Honorable Mayor Dorothy Hubbard; Mayor Pro Tem  Jon Howard; City Manager James Taylor; Commissioner Bobby Coleman; Commissioner BJ Fletcher; Commissioner Roger B. Marietta; Commissioner Tommie Postell; Commissioner  Bob Langstaff, Jr.

We are a community of dog lovers of all breeds. We are also parents, students, tax payers, home owners, consumers, voters, entrepreneurs, professionals and your working class families. We are deeply concerned about the safety of our communities and are alarmed that the City of Albany Council, Mayor and possibly, County of Dougherty, may consider as a solution to reducing dog bites, laws that specifically name "pit bulls" and bully breed dogs. We reject the arbitrary legislation referred to as Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) and Breed Discriminatory Legislation, because they are fundamentally unconstitutional, they punish good dogs and responsible dog owners, and do not make our communities any safer. 

 In fact, there is no such identifiable breed as the "Pit Bull" dog. The name is a commonly misused term for mixed-breed dogs with one or more of the physical characterisitcs of a variety of breeds, including: American Staffordshire Terrier, Boston Terrier, Bull Terrier, Mastiff, Bull Mastiff, Boxer, American Bulldog, and English Bulldog.  All the various  "Bully Breed" dogs have been exploited by unqualified breeders and criminals by misusing their fierce loyalty to their owners. It must be recognized that these  dogs are also victims. More of these dogs are maimed and killed during illegal and grueseome dog fights, are put down in our nation's shelters, are over-bred for a few dollars only to be used as living security systems, and are dying on our streets as discarded remnants of failing local economies . 

Even the most horribly abused dogs  are rehabilitated and find comforting, good homes through the efforts of local shelters, rescues and every-day good samaritans that find strays, but BSL laws only punish these dogs, once more, with the dog abusers going further under ground unnoticed. By continuing to villify these breeds, it only serves to support the criminals who desire to possess "dangerous" dogs and enhance thir appeal resulting in more abuse. This criminal element will not abide by any laws, and any new legislation will only drive them further underground, while happy, well-trained and obedient dogs having even small resemblance of these so-called "pit bull" breed characteristics, will  be punished and taken from their homes, and placed in the local shelter, only to eventually face euthanasia. 

Studies of dog bites have shown that there are no breeds more prone to biting than any other, and it is the roaming, scared, unsocialized, tethered, and unaltered dog (of any breed) that can be a danger to communities. It is important to know that dog-bite studies reveal the real source of fatal dog bites is not breed-specific.

The National Canine Research Council has identified the most common factors found in fatal dog attacks:

• 97 percent of the dogs involved were not spayed or neutered.
• 84 percent of the attacks involved owners who had abused or neglected their dogs, failed to contain their dogs, or failed to properly chain their dogs.
• 78 percent of the dogs were not kept as pets but as guard, breeding, or yard dogs.

An important point to keep in mind: 

When locals place the solution to reducing dog bites and keeping communities safe on CONTROLLING A SPECIFIC BREED BASED ON LOOK AND NOT BEHAVIOR, the other dogs of various breeds that DO bite and that DO have behavioral issues, go UNNOTICED, and continue as part of a safety problem! 

 Absent expensive DNA testing, it's virtually impossible to visually identify all dogs that are one of these mixed breeds. We strongly oppose the arbitrary visual identification because it is faulty and incomplete.Refer to this link to see for yourselves how accurate your guesses would be. Under any Breed Specific Legislation that targets "pit bulls" or bully breeds, dog. no. 7 would not be identified.Visual identification is inaccurate and is what is used by all local law enforcement officers (including animal control and police officers) when identifying dogs once these laws are voted in. Please copy and paste this in a new browser: 

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/Pit

Bull ID Poster.pdf

  Even with expensive DNA testing of the thousands of local dogs covered by these laws, there are no testing facilities that test for "Pit Bull". The mixed-breed "Pit Bull" dog is also not recognized by The American Kennel Club, The Humane Society of America, or the ASPCA. All these organizations also strongly oppose BSL. In addition, The White House, The American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Bar Association also oppose BSL.

  These laws are proven to not reduce dog bites, and many communities that enacted BSL have seen an increase. Across America these laws are being rejected and repealed. The following 14 states prohibit their municipalities from passing breed-specific laws: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas,  Virginia,Massachusetts, Nevada, Connecticut and Rhode Island.  (So far this year there have been 4 repeals, 2 rejections and no passages of these laws in any form as well as 3 new states already looking to prohibit BSL at the state level, (Washington, South Dakota and Maryland. Repealed inWaterloo Wisconsin, Bonner Springs KS, Clayton MO, Canton Michigan and Grand Mound Iowa, and both Springdale and Monticello Arkansas have rejected BSL). Instead of these failed laws, we support the prosecution of the animal abusers, the enforcement of existing leash laws and anti-tethering, as well as stringent spaying/neutering initiatives that all have proven to significantly reduce dog bites. 

  Breed-discriminatory laws can quickly become a serious burden on local governments and a waste of tax dollars. Undoubtedly, enforcement of such a law drains needed resources from truly important and vital government services, such as police, fire protection, parks and road maintenance.  The City of Albany’s government has a responsibility to make decisions based on facts, not reactively and without considering the cost of its actions. If The City of Albany were to enact a breed-discriminatory law, it can expect animal control services to need an additional $71,016 for enforcement, $17,822 for kenneling, $13,456 for DNA testing, $13,187 for legal services, and $2,164 for the cost of killing the pets that are confiscated. These are significant budgetary costs, totaling $117,645. annually for the city. 

Our U.S. Constitution guarantees us equal protection under the due process clause of the 14th ammendment to protect us from vague and capricious laws. In addition, governments that interfere with citizens’ property rights through breed-discriminatory provisions have the burden of proving the heritage of individual pets and providing constitutional due process protections before seizing and housing them. As a result, the costs for enforcement go well beyond the traditional role of animal control services (to target the actual behavior of individual dogs) and into other, more costly areas of local government, BSL leaves the city vulnerable to lawsuits and frequently involving expensive and lengthy litigation. During the court proceedings, the city is responsible for picking up the tab for housing the dog until the trial and appeal are concluded. Enforcing a breed-discriminatory law, will ultimately deplete the limited resources that The City of Albany can allocate for animal control and require that the additional funds be taken from other departments or local programs and services. 

  Most pet dogs are loved and cared-for members of families. Responsible owners should be able to have any breed of dog they choose without government interference in their property rights. It is arbitrary and unfair to break up families, traumatize children, and spend taxpayer money to ban or restrict dogs based solely on a dog’s alleged breed or appearance, without regard for behavior or facts. A far more efficient use of public resources would be to enforce existing laws that prosecute and penalize negligent or reckless owners who not only abuse man’s best friend, but put their neighbors at risk.  

 Please join our community and reject Breed Specific Legislation and Breed Discriminatory Legislation, and support breed-neutral comprehensive dog laws that hold negligent or reckless owners accountable, encourage responsible pet ownership and enforce existing laws to make our communities safer. 

 

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