Various news reports have indicated that, in response to a well-publicized dog attack last month, Westwego City Councilmember Glenn Green intends to introduce an ordinance that would extend the city's current breed-specific ordinance to additional breeds and make keeping certain targeted breeds much more difficult. On principle, the American Kennel Club (AKC) opposes breed-specific legislation. AKC urges all concerned Westwego residents contact the members of the City Council and Mayor John Shaddinger to respectfully ask them to support strong, breed-neutral dangerous dog laws.
Click here to read Why Breed-Specific Legislation Doesn't Work.
AKC's Position:
The American Kennel Club supports reasonable, enforceable, non-discriminatory laws to govern the ownership of dogs. We support laws that: establish a fair process by which specific dogs are identified as “dangerous” based on stated, measureable actions; impose appropriate penalties on irresponsible owners; and establish a well-defined method for dealing with dogs proven to be dangerous. The American Kennel Club strongly opposes any legislation that determines a dog to be “dangerous” based on specific breeds or phenotypic classes of dogs.
What you can do:
Concerned residents are encouraged to contact Mayor John Shaddinger and the members of the Westwego City Council. Respectfully urge them to consider and support strong, breed-neutral dangerous dog laws that can be fairly applied to all dogs instead of strengthening the current discriminatory breed-specific ordinance. Click here for talking points against breed-specific legislation.
Mayor John I. Shaddinger, Jr.
Phone: 504-347-5745
E-mail: mayor@cityofwestwego.com
Councilman Glenn Green (Dist. 1)
Phone: 504-259-3694
E-mail: glenngreen@netzero.com
Councilman Ted J. Munch (Dist. 2)
Phone: 504-442-1199
E-mail: tedmunch@cityofwestwego.com
Councilman Ivy E. Rogers (Dist. 3)
Phone: 504-453-1358
E-mail: ivyrogers@cityofwestwego.com
Councilman Melvin J. Guidry (Dist. 4)
Phone: 504-450-4397
E-mail: melvin.guidry@nov.com
Councilman Larry Warino (Dist. 5)
Phone: 504-388-4638
E-mail: lwarino4westwego@aol.com
For more information, contact AKC's Government Relations Department at (919) 816-3720, or email doglaw@akc.org.
Various news reports have indicated that, in response to a well-publicized dog attack last month,…