- Target:
- who it may concern
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.examiner.com
Please help return this dog to his devastated owner.
The dog is a fully trained and registered Therapy dog who aids owner with mental disabilities.
Yet because she didn't understand the law he has been taken from her under the breed specific laws due to him being a 10 month old Pitbull mix
Link ABOVE to full news story
Springfield, MO, is one of those cities in the U.S. who enforce breed specific legislation or "BSL", and for the past seven days, Jennifer Robinson has been fighting city hall to allow them to let her bring home 10-month-old Captain. Captain is her registered therapy dog, and as a service animal, he helps her cope with her mental disabilities. According to KSPR, the stress of the situation sent Ms. Robinson back to the hospital today, Dec. 24, while the life of her puppy hangs in the balance at the Springfield Animal Shelter.
Since Captain is a pitbull mix, Ms. Robinson should have followed the rules and regulations when she brought him into Springfield. That is what breed specific laws are designed for - forcing people to go through hoops above and beyond the normal steps to keep an animal in their home, in the thinly veiled hope that they will get frustrated and just won't bring that breed into the community. Breed specific legislation laws do one thing very well: they increase the number of these innocent dogs killed in shelters every year, and decrease their ability to find homes.
According to Bad Rap, BSL is the practice of using laws to regulate and restrict dog ownership based solely on the physical appearance of an animal. In this case, Ms. Robinson's pitbull mix who "doesn't have a single aggressive bone in his body", has fallen victim to the laws of the city. She is not being singled out. All owners of dogs that fall into this category must follow Springfield's rules and regulations. According to the city code, which has been in effect for the past four years,
Ms. Robinson's mistake was not in bringing Captain to Springfield, but not knowing the city laws. Obviously this situation would not have occurred had she known and obeyed the regulations. However, she doesn't live in Springfield. Do most people know the animal regulations of the cities they visit? Probably not. Still, the city doesn't care that he's a therapy dog. According to the law, it doesn't matter if the dog in question is in the city limits for ten minutes or ten years, the owner must follow the ordinance. Not knowing a law exists doesn't make it legal to not abide by it. However, there must be some sort of leeway given in cases like this.
Save Therapy dog from kill shelter in Springfield, MO.
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The Save Therapy dog from kill shelter in Springfield, MO petition to who it may concern was written by Layla and is in the category Animal Welfare at GoPetition.