i'm fired up...

You try and ban this sweet man and I'm gonna bring the hammer down :)

So it turns out that my hometown - Williamston, South Carolina - is considering banning pit bulls and rottweilers. Awesome. This means that I'll either have to make the choice to leave at least two of my dogs behind (or three depending on how broad their definition of "pit bull" is) whenever I visit my parents OR I just won't visit my parents.

Neither of these options makes me happy.

And I'm the lucky one... I don't actually live there anymore. I can't even let myself think of all the dogs that will be destroyed or abandoned if this law is passed.

I've posted here before about Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) but this is the first time it has actually affected me directly. So you can imagine how fired up I am about this.

First, let me explain something about my hometown... it's this little country town in the Upstate of South Carolina where probably 30%of the population still thinks it's ok to chain your dog out back and feed him leftover dinner scraps for nourishment (IF they bother to chain or feed them at all). Another 50% have the mindset that "a dog is a dog... so what?" And if anyone out there from Williamston is reading this, please don't be offended. If you care enough about your dog to read my blog, you obviously don't fall into the aforementioned categories.

But folks, if you think I'm ticked... well, you should talk to my mother. She is... ENRAGED. You don't mess with her kids - and this potential breed ban law does just that. It messes with her kid - me - and her four-legged grandkids. And my mom has never been one to shy away from a fight. So she's gearing up for a full-blown assault (figuratively, people... I mean an assault of the verbal variety) on the town mayor and town council.

I've been helping her compile information for talking points, information packets and letters to the editor. And I thought I'd pass this information along in case anyone out there is facing this same problem.

The information and links I'm providing here are only the tip of the iceberg. I highly recommend doing your own search for information on BSL should the need ever arise.

• Association of Pet Dog Trainers Model Dog Law and their statement on Breed Specific Legislation


• ASPCA provides information on why BSL doesn't work and they also provide contact information for their Government Relations department so that elected officials can work with the ASPCA to draft breed-neutral animal control laws.


• Beyond the Myth movie trailer


• Understand-A-Bull: This web site is a gold mine of information. This site provides facts and statistics, information for letters to the editor, previous BSL court cases, etc.