Chicagoans Against Rugai's 2005 BSL

To:  Chicago City Council/Mayor Daley

Undeterred by the shoot down of her illegal and Nazi-like attempt to
confiscate and euthanize thousands of Chicagoan's dogs via her 2003 proposed breed ban, Virgina Rugai, Ald. of the 19th ward in Chicago, decided to try the back-door approach. Rugai assembled a team of lawyers whom she tasked
with skirting the U.S. Constitution (finding a way around citizens' 14th amendment states rights for Due Process) and as a result of that effort has
now proposed what I’m sure she believes is a concession to her earlier
breed ban (or at least one we'll roll over for). The current proposal allows those who currently own American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, and Staffordshire Bull Terriers to be “grandfathered” in, though no other bully breeds will be allowed to be purchased or acquired in the city of Chicago. The proposal also prohibits the breeding of APBTs, AmStaffs, and Staffies, which amounts to the eventual eradication of the breeds entirely within Chicago.

Grandfathering means that current owners of these breeds will be allowed
to keep their animals but will be required to microchip their dogs, provide
pens for their animals any time the dogs are kept outside, sterilize their
dogs, limit the number of “pit bulls” in their household to two, leash and
muzzle their dogs when they are being walked, and keep at least $100,000 liability insurance on the animal(s). Additionally, owners will be forced to acquire a “dangerous animal” license which would ostensibly allow the city to track the dogs’ locale. Owners will also be forced to erect fences on their
property and to put up signs indicating a dangerous animal. Any owner found
to have a vicious dog, as determined by the city, will also have to comply
with these strictures. Non-compliance could mean fines of up to $1,000,
6 months in jail, and confiscation of their dogs.

We the undersigned are opposed to Rugai's 2005 proposal for greater strictures on American Staffordshire Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and their mixes. Such errant breed-specific
legislation puts the onus on law-abiding bully breed owners not on those who are truly to blame: gangs, drug traffickers, and the backyard breeders who systematically inbreed and selectively breed bully breeds for illicit purposes.

Consider the following quote from Ald. Isaac Carothers of the 29th ward who is in favor of Rugai's latest proposal:

"Many of the pit bulls in his West Side ward are used as muscle by'gangbangers, drug dealers,'...Others are raised forillegal fighting..."
-as reported in the Thursday, December 1, 2005 edition of The Chicago Tribune
[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0512010138dec01,1,2974107.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true]

Comments from City Council members such as Carothers show the ignorance of
the very officials who are making these carte blanche decisions for Chicagoans. Even Carothers, though he is in favor of Rugai's proposal, agrees that the problem isn't really "pit bulls" at all, but those, many in gangs, who ill use them for dog fighting, as drug dogs, and for "street cred" as well as the unscrupulous backyard breeders who inbreed them or selectively breed them to be vicious.

See NoPitBullBans.com for more information and daily updates.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Chicagoans Against Rugai's 2005 BSL Petition to Chicago City Council/Mayor Daley was created by Chicagoans 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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