Are breed-specific laws constitutional?
At least 11 U.S. State Supreme Courts have upheld the constitutionality of breed-specific law including: Washington, Colorado, Ohio, New Mexico, Florida, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Kentucky. Several U.S. District Courts have as well, among them, courts located in Colorado, Ohio, California and Arkansas. The U.S. Supreme Court has also weighed in on the subject of breed-specific law. In February of 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Ohio State Supreme Court’s decision in the Toledo vs. Tellings case. Pit bull advocates had argued that the law was unconstitutional on several grounds, all of which the Ohio State Supreme Court rejected. By refusing the appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Toledo’s breed-specific law constitutional, and the case cannot be appealed further.
