MONTANA VOTES ON BREED SPECIFIC LEGISLATION TOMORROW!!!!

[Liz ODell]

If you love 'bull breeds' or have any breed of dog that has brindle coloring you better be pretty friggin concerned! Taken from AKC's website.

MT BSL Bill to be Considered Thursday, Jan 22!
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[Monday, January 19, 2009]
Montana House Bill 191–which, with little exception, seeks to prohibit the ownership, harboring, or keeping of dogs described as "pit bulls"–is scheduled for consideration by the House Local Government Committee on Thursday, January 22, at 3PM, in room 172 of the capitol building, 1301 East Sixth Avenue in Helena. The American Kennel Club encourages all Montanans to contact the committee members listed below and express their respectful yet strong opposition to this draconian bill.

The bill, which prohibits the ownership, harboring, or keeping of dogs described as "pit bulls", defines "pit bulls" to include Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, and "any dog that has the physical characteristics that substantially conform to the standards established for those breeds by the American Kennel Club." If the bill is passed and signed into law, all such dogs would be seized and euthanized.

The American Kennel Club strongly opposes any legislation, like HB 191, that determines a dog to be "dangerous" based on specific breeds or phenotypic classes of dogs. Instead, we support reasonable, enforceable, non-discriminatory laws to govern the ownership of dogs. We support laws that: establish a fair process by which specific dogs are identified as "dangerous" based on stated, measurable actions; impose appropriate penalties on irresponsible owners; and establish a well-defined method for dealing with dogs proven to be dangerous. AKC believes that Montana’s existing breed-neutral law should remain the effective law of the state.

[Liz ODell]

SEIZED AND EUTHANIZED...did you see that part...better hope your plott doesn't get dragged into animal control.

[liontracker]

Too many movie stars in the Bitterroot Valley!

[montananative]

my dad is in the montana house of reps and this bill got killed today. i dont care much for pits, but where would it end. next thing you know they would be takin out hounds cause they bark to much and to loud.

connor

[montananative]

Too many movie stars in the Bitterroot Valley!

funny you say that, the distric judge that took the wolves of the endangered species list in montana, judge malloy, is from the bitterroot. however the wolves are back off now.

[Pops]

i posted pics of my greyhound & a fox he caught on another forum. i had 3 different people express the belief that he was a threat to small children (mostly they were just AR pansies who thought i was evil for letting my dog kill foxes & feral cats). fortunately before i even had to point out that he was absolutely safe w/ my 2 YO boys, other hunters posted in my defense about the dog's activities and how it in no way affected his safety w/ people. so for hunter's that would throw pits & rotties under the bus, believe it, your hounds would be next on the hit list.

[Liz ODell]

GOOD NEWS FOR ONCE, BUT YOU CAN BET IT WILL BE BACK IN SOME FORM!

UPDATE: Montana BSL Legislation Soundly Defeated
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[Friday, January 23, 2009]
Responsible dog owners won a decisive victory Thursday afternoon when the Montana House Local Government Committee voted 17-1 against a bill to ban "pit bulls" in the state.

House Bill 191 prohibited the ownership, harboring, or keeping of dogs described as "pit bulls". "Pit bulls" was defined to include Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, and "any dog that has the physical characteristics that substantially conform to the standards established for those breeds by the American Kennel Club." If the bill had passed, all such dogs would have been seized and euthanized.

Approximately 100 responsible dog owners and breeders testified against House Bill 191, convincing the committee that breed bans are not an effective solution to animal control problems. In addition, the AKC sent letters of opposition to committee members and alerted tens of thousands of dog owners throughout the country about this legislation. The AKC believes the government should implement reasonable, enforceable, non-discriminatory laws to govern the ownership of dogs and impose appropriate penalties on irresponsible dog owners.

The AKC thanks all those who testified against House Bill 191 in committee yesterday, and the many more who contacted the committee and their state legislators. We also thank the Montana House Local Government Committee for making a strong statement against breed-specific legislation.