Privatization Partners Pet Policy
UPDATE 03/17/09: DogsBite.org has received a copy of the official memorandum for Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management regarding the standardized pet policy for privatized housing. The document was signed January 5, 2009 by Paul P. Bollinger Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Energy and Partnerships.
SUBJECT: Pet Policy for Privatized Housing Under the Army's Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) Privatization Program
1. The purpose of this memorandum is to forward the Pet Policy for privatized housing (attached), as developed by the Privatization Partners, for tenants in RCI Housing developments. This policy is in response to the Army's request for standardization regarding pets in privatized housing. It takes into consideration the safety, welfare and quiet enjoyment of all residents in privatized housing and was developed with input from current residents, Garrisons and this Headquarters.
03/16/09: Pet Policy Adopted for RCI Privatized Housing
In January, the U.S. Army standardized its pet policy, banning breeds deemed "aggressive or potentially aggressive." The breeds (and their mixes) include: pit bulls, American staffordshire terriers, bull terriers, rottweilers, doberman pinschers, chows, wolf hybrids and any others that display a dominant or aggressive behavior. The U.S. Army enacted the new policy to prevent pet owners from encountering uneven policies when moving between installations.
DogsBite.org expresses great gratitude to the U.S. Army for taking steps to prevent future victims from suffering serious and fatal attacks from these types of dogs.
Prior to the new U.S. Army Pet Policy, Fort Hood had enacted a breed ban on its own. Officials began examining breeds after the fatal attack of 11-year-old Seth Lovitt. Seth was suddenly attacked and killed by the family pit bull after the dog jumped off the couch and bit him in the neck. Upon reviewing post records, officials found that in the last six years, 68% of the dogs declared dangerous were pit bulls. Rottweilers, in a distant second place, accounted for 8%.
The new U.S. Army Pet Policy was disseminated to installations in January. DogsBite.org has provided a list of installations governed by the Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) that must abide by the new policy. There may be additional facilities that we have not listed as well.
| Fort Bragg, NC Fort Belvoir, VA Fort Benning, GA Fort Bliss, TX Fort Campbell, KY Fort Carson, CO Fort Detrick, MD Fort Dix, NJ Fort Drum, NY Fort Eustis, VA Fort Gordon, GA Fort Greely, AK Fort Hamilton, NY Fort Hood, TX Fort Huachuca-Yuma, AZ Fort Hunter AAF, GA Fort Irwin, CA Fort Jackson, SC Fort Knox, KY Fort Leavenworth, KS Fort Lee, VA Fort Leonard Wood, MO |
Fort Lewis, WA Fort Meade, MD Fort Polk, LA Fort Richardson, AK Fort Riley, KS Fort Rucker, AL Fort Stewart, GA Fort Sam Houston, TX Fort Schofield Brks, HI Fort Shafter, HI Fort Sill, OK Fort Story, VA Fort Wainwright, AK Aberdeen PG, MD Carlisle Brks, PA Hunter AAF, GA Picatinny Ars, NJ Pres of Monterey-Naval PS, CA Redstone Arsenal, AL Walter Reed AMC, DC West Point, NY White Sands MR, NM |
See more: U.S. Military Breed Regulations
Related articles:
02/10/09: Fort Drum Prohibits Aggressive Dog Breeds from Base Housing
10/03/08: Fort Riley, Kansas Army Base Bans Pit Bull Type Dogs
08/22/08: Fort Hood, Texas U.S. Army Base Passes New Pit Bull Restriction
Obviously, the Federal Government wants no part of being the liability umbrella for these dogs.
The Vick case, while cited as a victory by the nutters set a precendent….The Federal Government required the rescues that took custody of the dogs to maintain $1,000,000 liability insurance on each dog over it’s life.
As a mauling victim I would like to thank the U.S. Army. They most certainly have spared innocent citizens from maulings. Every mailing victim wants to be the last mauling victim. The Rotweiler and Dobermann Pinscher owners, breeders, should take a good look at the pit bull statistics of 68 per cent of the incidents. You need to help with spaying and neutering the pit bull down across the United States. I don’t believe your dogs would have been a part of this ban had the bases not suffered so from the pits. This is a national crisis that has gone on for years. The other breeds need to help with the solutiuon. Remember this is a breed with criminal breeders they’re not going to help with the pit bull.
Often the pit bull advocates question statistics on pit bull attacks, incidents. If there is one community that would have the correct incident reports it is the U.S. Army. These are individual communities closely monitored. I think it’s probably close to the real national statistics. I know the pit bull advocates will find someway to deny fact.Pit bullers you need to wake up in time to save the breed you care so much about.
Pit bull advocates are going to have one tough time intimidating the United States Army! I imagine they will not even try! All their “usual” intimidation tactics will turn into tear shedding pleas:
“I love my pit bull, but I was serving overseas when the new rules took affect and now my pit bull — THAT I DID NOT REGISTER — is going to be taken off base.”
