Today the Broward County Commission will meet as usual on a Tuesday but will have an interesting item on the agenda. A proposed ban to Pit Bulls in the county would essentially ignore state law, exempt bad owners from accountability by destroying animals and could empower people to make false claims and possibly even embellish stories for personal reasons because it is easy to scapegoat a dog.

The Broward County Commission has eight Democrats and just a single Republican, Commissioner Chip LaMarca. We trust that LaMarca will do the right thing considering Republicans at the state level are tired of southeast Florida Democrats passing local ordinances that attempt to supersede state laws. Let’s hope the Democrats on the Board of Commissioners also do the right thing in this case.

Stronger enforcement of bad owners, including greater criminal penalties and even jail time for an owner that deliberately uses an animal as a weapon should be advocated. But banning the dogs themselves simply exempts the guilty parties from personal responsibility. This proposal  is something that is quite frankly shameful and cowardly.

Should the ban be passed we assume the State Legislature would do the right thing and not allow Broward County to get away with this.  They will have the ultimate say on the matter. Stay tuned to this site for the latest details on this issue.