It’s a “Good Day” for All Dog Breeds at FOX 11

Ending what could possibly have been the shortest-lived breed ban ever, Los Angeles TV station KTTV FOX 11 announced on Monday it is reversing a ban it imposed last week that would have prohibited homeless Pit Bulls, Pit Bull mixes, Rottweilers and Dobermans from being featured in Adopt-a-Pet segments on its morning show ”Good Day LA.”

Earlier last week the FOX 11 legal department sent an email to Karma Rescue and several other rescue groups announcing the breed ban. On its Facebook page, Karma Rescue encouraged other rescue groups and animal lovers to write to the station in protest of the policy change. As a result, FOX received hundreds of emails.

“Karma Rescue has been a participant on the FOX Adopt-a-Pet segment for almost three years now. We truly enjoy the staff and the anchors. We have placed many of our dogs in homes from appearing on the show and are truly grateful,” Rande Levine, founder of Karma Rescue, wrote in an email to i Love Dogs today. “We were shocked when the policy came into play and felt it was unfair to implement when there were other solutions to help with safety concerns.”

Josh Kaplan, senior executive producer of “Good Day LA,” wrote in an email that the breed ban was instituted after a recent incident in which a FOX employee was bitten by a Pit Bull brought on the show for an adoption segment. The station’s internal policies were reviewed in an effort “to try and find a way to ensure the safety of our employees and guests, while continuing to try and help as many animals as possible to find suitable homes,” Kaplan wrote.

FOX 11 is implementing new procedures such as keeping the dogs in an enclosed area before they go on the air and requiring two handlers to be present for any dog that cannot remain in a carrier.

Citing the “lack of rules or supervision” at the studio in its Facebook post last week, Karma Rescue noted, “Consequently, we sent FOX a list of safeguards that they could implement to make the rescue segments much safer.” Levine wrote that FOX’s new procedures include some of the ones suggested by Karma Rescue.

The breed ban had surprised many. FOX employees and personalities have adopted Pit Bulls or mixes from Karma Rescue, including Nigel Lythgoe, judge and producer of FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” and news anchor Tony McEwing. “Good Day LA” co-hosts Jillian Reynolds and Dorothy Lucey are, respectively, an animal activist and a dog mom to a Pit mix.

“We know that breed-specific regulations do not work, it’s been proven, and truthfully, their reasons had nothing to do with the breed,” Levine wrote. “Any dog can bite.” She pointed out that in a recent study of 122 dog breeds by the American Temperament Testing Society (ATTS), American Pit Bull Terriers achieved a passing rate of 86 percent – higher than Beagles (80 percent) and Golden Retrievers (84 percent).

“The bottom line is the ban is not a remedy,” Levine wrote. “We are proud of FOX. They listened to the outcries of the public and they reinstated an all-breed policy with a sensible safety policy. We are also proud of the public, our volunteers and supporters who wrote letters. We believe when there is wrong done, there is a chance to make right. You just need to use your voice.”

PHOTOS:  stmartinsrescue.org, myfoxla.com