A January canine assault and failed Home invoice have stirred the controversy over bans on “harmful” canines within the state.
Home Invoice 1519 — sponsored and offered by Rep. RJ Hawk, R-Bryant — aimed to ban municipalities throughout the state from establishing bans merely primarily based on canine breeds or breed look.
“I’ve witnessed many mates which have owned canines and slowly their proper to decide on what canine they needed was being taken away from them,” Hawk stated in an e mail Wednesday. “The canines that they owned had been completely good canines and had been solely being discriminated in opposition to due to different unhealthy canines.”
At present, there are an estimated 38 breed-specific canine bans within the state.
The invoice didn’t advance out of the home Tuesday, failing by a 34-45 vote with 10 members voting current.
Representatives opposing the invoice argued that it is a resolution that must be left to native officers to proceed to navigate and decide.
Over the previous few years a number of cities have lifted beforehand in-place canine bans and others proceed to debate if a ban is likely to be obligatory.
The Maumelle Metropolis Council voted 5-3 in April 2021 on an ordinance that lifted a beforehand enforced pit bull ban.
Two canine assaults since then have ignited debates on whether or not they may have been prevented had the ban not been lifted.
The primary assault from September 2022 resulted within the dying of a small canine and critical harm to the proprietor, 73-year-old Marcus Higgins.
The assault by two pit bull canines left Higgins with stitches within the face, mouth and each palms, in addition to additional harm to a pre-existing spinal fusion, in response to a report from Maumelle’s metropolis lawyer, Melissa Krebs.
Most just lately, a Maumelle girl was attacked on Jan. 21 by a pit bull canine she was fostering in January.
Kelly Dean, 35, was left with “tears” in her arms and leg after a “pit terrier/bull-mix” canine she was fostering attacked her after a struggle between it and one other canine on the property.
A report by the Maumelle Animal Management famous “a path of huge blood drops” contained in the storage and inside the house.
Dean was transported to Baptist Well being in Little Rock for remedy for the accidents.
The aggressor canine and different canines on the property had been taken by animal management to find out what company the canine was fostered from and what steps to take subsequent.
Council Member Steve Mosley argues that the assault, together with an assault from the summer season of 2022, may have been prevented if the council would comply with put a dangerous-dog ban again in place.
“We have now had two critical accidents to people right here in Maumelle that would not have occurred had the council not lifted an extended present ban on such canines,” Mosley stated. “Maumelle’s two-year experiment with introducing Pit Bulls into our neighborhood actually seems to be a failed experiment, and it seems that it is only a matter of time earlier than an assault tragically entails a younger youngster.”
Council Member Chad Gardner disagrees and voted in assist of lifting the ban in 2021 and stood in assist of Home Invoice 1519.
“I feel the aim of the invoice is to deal with all breeds equally and I actually would have supported that,” Gardner stated. “When it comes to it not passing, it actually does not change something, it simply leaves it as much as particular person cities to decide on what they need to do.”
Gardner stated town wish to deal with dealing with harmful canines when offered with particular incidents, not banning complete breeds completely.
“We needed to deal with all canines equally,” Gardner stated. “Earlier than, after we banned sure breeds, that was taking time from our useful resource officers to need to exit and search for a probably banned breed that wasn’t even inflicting any points. If there’s an issue with a canine specifically, that is what we need to deal with as a substitute of simply banning breeds outright.”
Mosley has actively disagreed with the lifting of the ban and Home Invoice 1519.
“Is a few obscure social trigger for a harmful animal breed actually definitely worth the ensuing human accidents which are occurring, and doable dying?” Mosley requested. “The pit bull subject is extremely divisive and it’s best to let the present legislation stay in place and let particular person cities determine.”
Officers on the Jacksonville Pit Bull Committee proceed to debate their present canine ban and what that appears like for town.
Within the fall, the committee met and briefly mentioned not lifting the prevailing ban, however making modifications to the ordinance. If accredited, the modifications would have allowed for residents to have their pits “accredited” beneath the ban via a collection of rules and necessities.
Hawk reiterated that he does plan to proceed to work on sponsoring a associated invoice that may higher attraction to either side.
“I do plan on persevering with to advocate for this invoice. A lot truth, Senator [Kim] Hammer was compelled by the controversy in the home and is considering operating the invoice on the Senate aspect this session,” Hawk stated.
