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Riverside County Approves Pit Bull Sterilization Mandate

Olivia Niland |
October 8, 2013 | 5:55 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

 

Pitbulls make up 20 percent of Riverside County's shelter dog population (mccoy77/Creative Commons)
Pitbulls make up 20 percent of Riverside County's shelter dog population (mccoy77/Creative Commons)
A unanimous approval by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors this morning has placed the county one step closer to mandating the sterilization of pit bulls in unincorporated areas of Riverside County, Calif. 

The Board of Supervisors approved a controversial ordinance which would require the sterilization of all pit bulls—purebred and mixes—four months and older in unincorporated sections of the country.

Today's hearing followed a 5-0 vote last month in favor of the ordinance, which proposes making the failure to sterilize pit bulls four months and older an infraction or misdemeanor. 

According to the proposal submitted to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors last month, the purpose of the ordinance is to “protect the public's health and welfare from irresponsible owners of pit bulls by mitigating the over population of unwanted pit bulls,” and acknowledges “While the majority of pit bull owners are responsible and take appropriate measures to ensure that their dogs do not have unwanted offspring, there is a need to mitigate the large number of unwanted pit bulls in the County.”

The ordinance's approval follows multiple pit bull attacks in the area in recent months, including a two-year-old boy who was killed after being mauled by five pit bulls last month. Another fatal attack involved at least four pit bulls in Antelope Valley in May. The owner of the dogs responsible for the Antelope Valley attack, in which a woman died from blood loss after suffering upwards of 150 puncture wounds, was charged with murder in connection to the mauling

Further support for the ordinance has been fueled by Riverside County's ever-growing population of homeless pit bulls. Currently, pit bulls account for 20 percent of the dogs housed in county animal shelters, and are among the least likely breeds to be adopted, according to the Riverside County Department of Animal Services. 

Though the ordinance will not apply to pit bulls owned by licensed breeders, law enforcement authorities or those who use the dogs for assistance, it has drawn a fair amount of critics. Opponents argue that breed specific legislation unfairly targets pit bulls and perpetuates the stereotype that they are a dangerous breed, when opponents say they are not a breed at all. 

"Pit bull is really a type of dog, not a breed," said Julie Jordan, a director with the pit bull advocacy group Even Chance. "A lot of breed specific legislature is not specific enough, there's too much wording of 'looks like' and 'could be mistaken for' when referring to pit bulls."

Corinne D' Ambrosio, co-founder of the non-profit pit bull advocacy group SoCal Pitbull TEAM, agrees:

"Pit bulls account for twenty-five different breeds of dog all lumped together--it's very subjective," said D'Ambrosio. "The statistics about pit bull attacks are very skewed and create a real fear about these kinds of dogs. Law abiding, responsible pit bull owners don't make the news."

D'Ambrosio claims that the large population of pit bulls in the United States attributes to the disproprtionate media coverage of pit bulls attacks when compared to attacks by other dog breeds. She also argues that targeting one specific breed of dog is far less effective than creating broader-reaching spay and neuter regulations. 

"I absolutely agree with creating mandatory spay and neuter laws for all breeds of dogs," said D'Ambrosio, who noted that veterinarians typically will not spay or neuter animals younger than six months old, in contrast to Riverside County's proposed four-month mark. "But there's a huge difference between a family pet and a resident dog. People who care about laws will be forced to move to protect their pets because of this, and people who don't follow laws in the first place won't be affected anyway.

"We want to protect victims, and we want there to be stricters rules and regulations against irresponsible dog owners," D'Ambrosio added. "But these kinds of regulations only end up punishing well-behaved family pets and animals who need help, instead of the owners."

This past August, President Obama also spoke out against breed specific legislation, and in August the White House released a statement deeming it “largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources.”

A sterilization law similar to Riverside County's pit bull ordinance took effect in neighboring San Bernardino County in August. Owners who refuse to sterilize pit bulls in unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County now face a $100 fine for the first offense, and a $500 fine for three offenses within the same year. 

Riverside County's pit bull sterilization ordinance is set to take effect next month. 

 

Reach Staff Reporter Olivia Niland hereFollow Olivia Niland on Twitter @olivianiland.



 

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