According to the New York Sun, Peter Vallone, Jr. is welcoming support by PETA to help push his plan foward. PETA, an animal rights extremist organization, is known for calling mothers who give their children milk or meat “abusive” or “murderers”
In addition, PETA angered many of the state's animal welfare advocates by calling for the euthanasia of all “pitbulls”
"We are deeply concerned about Councilman Vallone's motives and his grasp of the facts. His association with PETA is troubling," stated DFNY spokesperson Mahlon Goer. .
“Councilman Vallone’s focus should be on increasing the health and safety of the community in accordance with the fact-based guidelines set forth by Centers For Disease Control and the American Veterinary Medical Association.”
Earlier this month, a dog attack on Staten Island involved unrestrained, loose dogs which were reportedly allowed to roam free on numerous occasions despite repeated complaints to authorities from the community. The DFNY immediately called for a full investigation as to why police and animal control failed to respond to numerous calls made by concerned neighbors about loose and roaming dogs.
Following this incident, Vallone announced his plan to ask the New York State Legislature to overturn the long-standing New York State law that protects dogs from breed discrimination, and to restrict the ability of caring dog owners to safely and humanely restrain their pets.
“Sadly, Mr. Vallone is choosing to exploit this tragic situation to grab headlines with inflammatory statements and false or misleading information”
Ms. Goer further stated, “It is imperative that we protect our children and communities with laws based on facts, not fear. Councilman Vallone consistently has used misinformation as a calculated means to heighten public fears and misunderstanding, along with employing provocative language and negative stereotypes."
“Anti-tethering laws also unfairly target the poor, and may disproportionately affect African-American and Hispanic dog owners living in urban or rural areas. We are worried about his agenda,” said Goer. “Race may be a factor”.
Councilman Vallone’s proposal to discriminate against good dogs and caring dog owners with a breed ban and anti-tethering law was thoroughly rejected by New York’s concerned pet owners and animal groups last year.
Despite claims floating on the Internet that tethering dogs increases aggression, the claims have no basis in fact. Goer cited the expert testimony of Dr. Katherine Houpt of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Biomedical Sciences, the country’s leading expert on the issue of tethering. Dr. Houpt, who has studied the issue for years, found that tethering does not increase aggression in dogs.
Furthermore, neither the U. S. government's Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nor the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA) condones anti-tethering laws. Spokespeople for both organizations indicate that there is no scientific evidence to support such efforts.
Goer continued, "Both of Councilman Vallone’s proposals are based on bad information. Since he couldn’t ban breeds, now he wants a tethering law. Vallone’
“We want to make sure that New York remains the most dog-friendly place in the world”, said Ms. Goer. “Discrimination, whether against dogs or their owners, is just not acceptable”.
