Please Read, Sign, and share, regardless of if you live in Prince Georges County or not. Do not simply view and pass this petition. TAKE ACTION and help support our community!

Repeal PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD., §§ 3-101, 3-116.01, 3-185.01 (1997) (this is the second largest ban on Pitbulls in the Entire Country!)

For over 20 years, families and friends in Prince Georges County have been made criminals and sent to jail, and/or fined over $1,000! Why? Simply for loving Pitbulls! For over 20 years Pitbulls have been pulled from their warm and loving homes never to see another! This is not fiction! How many Pitbulls have been senselessly MURDERED, for over 20 YEARS simply BECAUSE OF THEIR APPEARANCE?! I for one have personally seen this ban decimate our community, as well as the families and persons affected! This ban can no longer stand!

Prince George’s County is the only jurisdiction in the D.C. region that has a breed-specific ban. Banning an animal simply based on its breed or appearance is the same as racism and discrimination! The way it looks, walks, and interacts apparently makes it a danger, or means one can calculate its actions? The ban states "if a Pit Bull injures or kills a person or a domestic animal without provocation, then it will be destroyed". How many other dog breeds have done this, and not made it on the ban list? Nonetheless, Pitbulls are singled out to be "destroyed".

The same ban on Pitbulls and Bully types has been enacted in Prince Georges County Maryland since 1997. October 2019 saw a window for all animal lovers within the County that see the beauty in this socially desecrated breed open. However, that same window was quickly shut! And why? Obvious stereotypes and closed minded thinking. Rodney Streeter, the vice chair of the council said, “I just don’t have faith that behaviors will change.” Behaviors of Pitbulls? Or of the people who support the ban, and the "animals" who sit on the board considering themselves learned people, yet allow for the desecration of life simply because of an appearance. Over 50% of Pitbulls that are taken by the Animal Management Division are euthanized. Now imagine, if your child or your friend, a close relative, maybe even a co-worker was suddenly taken away with little to no justifiable reason and killed simply because of their appearance. There would be an absolute uproar!

Dan D’Eramo, Director of Field Services, for the Humane Rescue Alliance stated "a recent study asked 16 animal shelter workers to guess the breed of 120 dogs. While the shelter staff collectively identified 52% of the dogs as pit bull-type dogs, DNA tests proved that only 21% had any pit bull mix in them." Do you see that number? 21% had ANY Pitbull mix in them yet over 52% was "identified" as a Pitbull type. This clearly means that the over 50% of "Pitbulls" being killed, is nothing more than mere murder based on appearance! What constitutes one life over another? Simply because we are human beings that gives us the right to deem others lives as insignificant? What has the ban of Pitbulls in Prince Georges County actually accomplished other than senseless killings? Here are some facts. It has thrown citizens in jail on criminal offenses. It has caused the inability for people to generalize their own thought process. It has wrongly killed many dogs that in fact are not even a Pitbull at all. It has caused many citizens to simply follow the laws appointed over them continuing the unjust discrimination. It has not kept Pitbulls out. And it certainty has not made the County "safer".

Council member Derrick Leon Davis stated “It’s not going to get less contentious”. A fine statement to make as a Pitbull can walk the steps of the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, yet can not step foot in Prince Georges county without persecution? Is this the dark ages? Fear, the biggest obstacle for anyone to overcome. Fear has been planted into residents based on a case by case basis. Every dog owner knows and understands that any dog breed can be made violent, destructive, and/or dangerous completely dependent on the owner. In fact, the huge majority of people that have a negative stereotype of a Pitbull has never owned one, nor came into contact with one. So where does this extreme hate, discrimination, negativity, and fear towards Pitbulls come from? Stereotypes!

Why do so many individuals who do own Pitbulls and have come in contact with one desire such a "dangerous" breed? The answer is simple. The breed is not dangerous. The breed classified as Pitbulls are obedient, affectionate, intelligent, loyal, strong willed, friendly, and courageous. However, what is dangerous is the mindset of the people who placed the ban, continue to support the ban, never owned a Pitbull, and mindlessly follow stereotypes.

All of Prince George’s County’s neighbors including DC, Fairfax County, Alexandria, Arlington, Montgomery County, and Ann Arundel County have repealed breed-specific legislation. So why is Prince George's the only County or area to continue this senseless ban that walks us all backwards?

Please In an effort to seek justice, help share this petition to end this clear discrimination.