Ohio HB 14

The geniuses in Columbus have done it again.  Ohio is one of the few States governed by people backward and ignorant enough to declare a dog dangerous or vicious solely on the basis of its breed, and populated with sheeple stupid and apathetic enough to believe their lies and keep them in office.  Twenty five years after enactment, lawmakers decided to change the law and ended up screwing the pooch.

Barbara Sears was smart enough... alright, let me moderate that a little.  All it takes is average intelligence, which Ms. Sears seemed to have right up until her comments on the revised edition of the law as it returned to the Senate.  My very first clue that this revision was going to be a prime example of bad governance is the sheer number of lines in the revision.  The original version contained 95 lines of easily decipherable legalese.  The moonbats and the stupid party have increased that to 710, but don't take my word for it; here are two links to HB 14: Ohio House Bill 14 As Introduced versus Ohio House Bill 14 As Passed by the Senate.  Then there's the commentary from the local bird cage liner.


“Pit bull” bill step closer to passage

House Bill 14, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Sears (R., Monclova Township), strikes references to the “pit bull” from Ohio’s 25-year-old definition of “vicious dog” that automatically triggers strict liability insurance, restraint, and other restrictions on its owner.

All well and good, as the original law should never have been considered let alone passed in the first place.  But like all good moonbat law, it isn't the individual owner at fault; it's something else.  Left alone, the modification removing all references to pit bull dogs would have been excellent, and could have served as a prime example of legislative action at its best.  But this is government, and what good is government if it doesn't govern?  So...

House Bill 14 would overhaul definitions of both “vicious” and “dangerous” dogs, create a new lesser category of “nuisance dog,” provide a legal process for dog owners to appeal their dogs’ classification, and increase registration and other fees.

What isn't said is that any dog can be declared a nuisance, and once declared a nuisance three times (rather like an Islamic divorce) the dog is automatically escalated to the next level.  The people doing the declaring are the police, the dog catcher and pretty much anyone else employed by the government.

All of this brought the official support of the Ohio County Dog Wardens Association, although that support was not unanimous. The group had previously fought the bill when it simply removed references to the “pit bull”.

Another red flag.  If the dog catcher likes it, it's now a guarantee that the dog catcher's authority has been increased and their ambit expanded.  That's bad for the residents of the State.  Don't believe me?  Lucas County (Ohio) had a jack booted thug named Tom Skeldon who was related to Tina Skeldon-Wosniack as dog catcher for years, and the no good son of a bitch liked to kill dogs.  He enjoyed it.  He stayed in office at the pleasure of the Lucas County Commissioners.

“This has been an ongoing issue with the dog wardens, how they can appropriately and meaningfully enforce the laws,” Ms. Sears said. “The law deals with the constitutionality issue in the prior law. We’ve solved that problem.”

Meaning that the government has reduced the rights of the citizens again.  This is from Sears who originally did a good job of revising the law, and now heralds the Draconian revisions like the greatest thing since welfare, food stamps, State funded health care, State seizure of private property and the Patriot Act.  Sears must be worried about the next election.

Lucas County Dog Warden Julie Lyle said she was pleased the bill passed the Senate.

Lyle is Skeldon's replacement and to give her credit, she's doing a much better job than Skeldon ever did.  That said, if Lyle is pleased I'm suspicious.  Why would this make Lyle happy?

“That’s a big step,” she said. “This law gives us the tools to categorize dogs by their behavior as opposed to their looks.”

Right there you have it.  Lyle doesn't need any more tools than she already has, and neither do the rest of the dog wardens in the State.  In particular this law gives the State the authority to classify any dog as dangerous without a shred of proof.  It also provides a State wide leash law, so no matter where you live your dog must be on a leash.

Here's a list of the elected representatives involved in this fiasco.  In particular I am severely disappointed with Randy Gardner, whom I always regarded as being intelligent enough to oppose a law as screwed up as this one.

Ohio House of Representatives

Barbara R. Sears (R), Assistant Majority Floor Leader


Roland Winburn (D), Representative

Nancy J. Garland (D), Representative

Danny R. Bubp (R), Representative

Mike Duffey (R), Representative

Randy Gardner (R), Representative

Matt Lundy (D), Representative

Matt Szollosi (D), Assistant Minority Leader


Lynn R. Wachtmann (R), Representative

William G. Batchelder (R), Speaker of the House

Ohio Senate
Mark Wagoner (R)


Frank LaRose (R)

Bill Coley (R)

Kris Jordan (R)

Bill Seitz (R)

Feel free to write these people and tell 'em we need less law, not more.