Ok, so even in our wildest dreams we aren’t foreseeing an end to all Breed Discriminatory Legislation in 2012. But it’s only mid-January and there are already some exciting bills stirring in a few states for pit bull type dogs.

Ohio

The most widely discussed and the furthest along is Ohio House Bill 14. HB 14 would remove dogs known as “pit bulls” from the classification of “vicious dog” in state law. As the law currently stands, a “vicious dog” is one that has killed another dog or caused serious injury to a person without provocation, or is generally thought to be a “pit bull” type dog. The proposed new definition of a “vicious dog” would be one that has caused serious injury to a person.

What we love about these changes is not only the removal of breed or assumed breed from the classification system, but the clear link between action and consequence — no longer will a dog be doomed simply based on its appearance. Rather, by practicing responsible pet guardianship, owners will, for the most part, be able to keep their dogs off the dog warden’s radar.

However, it’s important to note that HB 14 won’t be an end-all to breed discrimination in Ohio. Pit bull type dogs will no longer be considered vicious at the state level simply based on their appearance, but counties and cities that already have breed-discriminatory legislation on the books — and there are many in Ohio — will not be forced to reverse their breed bans. It is our hope that over time cities and counties follow the lead of the state and enact more effective and logical dangerous dog laws, but HB 14 is only a start. But a good one!

HB 14 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously this week, and heads to a vote on the full Senate floor within a week — then off to the Governor for signature. For more on HB 14, check out this story from the Toledo Blade.

Florida

Along a similar vein, late 2011 saw the introduction of Florida House Bill 997 / Senate Bill 1322. Florida law — like Texas law — prohibits municipalities from passing legislation that discriminates against dogs based on breed or appearance, but a loophole has allowed Miami/Dade County to continue to discriminate against pit bulls for the past 20 years. The state law grandfathers in any breed-discriminatory laws put in place before 1990 — like Miami’s.

Miami’s BDL has been the source of plenty of media coverage thanks to our celebrity athlete crush Mark Buehrle, a superstar pitcher just signed by the Miami Marlins. Due to Miami’s dog rules, Buehrle and his family — including his three vizslas and a pit bull type dog named Slater — bought a house in Fort Lauderdale’s Broward County (instead of in the Miami area) when Buehrle signed his $58 million, four-year contract. Buehrle has been plenty vocal in his feelings about Miami’s ban on pit bull type dogs: “It’s kind of ridiculous that because of the way a dog looks, people will ban it,’’ he told a prominent newspaper, “every kind of dog has good and bad, and that depends on the handlers.”

HB 997 would remove the grandfather clause, making it unlawful for any municipality in Florida — including Miami — to discriminate against dogs based on breed type or appearance. The bill was just introduced in the last week of 2011, and has not had a hearing set. For more on HB 997, check this link.

Indiana

Indiana is making moves for pit bull type dogs as well, although not through amendments to any rules about breed discrimination. In Indiana, it is currently a Class A misdemeanor to attend an organized dog fight. This is punishable by no more than one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. The new Senate Bill 0011 would up the crime to a Class D felony — equal to actual participation in the dog fight, and punishable by three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

There are a number of reasons that upping the penalty for attendance at a dog fight is critical: first, it is often difficult to determine and prove which attendees are the actual handlers of dogs being forced to fight; and second, most revenue generated through dog fighting is raised in attendance fees — by making penalities for attendance more prohibitive, it is the hope that dog fighting will lose popularity when revenues go down. By making attendance at a dog fight a felony, the state will be sending a strong, positive message to Indiana residents.

SB 11 was approved yesterday by the Senate Corrections, Criminal and Civil Matters Committee, and moves to a full Senate vote soon. More info on SB 11 can be found here.

Dear Friends:

In May 2010, we decided we were ready to adopt our third dog from TLAC. I knew I wanted to choose a “Pit Bull Type Dog” (AKA Staffordshire Terrier/American Staffordshire Terrier/etc.), because our first dog is a Staffie mix and he has been an amazing companion for the last ten years. There was no shortage of Staffies at the shelter, so I spent several weeks visiting and playing with lots of different dogs until I found just the right one. All of the dogs were wonderful, but Juneaux (formerly Rhonda) completely stole my heart. She was smiley and wiggly and spent the whole time snuggling up to me and playing with her ball. I took this picture (check out pic #1) and sent it to my boyfriend, and told him I’d found our new dog. He couldn’t say no to that goofy face.

