HELP END BREED-SPECIFIC LEGISLATION ON AUGUST 14TH IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY! YOUR VOTE IS CRUCIAL!

I rarely, if ever, post about matters outside of my kennel but this is an issue that runs very deep for me.  On Tuesday, August 14th, 2012, up for vote is whether Miami-Dade County will end a 20+ year ban on pit bulls.  For me, this vote is not just about pit bulls, it’s about my breed aswell – the Cane Corso.  Allowing a county to enforce breed-specific legislation opens the door for inclusion of other breeds, including the Cane Corso.  Anyone on my blog long enough knows that the Cane Corso is kind, gentle and an amazing animal.  Please help set an example that we will not tolerate the discrimination toward a specific breed!!!  GO VOTE!

PLEASE, get out to the polls and VOTE “YES” to repeal the ban on August 14, 2012.
 
The question on the primary election ballot will read as follows:
 
“Shall the ordinance repealing the county’s 23 year old law prohibiting the ownership of pit bulls as a dangerous breed of dogs become effective?”
 
Your answer should be YES to repeal the ban! VOTE!!! Repeal Miami’s Breed Ban on August 14, 2012!

Additionally, below is a write-up by Dr. Millie Rosales, a well-respected veterinarian in Miami-Dade County, addressing the effects of BSL:

Dear Fellow Miami-Dade Citizens,
 
Since 1989, Miami has maintained a dog breed ban prohibiting the ownership of the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) is based on the idea that breed restrictions of any kind will result in increased community safety, which they have never done, wherever they have been implemented. These regulations are also based on the discredited belief that one kind of dog is more likely to bite or injure a human being than another kind of dog. A report released in April 2012 by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), based upon an analysis of 40 years of dog bite studies from Europe and North America, affirms this. Many other studies have shown that these “dangerous” breeds behave no different from any other dog breed when it comes to behaviors that lead to biting.
 
BSL is costly to taxpayers to implement, and difficult to enforce by the already short-staffed Miami-Dade Animal Services, whose employees have much more significant issues to contend with in order to better the lives of pets and strays.
 
Moreover, the breed ban increases the already-exorbitant euthanasia rate in our county shelter, because the banned breeds are unable to be adopted by Miami-Dade residents. The pit bulls are sent to the far corners of the shelter, away from the primary traffic flow where they are isolated and doomed to euthanasia.
 
Both the AVMA and our local South Florida Veterinary Medical Association do NOT support a local breed ban. This past May, the City Council in Cincinnati, Ohio, voted to repeal their city’s breedban. Cincinnati’s repeal follows the historic repeal of a statewide breed discriminatory statute in Ohio, which occurred earlier this year in February.
 
PLEASE, get out to the polls and VOTE “YES” to repeal the ban on August 14, 2012.
 
The question on the primary election ballot will read as follows:
 
“Shall the ordinance repealing the county’s 23 year old law prohibiting the ownership of pit bulls as a dangerous breed of dogs become effective?”
 
Your answer should be YES to repeal the ban! VOTE!!! Repeal Miami’s Breed Ban on August 14, 2012!