STATEHOUSE:: Animal Legislation
Endangered Species?
LIFES LEGIS AVING LATIO N
BY JOE ELMORE, CHARLESTON ANIMAL SOCIETY PRESIDENT & CEO PHOTOS: JEANNE TAYLOR/JTPETPICS.COM
A
nimal welfare has progressed by leaps and bounds in America over the past 50 years. For example, according to PetSmart Charities, in 1970, there was an estimated 17,000,000 dogs and cats euthanized; in 2017, there was an estimated 1,500,000. In 1986, only 4 states had felony provisions for animal cruelty; now, all 50 states have felony provisions. Yet, the single most challenging issue for animal welfare today is the proliferation of pit bull types of dogs due to reckless breeding, making them the most at-risk dog for euthanasia. All South Carolinians should support Representative Chip Huggins’ Bill (H.3709) and urge their local Representatives to cosponsor the bill. The intended impact of the bill is to save
8 CAROLINA TAILS | SPRING 2019
thousands of pit bull types of dogs overwhelming animal shelters across South Carolina by reducing their population. No other dog breed or grouping of breeds poses the overcrowding problem for animal shelters as does pit bull type of dogs. It is critically important to distinguish this strategy as reducing the overpopulation, not advocating for a breed ban, which we all vehemently oppose. For these reasons, Pawmetto Lifeline along with Charleston Animal Society and other public animal shelters are supporting H.3709 in an effort to protect the breed. “There is no way we can adopt all the pit bulls in our shelters nor can we transport them to shelters in other states because they, too, have issues with their local pit bull population,” said Pawmetto