Marty
08-18-2005, 06:55 AM
New Orleans, LA -- In a move that mirrors a national trend that some animal activists find disturbing, Plaquemines Parish will try to become the first Louisiana parish to effectively ban pit bulls.
Under a measure the Plaquemines Parish Council adopted unanimously last week, pit bull owners will have roughly 30 days to have microchips implanted into their dogs. The microchips can be used to identify the dogs and contain information corresponding to registration records.
After the 30-day microchipping period, residents will not be allowed to bring in or breed additional pit bulls. The law is somewhat vague on breeding because it says a pit bull is not recognized under the ban until it is 6 months old.
Plaquemines Parish President Benny Rousselle said he disagrees with the pit bull ban, part of a larger initiative to tighten the parish's animal control regulations, but won't veto the new law, which will take effect without his signature on Aug. 31.
"I realize that there is a public fear of pit bulls, and I share that fear," Rousselle said. "But we ought to be focusing on vicious and dangerous dogs no matter what breed they are."
While outright bans are still rare, a growing number of communities are pushing for stiffer controls over pit bulls and other breeds thought to be dangerous, animal control officials said.
Plaquemines Parish is the first Louisiana parish to ban pit bulls. The town of Welsh near Lake Charles also has a pit bull ban in place, said Jeff Dorson, regional director for the Humane Society of Louisiana.
Inspections of homes
In the metro area, St. Charles Parish implemented a breed-specific law last year that requires pit bull owners to microchip their dogs and agree to a home site inspection to make sure the dogs are being properly confined, officials said. And Gretna has a law that requires that pit bulls be kept in a kennel separated from other homes or property lines.
Several U.S. cities, including Denver and Toledo, Ohio, have banned pit bulls, sparking controversy and, at least in Denver's case, a petition effort aimed at overturning the ban.
Proponents of such bans claim that pit bulls, bred and trained for generations for fighting, are inherently dangerous. Opponents argue that it is the dogs' handlers that make them vicious and that most pit bulls are not dangerous.
While eight of the 15 dog bite cases in Plaquemines Parish this year involved pit bulls, it is not known whether the council's ban is tied to a specific incident. The legislation's author, Councilman Rick Fremin, refused to discuss it. And Council Attorney Kevin Conner, who helped write the law, could not be reached for comment.
Pointing to the fact that more than half the parish's dog bite cases involved pit bulls, Dorson said Plaquemines Parish officials have the right idea.
"These people are extremely lucky that the bites didn't turn into fatalities," Dorson said. Pit bulls "are genetically trained to not let go until the prey surrenders or dies as a result of the injury. They have the strongest jaw strength of any dogs."
But others worry when municipalities begin targeting specific breeds. Pit bulls especially have unfairly come under fire in recent years, they say.
"It's sad because they are such great dogs and people who are responsible owners are being discriminated against," said Laura Maloney of the Louisiana SPCA, a statewide nonprofit group in charge of New Orleans' animal control office.
Difficult to target
Meanwhile, Bert Smith, director of Jefferson Parish's Animal Control Department, said he thinks it might be difficult to target a specific breed. First, he said, it is troublesome to identify which animals are pit bulls. Second, such laws penalize good pit bulls and their owners.
"For every bad dog in a breed, there is a good one that you never hear about because the owners are responsible," Smith said.
Smith said the majority of Jefferson Parish's serious dog cases involve pit bulls, including a 2000 attack in which a pit bull killed a toddler.
"I don't have a problem with Plaquemines doing that (banning pit bulls)," he said. "Each community has to decide, based on their resources, how they think they should deal with it."
Dorson also said he hopes Plaquemines Parish's ban will take a bite out of illegal dog fighting.
"We all know that it is a multimillion-dollar activity in Louisiana alone," he said. "We've heard reports of pit bull fighting in Plaquemines for years. This is an excellent way to take out this whole criminal enterprise. The downside is the good pet owners are penalized."
Crystal Viator and David Thurman of Belle Chasse expect to pay $160 to have their four pit bulls microchipped.
"We are going to pay for the people who do the wrong," Viator said. But, she added, "If they tell me I have to, I will (register the dogs) to keep my 10-year-old son happy" because he doesn't want to move from Belle Chasse.
Thurman said they would move before they would give up the animals, ages 4 months to 5 years old. The three adult dogs sleep with Viator's son and hang around the house with the neighborhood children when they visit.
"All the neighborhood kids play PlayStation with my son, and the dogs have never caused any problems with as many as five kids in the bedroom," Viator said. "None of them are scared of those dogs."
Chip goes under the skin
Stephen Hebert, a Belle Chasse veterinarian under contract to work with Plaquemines Parish on animal control issues, said the microchips are injected under the skin between the dog's shoulder blades. About the size of a grain of rice, the chip will last the life of the dog and will have a number that will allow the dog and its owner to be identified when it is scanned.
Hebert said he will charge $40 to microchip the pit bulls, a fee that includes an inspection to certify that the dog is a pit bull.
Hebert didn't say whether he supported the ban on pit bulls, but he said he believes there are many good pit bulls and pit bull owners, and he knows that the more common trend is for municipalities to require owners to register large animals who may be aggressive. He also questioned the fairness of discriminating against one breed of dog.
Under Plaquemines Parish's law, which takes effect Aug. 31, pit bull owners will have until Sept. 30 to have their animals microchipped in order to be grandfathered in, and they will have to register the information with the parish animal control office by Oct. 15, Plaquemines Parish Director of Administration Gary Ragas said.
"Although the administration is neutral on banning certain dog breeds, we will work hand in hand with the Parish Council to fully implement any ban on any dogs or any other animal," Ragas said.
