Protecting Landlords Without Bans on Certain Dog Breeds

Many people would like to see their city become a no-kill city. In practice, that means that the shelters achieve at least a 90 percent live release rate for dogs and cats, and animals are euthanized only for serious medical or behavioral conditions, not just for lack of space. One of the keys to achieving that goal is to make our community not just a pet friendly place but a “pit friendly” place as well. In Philadelphia, where about 28,000 animals enter ACCT Philly, the municipal shelter, every year, the vast majority of the dogs euthanized are classified as some type of pit mix. In reality, “pit bull” isn’t actually a breed; it’s an umbrella term that most people use to refer to different types of dogs. The American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier, any mixes thereof, and any dog that even vaguely resembles these breeds (has a big head, a wide jaw, a stocky build, etc.) can be classified as a pit mix. Many adopters want to save these dogs most at risk but they cannot find housing where they are permitted, regardless of the individual dog’s temperament. In addition, many owners surrender their dogs because they need to move and cannot find housing where they can take their pet if he or she bears any characteristics of a “pit bull.” But it does not need to be that way. Landlords can permit all breeds of dogs while protecting themselves from liability. It just takes a little planning and research.

Breed Bans in Housing

“Breed-specific legislation” (BSL) ­includes prohibitions on ownership based on a dog’s breed. Since the vast majority of dogs have no papers proving their lineage, the bans are based on someone’s often mistaken opinion as to the dog’s primary breed. The primary means of deciding whether a particular dog is banned is a visual glance and a guess. The dog may be compared with the breed standard for a breed; again, this is based on visual assessment. It is entirely subjective and hugely inaccurate. Indeed, in a 2012 study of shelter managers, dog trainers, groomers, veterinarians and other professionals, participants looked at dogs and correctly identified a predominant breed on average only 27 percent of the time. That’s not a great batting average. Indeed, the vast majority of dogs are mixed breeds, a genetic melting pot resulting from several generations of mixed-breed dogs interbreeding. Not only is it hard to tell whether a dog is a specific breed, research has increasingly demonstrated that predominant breed is not the best predictor of whether a dog is dangerous. According to the ATTS (American Temperament Test Society), pit bulls have a temperament testing pass rate of 86.8 percent compared to the average of 83 percent for all dog breeds. (Bichon frises, by way of example, have a passing rate of only 76.7 percent.) For this reason, BSL has ­decreased in popularity as a way to deal with dangerous dogs and Pennsylvania law bans municipalities from enacting BSL.