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Bill would remove ‘pit' fall |
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Saturday, 04 April 2009 |
By MIKE BURKHOLDER
Managing Editor
ST. MARYS — A northwest Ohio legislator says her proposal to remove pit bulls from the definition of a vicious dog under state law is a housekeeping item — one a county dog warden says would be a bad move.
State Rep. Barbara Sears, a Republican from Lucas County, recently introduced House Bill 79 — a measure that would remove pit bulls from the definition of vicious dog in state law. Sears said she decided to offer the bill because she felt it unfairly categorized pit bulls as vicious without just cause in many cases.
“The only thing this does is removes the term pit bull from the Ohio Revised Code,” Sears told The Evening Leader. “It doesn’t change the definition of vicious dogs or eliminate local municipalities from passing local laws. It’s pretty simple.”
Sears said she believes pit bulls have been unfairly targeted by automatically being deemed vicious dogs. The Republican said any dog can be vicious, regardless of its breed.
“It’s my belief a vicious dog can be a lot of different breeds if it’s trained to be,” Sears said. “You can have a small, little dog trained to be vicious because its owner chooses to do it.”
House Bill 79 would not prohibit local municipalities from passing legislation targeting specific breeds, including pit bulls. However Sears said she hopes the bill makes people think about other breeds that could be vicious and not just pit bulls.
“What concerns me is if you look at some recent cases, there have been huskies and rottweilers,” Sears said. “Historically dobermans and German shepherds have had periods of time where they were trained to be vicious. There are a lot of dogs that can be attack dogs if that’s the owner’s intent. This just eliminates the automatic (labeling).”
Sears said she has received support from countless humane societies and animal rights groups across the region. Sears cited a 2005 incident in Lucas County where a show dog, that happened to be a pit bull, was euthanized because of its breed.
“It was a highly trained (dog) and our dog warden euthanized it because it was a pit bull,” Sears said. “It got loose and when the owner tracked it down, the dog warden wouldn’t return it.”
Auglaize County Dog Warden Russ Bailey said his department has handled more pit bulls than any other breed during the past year. Bailey said in his experience, he has seen the damage pit bulls can cause.
“Some of them have been excellent dogs with great dispositions,” Bailey said. “But the ones that aren’t that way have made a believer out of me.”
A recent incident involving a pit bull forced officers from the St. Marys Police Department to use a Taser on the animal. The dog, a pit bull, was attacking another family pet.
“The dog actually attacked a pet of the same family,” Bailey said. “After we Tased him, he let go and we let go of the Taser. As soon as we did that, he jumped back on the dog’s neck.”
Another pit bull incident involved a dog biting the face of a little girl. Bailey said the dog’s owner said the dog “just snapped.”
“This guy raised one from a puppy and for no reason bit the niece in her face,” Bailey said. “He said he’s never been aggressive and the girl wasn’t provoking him.”
Bailey said he prefers the legislation regarding vicious dogs to remain unchanged. The current law, Bailey said, allows owners to possess pit bulls as long as they follow certain guidelines.
“I would kind of like it to stay the same,” Bailey said. “It just sets good guidelines and doesn’t say you cannot own the dog.”
In St. Marys, a resident can own a pit bull but must have it in a pen with a locked top if the animal is outside. The owner also must obtain more than $100,000 in liability insurance on the animal.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 April 2009 )
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