On May 6th the Springville City Council tabled an ordinance that would redefine what a dangerous dog is. The current suggestions include breed discriminatory language that would target “any pit bull terrier which is defined as any Cane Corso breed of dog, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier or Bull Mastiff breed of dog.”
This is by far the strangest inclusion of breeds in a definition of a “pit bull terrier” that I have seen so far. The very fact that the American Pit Bull Terrier is not the first on the definition, but Cane Corso is, is extremely telling about how much the officials understand about the topic.
The ordinance would require owners of targeted dogs to get a special registration, confine the dog according to the law, muzzle. Initially the idea of insurance was brought up but was rejected.
The director of public works has stated that they were “mirroring” other towns ordinances and that the changes are a cross-section of the laws of neighboring towns.
Mayor William Isely is showing some hesitation. He has said that he does not want to be premature in enacting this ordinance and thought that it needs more looking into.
The next work session was supposed to be on May 22 but needed to be cancelled because one of the members could not attend. There is currently no date for the session, though it should come up soon.
Because they are still in the work session stage, it is extremely import to reach out and offer opposition to this ordinance. Politely ask that they institute a strong breed neutral ordinance instead and reject breed discrimination. Showing that a breed discriminatory law would open them up legally and would not help the community, and then offering alternatives will go a long way. The Mayor and Council are putting work into this, let’s help them out to avoid the trap BDL creates.
Mayor William Isely: wisley@springvillealabama.org
Councilman Hugh Marlin: hmarlin@springvillealabama.org
Councilman Wayne Tucker: wtucker@springvillealabama.org
Councilwoman Katrina Hennings: khennings@springvillealabama.org
Councilman Chip Martin: cmartin@springvillealabama.org
Councilman David Jones: djones@springvillealabama.org
Councilman Larry Jones: larryjones@springvillealabama.org
Fred M. Kray
krisdiaz9
Stop BSL 