In 2004, the Colorado state legislature passed House Bill 1279, prohibiting city and county governments from passing laws that ban specific breeds of dogs. A court ruling found, however, that the cities of Denver and Fort Lupton could keep their pit bull bans because they were enacted before the legislature passed its measure.
Recent pit bull attacks have re-ignited the debate about the dogs. Defenders of the breed argue pit bulls are no more dangerous than any other breed and can be loving, loyal and sweet. Negligent owners that abuse pit bulls and train them to be dangerous are the source of the problem, defenders argue.
Opponents of the breed point to attack statistics and the breed's bite strength - a pit bull can exert more pounds per square inch during its bite than any other breed- as the justification for supporting the breed's ban.
Between 1979 and 1998, pit bulls accounted for almost twice as many deaths as any other breed, according to the national Centers for Disease Control.
Like owner, like dog?
As the man in charge of the safety of about 7,000 residents, Fort Lupton police chief Jerry Garner eagerly embraces the opportunity to rid the town of what he considers potential dangers. When the Fort Lupton City Council voted in 2003 to ban pit bulls in the city limits, Garner welcomed he decision.
"I feel very good that we have the ordinance," Garner told a reporter for the Greeley Tribune. "I think you probably have some people thinking the same way: If there is one more danger out there I can eliminate to make my kids or myself a little safer, I'm going to do it."
Garner acknowledges other breeds can be aggressive. The difference, he said, is that when pit bulls attack, the results can be deadly.
"When they latch on to somebody, they can do a huge amount of damage," Garner said.
Garner said his 36 years in law enforcement has taught him that aggressive people tend to own aggressive dogs like pit bulls.
"Many are owned by people who want to say, 'I'm bad and my dog is bad, too,' " Garner said.
Helen Gordy, 76, of Greeley, said she would love her city ban pit bulls. She and her husband, Joe Gordy, 75 no longer feel safe because of a neighbor's pit bulls.
One day, while out back putting something in his pickup, Joe Gordy was greeted and startled by a pit bull. Every time Joe Gordy moved, the pit bull mirrored his movement.
"By the time he got to the house, he was really scared," Helen Gordy said. "I had never seen him like that."
Another day, a pit bull scared Helen Gordy when she looked out her back window and saw the dog in the backyard. "I'm really afraid that one day one will be out and get somebody," Helen Gordy said. "I think if the opportunity arose, a child could be mutilated by one of those."
The Gordys have become frustrated because, despite repeated calls to animal control, the dogs remain in the neighborhood.
Garner said it's too bad state legislators have taken away the ability of cities and counties to enforce a pit bull ban. He said that other than a few isolated encounters with pit bull owners who call the ruling unfair, the ordinance has been positive for the community.
"We feel we have less dangerous dogs in the community," Garner said. "And it's clearly what the community has told us they want."
Scary Chihuahua
When a neighbor brought his toy Chihuahua over to Jeanne Cotton's house, her 113-pound pit bull, Jinx, approached the pint-size dog to say hello. The Chihuahua promptly bit his lip, she said.
Despite his superior strength and size, Jinx ran into the bedroom and hid like a scared child until the Chihuahua left the house.
This is the side of pit bulls that the public doesn't see, Cotton says. She said her 6-year-old male pit bull is obedient, docile and loyal. He regularly plays with Cotton's two children, Lacee, 8, and Dean, 10, and has never been aggressive.
"You never hear about the good ones because they are at home being good," said Cotton, 27, of Greeley. "I would be extremely upset with a ban like that in Greeley. I'd have to move. My dog has done nothing wrong. I'm not going to punish him."
Cotton said she has utilized a technique called mounting - where the owner puts the dog on its back and looks deep into his eyes while scolding him - to teach Jinx that his aggression had no place in the Cotton's home.
Cotton, however, said she has experienced the viciousness pit bulls are known for. About 4 1/2 years ago, when she had seven pit bulls - five of which she acquired from her brother - a pack of six attacked a neighbor's cattle, killing one, shredding the ear off another and breaking the leg of a calf, Cotton said.
She euthanized the six pit bulls the same day and reimbursed the cattle owner for the damages. "I cried and cried, but it was something I had to do," Cotton said.
Cotton said the incident didn't diminish her love for the breed. That's why she still has Jinx; the only dog who didn't participate in the attack.
Roger Messick, the executive director of the Weld County Human Society, said responsible owners like Cotton deserve the chance to own pit bulls.
He said pit bulls aren't born aggressive. The owners who don't socialize the dogs and either train or encourage bad behavior create the vicious dogs that make headlines and create the dangerous stereotype.
"Pit bulls are like any other breed of dogs," Messick said. "there are good ones and bad ones. It just depends on how they've been raised and what's happened."
Messick, who has worked 14 years in animal welfare, said studies support his assertion that pit bulls aren't as dangerous or aggressive as the public believes.
A test buy the American Temperament Test Society Inc. that focuses on and measures different aspects of temperament - such as stability, shyness, aggressiveness, protectiveness and friendliness a - gave American pit bull terriers an 83 percent passing rate.
The breed ranked higher than akita, Doberman pinscher, Dalmatian, Great Dane and rottweiler, among others.
Vail, Colorado
|
Search
