Oshkosh Area Humane Society’s Official Position on Proposed Pit Bull Ordinances

With dog breed specific legislation being proposed by local officials in the City of Oshkosh, there has been an outpouring of controversy and discussion within the community and beyond. Some of it has been unfairly targeted at the Oshkosh Area Humane Society, perhaps in part because some have misconceptions about the shelter's position on such proposed legislation; another part of it could be related to comments from shelter personnel that were either misstated, misrepresented or taken out of context by the Oshkosh Northwestern reporter covering this story.

In any event, the OAHS has released a position statement to clarify its position on the proposed legislation. That statement is below in its entirety. Eye on Oshkosh has also extended an invitation to OAHS to come on the show and discuss all aspects of this issue - good, bad and indifferent - and are happy to report that our invitation has been graciously and gratefully accepted. That show will be taped right after the first of the year. We have also contacted City of Oshkosh health department director Paul Spiegel about appearing on a future show as well, and are awaiting a return phone call from him. We will let viewers know what happens with that invitation.

I had considered putting together on online poll to solicit people's feelings on the issue, but because there are too many variables to consider, think it would almost be a futile effort. Instead, the issue and people's feelings would be best served by just allowing people the opportunity to comment if they choose - whether here or on the Oshkosh Northwestern's web site, as they've already been doing since this story first broke.

And now, here is the position statement from the Oshkosh Area Humane Society:

"The Oshkosh Area Humane has never advocated or supported breed banning or breed specific legislation (BSL). The OAHS was invited to attend meetings with the Oshkosh Health Department over a year ago to give their view on all the proposed animal ordinance changes, all twenty eight pages. From the very beginning OAHS made it very clear that they never did and never will support breed banning or BSL. When asked by the city for an opinion on BSL, OAHS point-blank said “don’t do it; it doesn’t work.” OAHS even provided committee members with websites and articles addressing why BSL doesn’t work and alternatives to it.

"However OAHS did and does acknowledge that the city of Oshkosh has seen an increase in dog-to-dog aggression and the number of irresponsible dog owners that do not spay and neuter, or socialize their dogs and even encourage un-socialized behavior with aggression being the result of that behavior. Once OAHS realized the city planned to go ahead with the proposed ordinance OAHS encouraged those recommending the changes to provide a way for responsible bully breed owners to be exempt from the possible breed specific ordinance. (i.e.Canine Good Citizen)

"OAHS has always been an advocate for all breeds of dogs, especially the underdog. Twenty years ago shelters were full of black labs and black lab mixes and now shelters are full of pit bulls and pit bull mixes. Pit bulls are the number one exploited breed in United States because of their physical strength, energy and predisposition to confidant behavior. There are many wonderful pit bulls with responsible owners but because of the fore mentioned characteristics, pit bulls are also the breed chosen most often by people with malicious intent.

"While this issue has stirred up compassionate controversy, OAHS sees this as a positive because people are now becoming involved and looking for solutions to the problem of aggressive dogs in Oshkosh.

"The position of Oshkosh Area Humane Society and its staff regarding the proposed ordinance changes has been misconstrued. The Oshkosh Area Humane Society has not and never will advocate or support breed banning or breed specific legislation of any kind."