Breed-Specific Legislation May Be Eliminated In Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, OH — Lakewood City Council will be considering new legislation that would remove breed-specific language from the city's ordinances governing dogs, Patch has learned. This is a major step in the city's ongoing debate over what to do about breed-specific ordinances and how to handle dog issues in Lakewood.

Ward 1 City Councilman David Anderson said it was time to bring the city's legislation up to state standards. The new ordinances were modeled off of other cities best practices, including Avon Lake and Cleveland.

The legislation could considered as soon as the Monday, April 2, City Council meeting. While the legislation could put a pin in the debate over BSL (breed-specific language) it could also open a new discussion with all dog-owning residents of Lakewood.

That's because the proposed legislation includes language that would mandate all dog owners in Lakewood acquire liability insurance for their canine. The legislation would require an insurance policy with minimum liability of $10,000. That policy would not go into effect until 180 days after the law was approved, giving residents roughly six months to comply.

Anderson said the policy's logic operates similar to car ownership. Even if there's no history of accidents or tickets, a car owner must have insurance.

"Lakewood is a densely populated chunk of real estate. We wanted to make sure we had as many protections for people as possible," he told Patch.

The decision to add the insurance provision was not unanimous. At least one city councilperson, Tristan Rader, thought the insurance provision was "onerous."

"I think throwing this at low-income people, like a senior resident with a 10 year old dog, those people get hit by this," he said. "I don’t think that’s necessarily right."

However, Rader said he believes the new legislation would represent a significant step forward for the city and its relationship with dog owners. "It's much better than what we had."

Anderson said the other key point to the proposed legislation is the increased penalties for loose dogs that are captured by animal wardens. Loose dog penalties would be elevated to first-degree misdemeanors. There would also be new qualifications for dogs that run afoul of local ordinances.

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