The next day we brought her home. Since then, she has brought so much happiness into our lives. At first she was shy and scared, but after a few weeks she started to warm up and show her true colors. Over the past year and a half I’ve watched her grow into a loving, carefree dog that she never had the opportunity to be in her past life. She has taught us the true meaning of being happy no matter what bad things you may have experienced in the past. Her clipped ears and “stray” status told us people may not have always been kind to her, but she still puts all of her trust in people.

Nowadays we take her with us everywhere. Her favorite thing to do is go to the bar (I don’t know where she gets it from ). She stands next to our table wagging her tail and smiling at every person who walks by. People can’t help but stop and give her pets and hugs because she is just so friendly. She LOVES it, and I think it’s great for people to see the true nature of a “Pit Bull Type Dog” in a public situation.

She is affectionate, gentle, and very eager to please. Her training was so easy, because her desire to make us happy is so strong. I just want to tell people who may be unsure about “Pit Bulls” that this is the true nature of these kind of dogs. They get a bad reputation because they are willing to do anything their owner asks (including fighting) and will tolerate extreme abuse without turning on their abuser. Unfortunately, these traits often get exploited. I hope people will give these dogs a chance because they make wonderful family dogs and companions, and are great with kids.

When I meet new people with Juneaux the topic of “Pit Bulls” often comes up, and I frequently hear people say, “They can be great dogs — it’s all about how they are raised.” I will be the first to say we had nothing to do with the way Juneaux was raised; as far as I know she was turned loose as a stray. The truth is, you can adopt a great Staffie at the shelter and make them a part of your family, even if they didn’t get the best start in life. I’m not saying that all shelter dogs would fit into any family, but many dogs can overcome difficult pasts and make great family companions. All they need is someone to give them that chance.

Juneaux is proof that this is possible, and I honestly don’t know what our life would be like without her now. Thank you Town Lake Animal Center, for adopting out Staffie mixes and giving them the chance at a life they deserve. To those reading this who wouldn’t consider adopting a Staffie, I encourage you to look beyond the media hype and see what these dogs are really like. If you spend an hour at the shelter, and you might change your mind.

Sincerely,
Amanda Hill

June at TLAC

June & Matt at Shangri La

June with Crab

June, Clementine, and Rory

Beautiful photo at a Summer BBQ captures the true nature of this relationship.

While dogs in mainstream advertising campaigns always tend to get that “aww” factor, companies that are unbiased in their choices for these canine counterparts get a double ‘thumbs up.’

Please note that the content below is reposted from a blog. Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Love-A-Bull, Inc.

from Passion for Pits
Winner and Loser of the Week

Winner: Gap, Inc.
Pit Bulls in Main Stream Advertising
In an effort to “democratize fashion” and boost authenticity of its 1969 brand (launched in 2009) the Gap has gone behind the scenes — showing their offices in recent advertisements and even including their office-dog, Louie, a caramel-colored pit mix! Their new market? “Downtown, semi-hipster, artsy folk” (might I also add, Pit bull owners?)

Louie, now named the “Denim Mascot” has received mostly positive press. While 238 people “like” his commercial on facebook (below), one user wrote “I don’t think a Pit Bull in a Gap commercial is a great idea for an international company as it’s illegal to have them unmuzzled in public or breed from them in the UK.” (Funny thing because this article from the dailymail.co.uk doesn’t seem to have a problem featuring an adorable shot of Louie in its article.) Luckily, her comments was met with rebuke and the rest of the comments were all positive.

Read more about the campaign here.

 

Loser: Pitbull, the Rapper
Mis-using the Mis-understood
This man sadly has chosen the name Pitbull for himself. Singer/Rapper Pitbull (aka Armando Christian Perez) is said to have chosen the name pitbull because, “…they bite to lock. The dog is too stupid to lose. And they’re outlawed in Dade County. They’re basically everything that I am. It’s been a constant fight.” (Washington Post, 2004.)

All completely false. First of all, they do not bite to lock — no animal’s jaws can actually lock.  Also, they are not “too stupid to lose” — they are dedicated to their owners and will do what they are told when manipulated with drugs, starvation, and lack of companionship. TheRealPitBull.com writes, “The truth of the matter is that the Pit Bull is one of the most versatile of canines, capable of excelling at just about any task his owner asks him to complete. This breed is routinely used for: obedience training, conformation showing, Schutzhund (a German sport which requires dogs to perform in obedience, tracking and protection phases of a competition), agility, and have even been known to participate in herding trials, search and rescue work, and a variety of other tasks including police and armed services work. But fanciers will argue that the task this breed performs best of all is that of beloved companion.”

