What is Breed-specific Legislation?
Breed-specific Legislation or BSL is intended to place limitations on certain breeds of dogs and owners. Usually, these restricted breeds include pit bull-type dogs (most often unclearly defined), followed by Rottweilers. Other breeds may include Chows, German Shepherds, Huskies, Presa Canarios, Dobermans, Cane Corsos, Boxers, and mixes of these breeds.
Current Ohio state law defines "any dog commonly known as a pit bull" as a vicious dog, which is then subject to special ownership restrictions and requirements.
What is House Bill 14?
House Bill 14, filed by Ohio Representative Barbara Sears, would remove the breed-specific language from state law. Ohio is the only state to have any type of breed-specific language. In fact, 14 states actually have laws that forbid breed-specific laws.
This would be a huge victory for all pit bulls and their owners as they would then be defined and treated as any other dog.
The bill was first introduced as House Bill 79. The House of Representatives passed the law with a nearly unanimous vote as an amendment to HB 55, which was an animal cruelty bill. Unfortunately, HB 79 did not pass the Senate in time after being filed, so Representative Sears re-filed for the current legislation season. If it passes hearings, the House and Senate, it will become law.
For those unfamiliar with this law, words like vicious, menacing and dangerous are characteristics of these dogs. Dogs attacking without provocation, causing serious injury and those dogs that have killed before are noted. Police dogs who are trained to attack are, of course, excluded as vicious. Then, right in the middle, are the words Belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog.
The wording of this clause and lack of clarity has resulted in extreme confusion with dog owners and dog wardens alike. Presa Canarios, Mastiffs and Boxer mix dogs have all been declared to be “pit bulls.”
The American Kennel Club strongly opposes any legislation that determines a dog to be "dangerous" based on specific breeds, and lauds the Ohio representatives who seek to remove this discriminatory language from state law.
Many supporters of House Bill 14 are hoping that by removing this offensive language from state law that all dogs and owners will be judged individually. Their motto is Blame The Deed – Not The Breed!
How Can You Support Ohio House Bill 14?
You can show your support with Representative Barbara Sears for this very important matter. If you are a resident of Ohio, please call your local representative and ask that they support this bill. Use this link to find your representative.
Sources:
Jane Mosley - Jane Mosley is a contributing writer for Suite101. She is a freelance writer and has many interests from muay thai to dogs to ...
Join the Conversation