LOXAHATCHEE GROVES, Fla. (WSVN) — A new Florida law prohibiting bans on certain dog breeds comes as big news for the founder of a South Florida animal shelter.
At the center of the new law are pit bulls, animals that those who run rescue facilities in the Sunshine State argue are often misunderstood.
Their size and stature, coupled with a checkered breed history as fighting dogs, mean no other kind of canine finds itself at these shelters more than pit bulls.
It’s something that Big Dog Ranch Rescue founder Lauree Simmons sees every day in Loxahatchee Groves.
“Owner surrenders are up 60%. Forty percent of that is due to breed discrimination, where people are downsizing, renting somewhere smaller or moving into a different community,” she said.
But times may be changing.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill outlawing a ban on pit bulls in Miami-Dade County. It also walks back housing restrictions based on breed or weight.
“This was an unnecessary ban that cost a lot of pit bulls their lives,” said Simmons.
Simmons insists it’s a dog’s history and personality, not breed, that determines their temperament.
“I have more bites from Chihuahuas, but I’ve never been bit by a pit bull, and we’ve rescued thousands and thousands of them,” she said.
While this is a step in the right direction, Simmons said, with euthanasia rates set to soar above 10 million across the nation this year, rental restrictions need to be next.
The law is scheduled to go into effect October 1.
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