Sunday, December 18, 2005

Proposal For Stricter Dog Bite Laws In Illinois

The fight is on.

Activists are lobbying Illinois legislators to enact stricter dog bite laws.

So, you either get involved now, or lose more of your rights to reasonably own a dog.

We all want reasonable dog bite laws. They are necessary.

It is a shame, however, that 1% of dog owners can wreck it all for the remaining 99%. And even though we need laws for the anti-social types, I don't think you can ever pass enough laws to force these people to properly breed a dog, socialize it, train it, supervise it, and contain it. And if you tried, you would effectively ban dog ownership for the rest of us.

Please educate yourself concerning the upcoming legislation in Illinois, and fight for fair and balanced laws that will minimize the number of dog attacks, yet protect the rights of the rest of us to have a pet in our homes or in public.

Here are related articles:

1.) A recent series of high-profile dog attacks has activists headed back to the state Capitol this spring to push for stricter laws.

2.) A recent series of high-profile attacks has Armstrong and his fellow activists headed back to the state Capitol this spring to push for stricter laws, less than three years after they helped pass a crackdown on vicious dogs… Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, is using the Whiteside County case to call for stronger punishment for owners who let their non-neutered dogs run loose. Two Republican lawmakers are pushing proposals in response to the McHenry County case. One bill would let local governments ban and regulate certain dog breeds. Their other measure would deem all pit bulls and Rottweilers dangerous, requiring their owners to take extra precautions and face harsher penalties if those dogs attack. Chapa LaVia wants longer prison time for people who participate in dogfighting and better training to help police spot signs of dogfighting -- ideas aimed at battling gangs who use dogs for criminal purposes. Boland argues his idea will be most effective because it targets two of the key elements found in many attacks: owners who don't keep their dogs under control and hormonal dogs who haven't been fixed. Rep. Michael Tryon, R-Crystal Lake, said penalizing owners makes sense but so does restricting some breeds that have proven to be inherently dangerous.

No comments: