** Please FORWARD this message to all dog owners that you know in Illinois!**

Dear Dog-owning Friend,

This is an urgent notice regarding a bill which has been proposed in the Illinois State Senate (SB 1790). If this bill passes, all dogs of the following breeds will be declared LEGALLY DANGEROUS in the state of Illinois, regardless of temperament or training:

1.) American Pit Bull Terrier
2.) Rottweiler
3.) German Shepherd
4.) Husky
5.) Alaskan Malamute
6.) Doberman Pinscher
7.) Chow Chow
8.) Great Dane
9.) St. Bernard
10.) Akita

Owners of a dog of these breeds would be required to pay a special registration fee, have their dog wear an orange "dangerous dog" tag and be muzzled at all times when off the owner's property, and will have to purchase special dangerous dog liability insurance. If this bill passes, all dogs of the above breeds in the state must be spayed or neutered and microchipped. Under current law, no dog can be declared dangerous by breed, and if a dog is declared dangerous, the owner can appeal that declaration. Under this law, there are no appeals. Your Doberman, St. Bernard or German Shepherd may be a certified therapy dog or have a Canine Good Citizenship or other obedience title or temperament testing certification, yet still be "dangerous" in the eyes of the law.

I can almost guarantee that your current homeowner's insurance will be canceled. It's difficult enough to get homeowners insurance if you own one of these breeds - this will make it nearly impossible, as most companies won't give you any insurance at all if you have a "dangerous dog" in your home.

All breedings of these dogs will be halted. There are many excellent breeders of these breeds in the State. They will have 14 DAYS to spay and neuter all of their dogs, or to remove them from the state.

Not complying with this law will bring CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

What You Can Do!

This bill is sponsored (proposed) by:

Senator Martin A. Sandoval
District Office:
4843 West Cermak Road
Cicago, IL 60804
(708) 656-2002
(708) 656-7608 FAX

Springfield Office:
Senator 12th District
118 Capitol Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-5304

He is looking for opinions on this bill.

Please - call, write or fax his office immediately and ask him to withdraw this bill! This legislation is unfair to responsible owners and does nothing to identify rresponsible owners. Breed-specific legislation has been found to be extremely costly, impossible to enforce, even unconstitutional. This bill would place a terrible financial burden on even the most responsible owners of the most gentle dogs of these breeds. Even if you own a dog that is not of one of these breeds, your breed could be next! The number one biting breed in Illinois is the LABRADOR. Even Pomeranians and Dachshunds have been involved in fatal dog attacks. Your breed could be next!

This bill is scheduled to be heard in committee within the next few weeks - let's try to get the sponsor to withdraw it before it gets to that point. Your opinion matters!

For More Information:

To read the entire bill, go to:
http://www.ilga.gov

On the left side of the page is a search field - enter "SB 1790" and click "search." You can follow the links on the resulting page for the sponsor's contact information, to read the full text of the bill, and contact information for committee members. It would be a good idea to send a copy of whatever you're sending to Sandoval to the committee members, as well, just in case it gets into a hearing sooner than anticipated.