KC DOG BLOG

Cleveland, OH repeals breed specific law

Last night, the full city council in the city of Cleveland, OH repealed the breed specific regulations that have been on the books in the city since 1999.

The city has replaced the breed-specific provisions with two behavior-based classifications.

Level 1 Threat Dogs -- ie Dangerous Dogs - is any dog that has been impounded 3 times in a 12 month period or has menaced other people.

Level 2 Threat Dogs -- ie Vicious Dogs - have attacked or bitten an individual or other animal.

Owners of dogs at each level have different requirements to meet - -and if they do meet the requirements, they can get the designations lifted over time.  You can get a lot of details on the ordinance here.

More and more cities are continuing to look at ordinances like the one in Cleveland because it allows the city to more efficiently use resources by targeted dogs (and dog owners) who have shown signs of being a threat to citizens and not focusing any resources on people who's dogs are not a threat. 

Cleveland is now the 2nd city in Ohio to repeal their breed-specific rules -- following Toledo doing a repeal about a year ago. With two of the state's largest four cities having now repealed their breed-specific laws, it should send a strong message to the state of Ohio that there is support for eliminating these archaic regulations -- just in time for their hearing on HB 14 tomorrow which will repeal the state-wide breed restrictions.

Congrats to the city council, dog warden and advocates in Ohio for their work in repealing the law -- and hopefully we'll have more good news coming out of Ohio tomorrow with the state House of Representatives hearing.

Cleveland's bill removing BSL moves to full council (and other Ohio news)

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. 

Efforts to remove breed-specific law in Cleveland

A couple of weeks ago, Cleveland Councilman Matt Zone -- who has spent the past year working with advocates,city council staff and the city's Animal Warden John Baird to rewrite the dangerous dog law -- introduced the new ordinance that would remove breed-specific measures in from Cleveland's law.

The City Council's Public Safety commitee will be hearing the bill on Wednesday, June 1, at 10 AM at the Cleveland City Hall -- 601 Lakeside Ave, Room 217.  If you live in or around the Cleveland area, please show up to support the proposed ordinance as a strong turnout of support will really send a strong message to the committee.

So please make plans now to take time off work to show up for the meeting.

Also, HB 14 is still on the table in the Ohio House -- which would remove the state breed-specific laws....and we're hopeful that this can move forward in June as well.

As the economy continues to put many cities in financial risk, more and more of them are realizing the high expense and negative return on their breed-specific laws and looking for more sound legislation that will improve public safety and be fair to dog owners. Welcome Cleveland to the growing list of cities that are beginning to realize that BSL is not a viable solution.

H/T to Bless the Bullies on the News (as well as a nice email I received), and if you want more up-to-date news, follow Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates on Facebook for the latest.