How to Help Prevent Breed Discrimination in Your Community www.bestfriends.org
Transcription
How to Help Prevent Breed Discrimination in Your Community www.bestfriends.org
How to Help Prevent Breed Discrimination in Your Community www.bestfriends.org How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 1 Our Mission: No More Homeless Pets Best Friends is working with you and with humane groups all across the country to bring about a time when homeless, unwanted animals are no longer being destroyed in shelters, and when every healthy dog or cat can be guaranteed a good life in a caring home. It can happen in any city or town. Someone is badly injured by a dog. If that dog happens to be identified by the press as a pit bull, the story is covered extensively by the media. Within days, local government officials call for a ban on all pit-bull-type dogs. This type of “panic policymaking” based on anger and fear often leads to ineffective breed-discrimination laws. These laws not only fail to protect the public from dangerous dogs, they can result in the deaths of thousands of good dogs who are destroyed simply because they are or look like pit bulls. Breed-discrimination laws also hurt responsible people who may be forced to choose between their beloved dog and their home. YOU can help stop breed discrimination and make your community safer by becoming informed about the issue and taking the proven, effective steps detailed in this action kit. Animal advocates like you have successfully defeated and repealed breed-discrimination measures throughout the country. For example, in 2009-10, Best Friends Animal Society, through its “Pit Bulls: Saving America’s Dog” campaign, worked with energized citizens in Elgin, Illinois, to defeat an effort by city leaders to discriminate by breed (see page 10). This action kit provides resources, tools and examples that can help you and other concerned animal lovers in your community stop breed discrimination and save the lives of dogs. Here’s how you can make a difference for dogs and people in your community. Pit Bulls: Saving America’s Dog The goals of this Best Friends campaign are to restore the image of pit bulls and challenge breed discrimination. For more information, go to pitbulls. bestfriends.org. In particular, check out the Tools to Use section. How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 2 1. Contact Best Friends [page 4] 2. Contact More Friends [page 4] 3. Contact Your Local Politicians [pages 5-6] 4. Get Social [page 7] 5. Update Wikipedia [page 7] 6. Use Economic Pressure [page 7] 7. Contact Local Media [page 7] Why Breed Discrimination Doesn’t Work [page 8] What Does Work [page 9] Dogs Matter! [page 9] Success in Elgin, Illinois [page 10] How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 3 1. Contact Best Friends If you are not already part of our “Pit Bulls: Saving America’s Dog” campaign, you can join us and learn more at pitbulls.bestfriends.org. You’ll also want to sign up to receive alerts on our Advocacy for Animals website, and of course, visit your Go Local page at network. bestfriends.org. • KCDog blog: btoellner.typepad.com/ kcdogblog • Fight BSL Yahoo group: Go to groups.yahoo. com and search for “Fight BSL” If there are any proposed breed-discrimination measures in your area, please let our team know by contacting [email protected]. The Best Friends team will: •Send a letter to government officials from one of our attorneys opposing the measure and instead recommending proven publicsafety legislation such as breed-neutral dangerous-dog laws, anti-tethering laws and leash laws. •Post alerts and e-mail messages to our Action Team and Best Friends members in the community. •If appropriate, send a letter to the editor stating the case against breed-discriminatory laws. Please send us the names of your local newspapers and websites. 2. Contact More Friends There are a number of other public resources in addition to Best Friends that can help you prevent breed discrimination. Some of the resources used by Best Friends include: • Bless the Bullys: www.blessthebullys.com • StopBSL: www.stopbsl.com How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 4 3. Contact Your Local Politicians Calls, letters and e-mails from voters influence elected officials. Here are some specific actions you can take: •Call the city or county clerk or the League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org) to request contact information for your city and county officials. Contact information for elected officials may also be available on your city’s website. Then call your elected officials and POLITELY voice your opposition to the law or proposed measure. •Make copies of the city council contact list. Distribute a flyer containing information about the proposed measure and the contact information of the local officials at your veterinarian’s office, dog training classes, feed stores, pet stores and groomers. •Ask your local humane society to oppose the measure. Ask your veterinarian to speak out and make calls. It is extremely important to get local veterinarians to testify at hearings on the proposed legislation. Their expertise carries