Opinion : Iowa could finally Ban the Dog Breed Bans

The discussion of what kind of dog you can own, and the ridiculous idea that a dog's heritage can be determined by someone who is not trained to do so has always hit me as odd. Funny. Peculiar. Bizzare. Unusual. Contingent on someone liking your dog. Weird. Unconventional. Outdated, that's the word, outdated. 

I like to think that the more information we have, the more educated we'd be. I've learned too much information about dog breeds over the past, what has it been a couple of years, and I enjoyed it. However, I always found myself rolling my eyes in meeting after meeting as all the serious people sat around tables discussing the ability of police officers to suddenly become DNA experts on, of all things, dogs. The ordinance while not fair to dogs or owners, sure wasn't fair to officers who had to somehow make that judgment call.

Often officers are called to make that decision, and then if they do, they are the ones that have to take the heat for saying, "Yep, that's a pit bull." They have no idea if that's really true, but they have to take their best guess in these situations, because that's the way the law was written.

The ordinances themselves cracked me up. That is until I realized that the loose interpretation of what a pit bull was, was to be taken seriously. A pit bull is basically anything with four legs, a tail and person declaring that said dog is, well a pit bull. The original text for the law must've read something like, "If thou art, therefore, the squire of such an animal that is declared to be a pit bull, because someone we have appointed declares it to be so, thou shalt therefore cast away from thine family with whom you have shared shelter and vittles the accused four legged creature. If you go against this declaration, thou shalt be banned from the city gates along with the vermin, formally declared to be a pit bull. Ye shall reside in another country that shall take your kind."

That's how archaic the law was, at least when it was written. Most of the state agrees that this is just well, barbaric. A dog is a dog. A bad owner is a bad owner. There are dogs born that no doubt are just bad. But it's not limited to pit bulls. ALL dogs should be judged on their own behavior, not on their breed. While dogs are not people, they should not be put down simply because of who they are. Yet, that's what we have in place.

Iowans Against Breed Bans have been working to get a bill passed at the state level that says, "all dogs are created equal." The bill has passed out of the Senate is headed to the floor for debate.

The legislation up for debate includes the following:

S.F.476 Section

Section 331.301,Code 2023, is amended by adding the following new subsection:

A Bill For An Act relating to county or city legislation affecting dog ownership. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THEY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATW OF IOWA:

NEW SUBSECTION.

A county shall not adopt, enforce, or otherwise administer an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment that restricts or hinders a person's right to own or keep a dog based on the breed or perceived breed of the dog. This subsection does not inhibit the authority of a county to adopt, enforce, or administer an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment that applies to all dogs. 

Section364.3, Code2023, is amended by adding the following new subsection:

A city shall not adopt, enforce, or otherwise administer an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment that restricts or hinders a person's right to own or keep a dog based on the breed or perceived breed of the dog. 

This subsection does not inhibit the authority of a city to adopt, enforce, or administer an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment that applies to all dogs.

EXPLANATION

The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly. This bill prohibits counties and cities from adopting, enforcing, or administering an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment that restricts or hinders a person's right to own or keep a dog based on the breed or perceived breed of the dog. The bill does not inhibit the authority of a county or city to adopt, enforce, or administer an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment that applies to all dogs "

If you would like to contact your legislators today and ask them to support the bill the info is below. Not sure how to find your legislators? It's super easy! Click the link below and enter your address information. This will automatically direct you to a list of who to call or email. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/find

So here's to wishing all of the canines in our state happy homes and for all dog owners to be kind and responsible dog owners so that we can move on to things that are important.