A North Carolina lawmaker says he was caught off guard by the angry responses he got to a bill that would require the owners of pit bulls, mastiffs and Rottweilers and other large breeds to undergo criminal background checks.
Rep. Rodney Moore, a Charlotte Democrat who sponsored the bill, tells Law Blog that his office got thousands of emails from people protesting the plan. Many of them were from pit bull owners who attached photos of their dogs looking cute and âpassive,â he said.
The legislation died in committee. âIâve been inundated,â said Mr. Moore. âItâs a good idea, but maybe the language was kind of harsh.â He said he would get stakeholders together to talk about animal-safety issues.
âThis is not a state where you can mess with peopleâs dogs,â one legislative aide told Law Blog.
The background check bill would have applied to owners of breeds designated as âaggressive.â And the owners would have had to take at least four hours of training courses. They also would have had to pay to apply for a special âaggressive dogâ permit from the stateâs insurance department.
âThere needs to be some kind of accountability,â Mr. Moore told WRAL-TV last week. âA lot of people breed them the wrong way. You have very harsh incidents of these dogs maiming children, maiming older folks, and sometimes even turning on their owner.â
Mr. Moore said he wasnât sure that the breeds designated by the bill as aggressive are ones âwith the most incidents,â but he said they âwere the most prevalent by the feedback that Iâve gotten,â according to WRAL.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/04/25/pit-bull-owners-bark-at-background-check-bill/?mod=e2tw
Douche-bag.
Rep. Rodney Moore, a Charlotte Democrat who sponsored the bill, tells Law Blog that his office got thousands of emails from people protesting the plan. Many of them were from pit bull owners who attached photos of their dogs looking cute and âpassive,â he said.
The legislation died in committee. âIâve been inundated,â said Mr. Moore. âItâs a good idea, but maybe the language was kind of harsh.â He said he would get stakeholders together to talk about animal-safety issues.
âThis is not a state where you can mess with peopleâs dogs,â one legislative aide told Law Blog.
The background check bill would have applied to owners of breeds designated as âaggressive.â And the owners would have had to take at least four hours of training courses. They also would have had to pay to apply for a special âaggressive dogâ permit from the stateâs insurance department.
âThere needs to be some kind of accountability,â Mr. Moore told WRAL-TV last week. âA lot of people breed them the wrong way. You have very harsh incidents of these dogs maiming children, maiming older folks, and sometimes even turning on their owner.â
Mr. Moore said he wasnât sure that the breeds designated by the bill as aggressive are ones âwith the most incidents,â but he said they âwere the most prevalent by the feedback that Iâve gotten,â according to WRAL.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/04/25/pit-bull-owners-bark-at-background-check-bill/?mod=e2tw
Douche-bag.
