Shon
07-17-2004, 12:37 PM
Pit bull lovers in Fort Lupton are out of luck if they didn't take advantage of a new state law that allowed them to license the dogs.
The Fort Lupton City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday, putting additional restrictions on owners of licensed pit bulls and preventing new residents from bringing a pit bull into town.
A spokesman for the American Canine Foundation said Thursday the organization plans on suing the city because the ordinance is at odds with the recent state law that prohibits cities from implementing breed-specific bans.
The harsher restrictions, effective immediately, require licensed pit bull owners to pay a yearly fee of $50,Police Chief Jerry Garner said.
They must also display an 8-inch sign on their property that reads "pit bull dog." Owners must also have $100,000 in liability insurance and have their dog muzzled and leashed while in public.
The ordinance also gives pit bull owners four months after puppies are born to have them removed from the city. It calls for euthanizing puppies that aren't removed by the four-month deadline.
"The city is not looking to go kill dogs," Garner said. He said only six pit bulls were licensed in the city last year.
Before the ordinance was passed at the council's meeting, the proposal drew residents from other cities to condemn it, but no one from Fort Lupton spoke against the measure.
"It shows how much our population wanted this," City Attorney Bill Wallace said.
The ordinance comes on the heels of a July 6 attack on a 7-year-old boy near Fort Lupton. The boy was hospitalized after a pit bull bit off part of the boy's ear.
Owners of pit bulls that are not licensed will have 24 hours to remove the dogs from the city or the animals can be seized and killed.
Denver filed a lawsuit in May against the state after the new state law banned cities from outlawing pit bulls. Denver impounded 650 pit bulls last year - 410 were euthanized and 240 were returned to their owners.
The Fort Lupton City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday, putting additional restrictions on owners of licensed pit bulls and preventing new residents from bringing a pit bull into town.
A spokesman for the American Canine Foundation said Thursday the organization plans on suing the city because the ordinance is at odds with the recent state law that prohibits cities from implementing breed-specific bans.
The harsher restrictions, effective immediately, require licensed pit bull owners to pay a yearly fee of $50,Police Chief Jerry Garner said.
They must also display an 8-inch sign on their property that reads "pit bull dog." Owners must also have $100,000 in liability insurance and have their dog muzzled and leashed while in public.
The ordinance also gives pit bull owners four months after puppies are born to have them removed from the city. It calls for euthanizing puppies that aren't removed by the four-month deadline.
"The city is not looking to go kill dogs," Garner said. He said only six pit bulls were licensed in the city last year.
Before the ordinance was passed at the council's meeting, the proposal drew residents from other cities to condemn it, but no one from Fort Lupton spoke against the measure.
"It shows how much our population wanted this," City Attorney Bill Wallace said.
The ordinance comes on the heels of a July 6 attack on a 7-year-old boy near Fort Lupton. The boy was hospitalized after a pit bull bit off part of the boy's ear.
Owners of pit bulls that are not licensed will have 24 hours to remove the dogs from the city or the animals can be seized and killed.
Denver filed a lawsuit in May against the state after the new state law banned cities from outlawing pit bulls. Denver impounded 650 pit bulls last year - 410 were euthanized and 240 were returned to their owners.