Can a city ban dogs?

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SPRING VALLEY — The Spring Valley City Council debated the merits of banning pit bulls from the city limits but took no action.

If Spring Valley decides to pursue a ban, there are many factors to be considered.

First, just what is a pit bull? Pit bull is a term used to describe several types of dogs with similar physical characteristics. For one legal definition, the state of Ohio defines a pit bull as any of the following: An American Pit Bull Terrier, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, an American Staffordshire Terrier, an American Bulldog, or any other purebred or mixed breed dog whose appearance and physical characteristics is predominately those of any of the dogs listed above, or is a combination of any of the dogs listed above.

Another question is whether pit bulls are more dangerous than other breeds of dogs?

A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association in September 2000 reports that between 1979 and 1998, “pit-bull type dogs” and Rottweilers were involved in one half of about 300 dog bite related fatalities in the United States. Another study of American and Canadian dog bite related fatalities from September 1982 to November 2006 showed pit bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes were responsible for 65 percent of all fatal dog attacks.

Another question is what communities have restricted pit bulls, and a search of the Internet reveals pit bulls have been banned all over the world.

On Aug. 29, 2005, In Ontario, Canada, pit bulls were not allowed to be imported into or brought through Ontario. Pit bulls owned prior to that date were grandfathered in but were required to be sterilized immediately.

Pit bulls have been banned in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada since 1990.

Pit bull ownership has been restricted in Norway, the United Kingdom and Denmark since 1991, in France since 1999, and in much of Australia since 2006.

Closer to home, since 1989 in Florida, “It is illegal in Miami-Dade County to own any dog which substantially conforms to a pit bull breed dog, unless it was specially registered with Miami-Dade County prior to 1989.”

Elsewhere, Denver, Colo. first banned pit bulls in 1989, but a state law passed in 2004 prohibited singling out certain breeds of dogs. Denver sued and won, and the ban was reinstated on May 9, 2005.

Prince George's County, Md. has banned the dogs since 1996.

In Delta, Utah, the dogs have been banned since 2001, and Council Bluffs, Iowa banned pit bulls in 2004.

Independence and Spring-field, Mo., banned pit bulls in 2006. Royal City, Wash., banned both Rottweilers and pit bulls in December 2006, and owners had until Jan. 1 to find a new home for their pets.

There’s also the legal question of banning pit bulls.

In August 2007, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that state laws singling out pit bulls as inherently vicious dogs were constitutional.

On the other hand, Illinois is one of a number of states that have passed anti-breed specific legislation.

In Public Act 093-0548, passed in 2003, Sec. 24. “Nothing in this Act shall be held to limit in any manner the power of any municipality or other political subdivision to prohibit animals from running at large, nor shall anything in this Act be construed to, in any manner, limit the power of any municipality or other political subdivision to further control and regulate dogs, cats or other animals in such municipality or other political subdivision provided that no regulation or ordinance is specific to breed.”

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