Any dogs that are not grandfathered in will be impounded or removed from the parish after the law goes into effect, Ragas said.
Under a measure the Plaquemines Parish Council adopted unanimously last week, pit bull owners will have roughly 30 days to have microchips implanted into their dogs. The microchips can be used to identify the dogs and contain information corresponding to registration records.
After the 30-day microchipping period, residents will not be allowed to bring in or breed additional pit bulls. The law is somewhat vague on breeding because it says a pit bull is not recognized under the ban until it is 6 months old.
Plaquemines Parish President Benny Rousselle said he disagrees with the pit bull ban, part of a larger initiative to tighten the parish's animal control regulations, but won't veto the new law, which will take effect without his signature on Aug. 31.
"I realize that there is a public fear of pit bulls, and I share that fear," Rousselle said. "But we ought to be focusing on vicious and dangerous dogs no matter what breed they are."
While outright bans are still rare, a growing number of communities are pushing for stiffer controls over pit bulls and other breeds thought to be dangerous, animal control officials said.
Plaquemines Parish is the first Louisiana parish to ban pit bulls. The town of Welsh near Lake Charles also has a pit bull ban in place, said Jeff Dorson, regional director for the Humane Society of Louisiana.
Inspections of homes
In the metro area, St. Charles Parish implemented a breed-specific law last year that requires pit bull owners to microchip their dogs and agree to a home site inspection to make sure the dogs are being properly confined, officials said. And Gretna has a law that requires that pit bulls be kept in a kennel separated from other homes or property lines.
Several U.S. cities, including Denver and Toledo, Ohio, have banned pit bulls, sparking controversy and, at least in Denver's case, a petition effort aimed at overturning the ban.
Proponents of such bans claim that pit bulls, bred and trained for generations for fighting, are inherently dangerous. Opponents argue that it is the dogs' handlers that make them vicious and that most pit bulls are not dangerous.
While eight of the 15 dog bite cases in Plaquemines Parish this year involved pit bulls, it is not known whether the council's ban is tied to a specific incident. The legislation's author, Councilman Rick Fremin, refused to discuss it. And Council Attorney Kevin Conner, who helped write the law, could not be reached for comment.
Pointing to the fact that more than half the parish's dog bite cases involved pit bulls, Dorson said Plaquemines Parish officials have the right idea.
"These people are extremely lucky that the bites didn't turn into fatalities," Dorson said. Pit bulls "are genetically trained to not let go until the prey surrenders or dies as a result of the injury. They have the strongest jaw strength of any dogs."
But others worry when municipalities begin targeting specific breeds. Pit bulls especially have unfairly come under fire in recent years, they say.
"It's sad because they are such great dogs and people who are responsible owners are being discriminated against," said Laura Maloney of the Louisiana SPCA, a statewide nonprofit group in charge of New Orleans' animal control office.
Difficult to target
Meanwhile, Bert Smith, director of Jefferson Parish's Animal Control Department, said he thinks it might be difficult to target a specific breed. First, he said, it is troublesome to identify which animals are pit bulls. Second, such laws penalize good pit bulls and their owners.
"For every bad dog in a breed, there is a good one that you never hear about because the owners are responsible," Smith said.
Smith said the majority of Jefferson Parish's serious dog cases involve pit bulls, including a 2000 attack in which a pit bull killed a toddler.
"I don't have a problem with Plaquemines doing that (banning pit bulls)," he said. "Each community has to decide, based on their resources, how they think they should deal with it."
Dorson also said he hopes Plaquemines Parish's ban will take a bite out of illegal dog fighting.
"We all know that it is a multimillion-dollar activity in Louisiana alone," he said. "We've heard reports of pit bull fighting in Plaquemines for years. This is an excellent way to take out this whole criminal enterprise. The downside is the good pet owners are penalized."
Crystal Viator and David Thurman of Belle Chasse expect to pay $160 to have their four pit bulls microchipped.
"We are going to pay for the people who do the wrong," Viator said. But, she added, "If they tell me I have to, I will (register the dogs) to keep my 10-year-old son happy" because he doesn't want to move from Belle Chasse.
Thurman said they would move before they would give up the animals, ages 4 months to 5 years old. The three adult dogs sleep with Viator's son and hang around the house with the neighborhood children when they visit.
"All the neighborhood kids play PlayStation with my son, and the dogs have never caused any problems with as many as five kids in the bedroom," Viator said. "None of them are scared of those dogs."
Chip goes under the skin
Stephen Hebert, a Belle Chasse veterinarian under contract to work with Plaquemines Parish on animal control issues, said the microchips are injected under the skin between the dog's shoulder blades. About the size of a grain of rice, the chip will last the life of the dog and will have a number that will allow the dog and its owner to be identified when it is scanned.
Hebert said he will charge $40 to microchip the pit bulls, a fee that includes an inspection to certify that the dog is a pit bull.
Hebert didn't say whether he supported the ban on pit bulls, but he said he believes there are many good pit bulls and pit bull owners, and he knows that the more common trend is for municipalities to require owners to register large animals who may be aggressive. He also questioned the fairness of discriminating against one breed of dog.
Under Plaquemines Parish's law, which takes effect Aug. 31, pit bull owners will have until Sept. 30 to have their animals microchipped in order to be grandfathered in, and they will have to register the information with the parish animal control office by Oct. 15, Plaquemines Parish Director of Administration Gary Ragas said.
"Although the administration is neutral on banning certain dog breeds, we will work hand in hand with the Parish Council to fully implement any ban on any dogs or any other animal," Ragas said.
Any dogs that are not grandfathered in will be impounded or removed from the parish after the law goes into effect, Ragas said.