West Columbia, Texas: City Council Meeting -- August 10, 2009
West Columbia passed a breed ban in July that would ban American Pit Bull Terriers and Rottweilers from this Texas city. Their city attorney was given the task of drafting an ordinance that would accomplish what they wanted. They soon found out that Texas has a statutory provision, Sec. 822.047 of the Health and Safety Code, that prevents laws that target one or several breeds of dogs.
Fortunately, the City took the position that they did not want an ordinace that was contrary to state law and are to be commended for that. But they went a step farther. Their City Council invited Jeff Shaver and I to come talk to them and their citizens about breed specific laws and the Texas ban on them. This effort was spearheaded by City Council Member Donna Schwebel who voted against such an ordinance. She had done some independent research that indicated to her, and correctly so, that breed bans do not work.
When we walked in to Council Chambers last night, I was a bit taken aback. The facility was packed. I sort of glanced over the crowd and wondered if Jeff and I were about to be roasted. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. We were warmly received and people listened attentively and not one person said a negative thing about dogs of any kind.
I spoke about our Texas laws, Texas' tough dangerous dog laws, and their city laws. I live in a small city, too, and in over 20+ years there has not been one dog bite incident and not one dangerous dog determination. That is because we do not have a loose dog problem which takes citizens willing to get involved in making sure dogs are kept off the streets. The idea of being proactive before an incident occurs seemed to really resonate with them. Of course, as on owner of two American Pit Bull Terriers, I had to brag on the true nature of these wonderful dogs in the right hands and stress how breed bans do not change the hearts and minds of people. Any issue with dogs is really an issue about people.
Jeff talked about Denver's breed ban and how it has sorely failed. He explained why these laws do not work, the drain on the city trying to enforce them, and the unfairness to people whose pets were killed for no reason at all. Jeff is the owner of Rottweilers and talked about some of the great things Rotties have accomplished (service after 9-11) and how versatile his breed is in their service to people in all sorts of way. He brought the Sports Illustrated edition regarding Michael Vick's dogs showing these dogs as pets and even therapy dogs.
We both had handouts for them, and I prepared a brief guide on the law concering BSL. At the end of the presentation we entertained a few questions and then were thanked by hearty applause from everyone. It was very gratifying to see the response to a positive approach in talking with the citizens and lawmakers of a city about BSL and working with them instead of against them.
In conclusion, West Columbia is not going to implement an ordinance banning any breeds of dogs. Importantly, they were open to listening and learning about the subject and it turned out to be a win-win result for everyone.
Zandra Anderson
www.TexasDogLawyer.com Permission to Crosspost.
