Discriminatory Breed Specific Legislation

I am writing today to discuss the city’s ordinance 506.00, and specifically in reference to 506.03 which bans pit bull and pit bull breeds as well as pit bull mixes. Let me be clear, I am not currently a pit bull owner, but I am passionate about this issue because have been a pit bull momma in the past and I know the breed well. I know them to be sweet, loyal, snuggly dogs. They are smart, funny and happy animals, and they are eager to please humans. Because I have known and loved this breed, I would love to share my life with them again one day, even if that means moving out of Lakewood to do so. And I am not satisfied with that solution because in every other way, Lakewood is a progressive, forward moving, friendly place to call home for everyone, except any dog with a wide head and a stocky build, because they may erroneously be identified as "dangerous".

That's because although this ordinance specifically names three individual breeds, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, it then goes on to state that “any dog of mixed breed which has the appearance and characteristics of such breeds” is also banned. This leaves identification of these breeds open to easily made mistakes. There are roughly twenty breeds of dog often erroneously identified as “pit bulls”.  Ask around. Your friend with that boxer? I'll bet they've been asked at least once if that was a pit bull. Ask that guy I read about here in town with the Boston Terrier, he got accused of owning a pit bull, too. 

A simple Google search will quickly render dozens upon dozens of articles discussing the media misreporting a “pit bull attack”, or a victim identifying the attacking dog as “pit bull”, only to later find that the dog was actually a Labrador, a Rottweiler, a Bulldog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a Boxer, etc. One could easily site such breed mix ups ad infinitum. 

Quite simply, a mislabeled dog is an unnecessary cost to the constituents of Lakewood.

A broad definition of what a dangerous dog is, based upon appearance rather than behavior, is akin to racial profiling. It is discriminatory. The trend these days is for cities to back away from this stance in favor of addressing the individuals who create problems. Lakewood has chosen to push forward with biased, unfair, ineffective and discriminatory legislation. 

I moved to this area, from Nashville, Tennessee, two years ago. In Nashville there was, and still is, a pretty hefty problem with Mexican gangs. Northern Mexican and Southern Mexican gangs are constantly fighting over territory- streets, blocks, entire neighborhoods. Nashville also has a very large Hispanic and Latino population consisting of good, hard working, law abiding people from many countries, not just Mexico. Due to the Mexican gangs being so very violent, should Nashville have outlawed all people of Hispanic or Latino heritage, or who appear to be predominantly Hispanic or Latino rather than arresting only those individuals who made trouble? Absolutely not. Yet, this is precisely what is being done with pit bull breeds here in Lakewood.

Passage of this ordinance in Lakewood has not addressed the root cause of any vicious dog problem, and it is having a negative impact on responsible, law abiding dog owners.  It has been documented that there is little usefulness in using breed-specific legislation as an attempt to protect a community’s citizens from dog attacks or bites. The American Veterinary Medical Association Task Force on Canine Aggression and Human-Canine Interactions has stated that breed-specific legislation has absolutely no merit and that targeting those individual dogs, of any breed, that commit acts of aggression will directly address the problem. (citing reports from CDC, 1997; CDC, 2003; AVMA, 2001)

In fact, temperament evaluations by the American Temperament Test Society have given American Pit Bull Terriers a very high passing rate of 90.6 percent. The average passing rate for the other 121 breeds of dogs represented in these tests was 77 percent. Based on this extensive testing conducted by professional dog temperament assessors, pit bulls are less likely to bite or attack than Golden Retrievers.

The CDC report further states that "When a specific breed of dog has been selected for stringent control, 2 constitutional questions concerning dog owners’ fourteenth amendment rights have been raised: first, because all types of dogs may inflict injury to people and property, ordinances addressing only 1 breed of dog are argued to be underinclusive and, therefore, violate owners’ equal protection rights; and second,because identification of a dog’s breed with the certainty necessary to impose sanctions on the dog’s owner is prohibitively difficult, such ordinances have been argued as unconstitutionally vague, and, therefore, violate due process."

Any law that is specific to breed does not address the real problem, irresponsible dog owners.

A much better alternative to breed-specific legislation is to support reasonable, enforceable, non-discriminatory laws to govern the ownership of dogs and to hold irresponsible dog owners to a higher social, legal, and financial accountability.

Many Lakewood residents, including responsible, law abiding dog owners like myself, have insightful, practical ideas to ensure that Lakewood's dog population is a well-behaved, well socialized population, without regard to breed.

Let’s work together to make Lakewood a safe, dog-friendly, and non-discriminatory city for us all.

I have written letters to the city council, and I strongly urge you to do so as well. Council member's email address can be found at the city's web site.