Illinois Committee to Consider Debarking Ban

AKC Legislative Alert

An Illinois committee is scheduled to consider a bill on Tuesday, March 1, that would ban debarking unless it is medically necessary to treat an illness, congenital defect, disease or injury.

While the AKC supports the provision in House Bill 5004 that only allows debarking to be performed by a licensed veterinarian, we oppose the restrictions on when it is appropriate for them to perform the procedure.  This bill would restrict the rights of responsible dog owners to make viable, safe decisions on behalf of their pets in conjunction with their veterinarians.  Those who reside or participate in events in Illinois are encouraged to contact the House Agriculture & Conservation Committee and respectfully ask them to oppose HB 5004.  Visit the committee’s websiteand click on the individual names to contact the committee members.

Talking Points:

There is much misinformation about the veterinary surgical procedure of debarking. Debarking actually saves dogs’ lives.  It is a viable veterinary procedure that may allow a dog owner to keep a dog in its loving home rather than to be forced to euthanize or surrender it to a shelter when the pet’s noisy behavior continually disrupts the community.

Debarking should only be performed under anesthesia by a qualified veterinarian after behavioral medication efforts to correct a dog’s excessive barking have failed. As with other veterinary medical decisions, the decision to debark a dog is best left to individual owners and their veterinarian, and should not be arbitrarily banned by law.

Visit the AKC Government Relations Legislative Action Center for AKC’s official position on this issue, as well as other talking points.

AKC Government Relations (AKC GR) will continue to closely monitor this legislation and provide updates as they become available. For questions or more information, contact the Illinois Federation of Dog Clubs and Owners atschipnut58@yahoo.com, or AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org.

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Posted by chesliepickett on Feb 29 2016. Filed under Breaking News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.