Denver, CO passes and enforces pit bull ban

[Haiku]

Denver, CO passed a ban on pit bulls in 1989 (I think that was the year), but it was later repealed. Apparently, they recently passed the ban again in April. They sent out letters to all the owners of licensed/registered pit bulls who lived in within the Denver city limits that they had a month to get their pit bulls out of Denver, either by moving, rehoming, surrending to a shelter, etc. On May 9, any of those people who had not gotten rid of their pit bulls had law enforcement enter their homes and seize their dogs.

It is one thing to ban a breed (which I still disagree strongly with) and require neutering, then banning any new dogs from entering an area, but to actually go and seize family pets, especially from people who were responsible enough to license their dogs, is truly awful.

There's a petition out there that any may sign to the Denver City Council to express a protest to this law. It is here, if anyone would like to sign: Denver BSL Petition

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Well, I guess I can scratch Denver off my list of places to possibly move to.... I don't have a pitbull, but I'm not living anywhere that acts like that either.



Edit: I can't get the link to work

 

[Haiku]

It should be working now, I noticed awhile ago when I went there it was down but it seems to be back up now.

I am just glad that MN is one of the few states that has anti-BSL legislation in place. There's a state law which prohibits municipalities from passing breed specific legislation. I wouldn't feel too comfortable living somewhere where they started banning breeds perceived as dangerous. I have a German Shepherd mix and GSDs are usually listed as a dangerous breed.

 

[rdd1952]

I'm not a fan of pitbulls as they can be very unpredictable. I guess I can somewhat understand the ban. A lot of insurance companies won't offer coverage now if you have dogs like pit bulls, dobermans or even german shepherds because of the risk of lawsuit from someone who gets bitten. You would think they would at least grandfather the people who already owned them in so they could keep their pets if that is what they are. The ones that get me are those that fight dogs. There was a very disturbing case recently very close to where I live involving a "non-aggressive"pit bull. Apparently the people were fighting these dogs and this particular puppy wasn't aggressive enough for them so they used her as a training dog, basically letting the other dogs severly injure her. They ended up leaving her for dead on the side of the road and some lady happened to stop and notice that she was still alive and took her to a local shelter where she is now doing fine after numerous surgeries. Below is a link but be warned that the pictures are very graphic and disturbing. The shelter is Tri County Animal Rescue and they have decided to keep her as their own pet now that she is recovering. Their site isn't working for some reason so the pics are from another site. Whether you are a fan of pit bulls or not. What these people did to this dog should land them a long prison term. Unfortunately, I don't think they know who it was.

http/www.crueltyconnection.com/database/...hp?case_id=4402

 

[mm_simb]

I'm not a fan of pitbulls as they can be very unpredictable. I guess I can somewhat understand the ban. A lot of insurance companies won't offer coverage now if you have dogs like pit bulls, dobermans or even german shepherds because of the risk of lawsuit from someone who gets bitten. You would think they would at least grandfather the people who already owned them in so they could keep their pets if that is what they are.

I'm pretty sure that all animals can be classified as unpredictable. I've had more bad experiences with small breed dogs than any large dog (or medium since pitbulls are not large breeds) and will say that they are more unpredictable than a pit. Pits are usually aggressive with other dogs but I have yet to see a pit that's aggressive with a person. I've heard news articles about pits biting people but upon seeing pictures of the dogs, they are not pits at all but a breed that looks like a pit. The media just targets these dogs because they are easy targets. Nobody wants to know about someone abusing the pit who bit that other person out of fear. They just want to know that the dog bit the person and that's it.
I hate these bans and would never live in a state that has this sort of "law". But I especially hate the bans that don't allow current good owners to keep their dogs. I think it's stupid and sad.

