The City of Aurora, Colorado, is seeking public input into two areas of their policy regarding dangerous dogs: The current breed ban, and a new proposed new dangerous dog law.
AKC encourages people who reside in Aurora to provide input to the city on both provisions.
- Encourage the city on focus on promoting responsible dog ownership and dogs that are truly a problem in the community.
- If you participate in events in Aurora, let the city know about what you do, the positive impact the events have on the community, and the steps you take to ensure safety around all dogs.
For more information and talking points about dangerous dog/ breed specific legislation, visit the Breed-Specific/Dangerous Dog key issues page in the AKC Legislative Action Center.
For more information, scroll down and /or visit the city’s website.
More Details:
The City of Aurora is seeking input on two separate issues relating to public safety with dogs:
1) Virtual Town Hall to Discuss City’s Breed Ban – The City of Aurora is hosting a virtual town hall to discuss the city’s breed ban, which has been in place since 2005. The goal is to determine if residents want to keep the ban or repeal it.
Current city law bans American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and American pit bull terriers, unless they are service dogs meant to accommodate the ADA or a DNA test says the dog is genetically less than 50 percent of one of these breeds.
Details are as follows:
Aurora Virtual Town Hall on the Restricted Breed Ordinance
Thursday, June 18, 2020
5:00pm-6:30pm
Dial In: (720) 650-7664; Access code: 146 079 342
Stream the meeting here
Residents may submit questions for the town hall in advance of the meeting. The questions will be addressed by a panel that include the Manager of Aurora Animal Services, the Assistant City Attorney, and the Criminal Prosecuting City Attorney.
Questions must be submitted to animalordinace@auroragov.org no later than Monday, June 15.
2) Online Survey Regarding Proposed Dangerous Dog Ordinance
The city is inviting residents to participate in an online survey regarding a proposed dangerous dog ordinance (it should be noted that the city emphasizes that this is separate from the discussion on the breed restrictions and will be discussed whether or not the breed restrictions remain in place).
The proposal would:
- Establish a “tiered system” for judges to determine the level of offense
- Allow animal control officers more discretion in handling individual cases
- Update the current law in order to be in line with other area jurisdictions
More details may be found on the city’s website.
Residents are encouraged to participate in an online survey between now and July 24, 2020, to provide feedback on this proposal. The survey may be accessed here.
AKC Government Relations will continue to closely monitor the city’s actions on these issues. For more information, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org or the Colorado Federation of Dog Clubs at kharahs@yahoo.com.