Misunderstood: Breed Discrimination in the United States

For the past few months I have been volunteering for LA Animal Rescue, and I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the most wonderful dogs in Los Angeles. It was also the first time I experienced in-depth interaction with a pit bull. They are some of the sweetest most soulful dogs I have ever met. This entry is dedicated to them because we need to ban ignorance, not pit bulls.

~*~

Breed Specific Legislation (BSL)

Did you know that there are 600 cities in the United States that have BREED SPECIFIC LEGISLATION (BSL) or as I like to call it the Bull Shit Law? In California, there all 13 cities with BSL laws that mandate the neutering and spaying of pit bulls. These include Barstow, Gilroy, Gonzales, Hollister, Manteca, Ripon, San Bernadino County, San Francisco, Lancaste, Sonoma County, Ventura, and Yucaipa. I'm not against neutering and spaying, especially in a time where overpopulation, runaways and strays is such a big issue, but to target a specific breed?

In some cities, pit bulls are 100% banned! Denver does not even allow you to bury your pit bull in its county. I guess they're afraid of hauntings?

The U.S. Army and Marine Corps also have bans against these dogs on U.S. or foreign privatized housing.

In some cities pit bulls are declared either "potentially dangerous", "dangerous", "vicious" or there are special restrictions or conditions on owning a pit bull. In Cincinnati, for example, you are required to register with the police department as a "vicious dog harborer". 

The States

There are only 9 states that currently do not have BSL laws.

Here's a kicker... some state governments have outright prohibited their municipal governments from passing BSL laws, but any BSL laws in place prior to this restriction is "grandfathered" in, so they remain in effect. Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, NY, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, TX, Virginia, and Washington can no longer pass BSL.

I found a neat app online that helped me compose the map below. To clarify, there are cities within the red states with BSL in effect. Also, not included in the map, are Indian Reservations.

This is also happening internationally. In Australia, they've banned the import of certain breeds of dogs and mandated the neutering and spaying of all existing dogs, in an attempt to eliminate them completely through natural attrition. 

Home insurance companies employ breed discrimination too. Below are a couple of examples.

Liberty Insurance

AAA

The Breeds

BSL laws are NOT only limited to pit bulls. I combed through all of the municipality ordinances in the United States. The breeds listed below are also restricted or declared dangerous or vicious! And because I spent about two hours trying to figure out columns in HTML, albeit unsuccessfully, I composed the following table in a Word file. In alphabetical order: 

Born Vicious?

Do you think the Boston Marathon bomber was BORN a murderer? Violence is a learned behavior. It is non-factual and biased to say that ANY dog is born vicious. There are NO bad dogs; only bad owners. And unfortunately, because of their physical characteristics, many of these dogs are bred, trained and raised as fighting dogs or used for guarding, often with very poor socialization, which often results in these attacks.

Classification

One of the illogical parts about this law is that enforcement categorizes dogs according to a list of characteristics that they pulled from the American Kennel Club Association, the United Kennel Club and the American Dog Breeder's Association. However, these organizations actually DO NOT even recognize a pit bull as a breed! BSL laws pull from and combine characteristics from several different breeds, including Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Sometimes Rottweilers, Chow Chows, Mastiffs and Presa Canarios are included. This has resulted in MANY cases of misidentification.

FACT: According to several sources, the pit bull does not even come in first when it comes to strongest bite force among dogs! In a one year study, 129 breeds of dogs were responsible for dog bites in Colorado. The Golden Retriever topped the list.

The Media

68% of articles reporting pit bull or pit bull "mix" attacks mention "pit bull" in the headline. 8% of articles reporting on dog attacks by other breeds mentioned the breed in the headline. (Newslibrary.com March 2010)

The media has been a huge detriment to all of the people fighting against BSL laws. If the media persistently publicizes a particular topic, it becomes more important to the impressionable populace. People claim that the media actually contributed greatly to their opinion about pit bulls.

Have the laws worked?

No. Several studies indicate that there has been no change whatsoever in the frequency of attacks or dog bites because of these laws. It's not the breeds themselves, but the conditions that these dogs are in that make them dangerous. 

Thousands of dollars have been spent enforcing the ban and not educating people or strongly TARGETING the people abusing these dogs or using them as fighting dogs. A county in Maryland alone spends over 250k every year enforcing this law. In the end, the fact that they've become illegal makes them more exotic and desirable. Therefore, fighting rings have gone underground. 

The Good News

You've probably come across petitions for a lot of different causes. Well, let me tell you. They work! The Huffington Post published an article this past August. After receiving a petition signed by more than 30,000 people (and that's really not a lot!) Obama came out against BSL and is starting at the White House!  Here is the official White House response to BSL!

Food for Thought

1) Enforce leashing laws
2) Increase and enforce penalties for irresponsible owners
3) Prohibit the chaining of dogs for long periods of time. According to www.americanhumane.org  "Chaining and/or neglect results in anxious, lonely, bored, under-stimulated, untrained, unsocialized, isolated dogs are much more likely to react aggressively because of their fear." 
4) Supervise your dog; if your dog runs away from home, he is very likely to run into a dangerous situation.
5) Train and socialize your dog

Judging a dog by another dog's actions is like judging a person that knows a murderer. Pointless. And it makes you look like an asshole. -Heather Spivey

Sources:
Breed Specific Laws State-by-State. DogsBite.org
Breed Specific Legislation. American Humane Association
Dog Bites. American Human Association
Beyond the Myth directed by Libby Sherrill
Obama Comes Out Against Dog Breed-Specific Legistlation, Joins the Fight for Pit Bulls. Huffington Post.

