- Mar 11, 2011
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The Putnam County Sheriff's Office placed a blue tarp over the area where dogs were being held because of their breed in an attempt to hide their identities.
Putnam County Florida will hold a stray dog for five days to give an owner time to reclaim it. After that, animals are put up for adoption or euthanized for room; except in the case of Pit Bulls, which are automatically euthanized. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department posted a note on their Facebook page last night defending their policy of not allowing Pit Bulls to be adopted out of their shelter. However, their policy is in direct opposition to Florida statute 767.14.
The Florida statute clearly states that communities are permitted to make their own regulations regarding problem dogs, but just as clearly states that those regulations cannot be based on breed. For instance, if a dog has a history of being aggressive, the county may impose fines or restrictions such as requiring the dog to be confined. The county cannot, however, make the blanket decision to discriminate against a breed of dog. Such discrimination is termed BSL (Breed Specific Legislation), and it is prohibited by Florida law.
James Cueva, an attorney for the Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation said that Putnam County is in violation of the state statute and is operating outside of state law.
Jen Watson, with Pit Sisters Rescue in Jacksonville, discovered Putnam County’s policy when she called their animal control to pull a Pit Bull for her rescue. Watson was told that Pit Bulls at the facility are not adopted out. When Watson commented “That has to change.” She was told by a Putnam official that it would never change.
This means that any Pit Bull taken into Putnam County Animal Control is euthanized after the five day stray hold without ever being made available for public adoption or rescue. When an employee there was asked how it’s decided which dogs are bully breeds, she referred the question to the Sheriff’s Department, where the buck was passed from one official to another, until someone at the Putnam Sheriff’s Department finally provided this explanation via email:
“We deem dogs which are obviously, to any reasonable person who may see them, Pit Bull terriers.”
That method might work if the average reasonable person could actually identify a Pit Bull. However, the website pitbullsontheweb.com demonstrates just how difficult that can be. The mis-identification of breeds is one of the saddest results of breed specific legislation, and the best argument for discontinuing breed discrimination.
The Putnam County facility uses the cruel heartstick method of killing dogs and cats.
An error at the facility recently allowed one particularly docile Pit Bull to squeak through the system and be pulled by a rescue group. The rescue placed the dog in a foster home, but a few days later the Sheriff of Putnam, Jeff Hardy, demanded that the dog be returned to the county shelter.
The rescue set up a meeting with Sheriff Hardy, but when he was a no-show they refused to return the dog. The consequences were devastating. According to one advocate more than 17 bully breed dogs were euthanized on Friday in what may have been a retaliation and show of force. The Sheriff’s department would not verify that number and will only admit to killing five Pit Bulls that day, but 21 dogs that were photographed on Thursday, March 8th were missing from the shelter on Monday, March 12. An inside source said that seventeen of them had been euthanized and four were unaccounted for.
Putnam told rescues and advocates today that they would not allow any more photos to be taken of the bully breeds at the facility, and they have quarantined those dogs to an area that they have covered with a tarp. Rescuers are now restricted from seeing how many dogs are being held, and worry that the dogs under the tarp are not receiving proper ventilation under the Florida sun.
Pit Sisters Rescue is asking animal advocates to sign the petition they have started on change.org. The petition appeals to Putnam County officials to change their policy of breed discrimination.
Kelly, have you heard of this? @KMARINO.
@2BullyMama (thought you'd like to see this too)
