'Breed-Specific Legislation Will Fail' Group Tells Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, OH — The city's proposed replacement law for the pit bull ban would be "extremely expensive, draining, and damaging," according to a letter from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to Mayor Mike Summers. The letter from comes just a day after the city released a letter it received from PETA supporting the proposed ordinance.

The proposed legislation would remove the ban on any specific dog breed, but there would still be requirements for how certain dog breeds are handled both at home and in public. The legislation has been a lightning rod for both criticism and support.

"The era of breed-specific legislation (BSL) is over – communities are repealing their breed-based ordinances after finding it to be extremely expensive, draining, and damaging," said HSUS' Ohio Director Corey Roscoe. "It is an ineffective animal management strategy that has failed everywhere it has been tried, and twenty-one states already prohibit BSL."

Roscoe continues, noting that the physical appearance of a dog has no influence on how it behaves. In conversation with Patch, she added that laws based on the visual identification of a dog can give a community a "false sense of security."

"The most effective animal management strategies center around basic laws applied consistently to all dog owners. These laws, such as proper restraint and confinement ordinances, create standardized rules, norms, and expectations in the community and create a safer environment. When these laws are enforced consistently, enforcement agencies are able to positively engage the community through intervention, providing support and information to the vast majority of pet owners who love their pets and take good care of them," she writes.

She also told Patch that while she disagrees with BSL, she understands that Summers and city officials are operating out of a good place. "I do understand what a huge job it is for city leaders to keep residents safe. I don’t think anyone questions their motivation," she said.

Summers released a letter from PETA that appears to support language in the proposed ordinance that would qualify as breed-specific legislation.

PETA's Animal Care and Control Issues Manager Teresa Lynn Chagrin emailed Summers on Tuesday, sharing her thoughts on the possible ordinance. Chagrin sent over a list of things she said the city should keep in its ordinance. That list included: require that pit bulls be spayed and neutered, without exception; prohibit dog chaining and caging (including long-term crating indoors, which can cause frustration and aggression); and require owners to keep pit bulls indoors unless they're being walked by a trained adult with a leash and secure harness.

"No one blames the dogs themselves for the current crisis, but it's the duty of decent people who care about them to try to resolve it," she wrote.

AP Photo/Amanda Lee Myers