The long and the short of it? Buy Gap and not Pitbull’s music!

The media often portrays pit bulls as monsters. After working as a journalist for the past six years, I understand how that could happen.

When the white pit bull mix with black spots came into my life in March, I joined Love-A-Bull and have recently become active as a volunteer.

The more I learn about pit bulls, the more I want to help dispel the myths that surround this beautiful, fun-loving dog.

Before Kimbo, I thought pit bulls were hyper dogs that are prone to aggression. Why else would they have such a bad reputation? Read about how Kimbo changed my mind about pit bulls.

The answer is complex, but it has to do with the popularity of pit bulls, socioeconomic factors, ignorance and the news industry. Karen Delise chronicles those factors in her book The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression.

Searching for pit bulls
Do an Internet search for the words “pit bull” and you’ll find countless articles about dog attacks, some fatal. Predictive searches, such as the one Google produces when searching for news articles, offer a snapshot of what is associated with any given search term.

Of the 10 suggestions shown above, six are associated with pit bull attacks and only one is sort of positive: pit bull rescue. Even then, there is a negative undertone, because a pit bull can’t be rescued unless it’s in trouble.

Google doesn’t hate pit bulls; the search engine simply shows the most frequent searches and can only offer what others have published online.

Tough business
I worked as a newspaper reporter and news producer for such news organizations as The Seattle Times, The Frederick (Maryland) News-Post and Community Impact Newspaper. Now I make and update web pages for a living.

I left newspapers because the pay was lousy, the hours were horrible and the work load was insane.

The two things I miss most are finding and telling stories, which I now do on my own.

It’s difficult to criticize an industry that helped me travel the nation, learn about so many different topics and find my voice as a writer. Many friends and respected colleagues continue to work for the media and they do good, meaningful work.

Mass media will always play a vital role informing and entertaining the public, but it’s a tough business.

A reporter’s job is to gather and distribute information about current events, people and issues. It’s not easy and it’s not always the whole truth.

Reporters are paid to write what they find, not what they think about those findings.

I was assigned to cover such diverse topics as crime, technology, business and education. I knew very little about those subjects. Like all reporters, I often had to rely on what other people said.

The people reporters interview are not always the best sources. Sometimes, a key person may be unavailable for comment, often deliberately. Other times, the person being interviewed isn’t being honest.

There are language barriers, equipment failures and assignment changes — all before a reporter even begins to write the story.

Dwindling revenues have forced many newsrooms to either slash their staff or close altogether. These days, one person often does the job that three or four people used to do.

A reporter may need to tell a story in 300 words or 25 seconds. Sometimes copy editors make changes without the reporter’s knowledge. Other times, an editor will change the focus of the story to make it more interesting.

It frustrated me to report on a story, then see how a tiny fragment of that story actually made it to the public.

Selling stories
The most surprising thing I learned about the news industry is how it makes money. I thought selling newspapers paid the bills, but, even when newspapers were profitable, advertisers are the ones that pay salaries.

Reputable news outlets do not let advertisers sway coverage, but the bottom line depends on making people pay attention.

News organizations make money based on the volume of eyeballs on the page or screen. They sell those captive eyes to advertisers. The more engaging the story, the hotter the sell.

When you drive by a road-side car wreck, do you slow down to look? It’s an instinct mammals developed to protect them from danger. Gazelles stare as lions eat one of the herd, a brutal reminder to be swift.

We want details about that fatal pile up on the nearby highway or the wildfire that destroyed countless acres of landscape. News people know most of us can’t help but gawk and use that fact to sell stories.

Add a muscular, misunderstood dog in the wrong hands and you’ve got a story people will follow for a long time.

Now I’m becoming a pit bull advocate and I spend as much time as possible with Kimbo, which includes taking him to bars and on trips.

When we moved from state to state in pursuit of newspaper jobs, we shared our home with a cat. Now we care for three.

Our ideal dog would need to get along with our cats, have a playful, yet obedient temperament and be laid back enough not to destroy our new house or yard.

Denise gave me two rules: no pit bulls and no white dogs.

“White dogs always look dirty and pit bulls make me nervous,” she said.

“I’m not trying to get an aggressive dog,” I answered.

We had no idea we were stereotyping pit bulls, which in retrospect is absurd.

