Pit Bull ban law!! Here's how to help.

Senator Colleen Hanabusa introduced legislation to make all American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffies, Bull Terriers, and ANY mix breed Pit bull illegal! It is called SB79 and would allow immediate seizure of your loving pet (to be sent to a shelter where it will be illegal to adopt, then it would be put down.) It would be illegal to possess, transport or be in control of any form of bull terrier, so no flying them out if it passes, no airline will haul contraband! Stand up for your beloved pets! Here are some links to get active, act now because this is being worked on discretely (under the radar)!

The problem of dangerous dogs is not remedied by the quick fix of breed-discriminatory laws. All dogs can bite. Studies of pre and post breed ban dog bite rates in the United Kingdom and Spain concluded that their pit bull breed ban had no effect whatsoever on reducing dog bites.

Breed discriminatory laws cause unintended hardship to responsible owners of entirely friendly, properly supervised and well-socialized dogs that happen to fall within the regulated breed category. Although these dog owners have done nothing to endanger the public, they may be forced by the municipality to either give up their dogs or move out of their home. The pets that are given up are killed.

How You Can Help

Politics is not a spectator sport. Please take action on behalf of animals.

Please write and call your Hawaii Representatives and Senators and respectfully ask them to vote “NO” on SB79 "an act relating to dangerous dogs." Breed bans are ineffective, costly to enforce, and penalize responsible dog owners.
Please act today.


http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/Bills/SB79_.HTM

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/senate/comm/commJGO.asp

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/senate/members/members.asp

Email blast to "ALL" Senate members and all House reps.
sens@Capitol.hawaii.gov & reps@Capitol.hawaii.gov

http://content.bestfriends.org/he/vo.aspx?FileID=7882b76e-88dd-44b5-bb04-42f10dcc8041&MemberID=188715670&MailID=8367328

I just emailed all of the senators on the list from the last link above. It is very important for EVERYONE that this law affects to send something. If they know they will piss too many people off, they will think twice of passing the bill. For those of you that think this will never happen, don't be so confident . It has already happened in some places in the mainland that have WAY more pit bulls than Hawaii. One example being Miami. Below is a copy of the same email I sent to the senators. I am leaving this copy here just to give people ideas if you want to write something but are short on words. Even just a short one or two liner would be better than nothing.



Aloha,

My name is Shane Morris. I am a registered voter, and I do practice my right to vote. I am writing this email to notify you that I, along with thousands of other pit bull owners, will be completely distraught If my dogs were to be taken away to be murdered. I have seven pit bulls at my house. I have two children that play with all of the dogs. When I have visitors at my house, I do not even need to get up to let them in. None of my dogs have ever shown any sign whatsoever of aggression towards people. Please don't let the bad pit bull owners give us all a bad name. Any dog will do what it is trained to do. I just got bit on Saturday by a black chihuahua. That owner made like it was normal behavior for his dog to run up on strangers and bite them. If you look at national statistics, you will find that husky dogs are the most common breed to actually kill and then make a meal out of their owners. Studies in the UK and Spain have shown that breed specific discrimination have made no difference at all in the amount of dog bites made. If a bad dog owner cannot have a pit bull, they will just go on to another type of dog and make that one vicious. Please do not allow this bill to be passed and rob me of my family members. My dogs never hurt anyone and if this bill is passed, it will be THEE only thing I will be able to think of in the next election.

Mahalo for your time,
Shane Morris

Right on Shane, that's how to do it. I emailed all of the Senators and House representatives and one of the House reps Mark Nakashima emailed me back.

This is some of what he said: Thank you for your email expressing your concern for Senate Bill 79 related to dogs.
As a dog owner, please be assured that I share your concerns. This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations chaired by Senator Brian Taniguchi. Should this legislation cross over from the senate, you may be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as the House deliberates this matter.

Aloha and Best Wishes,

Mark M. Nakashima
State House of Representatives
District One

COME ON PEOPLE! WE ALL GOTTA RALLY UP AND EMAIL AND CALL OUR SENATE TO LET THEM KNOW NOT TO PASS THIS BILL. IF THIS PASSES THEN WHAT'S NEXT? THE EUTHANIZATION OF HANDCAPED PEOPLE OR THE ELDERLY IN LONG TERM CARE OR PEOPLE OF A CERTAIN RACE OR COLOR? WHEN OR WHERE WILL IT STOP? THINK OF HOW MUCH EASIER IT WILL BE TO PASS OTHER DISCRIMINATING LAWS, WHEATHER IT PERTAINS TO PEOPLE OR ANIMALS.

up

Hey guys,

Since Ive sent my letter to the capitol to stop the pitbull ban, Ive recieved a handful of replies from different senetors.
Most emails that I recieved have been against the bill, which is a good thing.
However I did recieve a few that maybe iffy. So for those particular emails that did not come out and say I'm against the bill staight out I replied back dirrectly to that senator.
I pretty much wrote, "My family and I supported you for many years, now it's time we ask for your support". Also thanking them for sending their reply.
I also think replying back to those iffy emails in this manner will make a bigger impact.

Even though you did not support them, make that little extra effort.
The many little things can make a big difference.

Mahalo to all of you who helped out with this issue.