Shon
06-30-2004, 08:44 PM
Leavenworth city commissioners started looking Tuesday at ways to protect the public more effectively from vicious dogs.
But pit bull lovers came out in force to urge them not to adopt breed specific legislation.
Ultimately commissioners directed Police Chief Lee Doehring to come back with an ordinance to pursue further. All five said they don't plan to ban any breed of dog but they do want to consider additional safety for the public.
After the discussion, Doehring said he expects to bring back a laundry list of options for commissioners, ranging from the least to the most restrictive. He said he hoped if they go with restrictions for some dogs, those same limitations would be extended to dogs that have demonstrated viciousness.
The current ordinance defines a vicious, ferocious or dangerous dog and sets regulations that must be followed to keep the animal. Attacks on people peacefully conducting themselves or on other animals are some behaviors included in the definition.
Doehring called this a "reactive ordinance," which means a dog must have done something in order to use it. In recent years, citizens have asked for more prohibitive rules.
"Pit bulls and Rotweilers are not in and of themselves not dangerous," he said. "The problem is their training."
As the breeds become more popular, he said, "there are a lot of irresponsible owners who haven't taken the time or effort to train them to be well-behaved dogs."
Many cities do have breed-specific ordinances, he said, citing Overland Park and Salina as examples, and they have met court challenges for constitutionality.
Salina was the most recent example, prompted by an incident in which a pit bull dug under a fence and made its way into the neighbor's yard. The dog attacked a little girl there, seriously injuring her.
To the best of his knowledge, Leavenworth has had no example in recent years of such serious injuries. However, he did have pictures of a woman's Pomeranian that was attacked and killed by three pit bulls that got loose. That incident occurred June 14.
Three days later, a pit bull got loose and attacked a neighbor's Rotweiler that was in a fenced yard, he said.
James Hannah, animal control supervisor, provided statistics from the last three years as to dog bites that have been reported locally. In 2002, pit bulls were responsible for five bites, second to mixed breeds with eight. In 2003, pit bulls were responsible for 10, the same number as mixed breeds.
So far this year, labs, Rotweilers and mixed breeds have all tallied four, pit bulls three.
Commissioner Phil Urban, who initially broached the issue during an earlier goal-setting session, said he'd thought of some possible points to include in an ordinance. For example,he mentioned requiring pit bull owners to fences with footings that have to pass inspections, not allowing the dogs off their own property, wearing muzzles if they are walked on leashes.
Commissioner Larry Dedeke said he'd considered the potential for injuries whenhe was in his yard one evening and saw a teenager walking two full-size pit bulls.
"What if my grandchild had been there and they broke from the leash?" he asked. "I'm sure there would have been tragic results."
But he said he agreed with Urban that a lot of good people own pit bulls.
"We need to do something to protect the majority and not hurt the minority if we can help it," he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Weakley said she was torn on the issue and wanted a lot more information from citizens before making changes. She and other commissioners agreed this was nothing they were going to rush.
Commissioner Laura Janas Gasbarre mentioned the Center for Disease Control's comment that dog bites, especially of children, have become epidemic. She recalled a recent incident when she was at Sportsfield and a ball player tied his pit bull to the fence while he batted.
"That was frightening," she said.
But she agreed that irresponsible owners are the ones who cause the problems, and irresponsible people are going to be irresponsible, no matter what.
Mayor Brian Grittmann called this an "emotional issue," which it became later in the discussion. But he suggested hefty fines for violations might be part of the solution. For example, he said, if the ordinance called for not walking a dog without a muzzle, if police stopped someone, "that would be a $1,000 fine on the spot."
Several pit bull owners testified that the animals weren't inherently vicious. Christy Newgent, who described herself as a student who's lived here for four years, said, "It's people who make them mean."
She said she now keeps her dogs in a fence with a padlock on the gate to keep them in, but she couldn't afford the obedience training or type of fence mentioned.
Newgent pleaded for commissioners "not to make it so difficult to own" a pit bill. "It's a cop-out and gives a false sense of security."
Another woman, Linda Duree, described the "gentle loving dog" her son's pit bull became after they took it into their home. "Banning them isn't going to work," she said. "If you ban them, drug dealers will still have them, because they don't care."
Jennifer Otto, who's on the board for the humane society in Atchison and also helps with the Pit Bull Rescue Central, said pit bulls do need to be walked and be socialized, meeting other people.
"I know there's a problem in Leavenworth, because I've rescued several pit bulls from the streets," she said. But she pointed out if pit bulls are banned, people will find other breeds that can be trained to become vicious. The president of the pit bull rescue group also made that point.
