Naperville may start issuing fines to owners of "dangerous animals" aka Pit Bull

Naperville- Breaking

A newly created city proposal in suburban Naperville is seeking to issue fines to owners of pets deemed "dangerous".

The Chicago Tribune reports that owners of pets considered dangerous may cost Naperville residents $100 a year and a one-time $100 fine.

At the present time, the city of Naperville does not have an ordinance allowing fines to be issued with yearly fees assessed.

Deputy Police Chief Gary Bolt said, "...dogs have caused most past problems. The proposal would also raise fees for pet licenses, and owners of impounded animals might face a new fee structure."

In the proposal, it is unclear as to what "dangerous" pets actually are. The proposal could include anything from pit bulls to ferrets or snakes.

Owners of dogs considered dangerous may be required to install fences, install a larger fence, keep pets in kennels when they are outside and other actions may be taken, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Long-time Naperville resident Lisa Ernancy is a pit bull advocate, rescuer and "proud owner of two pit bulls."

Ernancy said, "Clearly this proposal is just politics. Sadly, they will enforce this and it will cause more and more people to allow their animals to become strays. These people are not going to want to pay a yearly fee or a one time fine."

Ernancy is not alone in her thoughts. Naperville resident Chuck Wooley said, "I am really irritated that these politicians would even suggest something like this. Let's be honest here, they just don't like pit bulls or bully breeds. It starts like this and ends up with BSL (breed specific legislation."

According to Trib Local, the proposal would also raise fees for pet licenses. Naperville ordinances require pet owners to buy an annual license for each pet. ($4 a year for spayed/neutered and $8 for all unspayed/neutered).

In a city of Naperville memo, it states that owners of impounded animals will get assessed a new fee. $15 for the first impoundment, $25 for the second impoundment, $50 for the third impoundment and $100 for each impoundment thereafter.

Officials in the memo stated that, " in fiscal year 2011, $3,700 in animal fines and $2,900 in animal license fees were assessed. In all, the memo said, the city spends $360,000 annually in response to domestic and wild animal incidents."

While the city denies rate increases aren't meant to recover costs of animal control, many residents have a different view.

"This is terrible. Of course they are trying to get into our pockets. All this will do is make more animals victims of kill shelters. What these people fail to realize is that there will be more abandoned animals. It's all about money and it always is."

One Naperville resident, Lindsay Ross, took the opportunity to use a blog thread to post her thoughts about the proposal.

"This is truly ridiculous. I would like to hear about Naperville cutting spending instead of constantly looking at new revenue sources. The truth is, there are no new revenue sources. We the people are the only revenue sources, and Naperville and DuPage County continue to suck us dry. If it’s not increasing utility bills, dramatically increasing property taxes on homes that have lost value, installing redlight cameras, or creating insane “court assessment” fees, it’s billing pets. Once again, Naperville leaders seem to have lost sight of the purpose for which government was created."

Breed Specific Legislation and city ordinances historically ban and target pit bulls and bully breeds.

In suburban Elgin, the city passed a Pit Bull ban, only to later lift the ban. Chicago Now reported an Elgin resident who visited a meeting on the BSL ordinance, who offered her thoughts on the ban.

Notably coming out of the meeting were comments such as, "... the council and Mayor decided to remove the Pit Bull clause, for now. Under the stipulation that no more Pit Bull attacks occur. Unfortunately, we cannot stop the gangbangers and irresponsible thugs, but everyone knows it will not be their Pit Bull that attacks."

Pit Bulls are facing bans across the United States and across the world, yet society is to blame, because they’re the ones tearing the breed apart. For many people, Pit Bulls are nothing more then an asset, for making money. These people mass produce Pit Bulls, notably puppy mills in Amish Country, force them to fight for their lives, and when they lose their fight, they’re killed. Many situations occur where the Pit Bull will be hung, electrocuted, shot, or beaten until dead.

Innocent dogs are being torn from their owners and either put on death-row, senselessly killed, or being shipped far away with the promise from owners they won't return to the area. Not only are Pit Bulls themselves being shipped away and killed, but dogs that LOOK like Pit Bulls are being affected as well.

In World War 2, the Nazi's also decided to start a sort of BSL. They effectively murdered countless numbers of Jews, homosexuals, people of color and beyond. Now, many areas in United States have created a Holocaust of their own, known as BSL.

Further reading on the temperament of Pit Bulls: http://www.examiner.com/animal-welfare-in-chicago/pit-bulls-scoring-better-than-121-other-breeds-temperament-are-gentle-dogs

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