WHY BREED-SPECIFIC LANGUAGE SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM OHIO STATE LAW?
In fact, there are many reputable studies and reports concluding that breed-specific legislation is ineffective, costly to taxpayers and, actually, hampers community safety efforts. In particular, Colorado Dog Bite Study In February 2009, the Coalition for Living Safely with Dogs (the “Coalition”) released its conclusions of the Coalition’s year-long dog bite study (“Colorado Survey”). The Colorado Survey gathered data from July 2007 to July 2008 from 17 separate animal control agencies, which collectively serve over half the human and dog populations in Colorado. The Coalition’s key findings, among others, are: (a) Most Dogs do not bite. Less than 1/3 of 1% of dogs in the reporting area were reported to animal control for biting a human. (b) Any dog can bite. Bites from 129 breeds of dogs were reported. (c) Bite circumstances must be considered. (i) Running at large was the single most common bite circumstance! (ii) Many bites were not a result of aggression towards humans but occur w
