Wilmington, DE: City cracks down on BSL lawbreakers

Do you know the law in your town? Wilmington provides a frightening picture of what can happen if you don’t.

Wilmington cracks down on illegal pit bulls

Police, SPCA team up to stop violators of city law

12:38 AM, Oct. 30, 2011
Written by ESTEBAN PARRA, The News Journal

[…] So far, police — who have teamed with animal control from the Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for 64 hours since Sept. 15 — have seized 39 pit bulls. Most of the seizures occurred because officers saw people walking dogs that were not muzzled or on a leash as required by the law. […]

Full article retrieved 10/31/11 from http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111030/NEWS01/110300326/Wilmington-cracks-down-illegal-pit-bulls

Note that, per the article, these seizures aren’t netting a bunch of loose/stray dogs or truly dangerous dogs. They are seizing pets.

Wilmington’s breed-specific law can be read here: http://library.municode.com/HTML/11715/level3/PTIIWICO_CH3AN_ARTIINGE.html#TOPTITLE
Section 3-1 defines “pit bulls.” Section 3-16 explains the restrictions (special registration, dog must be altered, must be walked on specific leash, must wear muzzle in public, owner must own home or have written permission from landlord, etc.).

Want to voice your opposition to the seizures and/or to the breed-discriminatory law?

The Council next meets on November 3 in Council Chambers, located on the first floor of the Louis L. Redding City/County Building, 800 North French Street. Meetings commence at 6:30 PM with public comment at 6:00 PM. In order to participate in public comment, speakers must sign in by 5:45 PM. Speakers are called to the podium in the order in which they signed in and are allowed 3 minutes to voice their comment.

Or, contact the city council here:
Wilmington City Council, Louis L. Redding City/County Building, 800 N. French Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801
Phone: (302) 576-2140
Fax: (302) 571-4071
http://www.wilmingtonde.gov/government/councilmembers
Email block for cut-and-paste
ngriffiths@WilmingtonDE.gov; cpjr00@aol.com; sammycongo@aol.com; 3rddistrep@gmail.com; hshabazz@WilmingtonDE.gov; sammy_wilm@yahoo.com; 6thdistrict@comcast.net; ignudo7th@comcast.net; smartelli2008@yahoo.com; mabrown@WilmingtonDE.gov; budfreel@aol.com; lwalsh@WilmingtonDE.gov; justen@justenwright.org