Last night Don and I went to the Garland City Council meeting
previously mentioned in our messages. At issue was a resolution asking
the Texas State Legislature to remove the language in the TX Health
and Safety Code that prohibits Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL).
Garland wants to be able to enact breed-specific regulations on
fencing and containment, but cannot under state law. Staff and Council
emphasized several times that they are not in favor of a ban, but
don't seem at concerned that if state law changes, there will be bans
and undue burdens on responsible dog owners all over Texas.

Of course the resolution passed unanimously. It is just the official
city opinion, so it doesn't change anything about the way we do
business here. We don't think (we hope) that anything will come of it
in the legislature this session. The session should end in a couple of
months (though it is frequently extended) then it does not meet again
til 2009.

Last Thursday night we attended the Oak Cliff town hall meeting hosted
by area city councilwoman Dr. Elba Garcia. The meeting was called
because residents are frustrated about loose dogs roaming the area. A
so-called Pit Bull that attacked an SUV to get at a cat made the TV
news. Dr. Garcia said that she has had a lot of questions "Why can't
we ban Pit Bulls in Dallas." It does not appear that Dr. Garcia or
Dallas in general is going to push for a change in TX state law.

The common thing about both cases, "Pit Bulls" are running loose and
citizens are demanding immediate action. City council members are
getting phone calls, "Why can't you ban these animals?". And in the
exact words of one staff member, "We need to do something before
somebody gets killed." I wish it were a simple problem to solve, but I
offered the clubs' assistance to blanket the areas and educate people,
and do whatever they need us to do. I told them people would drive
over from Fort Worth to help -- our club members love the dogs so much
that this is not out of the question at all.

Keep talking to people you see on the street about responsible
ownership. Especially young people. You can make a difference.

Reminder, we have a meeting on March 18th. Hope to see you there!
-Laura
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www.lsspbc.com