Breed-specific ban proposed in Rantoul

Posted August 19th, 2008 at 02:01 PM by wayward
in

A trustee in Rantoul is pushing for a ban on certain dog breeds.  From the N-G story (http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2008/08/19/rantoul_village_trustee_proposes_banning_certain_dog_breeds)

A Rantoul village board member wants to ban pit bulls, Rottweilers and Doberman pinschers from the village and set limits on the number of other dogs residents will be allowed to have.

Rantoul Trustee Chuck Smith proposed the ordinance after a village inspector found 19 pit bulls inside a single family home in Rantoul.

"I'd like to ban certain breeds and set limits on other breeds," Smith said on Monday. "We need to ban pit bulls, Rottweilers and Doberman pinschers based on the reputations of the animals, not the owners."

Smith proposed the ban after the 19 dogs were discovered during a routine inspection of a rental property at 525 N. Ohio Ave. on July 18. Village utility records list the occupant's name as Debra Lenington, according to Dan Culkin, the Rantoul village chief inspector.

OK, so this guy wants to deal with animal hoarding by banning specific breeds?  This is just a really bad idea.

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redstatewannabe's picture
On August 19th, 2008 at 02:16 PM, redstatewannabe said:

banning certain breeds could be rationalized on the breeds ability to kill, should the dog be so inclined.

not saying I'm for it, but is a mean collie as dangerous as a mean pit bull?

On August 19th, 2008 at 03:08 PM, wayward said:

If you're a small child, maybe.  Here's a link to a story about a Pomeranian killing a baby.

http://www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/2001/pomeranian.html

In contrast, some of the Michael Vick "alumni" are currently doing well.

http://vickdogsblog.blogspot.com/

redstatewannabe's picture
On August 19th, 2008 at 04:31 PM, redstatewannabe said:

I don't know enough about dogs to argue this much - Vick's pit bulls do look awful cute in those pics.

I did find this:

Beck notes, however, that some breeds – such as Pit Bulls – have lower thresholds for biting, and that when these breeds bite, the injuries are far more serious. For this reason, Beck says he is not "terribly against" legislation targeting Pit Bulls; however, he feels a dangerous dog law serves a better purpose and doesn't allow vicious dogs to fall through the cracks of a breed ban law, and holds their owners accountable and liable

On August 19th, 2008 at 04:59 PM, prairie biker said:

Why not just do like other cities and require animal registration, impose limits on numbers of animals without a breeder's permit and have a complementary "dangerous dog" law? All of these seem more logical than banning specific breeds, especially since the American Pit Bull Terrier is only one member of the Bull Dog family.

On August 19th, 2008 at 05:24 PM, History Guy said:

A companion piece to the originally cited NG article.  They quote Rantoul's mayor, Neal Williams, as being opposed to breed-specific bans, mainly from personal experience with one of the breeds being discussed.  The remainder of the article is reactions from people involved with breed-specific rescue operations, to the proposed ban.

Personally, a breed specific ban is a bad idea; you would force many law-abiding owners to get rid of their non-threatening dogs, in response to a "reputation" problem...when the problem lies with owners not caring for the dogs responsibly, not training them properly, and not being a responsible owner.  (I'm leaving out those miscreants who raise and train dogs for fighting purposes).

 

 

HG