ACTION 2011!

The 2009 legislative session is over!

Here is a list of what happened to the various bills.

http://lsspbc.com/blog/2009/06/03/its-over/

We need to be ready to keep our dogs legal once again – the next session begins January 11, 2011.  There is already a push to allow Breed-Specific Legislation  in Texas next session.

Here is how you can help.

Laws banning or restricting “Pit Bulls” and other specific breeds are a favorite of legislators looking for a quick-fix. This is called “Breed Specific Legislation” (BSL) and it threatens the right of all pet owners. Currently, Texas state law does not allow local governments to pass laws that single out specific breeds of dogs. However, several cities and counties are actively pressing the legislature to amend the part of the Texas Health and Safety Code that prohibits BSL. Madisonville, Texas, passed illegal BSL in February 2008 but it was repealed in July. Several other cities including Duncanville, DeSoto and Aubrey have recently discussed, but decided against, also enacting BSL illegally.

If BSL is allowed in the 2011 legislative session, your city or county may ban Pit Bulls entirely as early as September, 2011. They may also ban any other breed they choose.  Some people think these laws are acceptable if there is a “grandfather clause” allowing people to keep existing dogs. However,  grandfather clauses tend to be designed to force people to get rid of their pets.  They may require you to purchase high-dollar liability insurance, expensive enclosures (even if your dog is elderly or disabled), require your dog to be muzzled in public, mandate spaying or neutering, limit you to only one dog, or require special registration and collars declaring your dog as dangerous or vicious even if he has never threatened anyone. Sometimes there isn’t even a grandfather clause, meaning that people must immediately get rid of their dogs or move.

These restrictions place an unfair burden on responsible pet owners, who already properly contain and care for their dogs. The irresponsible few who create headline-making incidents don’t follow the simplest of leash laws — will they suddenly start following new laws? Will tasking animal control officers with identifying so-called “pit bulls” give them more time and money to pick up dogs running at large, much less fund educational, spay/neuter and low-cost vaccination clinics?

We have been safe in Texas for many years, until now. Many cities in Texas have made BSL part of their official legislative agendas, but state law has not allowed them to act. In every session since 2005, bills were introduced at the state level to allow BSL. 2011 will be no different and this time it might pass if we do not work hard between now and the next legislative session.

Please join us, join the EBA, or join your local club’s efforts to keep the right to own any breed of dog we choose. Check out the links on the right for further details about the current threats to our dogs, and ways to get involved.  LSSPBC will send updates through our Yahoo Group (sign up at right) regarding any BSL laws in Texas.  We we will announce the need to attend city council meetings, write letters, etc.