Simi Valley, CA reminder: Council to consider BS-MSN, March 26

Simi Valley city council will consider breed-specific mandatory spay/neuter for all “pit bull”-looking dogs, March 26, 6:30 PM, at City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road.

City of Simi Valley Mayor and City Council
bhuber@simivalley.org; bwilliam@simivalley.org; gbecarra@simivalley.org; ssojka@simivalley.org; mjudge@simivalley.org   

Please encourage the city of Simi Valley to drop the breed-specific language in their proposal. Breed-specific MSN—like any other breed-specific law—discriminates against people and their dogs based on whether the owner or dog have a “desirable” or “undesirable” physical appearance. Breed identification is a subjective, non-scientific process, which results in unfair and unequal application of the law. Disputes over breed identification are also inevitable, and appeals and court cases fighting breed designations are expensive and resource-consuming.

StopBSL takes no position on mandatory spay/neuter as long as it is not breed-specific. Whether you support or oppose MSN, it doesn’t need to be breed-specific. If MSN is good for dogs that look like “pit bulls,” it is good for any dog. By removing the breed-specific focus, the city of Simi Valley can avoid the expense and inequality that goes with BSL.

All alerts for Simi Valley: http://stopbsl.com/?s=simi+valley

Simi council to consider pit bull ordinance

By Mike Harris
Posted March 25, 2012 at 8:23 p.m.

The Simi Valley City Council today will consider an ordinance that would require residents to spay or neuter their pit bulls. […]

Diane Rowley Van Sickle, president of the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center and director of Promote and Protect Animals, expressed her opposition to the proposal in a March 7 letter to the Simi Valley council.

“The better, less arbitrary and prejudicial ordinance would be one that requires all dogs brought in as strays be altered for free as a condition of return to the owner unless the owner can produce (American Kennel Club) papers and a breeders’ license or a statement by a vet saying the dog is already sterile, or too old, too young or too sick to undergo the operation,” she wrote. […]

Full article retrieved 3/26/12 from: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/mar/25/simi-council-to-consider-pit-bull-ordinance/