great weight with officials. •Send your own personal letter opposing breed discrimination and breed-specific legislation to the appropriate elected government officials, the police chief and the city attorney. If your city government also has a city manager who makes policy recommendations to the city council, contact him or her about the issue. Send a personal polite e-mail, too. board meetings and testify. As the meetings get closer, or the vote is coming up, purchase small ads in the local newspaper or distribute flyers to help get fellow citizens to show support and attend the meetings. •At the meetings, wear t-shirts or buttons showing that you oppose canine profiling. (By the way, it’s not a good idea to bring dogs to these meetings unless they are certified therapy dogs.) •Provide city council members with the information they will need to make an informed decision. Read the articles listed below and use the information contained in them in your appeal to lawmakers. You can also give these articles directly to city officials or the media. All Bark and Fiscal Bite: Are BreedDiscriminatory Laws Effective? by Ledy VanKavage Fiscal Bite & Breed Discrimination: Utilizing Scientific Advances & Economic Tools in Lobbying by Ledy VanKavage and John Dunham The Need for a Canine Innocence Project by Ledy VanKavage •Send letters discussing the proposed legislation to the editors of local newspapers in order to spread the word about the issue and educate other residents. •You can also attend city council and county How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 5 •At the meetings, be sure to talk about how much it would cost your city to enact a breed-discriminatory or breed-specific law. You can calculate the cost using Best Friends’ Fiscal Impact Calculator at www. guerrillaeconomics.biz/bestfriends. •You can also mention that if your city passes a breed-discriminatory provision, the burden of proof is on the city to prove that the dog is of a certain breed. Many city attorneys and police chiefs haven’t kept up with the science of tracing a dog’s heritage. They should know that it’s expensive — usually $120 to $160 per dog — to run DNA tests on all the mixed-breed dogs in town. For information on ordering a canine DNA test, visit www. wisdompanel.com. •Finally, to further inform city officials, you might want to send the city attorney a copy of the American Bar Association book A Lawyer’s Guide to Dangerous Dog Laws, which recommends against breed discrimination. It is available at www.abanet. org. Click on the Web Store and search for “dangerous dog laws.” Visual Identification of Breeds According to Dr. Victoria Voith, visual identification, even by professionals, is often wrong. In a recent study, Dr. Voith found that, in 87.5 percent of adopted dogs, breeds identified by DNA analyses were not the breeds stated by the adoption agencies. Animal shelter workers were right in guessing the heritage of a mixed-breed dog only 12.5 percent of the time. Because of the inaccuracy of visual breed identification, Voith rightly questioned current public and private policies based on dog breeds. For more, go to the National Canine Research Council website and read Dr. Voith’s study, called A Comparison of Visual and DNA Identifications of Breeds. nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/ dog-bites/dog-bite-studies Be Courteous and Polite Keep in mind that community leaders can be quickly turned off by a large volume of angry calls from people, especially if they are not residents of your community. All of your public calls to action should encourage activity by local residents and should be carried out in a respectful and polite manner. How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 6 4. Get Social Go on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Craig’s List and ask folks to help save our pets. You can also start a blog or go on your city newspaper’s blog and leave comments. Tell people about Pit Bull Positive, a social networking site specific to pit bulls: pitbullpositive.ning.com. to talk to you or Best Friends attorney Ledy VanKavage, Esq. ([email protected]) about why breed-discriminatory laws don’t work.If they come to interview you and you have a pit-bull-type dog, make sure the dog is well-behaved and not on a chain. Dress the dog up in a bandana or a frilly, silly collar for the interview. 5. Update Wikipedia During the interview, mention that it is extremely expensive to enforce these laws, and describe how they interfere with the rights of responsible dog owners. Responsible owners with good dogs would be forced to give up their best friend or move out of the community. Go to your community’s Wikipedia website and edit it, mentioning that the town is now considering breed-discriminatory legislation to warn dog lovers who may be thinking about moving to your community. 