Anne Geggis
Dogs will be judged by behavior and not breed, according to a bill that won unanimous subcommittee approval Tuesday at its second hearing stop.
Rep. James Buchanan’s bill (HB 721) got the nod from the House Regulatory Reform Subcommittee Tuesday. It allows housing authorities to put restrictions on owners of dogs “that have bitten or attacked persons or domestic animals … provided that no such regulation is specific to breed.”
The bill has already won approval from the House Local Administration & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.
“It ensures that … what is currently in the law as it relates to breed bans is applied consistently across the state,” Buchanan said.
The bill strips out statutory language that has grandfathered in Miami’s ban on pit bulls. The city of Sunrise’s ordinance would not be allowed, either. Those rules, for example, define “pit bull dogs” as any dog that has characteristics as described by the American Kennel Club or United Kennel Club for American Staffordshire terriers or Staffordshire bull terriers. And those dogs, according to Sunrise’s rules, must be securely locked in a pen or muzzled.
Dahlia Canes, of the Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation, has been working on this goal for the last 18 years. She said she was delighted to hear the legislation is moving forward but she’s had her heart broken before, as happened in 2012, when it won approval in the Senate only to die in the House.
“It’s about time,” she said. “It’s canine discrimination and I know about discrimination because I’m a woman, I’m Hispanic, I’m gay and I own pit bull terriers in Miami-Dade.”
Buchanan said he wants to keep families together.
“Dogs are family members and it creates all kinds of issues when you are separated from your family,” Buchanan said, citing a succession of dogs he’s had in his life. He mentioned Jezebel, his English bulldog, and Maximus, his Doberman. “People should have the ability to keep their family with them.
Sen. Ileana Garcia proposed similar legislation (SB 614) that received a nod from the Senate Community Affairs Committee late last month. That bill is on the Senate Agriculture Committee agenda on Thursday.
