On May 9, 2005, the Denver Division of Animal Control began enforcing a city-wide ban on owning pit bull terriers and any mix breed thereof.
A dog hunt began.
Each day in Denver, beloved, innocent and friendly family dogs are seized from their homes and euthanized-despite the protests of distraught owners. To date, thousands of family pets have been killed because of Denver's breed discrimination ordinance.
Under
Sec. 8-55 of Denver's Municipal Code, any dog owner who refuses to surrender his or her dog will face up to a year in jail and a $999 fine. This ordinance also bans shelters and humane societies from harboring dogs that meet ambiguous physical criteria of short-haired, muscular dogs. The ordinance even goes so far as to forbid any U.S. resident from transporting a pit bull through Denver without a permit.
Denver is not alone. Many cities across the country have similar laws that ban "pit bulls" - a generic name for American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers and their mixes.
Says Ed Fritz, Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign specialist, "Breed bans create a false sense of security. What legislators need to do is focus on legislation that manages irresponsible dog owners. Since 2005, Denver emergency rooms have treated just over two thousand bite wounds-which show bites are still occurring almost daily. To me, this ban is the result of political pandering by career-minded politicians."
A Silver Lining
Contrary to what Denver officials intended, euthanizing family pets based on their appearance has done nothing to protect the health, safety and welfare of citizens. In fact, studies show that breed discriminatory legislation (BDL) fails to reduce dog bites. Recently,
a survey was conducted in seventeen Colorado districts that found no consistency in particular breeds biting at a higher percentage than others.
Hope for animal lovers also comes through the efforts of an anti-breed discrimination group called ROVERlution, who launched a campaign called
DenverKillsDogs designed to overturn Denver's breed ban.
DenverKillsDogs members intend to raise awareness, increase membership, and save family pets in Denver with its hard-hitting ad campaign to alert the public of the threat to their pets and ask the city to repeal its breed ban. Posters-featuring a young child hugging a dog under the words "Which dog will Denver kill next?"-are displayed in downtown Denver.
Taxpayers Pay for Breed Bans
John Dunham & Associates, in conjunction with Best Friends and the National Canine Research Council created a fiscal impact calculator for cities to gauge the monetary impact of a breed discriminatory law on their city budgets.
The
online calculator allows anyone to estimate by city, county or state the costs for implementing and enforcing a breed-specific law with the click of a mouse.
"Breed discrimination is enormously expensive to enforce and ineffective in reducing dog bites," says Ledy VanKavage, Best Friends' senior legislative council. "Taxpayers in addition to animal lovers should rise up against this waste of tax dollars and pet lives."
VanKavage hopes the fiscal impact calculator will convince government officials that there are much better ways to keep their communities safe than enacting breed bans, such as ordinances that focus on responsible pet ownership by targeting reckless owners to create a safe humane community.
It's time for Denver to stop the killing: Join the Rally
When:August 25, 2009, 1:00 p.m.
Where: 1437 Bannock Street, Denver City and County Building
On August 25, 2009, advocates for a breed neutral dangerous dog law will convene at City Hall to challenge Denver to enact an effective, fiscally responsible, and breed neutral dangerous dog law by repealing the outdated, costly, and ineffective breed discriminatory ordinance.
With your voices and your actions, by attending this rally you can stop breed discrimination in Denver. Let's join the Denver Kills Dogs campaign and make sure all our pets are considered as individuals and welcome in the mile high city.
For more information on the rally for repealing the breed ban, contact
jan@denverkillsdogs.com.
Advocates should bring a hand held American flag, photos of dogs banished or killed because of the breed ban, and a dog collar attached to a leash to symbolize dogs killed because of the ban.
Please leave dogs at home to memorialize this as a people problem, not a dog problem.
For more information on the Denver Kills Dogs initiative,
click here.
How you can help:
- If you can't attend the Rally on August 25, immediate assistance with this cause can be made by donating to
Denver Kills Dogs campaign.
- Please politely voice your support to end BDL by contacting the Denver City Council:
Email City Council
City Council Website
E-mail Mayor John Hickenlooper:
MileHighMayor@ci.denver.co.us
Website:
www.denvergov.org/mayor
Mailing Address:
City and County Building
1437 Bannock Street, Suite 350
Denver, CO 80202
For More Information