Petition to Stop Illinois House Bill 4213

To:  Illinois State Representatives

IL Reps. Shane Cultra and Mark Beaubien, Jr. have just proposed an amendment to the Animal Control Act which will allow breed-specific legislation state-wide in Illinois. This means that any municipality within the state of Illinois will be able to legally pass breed-specific legislation banning any breed of dog they so choose. Such breed bans have been ruled unconstitutional in other states due to infringement of citizens' 14th amendment Due Process rights. Worse still is that American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, "pit bulls," "pit bull terriers," Rottweilers, and Staffordshire Terriers are already defined in this bill as "vicious" breeds of dog, which will result in severe and unfair restrictions for these breeds. Consider what the CDC concluded as a result of their report "Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998":

"Although fatal attacks on humans appear to be a breed-specific problem (pit bull-type dogs and Rottweilers), other breeds may bite and cause fatalities at higher rates. Because of difficulties inherent in determining a dog’s breed with certainty, enforcement of breed-specific ordinances raises constitutional and practical issues. Fatal attacks represent a small proportion of dog bite injuries to humans and, therefore, should not be the primary factor driving public policy concerning dangerous dogs. Many practical alternatives to breed-specific ordinances exist and hold promise for prevention of dog bites." (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2000;217:836–840)

Please vote no on this irresponsible and misguided bill.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Petition to Stop Illinois House Bill 4213 Petition to Illinois State Representatives was created by Illinois Residents and written by Elizabeth Pensgard (bpensgard@edisonave.net).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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