Turtle Soup - Part 2: The Chinatown Bust

Dear little childhood turtles,

I'm really sorry you died such a horrible death, but I hope this sort of makes up for it. This is for you.

Love,
Ana

The Scoop

On Sunday, August 25th, I went to Chinatown to take pictures of the baby turtles. At least NINE establishments were selling newborn red eared sliders, even after recent crackdowns on bunny and turtle sales in the downtown area.

With my phone voice recorder on, I walked into Yan Gift & Souvenir, while a couple walked out with a pair they had just purchased next door! I pretended to be on a phone call with my "son", who absolutely needed me to text him photos of the turtles so he could pick out the ones he wanted. The saleswoman seemed comfortable with me under these circumstances. I went outside where the poor things were sitting under the blazing sun in small, uncovered plastic boxes and a shallow puddle of water. They were no longer than 1.5 inches. 

Two Fo Fi Dollah

At Saigon Plaza, the saleswoman became very anxious when she saw me taking pictures. "No pictuh, no pictuh," she said. "Why can't I take pictures?" "No pictuh, no pictuh." That's all I got from her. I asked the salesman. He said they don't allow pictures of anything in their store (right), but that I could go ahead. Just then, another saleswoman approached me and tried to sell me the turtles I was photographing. "Two fo fi dollah! Newbohn, newbohn!" My phone was still recording.

The Real Task - Who to Call First?

1) First, I contacted PETA. They responded the next day and asked that I contact the FDA through their criminal investigations Web form as well as my local animal control agency.

2) I submitted two forms to the FDA but haven't heard back. Hopefully they're working on it...

3) I then called LA Animal Services and left a message with Mark Salazar, Director of Field Operations. 

4) Then I Facebook messaged Acting Lieutenant Annette Ramirez, of LA Animal Services, whom I had seen in an ABC7 News report from Oct. 2012: Public warned of illegal turtle, bunny sales in LA  Annette returned my call within the week! She was wonderful. She asked that I send her names and addresses, and she'd send over an officer. Unfortunately, she said that the sellers are relentless, and they'll keep coming back, that it is up to US to call and report, since they don't have the resources to send an officer for regular enforcement. More on this below.

5) Because these vendors are breaking a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service code, it is this organization that confiscates the turtles. I called the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service South Coast regional office and spoke to a nice woman named Sandra who interestedly asked that I email her the same info so she could forward it to enforcement.

6) I also contacted the investigative teams at ABC7 and at NBC4, who ran a great two-part investigative report last year about illegal bunny sales in the Fashion District. They are worth watching!  

Part 1: Investigation: Unhealthy Bunnies for Sale in LA's Fashion District
Part 2: Animal Traffickers Continue to Operate Illegally in Fashion District

7) Finally, as if by some mystic convergence of energies, three days after I went to Chinatown, Donna Evans published an article in the LA Downtown News, which has since been linked to by several other news sources: Illegal Turtle Sales in Chinatown Leave Some Shell-Shocked Thanks again, Donna, for spreading the word!

Where Do the Turtles Go?

An important question. I asked LA Animal Services and U.S. F&WS and have not yet received a sure answer but will update you when I get any info.

WHY is this Still Going On?

Many of these vendors are REPEAT offenders. According to NBC4, Juan Mena, the ring leader for illegal animal sales in the Fashion District, has already been arrested four times for illegal animal sales. He has also been charged with animal cruelty, assault with a firearm, and is on probation for battery. His "punishment": an unenforceable stay-away order forbidding him in that area. Good thing it's working. The cherry on top: he is in the country illegally! His wife has been arrested seven times!!!

This is not surprising. Illegal animal sales are only treated as a misdemeanor and a nifty $100 will bail ya out. 

There is evidently a HUGE gap in the law here. Risk vs. Reward??? It's no wonder they keep coming back.

Officials also passed a law that fines anyone who buys animals from these criminals up to $1,000 (if caught). Now that makes a lot of sense, given that most of the public is uninformed. Now, merchants in the Fashion District trying to protect the area have passed out flyers warning the public. There are also signs like the one on the left hung about 8 feet off the ground, with print to small too see, in obscure areas of downtown. (According to Wikipedia, there are five people over 7 ft tall still alive in the U.S. today, and none of them live in Los Angeles.) Either way, who is monitoring the buyers? 

What Now?

First, we fail to realize how much WE can do. Turtles are not the only victims. Puppies, bunnies, and birds are also in danger. If you spot illegal animal sales, just drop LA Animal Services a voicemail. It is EASY, and they WILL listen. Mark Salazar's number is 213-482-7455. 

Second, spread the word and share my blog!!!

Third, get informed.

I will continue to push on my end and keep you updated! Thank you PETA, Annette Ramirez and Sandra! Thank you NBC4 for your eye-opening reports!

I know up on the top you are seeing great sights, but down at the bottom we, too, should have rights. -Dr. Seuss, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories



Helpful Reources
LA Animal Services website
LA Animal Services Department phone numbers
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Offices
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service South Coast Regional Office - 858-467-4201