Lincolnwood - Not even the victims of pit bull attacks bothered to tell Lincolnwood city officials that they would rather keep their pit bull safety regulation. Even though there is a statewide ban on implementing breed specific regulation, home rule cities in Illinois can still legally implement pit bull regulation. Lincolnwood was one of the few cities in Illinois that legally regulated pit bulls for the safety of its residents.
The removal of the Lincolnwood BSL follows the familiar, idiotic Illinois pattern. Two vicious, disgusting pit bull attacks prompt city officials to REMOVE the only protections from pit bull they have.
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Children Say Good Bye To Fifi Before She is Euthanized
After Being Paralyzed by a Pit Bull Attack. RIP Fifi. How
much do you think the veterinarians who put down Fifi
charged the family? How much did the veterinarians
profit from this pit bull attack?
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Besides, the attack on Fifi, another pit bull mauled a Lincolnwood dog in May 2015. Luckily, that victim dog survived. The media did not bother to report that attack.
The city consulted four veterinarians who told them pit bulls are AOK with them. Those veterinarians better waive their fees for sewing up and putting down victims of pit bulls in their practices from now on so it doesn’t appear that they had a conflict of interest.
This odd statement is taken from Lincolnwood board meeting minutes on December 15, 2016:
‘At its December 15 COTW meeting, the Board discussed staff’s recommended changes to the Village’s “Vicious Dog” Ordinance. During its discussion, the Board requested that staff look into potentially changing the Ordinance further by removing the provision that defines certain breeds as “vicious” regardless of whether there were any documented
problems with that particular breed.’
Even though Lincolnwood is a home rule city and, as such, Lincolnwood can legally implement BSL, the village decided to remove their pit bull regulation in the face of a rash of documented problems with pit bulls. Why would that be? It probably has to do with communications Lincolnwood city leaders had received from pit bull advocates saying they would be sued. At the end of December, Best Friends Animal Society sent a letter falsely claiming that their pit bull regulation was illegal according to the Illinois statewide ban on BSL.
“Your ongoing attempts to further discriminate against a specific classifications of dogs is also illegal under the law. Together, the Village is exposing itself to needless litigation.”
“That said, we would be open to working with the Village to amend the current ordinance to bring you into compliance with state law.”
“Let us help you avoid needless litigation. We can work collaboratively to make Lincolnwood…”
Even though Lincolnwood's pit bull safety laws are legal, a resident could still sue the village and if the resident were promised free legal help from Best Friends Animal Society, a disgruntled pit bull owner would be encouraged to file suit. BFAS is letting Lincolnwood know they will put their money behind such a lawsuit. After the legal and financial threats, Best Friends Animal Society’s lawyer Lee Greenwood then said BFAS would love to collaborate with the City of Lincolnwood - for free - to eliminate what meagre protections from pit bulls they already have!
So, despite having “documented problems” with the particular pit bull breed, the city of Lincolnwood sought plausible reasons they should abandon ordinances that were designed to protect pets and people from the known and demonstrated dangerous pit bull problems.
City staff gathered evidence that would support their move to abandon safety protections including the AVMA’s “Literature Review on the Welfare Implications of The Role of Breed in Dog Bite Risk and Prevention.” This review of literature shares facts and findings from various sources ranging from newsletters to peer-reviewed studies. Each statement in the review is referenced to the source it came from. Except one. And that one unsubstantiated statement is one of two statements culled from the literature review to support abandoning pit bull regulation.
The assertion that “controlled studies have not identified this breed group (pit bull types) as disproportionately dangerous” is stated twice in the literature review, but is supported by no sources.
The other statement from the same AVMA literature review, “there is no evidence that breed-specific bans reduce the rate or severity of bite injuries” is a misinterpretation of the two studies the review references. Both studies’ findings show that hospitalizations due to dog bites are lower in areas that ban or regulate pit bulls and other dangerous breeds of dogs.
The City of Lincolnwood abandoned its pit bull safety ordinance out of fear of a lawsuit using faulty “expert” papers that contradicted their own experience with pit bulls.
