We encourage residents and locals in Cumberland County to remain engaged and involved with the Animal Control Board in order to address the problems that prompted this proposal in the first place.
The board’s new suggestion that animal control do a better job of vetting people who want to adopt “bully breeds” is still breed-specific and potentially discriminatory. There’s no reason why more careful vetting of adopters shouldn’t be done for all dogs, regardless of their appearance, to ensure they are all being placed with responsible owners.
Sarge Wolf-Stringer also makes some excellent points about adoption processes that are breed-specific:
When we make dogs like pit bulls “special,” we make them different. Different becomes deviant. Adopters don’t want “deviant” dogs, they want family pets, so those dogs are less likely to get adopted. […] If the issues facing Cumberland County are reckless owners who fail to control/contain/maintain their dogs, then why are they punishing responsible people who want to adopt a shelter dog (chances are, the reckless owners who allow their dogs to behave dangerously did NOT adopt those dogs from shelters in the first place)? […] Here is some info to get started: http://www.animalfarmfoundation.org/pages/RESOURCES_FOR_HUMANE_COMMUNITIES
No Kill Nation has expressed similar concerns, noting that more restrictive adoption policies are likely to decrease adoptions without actually addressing the irresponsible dog owners that created this problem.
Bully breed proposal dropped; Cumberland board urges better vetting of dog owners
By Gregory Phillips
Staff writerFaced with a 100-strong crowd who condemned the demonizing of certain dog breeds, the Cumberland County Animal Control Board backed away Monday night from a move to limit adoptions of some breeds from the county shelter.
Instead, the board directed Dr. John Lauby, the animal control director, to look into ways the county can more carefully vet the people who adopt animals from the shelter to ensure they’ll be responsible owners.
[…] After hearing from some 15 speakers, Chairman Cris Berry-Caban moved to amend the board’s recommendation from October to instead suggest that animal control start checking into the suitability of people seeking to adopt so-called “bully breeds” of dogs. […]
Full article retrieved 12/6/11 from http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/12/06/1142020?sac=Local
All alerts for Cumberland County: http://stopbsl.com/?s=cumberland+county
Fred M. Kray
krisdiaz9
Stop BSL 
Hopefully if more responsible dog owners are approved there will be happier, less aggressive dogs and fewer dog bite injuries in NC.