End Pit Bull Ban
Bowie CLAW opposes the Prince’s George’s County “Pit Bull Ban” and makes advocating for the repeal of the ban one of its primary initiatives.
The reasons for our opposition are detailed in our open letter to the Prince George’s County Council. In case the formal arguments in the letter don’t convince you that the law must be repealed, check out this recent story which made national news. It’s about a local pit bull who protected her injured owner when their house burnt down, but who was then confiscated by the County. While this dog and another pit bull puppy living in the home were fortunate enough to be placed in another home outside of PG County, we want to emphasize just how (relatively) fortunate these dogs were. The latest data (which is relatively old) indicate that roughly 90% of pit bulls confiscated by the County between 1997 and 2002 were killed. That’s an average of 921 pit bulls killed by the County per year.
As part of the initiative to repeal this law, Bowie CLAW:
- discusses our opposition to the ban, and the research supporting our opposition, with local leaders in public and private forums;
- networks with other local animal welfare organizations to encourage them to do the same;
- sends open letters expressing our opposition and advocating for repeal to the Prince George’s County Council (see a copy of such letter linked above);
- provides template letters (below) for members of the community to download, edit, and send to their local County Councilmembers advocating repeal;
- and holds letter signing events where members of Bowie CLAW and concerned citizens can come and sign letters to the County Council advocating repeal.
You can help us and the dogs of PG County by sending letters yourself!
You can help advocate for repeal of this unethical, costly, and ineffective legislation by sending letters to your County Councilmembers. Below are template letters, provided for your convenience, for each Councilmember. If you’re only going to send one letter, it’s probably most effective to send it to the Councilmember representing your district. But we also encourage you to send letters to the County Executive and the other members of the Council. The more letters we send, the more likely the Council is to repeal the law!
Instructions for sending letters
1. If you are only sending a letter to your own Councilmember, go check out this page or the Councilmanic maps on this page to determine who is your Councilmember. We have copied the list of townships covered by each district (taken from the first link) below, but keep in mind that a single township may lie in multiple districts. For that reason, the maps are likely to be more useful. Of course, we encourage you to send letters to the County Executive and as many Councilmembers as possible!
2. Download the appropriate letter(s) from the list below.
3. Open the letter(s) in Microsoft Word and make the following edits:
-Enter your name and address at the top of the page where you see [Name], [Address], and [Address].
-Enter your name at the bottom of the page where you see [Name].
-Make any other edits you would like! Remember, we are providing these letters as a convenience for you, but it’s your letter!
4. Print the letter(s) out and sign at the bottom.
5. Mail the signed letter(s) to the Councilmember(s) (or County Executive) using the address information shown near the top of the letter. To make sure each recipient receives their letter, send them in separate, individual envelopes.
If you don’t have a printer or can’t afford postage, come join us at one of our letter signing events and we’ll take care of it for you! We will be conducting a letter signing event at our next General Meeting, which will be held on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 9:30am in Bowie City Hall Room 243 (15901 Excalibur Rd, Bowie, MD, 20716). Come out, meet our members, learn about our activities, enjoy refreshments, and advocate for a great cause!
Details of additional letter signing events will be listed on this page, will be shown in the “Upcoming Events” section of the home page, and will be shared on our Facebook page as they are confirmed.
Downloadable letters
County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III
- District 1: Adelphi, Beltsville, Calverton, College Park, Laurel, Montpelier, South Laurel, West Laurel, and Vansville
- District 2: Adelphi, Avondale, Brentwood, Carole Highlands, Chillum, Green Meadows, Hyattsville, Langley Park, Lewisdale, Mount Rainier, and North Brentwood
Danielle M. Glaros, District 3
- District 3: Beacon Heights, Berwyn Heights, College Park, East Pines, Glenn Dale, Glenridge, Landover Hills, Lanham, New Carrollton, Riverdale Heights and Hills, Riverdale Park, Seabrook, Templeton Knolls, University Park, West Lanham Hills, and Woodlawn
Todd M. Turner, Esq., District 4
- District 4: Bowie, Glenn Dale, Greenbelt, Westchester Park, parts of Lanham-Seabrook, and Upper Marlboro
Andrea C. Harrison, District 5
- District 5: Bladensburg, Cheverly, Colmar Manor, Cottage City, Edmonston, Fairmount Heights, Glenarden, Landover, portions of Lanham, Mitchellville, and portions of unincorporated Bowie and Hyattsville
Derrick Leon Davis, Council Vice-Chair and District 6
- District 6: the City of District Heights, Forestville, Kettering, Largo, Mitchellville and the unincorporated areas of Bowie, Capitol Heights and Upper Marlboro
- District 7: Capitol Heights, District Heights, Hillcrest Heights, Marlow Heights, Seat Pleasant, Suitland, Temple Hills, and portions of Forestville and Oxon Hill
- District 8: Camp Springs, Clinton, Forest Heights, Fort Washington, Glass Manor, Marlow Heights, Oxon Hill, and Temple Hills
Mel Franklin, Council Chair and District 9
- District 9: Accokeek, Andrews Air Force Base, Aquasco, Baden, Brandywine, Camp Springs, Cheltenham, Clinton, Croom, Eagle Harbor, Fort Washington, Piscataway, and Upper Marlboro