Category Archives: Ohio

Cincinnati, OH: Councilmember will introduce motion to repeal breed ban

Posted on April 11, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Cincinnati residents, please respectfully ask your city councilmembers to support Seelbach’s motion to repeal the city breed ban and revise the dog ordinance for the better. E-mail all Council Members: CityCouncil@cincinnati-oh.gov

If you are not a Cincinnati resident, you can best support the breed ban repeal effort by sharing this information and encouraging friends and relatives who live in Cincinnati to contact their councilmembers.

City Council Could Repeal Breed-Specific Law Soon

Seelbach says he has support of four colleagues for repealing pit bull ban

April 10th, 2012 By Hannah McCartney

[...] Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach is working to draft a motion that he says could be ready for council signatures as early as today.

[...] Once the motion is drafted, Seelbach says he’ll need to obtain a minimum of five signatures from his eight council colleagues before the motion can be voted on in a committee. [...]

Full article retrieved 4/11/12 from http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-3268-city_council_could_repeal_breed_specific_law_soon.html

All alerts for Cincinnati, OH: http://stopbsl.com/?s=%22cincinnati%2C+oh%22

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Posted in Ohio, Proposal to Repeal

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Portsmouth, OH reminder: Proposed BSL first reading, April 9

Posted on April 9, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Portsmouth, OH, is rewriting their vicious dog ordinance. The current proposal is breed-specific. Pit bull owners will have to meet several requirements, including special containment.

Read the current proposal: Portsmouth Dog Ordinance 3-18-12
(Many thanks to Lena for making this proposal available.)

The next city council meeting takes place on April 9 at 6:00 PM. Confirmed the ordinance will have first reading. View the agenda (and proposed ordinance). I do not have the agenda at this time, so I do not know if the proposal will be discussed. However, residents and locals may wish to attend the meeting and take this opportunity to reiterate your opposition to BSL.

Please RESPECTFULLY contact Portsmouth city officials and remind them that breed-specific laws don’t improve public safety, are expensive, and are unjust. Provide alternative breed-neutral vicious dog laws for their consideration. RESPECTFULLY ask Portsmouth officials to remove the breed-specific language from their proposal.

City council email block (NOTE: one councilmember does not have email):
kwwj@roadrunner.com; rich@saddler.me; jkalb@roadrunner.com; ii6svvh@yahoo.com; ssturgill@zoomnet.net; TNathan@portsmouthoh.org; dmalone@portsmouthoh.org; andrew.gedeon@odh.ohio.gov

All alerts for Portsmouth, OH: http://stopbsl.com/?s=portsmouth

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Posted in BSL Proposed, Ohio

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Portsmouth, OH: Proposed dog ordinance (BSL) moves forward

Posted on March 18, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Portsmouth, OH, is rewriting their vicious dog ordinance. The current proposal is breed-specific. Pit bull owners will have to meet several requirements, including special containment.

Read the current proposal: Portsmouth Dog Ordinance 3-18-12
(Many thanks to Lena for making this proposal available.)

The city council will now read the proposal three times, and vote on it. The next city council meeting takes place on April 9. I do not have the agenda, but it’s likely that the readings and vote will occur at this meeting.

Please RESPECTFULLY contact Portsmouth city officials and remind them that breed-specific laws don’t improve public safety, are expensive, and are unjust. Provide alternative breed-neutral vicious dog laws for their consideration. RESPECTFULLY ask Portsmouth officials to remove the breed-specific language from their proposal.

City council email block (NOTE: one councilmember does not have email):
kwwj@roadrunner.com; rich@saddler.me; jkalb@roadrunner.com; ii6svvh@yahoo.com; ssturgill@zoomnet.net; TNathan@portsmouthoh.org; dmalone@portsmouthoh.org; andrew.gedeon@odh.ohio.gov

All alerts for Portsmouth, OH: http://stopbsl.com/?s=portsmouth

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Posted in BSL Proposed, Ohio

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Avon Lake, OH: City to repeal BSL

Posted on March 12, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Here’s another city revising their dog ordinance for the better, thanks to Ohio HB 14. Avon Lake’s definition of “vicious dog” mirrors that of the old state law—to include “pit bulls.” They intend to replace their current law with something breed-neutral and more similar to the new state law.

