Putnam County, WV: Vicious-dog ordinance won't work, ASPCA says

Putnam County, WV: Vicious-dog ordinance won’t work, ASPCA says

Putnam County, WV: Vicious-dog ordinance won’t work, ASPCA says
Posted on January 3, 2010 by stopbslcom

Putnam Co. just passed BSL against “pit bulls.” Previous alert for Putnam Co: Putnam County, WV: BSL passed (3 articles) Stop BSL

http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201001020126?page=2&build=cache

Putnam vicious-dog ordinance won’t work, ASPCA says

By Veronica Nett
Staff writer, Sunday Gazette-Mail
Jan 2, 2010

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When Putnam County commissioners passed a vicious-dog ordinance that specifically targets pit bull, they were “using a hammer when you should be gently tapping,” according to a leader of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Ann Church, senior director of government relations with the ASPCA, said breed-specific legislation clogs the court system, is difficult to enforce, is expensive, and has little to no effect on reducing the number of dog bites and attacks.

“Nothing shows that [breed-specific legislation works],” Church said. “It pins the good dogs that may be of that breed, of which there are many, with a bad name, and the minute you brand a certain breed, nobody will say that’s what their dog is.”

On Dec. 22, Putnam commissioners approved an ordinance that requires owners of pit bulls and other dogs deemed vicious to keep their dog on their property with a six-foot enclosed fence, or on a four-foot leash held by the owner.

About 20 Bancroft residents attended the commission meeting in support of the ordinance, and applauded when it passed. Residents told of being chased, attacked and trapped in their cars by snarling dogs that have been allowed by their owners to roam free.

Pit bulls were targeted in the ordinance because residents said that’s the breed they’ve had the most trouble with.

A vicious-dog ordinance is a step in the right direction toward holding owners responsible for their pets, Church said. But pinpointing a certain breed is ineffective and can create a false sense of security in the community, she said.

Instead, she said, communities should enforce leash and tethering laws, encourage owners to spay and neuter their pets and take action when animals are treated inhumanely.

“There are ways to handle the problem without labeling so many sweet dogs and so many good owners,” she said.

A vicious dog, as defined in the Putnam ordinance, is a pit bull or mixed-breed pit bull, or a dog that chases, bites, or attempts to chase or bite, without provocation, a person or another domesticated animal, or exhibits unprovoked aggression.

Given the right circumstances, any dog can show aggressive tendencies, Church said — especially if the dog hasn’t been spayed or neutered and if it’s been trained to be aggressive or has been treated inhumanely.

Also, dogs chained or tied up outside for a long time can also be aggressive, she said. “They’re so mentally upset and stressed that if they do break away from the chain,” they’re more likely to act aggressively.

Charleston and Huntington recently passed tethering ordinances that restrict when and how long dogs can be tied up outside.

Violators of the Putnam vicious-dog ordinance face up to a $1,000 fine for the first offense, and a $300 to $2,000 fine for the second offense. For a third offense, an owner faces the same fine, but also up to a year in jail.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When Putnam County commissioners passed a vicious-dog ordinance that specifically targets pit bull, they were “using a hammer when you should be gently tapping,” according to a leader of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Ann Church, senior director of government relations with the ASPCA, said breed-specific legislation clogs the court system, is difficult to enforce, is expensive, and has little to no effect on reducing the number of dog bites and attacks.

“Nothing shows that [breed-specific legislation works],” Church said. “It pins the good dogs that may be of that breed, of which there are many, with a bad name, and the minute you brand a certain breed, nobody will say that’s what their dog is.”

On Dec. 22, Putnam commissioners approved an ordinance that requires owners of pit bulls and other dogs deemed vicious to keep their dog on their property with a six-foot enclosed fence, or on a four-foot leash held by the owner.

About 20 Bancroft residents attended the commission meeting in support of the ordinance, and applauded when it passed. Residents told of being chased, attacked and trapped in their cars by snarling dogs that have been allowed by their owners to roam free.

Pit bulls were targeted in the ordinance because residents said that’s the breed they’ve had the most trouble with.

A vicious-dog ordinance is a step in the right direction toward holding owners responsible for their pets, Church said. But pinpointing a certain breed is ineffective and can create a false sense of security in the community, she said.

Instead, she said, communities should enforce leash and tethering laws, encourage owners to spay and neuter their pets and take action when animals are treated inhumanely.

“There are ways to handle the problem without labeling so many sweet dogs and so many good owners,” she said.

A vicious dog, as defined in the Putnam ordinance, is a pit bull or mixed-breed pit bull, or a dog that chases, bites, or attempts to chase or bite, without provocation, a person or another domesticated animal, or exhibits unprovoked aggression.

Given the right circumstances, any dog can show aggressive tendencies, Church said — especially if the dog hasn’t been spayed or neutered and if it’s been trained to be aggressive or has been treated inhumanely.

Also, dogs chained or tied up outside for a long time can also be aggressive, she said. “They’re so mentally upset and stressed that if they do break away from the chain,” they’re more likely to act aggressively.

Charleston and Huntington recently passed tethering ordinances that restrict when and how long dogs can be tied up outside.

Violators of the Putnam vicious-dog ordinance face up to a $1,000 fine for the first offense, and a $300 to $2,000 fine for the second offense. For a third offense, an owner faces the same fine, but also up to a year in jail.

“It has all this teeth, and it really is not going to be that effective,” Church said of the Putnam ordinance.

Ohio is the only state to specify pit bulls as a vicious dog in statewide legislation. State lawmakers passed the law in the late 1990s after a retired surgeon was mauled to death by a prostitute’s dogs following an argument in her home.

But Ohio has seen no reduction in the number of dog bites, Church said.

Maryland’s Prince Georges County, outside Washington, D.C., put a similar law in place in 1997.

In 2003, a task force reviewed the legislation, and found while there was a reduction in the number of dog attacks, it “does not address the problems of public safety and actually gives a false sense of security to the public.”

“The bad owners switch to other breeds of dogs,” according to the Maryland task force. They also found it was difficult to determine a dog’s breed, because the definition of a pit bull is “subjective.”

In many cases, when a pit bull was picked up, it would stay in the shelter for up to a year, while the owner’s case worked its way through the court system — straining the shelter’s resources and space, according to the task force.

Pit bulls are just one of about 25 breeds of dogs known to have attacked and killed a person, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Pit bulls and Rottweilers account for over half of dog-bite fatalities. Of those, 24 percent involve unrestrained dogs off of their owner’s property, and 58 percent involved unrestrained dogs on their owner’s property, according to the two agencies.

The 10 most dangerous dogs are pit bulls, Rottweilers, German shepherds, huskies, Alaskan malamutes, Doberman pinschers, chow chows, Great Danes, St. Bernards and Akitas, according to the CDC.

Earlier this month, a Monroe County man died after he was attacked near his home by a pack of pit bulls. Lowell Bowden, 70, of Union was attacked by four or five dogs, he died several days later of his injuries. The dogs’ owners, Justin Blankenship, his mother, Kimberly Blankenship, and Mose Christian and Anna Hughes were arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter on Dec. 10.

In August, a pit bull attacked and killed a 3-day-old boy in his home in Hardy County. The 1-year-old pit bull was a family pet.

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