AR: Proposed Magnolia ordinance would prohibit convicted felons from owning pit bulldogs

Posted: Monday, December 23, 2013 6:58 am
Mike McNeill, publisher and editor

Convicted felons will be banned from owning pit bulls or vicious dogs if the Magnolia City Council passes a proposed ordinance.

The pit bull proposal says that allowing convicted felons to own or possess a pit bull or vicious dog is a nuisance and a hazard. It also says that there is a need “to keep convicted felons from owning or possessing pit bulls or vicious dogs in the City of Magnolia, Arkansas, much like the prohibition of owning a firearm, as both can be used as weapons against the citizens of this city.”

Passage of the ordinance would amend Magnolia Code as follows:

“Any person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of the United States, of the state of Arkansas, or any other state, government, or country, is prohibited from owning, purchasing, receiving, harboring, keeping, or being in possession of or having under his or her custody or control a dog that poses a danger to the public's health, safety or welfare, or any dog defined as vicious by Section 4-29, including but not limited to pit bulls. A person who violates this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not less than $500. A convicted felon under this article shall not include felons whose convictions were set aside.”

Mayor Parnell Vann said the city’s animal control office spends half his day dealing with problems involving pit bull dogs or similar breeds.

“I feel like a felon in possession of a pit bull is like a felon in possession of a firearm. We know these dogs are vicious,” Vann said.

Pit bulls in Magnolia are supposed to be in cages no smaller than five-by-ten feet square, and harnessed and muzzled, Vann said.

“The people who have abused this breed are not abiding by the ordinance and it’s causing us to take further action. A lot of the problems of late with pit bulls – we know these people to be felons,” Vann said.

Conceivably, under the proposed ordinance, a convicted felon could be deemed in violation of his terms of probation or parole and arrested for ownership of a vicious dog.

“We’ve got some great people that own pit bulls. We’ve got some people who I had no idea owned a pit bull. The good people who own this breed are not on the radar. The problem seems to be with the bad people who repeatedly break the law and have vicious dogs,” Vann said.

“We know there are dog fights going on somewhere. The dogs we pick up show all the signs. We have not been able to find it – the dog fighting -- but we are looking for it. If we find those people they will be punished to the end of the law,” Vann said.

“I want my phone to ring from people who need help to move our city forward, not bad people calling complaining about animal control enforcing the ordinance,” Vann said. “I want to make it harder for the bad guy to have another weapon of choice.”

Proposed Magnolia ordinance would prohibit convicted felons from owning pit bulldogs - Magnolia Reporter - Magnolia, Arkansas News: Local News

 

Re: Proposed Magnolia ordinance would prohibit convicted felons from owning pit bulld

WTF??? LMAO I can't believe I just read that, what is next?