Ohio Bill Could End Statewide Witch Hunt Against Pit Bulls

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2011-01-13 16:09:00 UTC
Topics:

If you have a pit bull-type dog and you live in Ohio, the state considers your companion a "vicious dog." It doesn't matter whether your pit bull is a puppy, or a certified therapy dog, or even whether she's really a "pit bull" at all. Ohio is the only place in the U.S. with statewide breed discrimination, and legislators are finally trying to change that.

State Representative Barbara Sears (R-Lucas County) reintroduced legislation this week that would remove pit bulls from the state's definition of vicious dogs, allowing them to be treated the same as any other dog — based on behavior, not appearance. Rep. Sears proposed the same bill last year. It passed the state House of Representatives, but didn't make it out of the Senate.

In a testimony supporting last year's version of the bill, Jean Keating of the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates summed up the problem with the state's law: "[It has] forced us to focus all of our resources on dogs with large blocky heads and short fur regardless of behavior. We have let the public down by failing to address the reasons that dogs bite."

Advocates from within the state and across the country have long been rallying against Ohio's breed discrimination. In addition to the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates, legislators last year also heard from the Ohio Association of Animal Owners, Ohio Veterinary Medical Association, and several other organizations. The American Kennel Club, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Animal Control Association and nearly every major humane organization in the country oppose breed specific legislation.

The scales of justice are tipping away from laws that discriminate against dogs based on breed. Last year, a Toledo municipal judge ruled that the city's law (which was even more restrictive than the state) was unconstitutional. Toledo, which had once been the poster child for anti-pit bull cities, replaced their breed discriminatory law a few months later with a model breed-neutral dog ordinance.

Now it's time for the state to stop profiling dogs. Tell Ohio legislators to pass H.B. 14 and end the witch hunt against pit bulls.

Editor's Note: This post originally referred to the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates representative as John Keating instead of Jean Keating.

Photo credit: Melissa Lipani, Best Friends Animal Society

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.

RELATED PETITION

Ohio Legislators: Pass H.B. 14 to End Breed Discrimination
VICTORY!
18,780 People
PREVIOUS STORY:
Glee Star Lea Michele Calls for Boycott of Horse-Drawn Carriages
NEXT STORY:
Petitions Delivered Around the World for Release of Indonesian Circus Dolphins

COMMENTS (14)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.