But pit bull lovers came out in force to urge them not to adopt breed specific legislation.
Ultimately commissioners directed Police Chief Lee Doehring to come back with an ordinance to pursue further. All five said they don't plan to ban any breed of dog but they do want to consider additional safety for the public.
After the discussion, Doehring said he expects to bring back a laundry list of options for commissioners, ranging from the least to the most restrictive. He said he hoped if they go with restrictions for some dogs, those same limitations would be extended to dogs that have demonstrated viciousness.
The current ordinance defines a vicious, ferocious or dangerous dog and sets regulations that must be followed to keep the animal. Attacks on people peacefully conducting themselves or on other animals are some behaviors included in the definition.
Doehring called this a "reactive ordinance," which means a dog must have done something in order to use it. In recent years, citizens have asked for more prohibitive rules.
"Pit bulls and Rotweilers are not in and of themselves not dangerous," he said. "The problem is their training."
As the breeds become more popular, he said, "there are a lot of irresponsible owners who haven't taken the time or effort to train them to be well-behaved dogs."
Many cities do have breed-specific ordinances, he said, citing Overland Park and Salina as examples, and they have met court challenges for constitutionality.
Salina was the most recent example, prompted by an incident in which a pit bull dug under a fence and made its way into the neighbor's yard. The dog attacked a little girl there, seriously injuring her.
To the best of his knowledge, Leavenworth has had no example in recent years of such serious injuries. However, he did have pictures of a woman's Pomeranian that was attacked and killed by three pit bulls that got loose. That incident occurred June 14.
Three days later, a pit bull got loose and attacked a neighbor's Rotweiler that was in a fenced yard, he said.
James Hannah, animal control supervisor, provided statistics from the last three years as to dog bites that have been reported locally. In 2002, pit bulls were responsible for five bites, second to mixed breeds with eight. In 2003, pit bulls were responsible for 10, the same number as mixed breeds.
So far this year, labs, Rotweilers and mixed breeds have all tallied four, pit bulls three.
Commissioner Phil Urban, who initially broached the issue during an earlier goal-setting session, said he'd thought of some possible points to include in an ordinance. For example,he mentioned requiring pit bull owners to fences with footings that have to pass inspections, not allowing the dogs off their own property, wearing muzzles if they are walked on leashes.
Commissioner Larry Dedeke said he'd considered the potential for injuries whenhe was in his yard one evening and saw a teenager walking two full-size pit bulls.
"What if my grandchild had been there and they broke from the leash?" he asked. "I'm sure there would have been tragic results."
But he said he agreed with Urban that a lot of good people own pit bulls.
"We need to do something to protect the majority and not hurt the minority if we can help it," he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Weakley said she was torn on the issue and wanted a lot more information from citizens before making changes. She and other commissioners agreed this was nothing they were going to rush.
Commissioner Laura Janas Gasbarre mentioned the Center for Disease Control's comment that dog bites, especially of children, have become epidemic. She recalled a recent incident when she was at Sportsfield and a ball player tied his pit bull to the fence while he batted.
"That was frightening," she said.
But she agreed that irresponsible owners are the ones who cause the problems, and irresponsible people are going to be irresponsible, no matter what.
Mayor Brian Grittmann called this an "emotional issue," which it became later in the discussion. But he suggested hefty fines for violations might be part of the solution. For example, he said, if the ordinance called for not walking a dog without a muzzle, if police stopped someone, "that would be a $1,000 fine on the spot."
Several pit bull owners testified that the animals weren't inherently vicious. Christy Newgent, who described herself as a student who's lived here for four years, said, "It's people who make them mean."
She said she now keeps her dogs in a fence with a padlock on the gate to keep them in, but she couldn't afford the obedience training or type of fence mentioned.
Newgent pleaded for commissioners "not to make it so difficult to own" a pit bill. "It's a cop-out and gives a false sense of security."
Another woman, Linda Duree, described the "gentle loving dog" her son's pit bull became after they took it into their home. "Banning them isn't going to work," she said. "If you ban them, drug dealers will still have them, because they don't care."
Jennifer Otto, who's on the board for the humane society in Atchison and also helps with the Pit Bull Rescue Central, said pit bulls do need to be walked and be socialized, meeting other people.
"I know there's a problem in Leavenworth, because I've rescued several pit bulls from the streets," she said. But she pointed out if pit bulls are banned, people will find other breeds that can be trained to become vicious. The president of the pit bull rescue group also made that point.