Monthly Archives: December 2010

Morton, IL: Resident requests BSL

Posted on December 21, 2010 by | 1 Comment

Illinois state law prohibits municipalities from passing BSL. Morton is not “home rule” and therefore cannot pass laws that contradict state law.

Village of Morton Village Hall, 120 North Main Street, Post Office Box 28, Morton, Illinois 61550
309-266-5361
309-266-5508 (Fax)

Board of Trustees Contact Info:
President Norman Durflinger, ndurflinger@morton-il.gov
Trustee Ginger Hermann, ghermann@morton-il.gov
Trustee Tony Huette, thuette@morton-il.gov
Trustee Jeff Kaufman, jkaufman@morton-il.gov
Trustee Stephen E. Newhouse, snewhouse@morton-il.gov
Trustee Darrell Vierling, dvierling@morton-il.gov
Trustee Betsy Yarcho, byarcho@morton-il.gov

Regular Meetings of the Board of Trustees are held at 7:00 P.M. on the first and third Mondays of each month at Freedom Hall, 349 West Birchwood Street, Morton, Illinois. Meetings are open to the public.

A proposed ordinance may be presented during the Jan 3 meeting.

Dog attack on beagle described

Morton woman asks Village Board to craft vicious dog ordinance.

By STEVE STEIN (stevestein21@yahoo.com), Journal Star
Posted Dec 20, 2010 @ 11:20 PM

MORTON — Carrie Schmidt wants the village to adopt a vicious dog ordinance.[...]

The Mackinaw resident listed eight preventative measures she’d like to see included on a vicious dog ordinance, which would apply only to breeds considered dangerous.

Measures include limiting the number of dangerous breed dogs per household, special training for the dog and owner, significant liability insurance, village-approved dog fencing, and stiff penalties for violations.[...]

Mayor Norm Durflinger instructed village attorney Tom Davies to draft an ordinance that will be considered at the Jan. 3 board meeting.

Full article retrieved 12/21/10 from http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1148222770/Dog-attack-on-beagle-described

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Posted in Illinois, Whispers of BSL

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Smithville, OH: Ban proposed

Posted on December 20, 2010 by | Comments Off

Smithville Village Hall, 207 West Main Street, PO Box 517, Smithville, OH 44677-0517
Phone: 330-669-2311
Fax: 330-669-3470
Email: SmithvilleVH@sssnet.com (unknown if this email address is valid)

Village Council Meetings are held regularly on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month beginning at 7:00 pm in the Village Hall.

Note: Ohio already has statewide BSL that declares all “pit bulls” to be “vicious” dogs. In light of state law, several things in this article don’t make sense (like why Smithville is declaring pit bulls “vicious”).

Group at Smithville meeting says poor education cause of pit bull violence

By STEVE HUSZAI, Staff Writer

SMITHVILLE — The village’s talk of banning pit bulls has been mostly barking against the dogs until last Monday’s council meeting, as the pro-pit bull lobby in Wayne County stood behind Councilwoman Joyce Garn.

The presentation and discussion took place in response to council moving forward with a three-part animal nuisance ordinance. One of the three ordinances deals with dangerous and vicious dogs. Council approved to label pit bull dogs as “vicious,” thereby banning them from being in the village, in a close model of Wooster’s ordinance.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/20/10 from http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/4950856

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Posted in BSL Proposed, Ohio

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Texas reminder: Petition against BSL

Posted on December 20, 2010 by | 1 Comment

The Texas statewide pen-and-paper petition against BSL will be wrapping up soon. This holiday season is the perfect time to gather signatures from friends and family who are Texas residents. Please take this final opportunity to gather signatures for the petition.

You can find more information about the petition, and a downloadable signature sheet, here: http://love-a-bull.org/resources/bsl/petition/

At last count, we had approximately 4,000 signatures. This was before the media report a few months ago that BSL or a breed ban will likely be proposed in the Texas legislature this year. I expect many more signatures have been gathered since then.

Please join us in gathering these signatures from Texas residents. The signatures will be presented to Texas legislators at the start of the 2011 Legislative Session. For this reason, please send in by Jan 3 any signatures you have collected. There is a mailing address at the bottom of every signature sheet.

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Posted in Texas, Whispers of BSL

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Vienna, WV: Council asked to consider BSL repeal

Posted on December 17, 2010 by | 1 Comment

Thanks to Jodi for this alert!

At the request of residents, city officials in Vienna, West Virginia are considering revising their vicious dog ordinance to REMOVE the breed specific language from the law.

Please take a moment to encourage the Vienna officials to move toward a generic dangerous dog law (such as the one in nearby Parkersburg, W.V.) that holds owners to a higher accountability for the actions of their dogs, and bases the designation of “dangerous” on the actions of the dog — not its breed.

Jodi Preis
Bless the Bullys, www.blessthebullys.com

City of Vienna
City Hall, 609 29th Street, Vienna, WV 26105
Phone: (304) 295-4541

Mayor David Nohe, mayorone@suddenlinkmail.com
Norm Harris, Park Department, normharris@vienna-wv.com

City Council e-mail quick list: rdbibbee@frontier.com, pthornton@vienna-wv.com, jimmiracle@vienna-wv.com, rcrapp@suddenlink.net, rogersb@suddenlink.net, cathy.smith6@va.gov

Vienna officials consider vicious dog ordinance

December 16, 2010 – By NATALEE SEELY nseely@newsandsentinel.com

VIENNA – A Vienna couple seeking a change to the city’s code on vicious dogs asked city council Thursday to take pit bulls out of the ordinance.