6. Use Economic Pressure Contact the town’s chamber of commerce or tourism council, and ask people from the surrounding communities to also contact these groups and businesses. Tell them you’re going to boycott businesses in the town if the measure passes. To figure out how much it will cost your city to enforce the breed-discriminatory ordinance, go to Best Friends’ Fiscal Impact Calculator at www.guerrillaeconomics.biz/bestfriends. Share this information with your local dogloving neighbors, friends and family. Tell the interviewer that all the following major organizations oppose breed discrimination: •Best Friends Animal Society •National Animal Control Association •American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) •Centers for Disease Control •Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) •American Humane Association •American Veterinary Medical Association If the media need additional background information on the topic, you can refer them to any of the resources listed throughout this action kit. 7. Contact Local Media Contact the town’s chamber of commerce Call and e-mail newspapers, local television stations, and local radio shows. Ask them How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 7 Why Breed Discrimination Doesn’t Work Below is a list of basic reasons why breed discrimination is an ineffective policy. Feel free to use any of this information in your personal letters and phone calls, as well as in letters to the editor or media interviews. dangerous, instead of investing resources into proven, effective tactics that make the community safer. •A dog is an individual, with his or her own unique personality. A dog should be judged on temperament and not appearance. •Studies of pre- and post-breed-ban dogbite rates in the United Kingdom and Spain concluded that their breed-discriminatory laws had no effect whatsoever on reducing dog bites. •It is often difficult, even for experts, to determine the breed of a dog, particularly when considering mixed-breed dogs. We challenge you to “Find the Pit Bull” (courtesy of Pit Bull Rescue Central). www. pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html •Many dogs are misidentified and consequently destroyed simply because of their appearance. Now try to identify a mixed-breed dog. network.bestfriends.org/groups/pitbulls/ media/p/134048/download.aspx •Breed-discriminatory laws cause unintended hardship to responsible owners of friendly dogs who happen to fall within the regulated breed category. •Breed-discriminatory laws compromise public safety by requiring officers to enforce regulation on dogs who may or may not be •Italy recently revoked its breed restrictions, stating that the ban had no scientific justification. For details, read this story on the Best Friends Network. network.bestfriends.org/campaigns/pitbulls/ news.aspx?pID=10615 •Calgary, Canada, has the lowest dog-bite rates in 25 years, without enacting breed discrimination. For details, read this story on the Best Friends Network. network.bestfriends.org/campaigns/pitbulls/ news.aspx?pID=11114 •The police and animal control will lose the public’s trust by seizing and killing pets simply because of their appearance. Read this article by Best Friends’ Ledy VanKavage. animals.change.org/blog/view/the_need_ for_a_canine_innocence_project How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 8 What Does Work Dogs Matter! To have safe, humane communities, Best Friends encourages you to urge government officials to focus on reckless owners instead of punishing responsible owners of friendly, well-behaved dogs. Ordinances should be passed that hold people responsible for the behavior of their pets, no matter what the breed. A humane, effective ordinance might include regulations that: If you lose round 1 and a breeddiscriminatory law passes, don’t give up! Take a deep breath and then: •Encourage residents to spay or neuter their pets (and charge higher license fees for unaltered animals) For more on how to become politically active for animals, read these books: •Provide adequate due process provisions for dog owners through breed-neutral dangerous dog laws •Restrict tethering •Prevent reckless owners from having dogs • Intensify your efforts and phone calls to elected officials. • Keep going to city council meetings and speaking out against breed discrimination. • If all else fails, run for public office or help animal-friendly candidates win. • Get Political for Animals and Win the Laws They Need by Julie Lewin • Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky When you do win, publish an ad in local newspapers thanking your elected officials. Last, but not least, tell your friends at Best Friends about what worked in your campaign and what did not so we can help spread the word and give support to dog lovers in other cities across the country. THANK YOU FOR TAKING ACTION FOR ANIMALS! How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 9 Ad Proof Ad Number: 485058 Start Date: 03/08/2010 Separation: GrayScale (15:03, 03/05/10) PAGE 4 SECTION 5 DAILY HERALD NF1* Religion — Special events Spaghetti dinner: The annual spaghetti dinner will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1647 Ravine Lane, Carpentersville. Tickets are $6, $3 for children ages 3-12 and free for kids younger than 3. Success in Elgin, Illinois Variety show: Wesley United Methodist Church in Elgin hosts its 20th “Fun ‘n Frolics” family-oriented variety show