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By now many of you have heard Bosco’s sad story. He’s the dog at the center of a controversy swirling around Fulton County and a big part of the reason we need your help today. Sadly, in Fulton County when the dog warden thinks that a shelter dog looks like a “pit bull” or “pit bull mix,” there’s not much chance that the dog will make it out of the shelter alive and into a loving home.
That’s because the county has a policy that expressly forbids members of the public (or rescue organizations) from adopting dogs that look like Bosco from the county pound. For these dogs, that can often mean a death sentence.
If that wasn’t bad enough, now the county commissioners are pursuing criminal charges against the rescue organizers who are trying to save Bosco’s life. This is government overreach at its absolute worst, and we need to speak up and let our voices be heard.
Take action by contacting county commissioners Paul Barnaby, Jeff Rupp and Bill Rufenacht, and tell them the policy and their misuse of it are unacceptable. You can email (below) or call them at 419-337-9255.
Politics is not a spectator sport, so please stand up and take action for our animals.
Dear [Decision Maker],
As a Fulton County resident, animal lover and voter, I am appalled that our county has a breed-discriminatory shelter policy. This policy does nothing to keep my family or my community safe, and it needs to be changed immediately. The truth is, breed discriminatory laws and policies (sometimes called breed-specific laws) like ours infringe on our fundamental property rights, do nothing to enhance public safety and cost the county a tremendous amount of my tax dollars to enforce. In America, responsible people should be allowed to adopt and love whatever type of dog they want. It's that simple.That's exactly why groups like the American Bar Association (ABA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Kennel Club (AKC), the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the National Animal Care and Control Association, along with many other organizations, have publicly repudiated laws and policies like the one in Fulton County. They know that effective animal laws focus on individual dogs and their behavior, rather than outdated and long-ago-disproven stereotypes and myths. It's well past the time for Fulton County to join the national trend in rejecting breed discrimination. Please consider repealing our terrible pit bull policy and replacing it with a common sense approach that treats all dogs as the individuals they are.
Thank you.