[...]Vienna Mayor David Nohe said council would revisit the code with the help of Parks Director Norm Harris.

[...]“You are responsible for your own dog. Period,” said Harris. “I think it’s about time we made some revisions, going toward less of a breed-specific definition.”

[...] Council agreed to look over a revised ordinance at a later meeting.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/17/10 from http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/542346/Vienna-officials-consider-vicious-dog-ordinance.html?nav=5061

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Posted in Proposal to Repeal, West Virginia

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Van, TX: Dog ordinance to be discussed in March

Posted on December 10, 2010 by | Comments Off

Van, TX city council took no action at last night’s meeting, where a resident has asked the council to pass a ban or BSL against “pit bulls” (and Rottweilers, according to some news reports).

Van city council decided to form a four-person committee to research the issue. The resident who requested the ban will be on the committee, as will two councilmembers. It is not known who the fourth member will be, but one hopes it is someone with a solid understanding of public safety and dog behavior.

Council will discuss the committee findings in March 2011.

Van City Council meets on proposed pit bull ban

Posted: Dec 09, 2010 9:34 PM CST
By Taylor Hemness

[...]While there were some pretty strong opinions voiced in Wednesday night’s city council meeting, the tone stayed civil and quiet.[...]

Ultimately, no action was taken at the meeting. But the council decided to form a four person committee–two council members, two citizens–to research the issue and come back in March. Douglas Wolfe told us that he’s just glad people are taking this seriously.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/10/10 from http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13649511

All alerts for Van: http://stopbsl.com/?s=%22van%2C+tx%22

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Posted in Texas, Whispers of BSL

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Sterling Heights, MI: BSL proposal vote delayed until Feb.

Posted on December 8, 2010 by | 1 Comment

Pit bull restrictions proposal delayed in Sterling Heights

By CECIL ANGEL and TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Posted: Dec. 8, 2010

The Sterling Heights City Council decided Tuesday night to delay action on an ordinance to regulate pit bulls in the city, including restricting them to one per household and requiring the owners to have $250,000 in liability insurance.

“There are too many issues that have to be resolved,” Councilwoman Barbara Ziarko said. Action on the issue was postponed until Feb. 1.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/8/10 from http://www.freep.com/article/20101208/NEWS04/12080442/1006/news04/Pit-bull-restrictions-proposal-delayed-in-Sterling-Heights

Council ponders, postpones pit bull ordinance introduction

By Cortney Casey
C & G Staff Writer

STERLING HEIGHTS — [...] Council members supporting the delay said they wanted to take a closer look at the proposed regulations after a series of speakers, many wearing stickers declaring opposition to breed-specific legislation or “BSL,” urged them to apply stricter standards to all dog owners, not just people with pit bulls.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/8/10 from http://www.candgnews.com/Homepage-Articles/2010/12-9-10/Sterling-pit-bull-ordinance.asp

All alerts for Sterling Heights: http://stopbsl.com/?s=sterling+heights

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Posted in BSL Proposed, Michigan

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Bristol Borough, PA: BSL still a top priority for council

Posted on December 7, 2010 by | 1 Comment

All alerts for Bristol Borough: http://stopbsl.com/?s=%22bristol+borough%22

PA state law prohibits breed-specific laws.

BRISTOL BOROUGH MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 250 POND STREET, BRISTOL, PA 19007
Fax Number: 215-788-5366
Borough Office Phone Number: 215-788-3828

Borough Council contact info:
Lorraine Cullen, lcullen@bristolboro.com
James Lutz, 215-788-2647
Anthony Muccie, amuccie@bristolboro.com
Patrick Sabatini, 215-781-9003
Ralph DiGuiseppe, rdiguiseppe@bristolboro.com
Leo Plenski, Jr., lplenski@bristolboro.com
Robyn Trunell, rtrunell@bristolboro.com
Betty Rodriguez, brodriguez@bristolboro.com

Next council meeting: December 13, 7 PM, at Borough Hall. Locals are invited to speak about this proposal.

Pit bull ordinance top priority

By: GEORGE MATTAR, Bucks County Courier Times
BRISTOL BOROUGH

Although it may not become the law until early next year, Bristol Borough Council President Ralph DiGuiseppe reiterated Monday that he wants a muzzle ordinance for all pit bulls and pit bull mix breeds.

[...]“I don’t care what the state says; my job is to protect the people and other animals. I will push for this law,” DiGuiseppe said.

DiGuiseppe had told borough solicitor William Salerno last month to begin drafting up an ordinance, which would require all pit bulls to have a muzzle on when off private property. DiGuiseppe wants the ordinance to be voted on in February.[...]

Full article retrieved 12/7/10 from http://www.phillyburbs.com/information/guides/pets/pets_details/article/242/2010/december/07/pit-bull-ordinance-top-priority.html

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Posted in BSL Proposed, Pennsylvania

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