For one, we know what it’s like to be stereotyped — we both have many tattoos, often dress in black and we’re Hispanic. People sometimes take one look and think they know us.

We also read a lot. We watch PBS and listen to NPR. We’re well-informed animal lovers. At least that’s what we thought before we fell in love with a pit bull.

Winning our hearts

After spending weeks visiting animal shelters and searching online for the right match, we came across a mother and several small children walking a cute white dog with black spots at Town Lake Animal Center.

As they walked, the kids would hang their arms around his neck and they giggled as they ran circles around him. The dog had a playful gait and his walk turned into a prance as his wagging tail forced his whole body to wiggle.

He was a pit bull.

“Look at how good he is with those kids,” Denise said.

As the group approached the row of kennels where we stood, the mother noticed our interest and stopped in front of us.

“Wow, what a good dog,” I said. Too bad we didn’t get here sooner, I thought.

The woman told us she brings her children to play with the dogs, but dogs are not allowed where she lives. She asked if we wanted to walk him and I took the leash.

We played in one of the dog runs and we started to fall for him. We wondered how he would do with our cats, so when we saw squirrels and birds in a nearby pen, we walked him over. He eyed them several times, but his glances looked to me more like playful curiosity then malicious intent.

Two hours later, he was snoring on our sofa.

The white American Staffordshire terrier mix with spotted skin watched our cats with the same wonder we saw in the dog run. When we told him ‘no,’ he backed away from the cats.

A few days later, every time he saw the cats he would suddenly crouch into a play stance — forelegs splayed, hind quarters erect with his tail wagging his body. We knew we’d found our dog.

“It’s like he’s always been with us,” I said to Denise. “He just belongs.”

Kimbo the Market Mutt
We adopted Kimbo, formerly known as Alfalfa, from Town Lake in March. He was estimated to be about 10 months old because he was brought to the shelter as a stray. He’s loving, obedient and attracts a lot of attention.

At first, I didn’t want to call him a pit bull.

When people would ask me what kind of dog I have, I’d tell them Kimbo’s an American Staffordshire terrier mix. I soon realized pit bull isn’t a bad word.

On Kimbo’s first trip to the Cedar Park Farms to Market, his presence drew polar responses. Some people clutched their children away while others guided their pets in a different direction.

It was hard not to take it personally. Couldn’t they see this dog was prancing playfully around, body wiggling? Having several people comment on how beautiful and well behaved Kimbo was made it easier to overlook.

When market organizer Carla Jenkins saw Kimbo, she fell to her knees. She kissed and hugged him and wound up laying next to him. The crowd of shoppers had to step over Carla’s hands and feet as she babied Kimbo and took his picture.

Carla turned to me and said, “I think we found our Market Mutt,” an online profile of a friendly dog that visited the market that week.

The market is in a mall parking lot, so Carla was lying on the pavement. Kimbo has that effect on some people.

Training success
What I didn’t know about pit bulls when we adopted Kimbo is they love people.

Kimbo gets so excited when he meets someone new and he never seems to forget which neighbor pet him along our regular walk route. Each time we walk past a particular house, he quickens his pace, wiggles his body and looks expectantly for his friend.

Before Kimbo, I had seen well-behaved pit bulls on the TV show “The Dog Whisperer,” but I’m no Cesar Milan. You’d have to be a freak of nature with a canine sixth sense to achieve that, right?

Wrong.

Here’s the secret to dog training success: make him a part of the family, provide consistent discipline and reinforce good behavior with plenty of praise.

These days, Kimbo is attending the free training class Love-A-Bull offers its members. Our goal is for him to join the Pit Crew as a therapy dog.

Becoming an ambassador
In 2005, I attended a Dow Jones News Fund residency at New York University for minority business reporters. Participants would later intern at daily newspapers with few or no Asians, blacks or Hispanics in the newsroom.

Whether we liked it or not, we would be ambassadors for our race, our advisers told us. Many of our future coworkers and readers never had contact with people of color in a professional setting.

I consider Kimbo an ambassador for pit bulls — people will remember his behavior because he is a pit bull.

When I walk with him in public, we regularly drill his obedience commands, especially when others are around.

When we approach an intersection and I say “down.” Kimbo lies down. He watches me as I look both ways. When I say “OK” he gets up and we continue.

People often seem impressed and sometimes ask “Is that a pit bull?”

Now I say: “Yes, he’s a pit bull.”

