Ohio Animal Advocates Set Their Sights on Cincinnati

by Ledy VanKavage · 2011-06-28 06:18:00 UTC
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In the last year, three major Midwestern cities have repealed their archaic canine profiling laws: Topeka, Toledo and Cleveland. Jean Keating and the  Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates want to capitalize on this momentum. The Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates' goal is to make sure Ohio has safe, humane communities by targeting reckless owners and a dog's behavior. Now, they are aiming their sights on Cincinnati, a bastion of breed discrimination where family pets are still seized and killed simply because of their appearance.

Why Cincinnati? According to pet owners who live there, there  has been a surge in enforcement with more pets being seized because of their looks. Keating has gotten reports about folks who don't even  live in Cincinnati being stopped by police while driving through town with their short-haired muscular mutt in the car. What a waste of taxpayer dollars, let alone lives. Don't government officials have anything better to do?

It's gotten so bad that a Cincinnati doctor called the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates, wanting to sue the city. He wanted a recommendation for a good animal law attorney. Keating suggested they first go the political route.

She put up a petition on Change.org, encouraged holding rallies and writing letters to the city council members. Polite calls are also encouraged. Keating has filed a public records request to find out what sort of "training" dog wardens have to deem a dog of mixed breed heritage a pit bull, how much money the city is wasting by seizing and killing people's pets, and if the ordinance has the requisite due process protections.

Why the sudden surge in enforcement? Keating doesn't know. Some point to a new judge on the bench who doesn't like dogs. Others believe it's because of the age of the ordinance. When Cincinnati enacted breed discrimination approximately 11 years ago, the existing dogs were grandfathered in. Now many of those dogs are senior citizens.

Whatever the cause for enforcing this ill-conceived ordinance, it needs to be stopped before more dogs die. Let's hope the city council follows the lead of Toledo and Cleveland and enacts a good reckless owner/generic dangerous dog law. You can help by signing the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates petition. Politics is not a spectator sport.

Photo Credit: Hillsborough County Pit Crew

Ledy VanKavage has worked extensively on behalf of animals for over 25 years. She is currently the Senior Legislative Attorney for Best Friends Animal Society.

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