Breed-specific ban putting a strain on Salina animal shelter

SALINA, Kan. (KSNW) — A decades-long breed-specific ban targeting pit bulls and similar dogs in Salina could be putting a strain on the city’s animal shelter.

City leaders say Salina Animal Services is housing 64 dogs as of the latest update. Nearly half of those dogs are subject to the city’s breed-specific ban , which includes pit bulls and many dog breeds with pit bull characteristics.

Salina Mayor Bill Longbine tells KSN that the breed ban in effect since 2004, when a child was attacked by a pit bull, is not sustainable. With the ban in place, the shelter can’t adopt the banned dogs. Instead, it has to transfer them to a rescue in a city without a ban.

Mayor Longbine says that’s getting increasingly difficult with shelters all around that are already full of dogs.

“Those dogs have no future of being adopted, and we are just essentially holding them indefinitely,” he said.

Of the 28 dogs in the shelter under the breed ban Mayor Longbine says roughly half are on judicial holds. He says that means they have families and homes, but they were found, so now they have to go through a court process and be held at the shelter.

Salinans Against BLS has been working for years to get the breed-specific ban lifted.

They have a petition going around now. It needs 1,400 signatures from Salina residents by September. Currently, they have about 1,000.

“The City of Salina has taken away your right to choose what dog works best for you,” said Tyler Sartain with Salinans Against BSL. “It overburdens the court system, and it hurts our animal shelter.”

If the organization gets the necessary signatures and they’re verified, the petition will go to the city commission. At that point, the city commission can either repeal the ban or put the ban up for a special vote.

Mayor Longbine says a special vote would cost around $90,000, but he says city commissioners are hesitant to take action to lift the ban because if an injury happens after, they could be held responsible.

KSN has reached out to other city commissioners but did not receive a response. KSN also reached out to the shelter, but no one was available for an interview.

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