at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at the church, 1070 South St. This year’s blend of talent includes dance, jokes, songs, drama, musical instruments (including classical guitar, piano, cello, viola, and violin), and more. Admission to the show is donations of nonperishable food items. The food will be given to the Elgin All Peoples’ Interfaith Food Pantry. After the show, stay for a potluck supper featuring salads and desserts, with a freewill offering going to the church missions committee. For details, call (847) 742-7256. pastor for Highland Fellowship Church and headmaster of Highland Christian Academy. The concert will benefit the scholarship fund for Highland Christian Academy. Admission is $10. Tickets may also be purchased in advance by calling (847) 741-5530. Highland Christian Academy is a private Christian school affiliated with Highland Fellowship Church for 25 years. Handbell concert: The Bar- rington Area Festival Handbell Concert will be at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 14, at Village Church of Barrington, 1600 E. Main St., Barrington. Eight bell choirs totaling more than 100 ringers will be participating. Choirs will perform individual selections and will play several songs en masse. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. This is a free concert. Attention Elgin Taxpayers & Pet Lovers! The Elgin City Council is considering passing a breeddiscriminatory ordinance that could potentially cause undue hardship to responsible taxpaying citizens. If the ordinance passes, any mixed-breed dog that resembles a “pit bull,” living with a responsible family that is financially unable to comply with onerous restrictions could be seized and killed. The ordinance will also cost taxpayers thousands of dollars in litigation and DNA testing to determine if a dog is a “pit bull.” To see what these restrictions might cost Elgin Taxpayers to enact and enforce visit: http://www.guerrillaeconomics.biz/bestfriends/ This is America: Responsible dog owners should be allowed to have any breed of dog they choose. An ordinance that truly increases public safety would target reckless owners and prevent them from owning any dog. Please contact the City of Elgin at 847-931-5590 Angel Food Ministries: Angel Ministries is now available and ask the following city councilmen toFood oppose breed through St. John’s Lutheran Church and School, 300 Jefferson St., discrimination: Concert fundraiser: A special Algonquin. Each month’s menu is concert by renowned pianist Huntley Brown and Elgin OPERA vocalist Holmes will take place at 6 Mayor Ed SchockJeorge p.m. Sunday, March 14, at Highland Fellowship Church, 2250 W. 355 Jefferson Ave, Elgin, 60120 Highland Ave., Elgin.IL A silent auction will also be available. Brown has performed on television, radio and concert in more than 30 countries Councilman BobinandGilliam is currently the pianist for Ruth and Friends Ministries. A 50 S. Grove Ave,Graham Elgin, ILBrown 60120 native of Jamaica, is a Judson University alumni and currently resides in Aurora. Holmes, an Elgin is a graduate of St. Edward Councilman Johnnative, Prigge High School and Judson University. He currently sings with the Elgin 821 Bellevue Ave, Elgin, IL as60120 OPERA. Holmes serves senior different and consists of fresh, frozen and packaged food. The cost for a box is $30. There is no purchase limit for boxes of Angel Food. There are no applications or qualifications necessary to purchase. Generally, one box of Angel Food assists in feeding a family of four for about one week or a single senior citizen for almost a month. Each month, Angel Food Ministries also offers “specialty boxes” of steak, chicken, pork or other foods. There is no purchase limit for specialty boxes or bonus foods. There are no applications or qualifications necessary to purchase. To better help families in need, Angel Food Ministries partici- pates in the Food Stamp Program. This program is designed to help low-income families buy the food they need for good nutrition. Anyone may purchase an unlimited number of boxes by placing an order with a local host site. Order forms are available online at angelfoodministries.com and for credit card payments, customers must use the online payment form. For individuals making payment in cash, check or Link Cards, forms and payment are accepted in St. John’s Activity Center from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Sundays. On Wednesday, March 17, forms are available in the church office from 10 a.m. to noon. Orders must be received by noon Wednesday, March 17. Order pickup is from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday, March 27. For details, call Linda Klbecka at (847) 658-9300. Recital series: The Dundee and Elgin Area Lenten Recital Series will be from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m. Thursdays at various local churches. On Thursday, March 18, organist Vernon Studt will perform at First Congregational Church, 11628 Main St., Huntley. For details, call (847) 669-3691. Recital series: On Friday, March 19, the Gargoyle Brass with Michael Surratt as organist will play as part of the Jane Hampton