It’s understandable when owners of banned or restricted breeds seek to minimize breed-specific restrictions by suggesting additional legislation that they believe will take the stigma off of their dogs. But I find that trying to “compromise” with the irrational people who propose breed-specific legislation (BSL) is like negotiating with terrorists. You just shouldn’t do it because it’s giving in to breed banners’ hysteria.

The truth is, you should never really compromise with people who are negating your constitutional rights, and particularly not for those who propose breed-specific legislation because they use specious reasoning, skewed statistics, and for pit bull bans and restrictions, anti-pit bull fanaticism. In other words, they’re just plain wrong. Yet one well-intended pit bull owner, Matt Frischen, in Newark, Ohio seeks what he and others are calling a compromise with the Newark City Council by removing the “vicious” designation for pit bulls if they pass a Canine Good Citizens test.

I admire Mr. Frischen’s determination, and that of Savanna Boley who lobbied the Newark City Council to remove the vicious definition for so-called pit bulls, but the only way to counteract the kind of hysteria that surrounds “pit bulls” is to call it out. Call out the Dogsbite.org disciples for what they are. Call out the histrionics, the lack of reason, the knee-jerking, and the lies. Don’t give in to it by “compromising,” because what they call compromising is really just a dilute form of rights negation.

Indeed, when Denver can’t even identify what a pit bull is as defined by their own ordinance, when the pit bull-banning counties of Denver and Miami-Dade have seen dog-bite related hospitalizations skyrocket, and when even the White House acknowledges BSL doesn’t work, it’s time to call out BSL for what it is: A nanny-state, governmental overreach that is unconstitutional, deprives citizens of their dogs, or the enjoyment of their dogs, with no due process of law, and not only doesn’t keep communities safer, but makes communities much less safe.

Newark, Ohio needs to remove the vicious designation for so-called pit bulls, just like Ohio removed the vicious designation for pit bulls via HB 14, and Newark, Ohio needs to police all dogs and all dog owners the same. A well-enforced leash law for all dogs, a non-breed-specific dangerous dog (owner) law which places the responsibility squarely on the owner with escalating fines and penalties, and adequate Animal Control personnel are more than enough to police irresponsible dog owners without having to waste time quibbling over whether a dog is a pit bull or not, especially when even supposed BSL success story Denver can’t get it right.

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