Melissa McDaniel of Philadelphia hopes to raise at least $15,000 by August to help her pay the cost to publish the book that shows pit bulls as loving, extraordinary dogs. She plans to donate 10 percent of proceeds to several animal-related charities.

She started the “Pit Bull Photo Book” project while putting together “Deaf Dogs,” a photo book inspired by her dog Sadie. She is also the author of “Rescued in America,” a photo book featuring 105 once-homeless dogs who have found their forever homes. Her next photo book will focus on puppy mills, which is scheduled for release sometime in 2012.

The 8-year-old border collie and lab mix came into McDaniel’s life in 2003 during a visit to a local shelter. She took her nephews so they could help her pick a dog.

A litter of puppies drew their attention and as they approached McDaniel noticed a sign on the kennel with the word “DEAF” written in large block letters.

“Sadie was one of two of the puppies who came up to the front of the kennel and started licking my hand,” McDaniel said. “My nephew said, ‘It is like they chose you.’ And I feel that way still.”

A week later, after being spayed, Sadie slept in the passenger seat during the hour-long drive home, her head resting in McDaniel’s lap.

McDaniel soon learned thousands of deaf dogs are euthanized by breeders each year because they would not sell well. Some shelters also euthanize deaf dogs because many people believe it would be too difficult to find homes for them. When socialized and treated decently, deaf dogs are capable of all the activities hearing dogs can do, according to The Deaf Dog Manifesto.

“Sadie is everything to me. She’s so smart and picked up hand signals so quickly. I was amazed,” McDaniel said. “She taught me to live in the moment and to not let obstacles hold me back. She’s a very happy girl who loves life and lives it to the fullest in only the way that dogs can.”

Discovering pit bulls

To raise awareness for deaf dogs, McDaniel began searching for subjects to photograph. While volunteering at an animal shelter, she noticed the large number of pit bulls and pit mixes would languish there for months.

The more she worked with pit bulls, the more she fell in love with them.

“It was always heartbreaking to be out walking one of the shelter pit bulls, to have potential adopters come up to the dog to say how cute the dog was, and then, upon learning that the dog was part pit bull, they would immediately stop petting the dog and back away.” McDaniel said. “I knew they didn’t deserve the bad reputation the media has given them.”

She started work on “Rescued in America” to change the misconceptions that people have about shelter pets.

Many people believe shelter pets are damaged psychologically or have behavior problems when, in fact, most shelter pets are relinquished for reasons that have nothing to do with the animal, McDaniel said.  Common reasons include owners moving to a residence that does not allow pets or specific breeds, inconvenience, divorce and allergies.

McDaniel knew her photos would be ideal for a series of books, and the next logical book should be about pit bulls.

After photographing dogs for the first two books in shelters in almost every state in the U.S. , McDaniel found it heartbreaking to learn the situation was the same almost everywhere: shelters are full of pit bulls and pit mixes.

“I knew firsthand from photographing these dogs that they are wonderful dogs — the ones most likely to wag their tails and lick my face the first chance they could,” she said. “ I just knew I wanted to raise awareness about these great dogs. To try in some way to let people know that these dogs are just that, dogs.”

Vick pit bulls shine

Photographing Michael Vick’s former pit bulls was among the best moments of the trip, McDaniel said. In Oakland, she took pictures of Teddles, Jonny Justice and Uba. In Park City, Utah, she snapped pics of Halle. In Pittsburgh, she photographed Hector, who she first met while capturing his image for “Rescued in America.”

“It’s a true honor to meet and spend time with these dogs,” McDaniel said. “They have changed people’s opinions of fight dogs, have given dogs from future fight busts a chance at life, and they are such a joy.”

The Vick dog’s success after rescue has helped people see fight dogs as the victims they truly are, McDaniel said. Overcoming their past has also given dogs from future fight ring busts a chance at life, because most rescued fight dogs were previously euthanized as a rule.

“Hector, for example, is covered in bad scars,” she said. “However, you would never know by his demeanor his past was so horrible. Hector loves life. He’s a sweet confident dog that lives comfortably with several other dogs. He goes to events to help educate people about pit bulls and dogs from fight busts. He’s so friendly and lovable.”

McDaniel plans to photograph 3 more Vick dogs before the photo tour ends.

Memorable Austin pit bulls

While in Austin, McDaniel photographed several dogs, including Hooch, a hearing pit bull-lab mix who has a deaf owner.

“Austin has some really well trained dogs,” she said. “The shoots went really well.”