 

[Haiku]

I agree with you completely mm_simb. I also don't believe small children should EVER be left unsupervised with any dog, or any animal for that matter. There has been a rash of media coverage lately of dogs killing infants or killing children (2 recent cases were huskies/malamutes). There was even a story on a pomeranian who killed an infant. I wonder when I read these, "Where were the parents?" For all we know, the kid could have been tormenting the dog or behaving in a way that prompted a dog's natural instinct to protect itself. I know my little niece one day was chasing my shepherd mix, and she backed her into a corner and was approaching her with open arms to give her a hug, however that is extremely threatening behavior to some dogs, especially after being chased, and I quickly intervened. Who knows what could have happened had no one been monitoring the situation?

Pit bulls actually have a tendency to be particularly docile to people, because back when they were originally being bred for fighting and bull baiting, they wanted the dogs to be able to be hauled off the bull or dog by a human without the dog turning on the human. Statistically they bite far less than many other breeds, including labs.

rdd1952, The thing you describe with the pit bull being used as a training dog is common among criminals participating in illegal dog fighting. They take a pup or an older dog or one that isn't a good fighter and use it as a "bait" dog to train their other dogs. It's hearbreaking, brutal, sickening, and makes me ashamed to be human sometimes. I'm glad to hear that that pup at least got into loving hands and made it.

Here is a followup article on the Denver situation, apparently they are reexamining the law. Perhaps the voices of the people are being heard. Denver to re-examine dangerous dog ordinance

 

[mm_simb]

I believe somewhere in Florida they have this sort of ban, where you can't have the pits at all.
I agree that you can't leave any animal unsupervised with a child. I remember one time my boyfriend's nephew was bothering his lab and he fell. The lab ran to him and started trying to jump on him and biting him. It was play biting but the kid didn't think so. That same kid was bothering his cousin's pibull and the pitbull was just about to nip at him for annoying him when his cousin came out. He backed away right away. I can't stand that kid now

 

[dixaisy930]

I live near Denver, and I think this is just a shame. On the news here, you only ever hear about pit bulls attacking someone....you never heard about any other breed biting or mauling someone.

Previously, they had even been taking pit bull mixes as well (which seems just silly to me....I would think a pit bull mix and boxer mix could look identical). I completely understand the fear of pit bulls....they are nothing but muscle with very strong jaws, and are fairly intelligent dogs.

I work at a Doggie Day Care, and we have a few regular pit bulls that come in (unfortunately, they are not allowed to play with the other dogs, because of the stigma). Anywho, I would kiss everyone of the square on the nose, because they are such sweet dogs (not to say I would do that with any pit, or any just dog for that matter). It's really ironic....no staff member where I work has even been bitten by a pit, doberman, or rottweiler. But the most serious dog bite that ever happened there was from a daschund (the women's hand was completely shredded).

It seems to me, this ban just punishes the responsible, loving put owners. The ones the fight the dogs, encourage them to be aggressive, etc just don't have them registered, or whatever loop holes they can find.

With many of the problems with domestic animals and pets, it usually is caused by the humans and how the treat and raise the animals.

 

[OrkyBetta]

You can train a dacshund to be mean and ferocious, but they don't have the genetically altered huge, muscly jaws that a pit bull does, thus making them a lot less dangerous. Pitbuls were bred to fight bears, and they have the equipment to do so. But it really is all about how they were raised. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT in their blood to kill. That is just a stupid statement. Just like a child who misbehaves, the parents are to blame.

 

[Haiku]

Wow, that petition has over 8,000 signatures now compared to around 5,000 when I signed. I agree that bans like that end up punishing responsible people more than the irresponsible people or exploiters. For one, they only knew these people had pits because they registered/licensed them, so the ones who never bothered to do that didn't get someone showing up on their doorstep to take their dog.

Also they even include mixes, and as dixaisy930 said, a boxer, lab, or any stocky well muscled mix can look like a pit. American bulldogs look a lot like pits as well.

I do hope they find a different solution to this that will target the people who should be targeted, and nothing breed specific. Someone who has a lab who mauls someone should get the same treatment as someone with a pit or rottie that attacks someone.