It always stirs up so much sympathy when pit bull owners fail to be responsible.
This is a good first start. Now if we can just get local and state government to do the same and pass and enforce stronger laws including spaying and neutering and after dogs are deemed dangerous removing them and not leaving them with irresponsible owners so they can continue to kill and maul others that live near them.
Best Friends issued a “Stubby” press release today in response to the Army’s pet policy. Prior to the standardization policy, many bases already had breed bans in place including: Ft. Hood, Ft. Riley, Ft. Benning, Ft. Dix, Ft. Knox and likely many others.
The Army’s new policy hardly introduced breed bans to base housing. This Marine Corp article talks about some of these bans back in December 2007:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/12/marine_devil_dogs_071208w/
Five month after this article is written, 3-year old Julian Slack is killed by a pit bull at Camp Lejeune, the very installation the Marine article is based upon!
https://blog.dogsbite.org/2008/05/2008-fatality-child-dies-in-pit-bull.html
I guess prior to the new standardization policy, Best Friends did not care about the many soldiers and dogs (Stubbies) at the numerous bases that were already enforcing breed bans.
The funny thing is Sgt Stubby is officially listed as a “mixed breed” by the Smithsonian.
Military Related Pit Bull Fatalities
2008 – Isis Krieger
Isis Krieger, 6-years old was the daughter of a soldier that was killed by a family pit bull — the dog broke her neck while she was playing with the dog.
2008 – Henry Piotrowski
Who can forget WWII Army tank driver Henry Piotrowski (90-years old) being ripped apart in his own backyard by two pit bulls?
2008 – Julian Slack
3-year old Slack was killed at Camp Lejeune while under the care of a babysitter. A friend of the babysitter had thought it was a good idea to bring a pit bull into Julian’s home.
2007 – Dandre Fisher
3-year old Fisher was killed by two pit bulls while visiting Hunter Army Airfield. Somehow the 3-year old climbed up and over a chain link fence into the neighbor’s yard that contained the dogs (no sane person can believe this story.)
Military Related Serious Attacks
2009 – Infant, John Doe
In February, while being baby sat, a military couple’s child was attacked and nearly killed by the babysitter’s pit bull in Newport News. The Peninsula SPCA had adopted out the dog…
https://blog.dogsbite.org/2009/02/babysitters-pit-bull-attacks-infant-in.html
2008 – Child, Jane Doe
After a pair of pit bulls viciously attacked a service member’s child at Ellsworth Air Force Base, the base banned pit bulls, rottweilers and Dobermans.
http://www.ellsworth.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123110909
2005 – Ashley Gaston
9-year old Gaston was viciously attacked by a rottweiler at Camp Lejeune. The mother subsequently sued for $5 million. This lawsuit was in process when Slack was killed at the same facility.
Unless one is a member of the military and frequently reads military news sources, it is impossible to know the frequency of the attacks that occur on bases. These attacks often stay out of the mainstream news media.
“takes into consideration the safety, welfare and quiet enjoyment of all residents “
And that is what the pit bull owners DON’T CARE about
They want to dominate, control, harass, hurt the majority of other residents with their dogs.
As does Best Friends, the dog fighter’s friend, who DOES NOT CARE that children have been badly hurt and killed in military housing.
They do not care that it is other military families that in part asked for this rule.
Sgt. Stubby, has always been described as a dog of “unknown breed”, and, if anything, was a Boston Terrier or Boston Terrier mix; this myth that Stubby was a pit bull was MANUFACTURED by pit bull activitsts. There is one picture of Stubby that is always used by pit bull fanatics, because it is a head shot that makes him look more bull-dogish. But in other pictures, where youn see his actual size and body, he clearly looks like a Boston Terrier.
The Rottie, Doberman, and German Shepherd breeders refuse to see what is obvious…it is PIT BULLS and only pit bulls, that have caused BSL. Breed bans are virtually ALWAYS enacted as a response to PIT BUL attacks in a community. When crafting BSL, there is a lot of pressure to lump in large guarding breeds in order to appear “fair” to the pit bull owners, and because it is simply assumed that the thugs and criminals will all run out and buy the next most common guard dog when they can no longer own pit bulls.
If only the guarding dog people would have some guts and stick up for their own breeds, and state the obvious
It is the FIGHTING dog breeds like pit bulls that are causing most of the problems
The pit bull nuts are creating problems for the guarding dog breed people
If the latter would only support some restrictions on the pit bulls, then focus would come off their breeds and be placed squarely where it belongs- the fighting breeds
My son has been bitten twice by dogs on a military installation and nothing has ever been done. The newest, yesterday, by a pitbull who has already attacked another child. We were told " He should not have been walking through yards to access the park behind the housing area." This is the only way to get there.