Please THANK city council for a good decision.
modonnell@avonlake.org; dbucci@avonlake.org; jshondel@avonlake.org; rjames@avonlake.org; jfenderbosch@avonlake.org; lmeiners@avonlake.org; dkos@avonlake.org; bdopp@avonlake.org

Avon Lake to update vicious dog law without breed-specific language

By Bryan Wroten

Now that the state of Ohio no longer designates dogs that fall into the pit bull category as dangerous, the city of Avon Lake is ready to revise its own vicious-dog ordinance.

“What we’re doing is, we’re going to pick up today where we left off three years ago,” Ward 4 Councilman and Safety Committee Chairman Dave Kos said. [...]

“The committee will propose we adopt state legislation into the local legislation, removing the vicious label, and put other common-sense suggestions into the new vicious-dog ordinance,” Kos said.

[...] The Safety Committee will discuss it again at its next meeting to wrap up some modifications, Kos said, and then council will hold three readings of the ordinance before passing it in the late spring. [...]

Full article retrieved 3/12/12 from http://2presspapers.northcoastnow.com/avon-lake-to-update-vicious-dog-law-without-breed-specific-language/

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Posted in Ohio, Proposal to Repeal

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Portsmouth, OH: City to consider BSL, March 12

Posted on March 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Portsmouth, OH, is rewriting their vicious dog ordinance. The current proposal is breed-specific. “Pit bull” owners will have to meet several special requirements, such as liability insurance.

The city council will discuss the proposal during the March 12 meeting.

Please RESPECTFULLY contact Portsmouth city officials and remind them that breed-specific laws don’t improve public safety, are expensive, and are unjust. Provide alternative breed-neutral vicious dog laws for their consideration. Ask Portsmouth officials to remove the breed-specific language from their proposal.**

**Folks, if you can’t keep your email respectful and informative, please don’t send an email at all. Rude, disrespectful emails do not inspire city officials to listen to us or treat us with respect.

City council email block (NOTE: one councilmember does not have email):
kwwj@roadrunner.com; rich@saddler.me; jkalb@roadrunner.com; ii6svvh@yahoo.com; ssturgill@zoomnet.net; TNathan@portsmouthoh.org; dmalone@portsmouthoh.org; andrew.gedeon@odh.ohio.gov

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Posted in BSL Proposed, Ohio

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Portsmouth, OH: City to consider BSL

Posted on March 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Portsmouth, OH, is rewriting their vicious dog ordinance. Their current ordinance is pretty sparse and does not go into a lot of detail about the definition a “vicious” dog or how to maintain it.

Unfortunately, it sounds like the proposed revisions will declare all “pit bulls” (and wolf hybrids) to be automatically labeled ”vicious” dogs. Vicious dogs would have to be kept in specific enclosures, and owners would be required to obtain liability insurance.

If Portsmouth’s proposal sounds a bit like the old breed-specific state law (recently repealed), that’s probably not a coincidence. Portsmouth most likely enforced the old state law prior to that law’s revision. Now that the state law is removing BSL, Portsmouth is considering adding similar language into their own law so that they can continue to enforce it.

Please respectfully contact Portsmouth city officials and remind them that Ohio just repealed its breed-specific law for a reason: BSL doesn’t improve public safety, is expensive, and is unjust. Ask Portsmouth officials to remove the breed-specific language from their proposal.

City council email block (NOTE: one councilmember does not have email):
kwwj@roadrunner.com; rich@saddler.me; jkalb@roadrunner.com; ii6svvh@yahoo.com; ssturgill@zoomnet.net; TNathan@portsmouthoh.org; dmalone@portsmouthoh.org; andrew.gedeon@odh.ohio.gov

The proposal will be discussed next at the March 12 council meeting.

City considers vicious dog law

By WAYNE ALLEN, PDT Staff Writer

[...] The ordinance presumes that all pit bulls and wolf-hybrids are vicious animals. [...]

