04, 2019 at 09:34 AM