Post by RealPitBull on Jan 25, 2008 8:45:51 GMT -5
Pit bull ban to be reviewed
www.aurorasentinel.com/main.asp?SectionID=8&SubSectionID=8&ArticleID=18228
Aurora | Two years after Aurora banned pit bulls, a city committee will meet Friday, Jan. 25, to review the ban's effectiveness.
In accordance with the 2006 law that made it illegal to own a pit bull and several other breeds of "fighting dog," the city must study and report the number of dogs impounded, those pit bulls' fate and the cost of enforcing the ban.
The city euthanized 636 pit bulls in the first year of the ban and 173 pit bulls in 2007, according to its report.
Last year, 85 pit bulls were impounded but later released to their owner, according to the report.
The ban on pit bulls allows a judge to release an impounded dog if its owner promises to transport the pit bull outside of the city.
One of those dogs, Emmie, still walks the city streets with her owner Connie Boaeke, but wears a muzzle in order to comply with the ban.
Boaeke said she's not happy about the personal inconvenience of the ban, and also thinks it's absurd.
"It eradicates dogs based on breeds, not on performance," Boaeke said.
Kay Bethurem, Boaeke's mother, has lived in Aurora for about 30 years and said Emmie isn't a threat to anyone.
"She's the one that they're picking on and she's just about as gentle as they come," Bethurem said.
But some lawmakers who originally supported the ban say it's working.
Councilwoman Molly Markert, one of the ban's strongest backers, said she's glad the city became a no pit bull zone similar to Denver.
"I have not gotten a single complaint (about pit bulls) since it was enacted, and that to me is a measure of satisfaction from the community," Markert said.
The ban also allowed pit bulls living in Aurora at the time to be grandfathered in, so long as their owners were willing to pay a fee and follow restrictions - including posting a sign on their front door to make visitors aware a pit bull was inside.
The number of registered pit bulls dropped from 498 in 2006 to 355 last year, according to the report.
While the number of bites by pit bulls fell the first year the ban was enforced from 27 to 8, there were 15 last year - 10 percent of the number of bites from other breeds of dogs, according to the report.
The report also says the ban is "budget neutral" - the city collects enough money to enforce the ban from fines on violators and the annual $200 registration fee pit bull owners who were grandfathered into the city pay to keep their dogs.
www.aurorasentinel.com/main.asp?SectionID=8&SubSectionID=8&ArticleID=18228
Aurora | Two years after Aurora banned pit bulls, a city committee will meet Friday, Jan. 25, to review the ban's effectiveness.
In accordance with the 2006 law that made it illegal to own a pit bull and several other breeds of "fighting dog," the city must study and report the number of dogs impounded, those pit bulls' fate and the cost of enforcing the ban.
The city euthanized 636 pit bulls in the first year of the ban and 173 pit bulls in 2007, according to its report.
Last year, 85 pit bulls were impounded but later released to their owner, according to the report.
The ban on pit bulls allows a judge to release an impounded dog if its owner promises to transport the pit bull outside of the city.
One of those dogs, Emmie, still walks the city streets with her owner Connie Boaeke, but wears a muzzle in order to comply with the ban.
Boaeke said she's not happy about the personal inconvenience of the ban, and also thinks it's absurd.
"It eradicates dogs based on breeds, not on performance," Boaeke said.
Kay Bethurem, Boaeke's mother, has lived in Aurora for about 30 years and said Emmie isn't a threat to anyone.
"She's the one that they're picking on and she's just about as gentle as they come," Bethurem said.
But some lawmakers who originally supported the ban say it's working.
Councilwoman Molly Markert, one of the ban's strongest backers, said she's glad the city became a no pit bull zone similar to Denver.
"I have not gotten a single complaint (about pit bulls) since it was enacted, and that to me is a measure of satisfaction from the community," Markert said.
The ban also allowed pit bulls living in Aurora at the time to be grandfathered in, so long as their owners were willing to pay a fee and follow restrictions - including posting a sign on their front door to make visitors aware a pit bull was inside.
The number of registered pit bulls dropped from 498 in 2006 to 355 last year, according to the report.
While the number of bites by pit bulls fell the first year the ban was enforced from 27 to 8, there were 15 last year - 10 percent of the number of bites from other breeds of dogs, according to the report.
The report also says the ban is "budget neutral" - the city collects enough money to enforce the ban from fines on violators and the annual $200 registration fee pit bull owners who were grandfathered into the city pay to keep their dogs.