A draft of the ordinance was presented Monday to Portsmouth City Council. The next opportunity for Council action will be a first reading of the proposal on March 12. [...]

Full article retrieved 3/1/12 from http://portsmouth-dailytimes.com/view/full_story/17699948/article-City-considers-vicious-dog-law

Thanks to Brian for alerting us about Portsmouth!

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Posted in BSL Proposed, Ohio

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Ohio: Efforts underway to repeal local BSL

Posted on February 25, 2012 by | 3 Comments

With the effective date for the repeal of state-level BSL just a few months away, Ohio residents must now turn to a much more difficult task: tackling the BSL and breed bans that are embedded in city and county ordinances throughout the state.

Dozens of municipalities in Ohio essentially copy-pasted the old breed-specific state law directly into their ordinances. Still other municipalities went a step further, passing heavier restrictions or outright bans on certain breeds of dogs. These local ordinances are unaffected by the state-level repeal; they must each be addressed individually.

Residents are asking the following Ohio cities to examine their breed-specific ordinances in the wake of the state-level repeal. If you live in or near these cities, please respectfully encourage them to repeal their BSL.

Loveland, OH

Please attend the Loveland city council meeting on Tuesday, February 28 at 8PM in the City Council Chambers at the Municipal Buildings, 120 W. Loveland Avenue. Ask to speak during the open forum section of the meeting. State your name, your address (or a family member’s if in Loveland) and say “Please remove breed specific language from our city ordinances.”

You may also contact city council and RESPECTFULLY request that they remove breed-specific language from city code:
City of Loveland, 120 West Loveland Avenue, Loveland, Ohio 45140
Ph: 513-683-0150, Fax: 513-583-3040
City Council email block:
rweisgerber@LovelandOH.com; dbednar@LovelandOH.com; pleeper@LovelandOH.com; mfitzgerald@LovelandOH.com; asettell@LovelandOH.com; lcox@LovelandOH.com; bzuch@LovelandOH.com

Lakewood, OH

Lakewood doesn’t appear inclined to repeal their pit bull ban, but they have “clarified” and amended parts of it over the last few months, and now intend to “review” it due to HB 14′s passage.

Please contact Lakewood city council and ask them to repeal the pit bull ban.
Council email block:
david.anderson@lakewoodoh.net; tom.bullock@lakewoodoh.net; shawn.juris@lakewoodoh.net; mary.madigan@lakewoodoh.net; brian.powers@lakewoodoh.net; monique.smith@lakewoodoh.net; ryan.nowlin@lakewoodoh.net

The next Lakewood city council meeting is March 5 at 7:30 PM in the Municipal Building, 12650 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH. We do not know if this issue will be on the agenda. However, there is a Public Comment forum at the end of every council meeting where residents may speak on issues not on the agenda.

All alerts for Lakewood, OH: http://stopbsl.com/?s=%22lakewood%2C+oh%22

Cincinnati, OH

The Cincinnati breed ban repeal effort has been ongoing for years, but has gained strength with the passage of HB 14.

Online petition for Cincinnati residents to sign: http://www.change.org/petitions/end-breed-discrimination-cincinnati

CapWiz easy-email form to contact Cincinnati lawmakers:
http://capwiz.com/bestfriends/issues/alert/?alertid=50832746

Or, write your own email asking Cincinnati to repeal their breed ban:
E-mail all Council Members: CityCouncil@cincinnati-oh.gov

Join a Facebook group working to repeal the ban:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Repeal-the-Cincinnati-Pit-Bull-Ban/208496165855447
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ohio-Coalition-of-Dog-Advocates/95316100681

We expect many more cities, towns, and counties in Ohio to re-examine their BSL now that state law has changed. We’ll do our best to report on those efforts. If you are working on BSL repeal in a particular town in Ohio, please let us know via our handy online BSL alert form: http://stopbsl.com/i-want-to/send-an-alert-to-stopbsl/

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Posted in Ohio, Proposal to Repeal

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