What is transpiring in Keystone, Iowa, is not only a barbaric dumpster fire of civil rights violations, it is also a textbook example of why BSL always fails.
Keystone, Iowa has it all:
- - Vigilante neighbors
- - Fact-impervious leadership, unwilling to consider canine behavior science
- - A vague city ordinance, muddled by an equally. vague county ordinance
- - Arbitrary enforcement and inconsisteent communication
- - An enforcement officer who thinks eh can visually ID breeds of dogs
- - Threats of impoundment without even looking at the dog
- - Targeting dog owners whose dogs have done nothering wrong
- - A city council who says that what they do to their residents is nobody's business
- - And at least one city council person getting “statistics” from a tabloid website maintained by a woman who also has a bag of magic rocks that foretells romance, for a modest fee. True story.
In this body cam video, watch as a Benton County Deputy, Dave Upah, arrives unannounced to the home of one of the targeted families.
Pay attention to the children’s body language (we have blurred their faces), something Deputy Upah clearly didn’t do. The children move nervously closer to the deputy, waiting for what he was going to say. The moment he says they have to “get rid of” their dog, the children slump at the shoulders, begin pacing, start fidgeting with their hands, and continuously move from room to room. One of the children even apologizes in an attempt to appease the deputy.
As we mentioned earlier, Deputy Upah thinks he is qualified to visually identify this dog as a “pit bull.” According to the ordinance, only a veterinarian can do that. On his way out the door, Deputy Upah not only inexplicably confuses the father of the children with someone who has passed away, he also says, “I hope I didn’t ruin your day.”
As if telling someone they neeed to get rid of a family member isn’t going to ruin their day.
This behavior makes it clear that Keystone officials have no compassion or care for their citizens.
How you can help dog owners in Keystone
We won’t let these dog owners go unsupported and we know you won’t either. The county of Benton and the city of Keystone need to know that laws should have a rational basis. BSL is not rational according to science. It’s also hurting families whose dogs haven’t done anything wrong.
The Keystone website is down, but you can call their city hall: +1 319-442-3246
You can reach Benton officials here:
Benton County Supervisors
Tracy Seeman
tseeman@bentoncountyia.go
Rick Primmer
rprimmer@bentoncountyia.gov
Gary Bierschenk
gbierschenk@bentoncountyia.gov
The grandfather of these children spoke at a public meeting last night. His grandchildren are now terrified to leave the house because they think Onyx, their dog, will be gone when they get home. Think about that. The children are protecting their pet dog from the very people who are supposed to be protecting their family.
Keystone has made members of their community feel ostracized and left behind. We want to make sure that they know that they have support and people in their corner. We won’t forget about them.
We believe Keystone, Iowa can do better for its citizens. It can stop targeting dog owners based on anti-science rhetoric and canine folklore, and it can start protecting all people and dogs by implimenting animal ordinances that actually improve community safety.
