Majority Leader Morgan Griffith recently submitted House Bill 429 for consideration by the Virginia House of Delegates. HB 429 proposes adding the following words to section 3.2-6546 of the Virginia Code:
However, no pound may euthanize, or prohibit the adoption of, any dog based solely on breed.
This language would prevent animal shelters from killing dogs based on breed stereotypes alone.
AWLA Executive Director Kay Speerstra traveled to Richmond to testify against VA House Bill 429 — a surprising effort given AWLA’s widely-acclaimed announcement in 2009 that it would no longer ban pitbull adoptions. Since only one other witness opposed VA 429, Speerstra’s testimony presumably helped defeat it in the House Agricultural Subcommittee.
So as AWLA continues to kill healthy young dogs based on the cursory “behavior evaluations” it conducts in the stressful environment of the shelter, it won’t have to worry about defending those evaluations. It can always fall back on the argument that the decision was based on breed characteristics.
Arguments against HB 429 ignore important truths:
– Dogs that exhibit aggression are often reacting to stress, discomfort, or perceived threats. When transferred to foster homes and provided with structure and training, the vast majority of these dogs become well-behaved family members.
– Aggressive behavior toward humans is not a breed trait. Individual dogs become aggressive or vicious when they are mistreated by cruel or irresponsible human guardians.
– Many dogs cannot be accurately characterized, or even identified, by breed. As a result, catchall terms like “pitbull” are used to describe stocky dogs with large heads or square jaws or pink noses.
How many dogs in this compilation would AWLA characterize as pitbull mixes?
Here’s a puppy that AWLA describes as a chocolate lab-pitbull mix:
Looks like AWLA casts a pretty wide net when identifying pitbulls.
And here’s
another dog that AWLA would almost certainly have characterized as an aggressive breed had it been turned over to them. Disoriented and scared after arriving at the shelter, how would Sharky have performed on AWLA’s behavior evaluation?
If you live in Arlington, you help underwrite AWLA’s stewardship of stray and surrendered animals. Feel free to ask Arlington County Board Members [via e-mail at countyboard@arlingtonva.us ] why your tax dollars are being used by AWLA to undermine legislation that is broadly supported by Arlington’s animal-rescue organizations and animal-welfare advocates.
I’m curious, why is the shelter’s director testifying against this? How would this effect the shelter since they allow pitbull adoptions?
Why would the shelter director oppose this bill under any circumstance. There is no down side to it and as the official “leader” of our animal welfare group, Kay Speerstra should be leading the charge in supporting a bill like this. It is unforgivable that she would oppose legislation that would save so many lives.
How can we get change at the AWLA? This is ridiculous. This woman is director of a business (and it is a business) calling itself the animal WELFARE league! Everything they do should be in the animal’s best interest.
No. You’re well intentioned but mistaken. Everything the League does must consider the welfare of the animals under its care AND the community – and sometimes those things are in conflict. And sometimes, the safety well being of people and/or animals requires euthanasia. It is an unfortunate but necessary part of what they do.
Jackie –
You may want to read the earlier posts that compare AWLA’s performance on euthanasia relative to that of Tompkins County SPCA, Charlottesville SPCA, and Nevada Humane Society. And keep in mind that 48 of the 49 pitbulls seized from Michael’s Vicks kennels were saved and rehabilitated — see http://badrap.org/rescue/vick/now.html and http://vickdogsblog.blogspot.com/ for an update on these dogs. Meanwhile AWLA euthanizes dogs with no prior track record of aggression… even puppies. The evidence is against you.
Ed – And what about the 49th? You may be willing to take that chance but I’m not. And the League – and the County – must consider my concern for the safety of myself, my children and my pets when they make decisions about any given animal.
Jackie –
Regardless of breed, any dog can be trained to be a well-behaved member of a loving family. And regardless of breed, any dog can be sufficiently mistreated that it becomes unpredictable or aggressive. Even Dachsunds.
If you’re willing to kill 48 good dogs to kill one bad one, why stop there… why not kill 99 good dogs? Why not 199? Better yet, why not kill them all?
You might benefit from watching Cesar Millan’s “Dog Whisperer” program on National Geographic TV. There are less-famous versions of Cesar training dogs in the DC area every week.
Jackie,
I don’t want you to feel like we’re ganging up on you. You are certainly welcome to your opinion, but those of us who disagree with you will attempt to change your mind, or as I like to think of it, enlighten you.
They euthanized the 49th dog, a decision based, not on the dog’s breed, but on that individual case. And that’s the point, isn’t it? With breed bans, every dog of a certain breed may be killed (or will be killed, depending on how the legislation is written). Pit bulls, rotties, mastiffs, dobies, etc. Where does it end? I know someone who was viciously attacked by a golden retriever. Should all goldens be killed because of that? Most dogs that attack are unneutered males. There’s a simple fix for that. I’d rather see legislation requiring dogs to be neutered than banning specific breeds. Another issue with breed bans is that any dog suspected of having that breed in its mix will be euthanized, even very young puppies, whose breed is undeterminable.
Yes, euthanasia is unfortunate, and sometimes necessary, but it shouldn’t be standard procedure.
Well said AWLA Hawk. This is the beginning of some of the mind thought that is employed there.
A buddy has built a blog that is running to inform people about animal cruelty, particularly toward dogs and puppies. He and numerous other friends are putting a bunch of work into it. We take a lot of inspiration from sites like yours. It’s very sad how some people mistreat animals.
About 3 years ago Sue Sternberg whose famous for behavioral evaluations esp. for pits was brought down from NY to give a workshop by Alexandria’s shelter after the Attorney General for Virginia issued a memo urging for the dismissal of breed specific euthanasia taking place across the state.
Well, I was in attendance and out of all the shelters and rescue organizations that packed the room that day only one showed up from Arlington, the kennel manager, Bonnie Wilson. Why not the infamous director? or better yet why not the adoptions team so they could/can understand what was happening? And to think they are trying to promote that they paved the way for pitbull adoptions in the NOVA area when Alexandria actually was in the forefront.
On a side note Hawk that pic of the puppy you have posted above is a chocolate lab/pit bull. I was there for the litter and the mom/dad was there as well. mom was a lab and adopted. the dad was a pit and was euthanized.
I’m worried that the Pit bull requires a particular type of operator…these dogs, no matter how ‘supporting’ nevertheless have teeth, are still animals with no moral concepts and when they DO bite, won’t let go. As in all animals…some often be more suseptable to instinctual behavior and time and time once again, this breed tends to perform just that.