One of McDaniel’s favorite photo shoots of the trip was of a pair of deaf dogs who have deaf owners: Staffordshire terriers Thumper and Rimel.

“Both dogs played together so well for the camera — we got a lot of great action shots — and they were so well-behaved and so cute,” she said. “It was a really fun time.”

Another memorable Austin shoot included two Austin Humane Society dogs that were taken from a large dog fighting bust by the Humane Society of the United States a few months ago, McDaniel said. Alan, pictured above, was one of those dogs.

Publishing a book

McDaniel spent the past 3 months touring 15 states to photograph more than 60 pit bulls. The photo tour will end July 19, after which the real work will begin: picking and adjusting photos, writing text, laying out the book and going through the editing process. After that, promoting and marketing begins. McDaniel will then review proofs and attend press checks.

“Unfortunately the work doesn’t end when the shoots do,” she said. “I love picking out my favorite photos, though — the ones that will be in the books. That is one of my favorite parts of the whole process.”

Two things make the enormous amount of work worth the effort: spending time with animals and the people who love them and having the opportunity to showcase the beauty of dogs.

“It’s a treat to meet so many different pets, with their different looks and different characteristics,” she said. “I have had a number of people contacted me after their pets have passed away to tell me how grateful they were that they had their pets photographed by me and how much those photos mean to them.”

Her greatest hope for “Pit Bull Photo Book” is to help people see pit bulls for the beautiful and goofy dogs they really are.

“I want people to hear their stories and learn that they are working as therapy dogs. I want them to realize they don’t deserve the bad rap they so often get,” McDaniel said. “These dogs are the best educators out there. They aren’t these ‘vicious creatures that you can’t trust because they could turn on you at any moment,’ which is what the media makes them out to be. They are dogs. Period.”

Pre order “Pit Bull Photo Book”

Read Melissa McDaniel’s blog

However, recently, Texas has seen an upswing in cries for breed-specific legislation, including an anti-pit bull rally in Tyler and a petition in Rusk County / Jacksonville calling for statewide discrimination against “pit bull” owners that has garnered hundreds of signatures. The last Texas legislative session also saw an attempt to get legislation passed against “pit bull” owners.

We need your help to stop this discrimination before it starts!

Love-A-Bull is starting a petition which directs our state lawmakers to:

• Keep intact the current state law that prohibits breed-discriminatory legislation
• Refuse to propose or support legislation which would discriminate against people based on a dog’s  breed or physical appearance

Please help us gather signatures for the petition, which will be presented to Texas state legislators in January 2010, and again at the start of the 2011 Legislative Session.

Download the petition text and signature page now! (2 PDF Docs)
OR
Download the petition text (Word Doc) and signature page (Excel) now!

Instructions:

1. Download and print out ONE (1) copy of the petition text.
2. Download and print out as many of the signature pages as you want.
3. Gather signatures from people who are eligible to vote in Texas. (They do not have to be registered voters.)
4. Make a copy of the signature pages for your records if you wish.
5. Send the original signature pages to Love-A-Bull
   Mail to: P.O. Box 18792, Austin, TX 78760

The text of the petition is as follows:

A Petition Directing the Members of the Texas Legislature to Oppose Discriminatory Legislation Against Dog Owners Based on a Dog’s Breed, Type, or Appearance

To be presented to the members of the Texas House and Senate on January 31, 2010 and at the start of the 2011 Legislative Session

Whereas we recognize that each and every dog is an individual in temperament and behavior, and physical appearance does not determine behavior;

Whereas all dogs have the potential to do serious or lethal harm, and this is not dictated solely by a dog’s physical appearance but by a number of complex circumstances;

Whereas dog owners should be held strictly liable for the actions of their dogs regardless of the dog’s physical appearance, so that both dog owners and victims of irresponsible dog owners are provided equal rights and restitutions;

Whereas breed-specific or breed-discriminatory legislation is unethical and inhumane, and has been shown to be financially unsupportable, a detriment to public safety, and a legal quagmire;

Whereas non-breed-specific or non-discriminatory laws provide public safety in an effective, humane, legal, equitable, and moral way;

The undersigned citizens of Texas do hereby direct the members of the state legislature to do the following:

1. Keep intact Texas Health and Safety Code 822.047, which prohibits municipalities from declaring dogs dangerous based solely on breed.
2. Refuse to vote for or support any discriminatory legislation against dog owners, including but not limited to breed bans, restrictions on particular types of dogs, or unequal ownership requirements that are based on a dog’s physical appearance.