Metropolitan Place Pet Amendment

To: Metropolitan Place Board Members

We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens of the City of Chicago. While recognizing the concerns of building residents, we are extremely concerned regarding the pit bull restriction in our Rules and Reglations which would have a negative impact on responsible, law-abiding dog owners . This Rule/Regulation would have an impact on not only building residents, but also animals who would be denied a loving home and instead put to death or neglected in shelters. Following are listed our specific concerns.

(1) The Rules/Regulations place restrictions on pit bull type dogs. Available data indicates that a dog of ANY breed can bite. Studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association conclude that there is NO reliable data identifying biting dogs by breed.
As well, the American Temperament Test Society has available results of dogs tested by them. As of December 2002, the following results were found:

(Number of dogs tested) [Percent of dogs passed]

American Pit Bull Terrier (405) [83.2\%]
American Staffordshire Terrier (437) [82.6\%]
Golden Retriever (612) [82.5\%]
Labrador Retriever (597) [90.6\%]
Shetland Sheepdog (426) [66.2\%]
Collie (722) [78.8\%]

This can be verified with the A.T.T.S. by calling them at (314)869-6103 or on the web at www.atts.org.

(2) Cities that have tried to solve their dangerous dog problem by restricting or banning breeds have discovered that such laws do not work. Recently, Cincinnati, OH and Denver, CO have repealed their ban on specific breeds and Baltimore, MD has removed all breed specific references from its ordinance.

(3) There is no reliable method by which to scientifically determine the breed of a dog. It is impossible to determine whether a mixed breed dog is 50\% of any particular breed. To require the owner of a mixed breed dog to prove that the dog is NOT 50\% of a targeted breed places an impossible burden on that citizen. The question of constitutionality comes into play here.

(4) The majority of the owners of targeted breeds are responsible, law-abiding citizens. The current Rules and Regulations unfairly brands these people as unreliable and irresponsible, solely because they own a targeted breed. Again, there is a question regarding the rights of citizens in regard to personal property.

(5) It is the consensus of knowledgeable dog experts (as reported in the JAVMA article, "A Community Solution to the Dog Bite Problem") that targeting the owners and the specific dangerous dog, not breeds of dogs, is the key to addressing the dog bite and "dangerous dog" problems.

(6) Finally and most compelling, Chicago already has a law The Ryan Armstrong Law --- that is non-breed specific and that law enforcement can use to deal with dangerous dogs of any breed and their irresponsible owners.

In summary, this current pet Rules and Regulations are unfair, and unnecessary. We urge you to amend this rule to make it non-breed specific.
By signing this petition we agree that there are no bad breeds of dogs, only bad owners. We are opposed to the proposed eviction of the two dogs in Unit #513; they have not presented themselves as dangerous and/or vicious. We support Mr. Johnson in his efforts to allow his dogs to remain in Metropolitan Place.

We, as Metropolitan Place residents, also support that the pet Rules and Regulations be amended to fall in line with the City of Chicagos non breed specific law (aka Ryan Armstrong law).