Chipman Memorial Recital Series at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 256 E. Chicago St., Elgin. It is free and open to the public. For details, call (847) 741-4045 or visit fcc-elgin.org. Trivia Night: St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School in West Dundee will host Trivia Night Saturday, March 20. Check-in begins at 6 p.m., with the first round starting at 6:45 p.m. and will go until the fun ends. Trivia questions will be asked over five rounds, with 15 questions per round. The rounds are arts and entertainment, geography and history, sports, religion and miscellaneous. The cost of entry is $30 per person or a team of 10 for $300. Interactive raffles and silent and live auctions will provide a full evening of entertainment and fun. Finger food is included and a cash bar will be open throughout the event. The winning team will get a spin on the prize wheel and the chance to be named “Trivia Night Champions.” For ticket information, call (847) 426-4808. Spirit of Life Chorus: Bethle- hem Lutheran Church, 401 W. Main St., West Dundee, is hosting the Spirit of Life Chorus at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 20. The community is invited to join in listening to this inspirational chorus of more than 70 voices. Services at Bethlehem are at 8 and 10:30 Sundays with the Rev. Steven R. Woita officiating. For details, call (847) 426-7311 or visit bethlehemdundee.org. Bells of Hope: The First Congregational Church’s Jubilate Handbell Choir will present their third annual “Bells of Hope” concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 21, at the church, 461 Pierson St., Crystal Lake. The Jubilate Bell Choir has 12 bell ringers, many of whom have played with the group from many years. The program will feature a variety of music, including the “How Can I Keep From Singing” and “Dan “Crea as we arran Tell O by M Prelu arran Gamb perfo (815) Lake. Milita Imma Main stage targe Mich Rese mem ways supp fully opera Misso The c will b on ho milita regar opera servi Mail” (800) haps to me comm supp a.m. 27. L There detai ‘A Co trodu will b Councilman Mike Warren Notes on60123 religion 1600 Lin Lor Ln, Elgin, IL Please call these officials who voted for the ordinance and ask them to strike the canine-profiling sections. Thank you for speaking out for Elgin’s pets. Continued from Page 2 in worship and are each supported by free will donations. Donations for the evening meal help to support Immanuel’s youth ministry. For details, call (847) 428-4477 or visit immanuel-ed.org. Morning Star: Join Morning Star Church and The River Church for a weekend of insightful teaching and revela- tion with Anne Elmer, author of The Elijah List’s best-selling book “Transported by the Lion of Judah.” Elmer and her husband, Malgwyn, were both born, brought up and married in the North of England, but after 16 years in a small Lancashire village, they moved to live just outside Paris, France, where they now run a small Christian publishing company. The meetings will be at 7:15 p.m. Friday, March 19, and 10 a.m. Sunday, March 21, at the church, 41W350 Powers Road, Huntley. For details, call (847) 669-9800 or visit morningstarwoc.org and theriver-church. com. followed by the Lenten service at 7 p.m. The Trinity Seniors group have plans to attend the Spirit of Life concert Saturday, March 20. To attend, call the church at (847) 669-5780. Trinity Lutheran: Trinity Lutheran Church, 11008 Church St., Huntley, will hold Lenten services at noon and 7 p.m. Wednesdays throughout the Lenten season. There is a soup and sandwich supper at 6 p.m., First Congregational: On Laetare Sunday, March 14, the annual Children’s Spring Cantata will be performed at the 9 and 10:45 a.m. services at First Congregational Church, 461 Pierson St., Crystal Lake. Food The latest trends recipes and 2009 copyright Paddock in Publications The citizens of Elgin, Illinois, successfully fought breed-specific language in a local animal ordinance. Above is the call to action and at right is the thank-you notice to the mayor and city council. Click here to read an editorial by Steve Dale posted on Chicago Now. A ser munio the ch Carol presen tails, c fcc-cl. McHen ligious March ellem Attrac Spiritu cuisine so our readers know what’s cook A Special Thanks Elgin’s responsible dog owners are cheering the councils decision to remove the breed specific language from the new animal ordinance. The responsible dog owning citizens of Elgin united and made a stance. Thank you Mayor and City Council for listening and pursuing an animal ordinance that holds people accountable for the behavior and care of their dogs. Special thanks goes to Councilmen David Kaptain, Richard Dunne, and John Steffen. for their sound judgment. We •L •G •C •C The opportunities are • A endless. The memories will last forever. • & Why not charter a coach this summer and take in a professional sports team, concert, the theater, a day in Chicago, Ravinia, Country Thunder, Milwaukee, Navy Pier, Galena and more. Taysia the service dog will continue to visit her friends in nursing homes and hospitals How to help prevent breed discrimination in your community pg 10