Get Involved to Stop HB 5039, 5040 and 5041

What can YOU do to STOP HB 5039, 5040 and 5041 from becoming Michigan law?

Here is the BILL process…

  • HB 5039-5041 were introduced September 26, 2023
  • The bills were then assigned to the Committee on Agriculture
  • The Committee assigns a date to take testimony for and against the bills.
  • The Committee will take public testimony both for and against the bills.
  • The Committee will vote on the bill. If there are enough votes to pass the bill out of Committee, then it would go to another committee or the House Ways and Means Committee. Should it pass this committee it goes to the floor for the entire House to vote on it. If there are not enough votes to pass it out of Committee, the bill DIES in Committee.

THIS IS HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION TO STOP PREEMPTION BILLS HB 5039-5041:
When the bill is being heard in Committee
This is an opportunity for your voice to be heard!


1. Testify during the Committee hearing on HB 5039-5041
2. Send an email to Committee members AND the Committee Clerk and request that the Clerk enter your email into public testimony.

3. Call the office of the Representatives and tell them to OPPOSE HB 5039, 5040 and 5041.

BELOW IS THE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE CLERK , ALL HOUSE REPS AS WELL AS AN EXAMPLE EMAIL.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME, CITY OR TOWNSHIP AND ZIP CODE AND CC THE COMMITTEE CLERK REQUESTING YOUR EMAIL BE ENTERED INTO THE RECORD AS PUBLIC TESTIMONY

*Contact the Michigan House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, your State Representative and State Senator:

  • Tell them to OPPOSE House Bill 5039-5041 in the interest of public safety. 
  • Tell them you want our legislators to protect public safety, not dangerous dogs.
  • Tell them you want local control, not power grabs, not government overreach.

Michigan House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture

*Request your email be entered into public testimony*

Find Your Michigan Senator

Find Your Michigan State Representative

SAMPLE EMAIL TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS URGING THEM TO OPPOSE HB 5039, 5040, 5041

Dear Committee members,

Please OPPOSE HB 5039, 5040 and 5041 

This package of preemption bills compromises public safety and strips local governments of their authority to protect their residents.

Both the Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Township Association OPPOSE these preemption bills.

Waterford, Ypsilanti and the other communities in Michigan that have BSL, want to keep their breed safety ordinances. Their Breed Safety ordinances have worked to keep their residents safe from severe, disfiguring and fatal dog attacks for many years.

Local governments should have the legal right to make public safety laws that they think best serve their citizens. It should be up to the individual local units of government to decide if breed safety laws are affordable and enforceable for their jurisdictions.

More than 225 children have been killed by pit bull type-dogs. http://www.fatalpitbullattacks.com/children-killed-by-pit-b… 

Over 700 Americans have been killed by pit bull type dogs. See FatalPitBullAttacks.com

Michigan has had many severe dog attacks in the news and multiple dog mauling fatalities. In 2023, Dan Bonacorsi was killed by 2 pit bulls while working in Detroit. A baby in Tecumseh was killed by family pet pit bulls and of Livingston County was killed by his own pet pit bull/mastiff mi dogs which had attacked a neighbor some days before they killed their owner. Michigan had 3 deaths from pit bull attacks in 2019 and many severe attacks. Emma Hernandez, age 9, was killed by her neighbor’s 3 pet pit bulls in Detroit. Benjamin Cobb, age 4, was killed by a pet pit bull his mother was watching for a friend in his Hazel Park home. Brandy O’Dell, 41, of Bay City was killed by her two pet pit bulls in her home.

You should be erring on the side of safety for Michiganders and their families. When a consumer product causes injury and/or death to children, and generates comparable liability history, that product is taken off the market. Communities have every right to feel safe. If certain breeds of dogs are committing a disproportionate amount of violence, then it is reasonable to take preventive action. Dangerous dog laws are reactive laws; they don’t prevent victims. Someone gets hurt or worse, killed, before anything is done. 

The purpose of a breed specific ordinance is not to prevent bites, but to prevent maulings. Bites require band-aids or a few stitches; maulings require amputation, plastic surgery, rehabilitative therapy, or possibly caskets. Supporting breed specific legislation will increase public safety, decrease pit bull breeding and decrease the number flowing into and being euthanized at shelters.

13 Medical peer-reviewed studies that prove pit bull type-dogs are dangerous as pets. Level 1 trauma center dog bite studies from all geographical regions in the U.S. are reporting a higher prevalence of injuries from pit bull type dogs than all other breeds of dogs. In many cases, the studies (2011 to 2019) also report that attacks from pit bull type dogs are associated with a higher risk of serious injury and require a greater number of operative interventions. https://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-studies-level-… Common sense would dictate that based on peer reviewed medical studies presenting overwhelming data, the ownership of pit bull type dogs should be regulated. No one’s life should depend on their neighbor’s care of their dangerous dog.

Pit bulls have been bred for centuries to kill. They are the #1 canine killer of people, pets and livestock every year followed by Rottweilers. They have a genetically inbred trait for unpredictable explosive aggression that cannot ever be trained out of them. They were bred to be lethal and they are — every day. Pit bulls kill more than ALL other breeds combined!

Pit bulls are also the number one killer of our pets. Did you know that 38,000 domestic animals are killed every year by pit bulls (for comparison: 10,000 people are killed by drunk drivers every year)? Our pets are getting slaughtered in our neighborhoods. These devastated people who lose their pets suffer from PTSD. Absolutely nothing is being done about it by our elected officials. Under Michigan’s Dangerous Animal Act 426, Dangerous dogs are being recycled into our communities by animal shelters and rescue groups to attack again. That has to stop.

FOLLOW for one month: https://www.facebook.com/pitbullskilledmypet/

Shouldn’t our legislators be protecting the safety of Michigan residents instead of dangerous dogs?

Thank you for your attention to this serious matter, 

Name/Address/Phone Number

➤