Update:  The Indianpolis Dog Fighting Task Force will continue with its work, but without the belated support promised by Mayor Bart Peterson. Peterson lost his bid for re-election. For more on the mayor's call for a pit bull ban that may have helped his opponent, mayor-elect Greg Ballard, click here.  Indy Mayor Playing Politics with Dogs?

Ballard has said unquivocally he opposes a pit bull ban. Hopefully, this will put an end to that issue for Indianapolis.

Original report: Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson has glommed onto the idea of a dog fighting task force. Though Indy Pit Crew, an animal welfare group, has been touting the idea of a dog fighting task force for two years, only now has the mayor shown any interest in curbing dog fighting. Of course, the revelations about Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's involvement in dog fighting have made this brutal crime a cause célèbre. And, the mayor is in a re-election campaign; the vote is just a few weeks away.

The formation of the Indianapolis Dog Fighting Task Force was announced last month and will include officials from the city's animal control and police department, Indy Pit Crew, Humane Society of the United States and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mayor Peterson has endorsed the task force and seems to claim it as his own idea.

Dog fighting task forces have sprung up in recent years as effective tools in combating dog fighting, a difficult crime to detect and prosecute. Task forces allow authorities to target dog fighting across regions instead of simply city by city or county by county. In the past dog fighters charged in one locale would simply move their dogs to the next city or county. With a task force, law enforcement in different jurisdictions work together to go after dog fighters throughout a region. Also, dog fighting is typically characterized by illegal gambling and drugs, weapons, violence and prostitution. A task force can combine the resources and efforts of the different agencies or departments investigating the various crimes and more effectively find dog fighters who likely have engaged in any number of other illegal activities.

Let's hope the mayor is serious about going after dog fighters. Mayor Peterson seems to recognize in the weeks prior to the upcoming election the proliferation of dog fighting is a reason for the increase in the numbers of dogs that are bred, trained and treated cruelly to make them more aggressive. Also, dog fighters which, sadly, include sports and entertainment superstars have glamorized the "tough" and "mean" dog; young men who look up to these celebrities now want to sport "tough" and "mean" dogs as the latest fad.

Yet, it's curious that the mayor has not dropped his pre-election call for a pit bull ban. Pit bull bans are the knee jerk reaction of politicians every time there is a serious dog attack. The reality is people are far more likely to be killed by cows or in their own bathtub than by dogs. The chance of being killed by a pit bull is one in 145 million. (American Pit Bull Registry)

And the cost of a pit bull ban? In Prince George's County, Maryland, the cost to enforce a pit bull ban from 2001 to 2002 was at least $560,000. Of the 900 pit bulls euthanized during that time, animal control reported that 720 were nice family pets. Can Indianapolis afford this? Why would the mayor want to kill so many pets?

Only 15% of bites in the city are from pit bull type dogs. Will the mayor ban the other breeds involved in the other 85% of bites?

Instead of pandering to voters' fears during this pre-election period, Mayor Peterson should take a page from his opponent, Greg Ballard, who has made clear, "I am against breed specific legislation." Greg Ballard understands dogs don't bite because of their breed and communities are not safer unless responsible leaders address the real reasons dogs bite which in addition to the problem of dog fighting, include:

• - failure to spay/neuter (over 90% of fatal dog attacks are by dogs that have not been spayed/neutered; there is not a single case of a fatal dog attack by a spayed/neutered pit bull type dog (National Canine Research Council))
• - tethering or chaining dogs (also a popular technique by dog fighters to make the dogs more aggressive; the CDC has found tethered or chained dogs are 2.8 times more likely to bite)
• - failure to enforce leash laws (82% of dog bites occur as a result of dogs that are running loose (JAVMA, September 15, 2000))
• - cruelty (well over half (61%) of fatal dog attacks are by dogs who were not humanely controlled, or who had in some way been abused or neglected (Delise, Fatal Dog Attacks: The Stories Behind the Statistics))
• - failure to train, socialize and make dogs part of the family (81% of dogs involved in fatal dog attacks were isolated and not part of the family (Delise, Fatal Dog Attacks: The Stories Behind the Statistics))

For more on this, read Indianapolis Mayor Playing Politics with Community Safety as Election Approaches?

Call on Mayor Peterson to drop his plan to introduce a pit bull ban! Let him know you won't allow dogs to be rounded up and killed simply because of their breed! Here's how you can contact the mayor:

2501 City-County Building
200 E. Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Phone: (317) 327-3601
Fax: (317) 327-3980

For email, go to: http://www.indygov.org/eGov/Mayor/contact.htm