Post by RealPitBull on Feb 27, 2008 12:59:43 GMT -5
Pit bull law tossed out in Reading
A Pennsylvania appeals court has muzzled an out-of-control Reading city ordinance that required pit bulls -- and other dogs deemed "dangerous" on the basis of their breed -- be subject to restrictions that included being kept on three-foot leashes when outside the home.
The divided Commonwealth Court decision sided with two pit-bull owners -- Stacie Stankiewicz and Kenneth Steeves Sr. -- who have been fighting the city ordinance since it passed eight years ago.
The court threw out the law because it conflicted with, and was preempted by, a state law defining what makes a dog "dangerous." The state law is not "breed specific."
The Reading ordinance was among the strictest and most backward in the country, defining aggressive dogs as those that are -- even partly -- of a breed that accounted for 40 percent or more of dog-bite incidents reported in the city during the prior year. It required such dogs, when outside the home, be muzzled and kept on a leash shorter than three feet, and required their owners to pay higher fees to register them.
Violation of the ordinance was punishable with fines of up to $1,000 or 30 days in jail.
"The absurdity was that dangerous dog breeds changed from year to year, based on the dog-bite statistics -- that was the crux of the lawsuit," Al Kauffman, attorney for plaintiffs, said in an Associated Press account of the ruling.
Pennsylvania's state Dog Law classifies as "dangerous" an individual dog that has attacked someone without provocation, one that killed or badly injured a domestic animal while off the dog owner's property, or one that has been used to commit a crime.
Posted
A Pennsylvania appeals court has muzzled an out-of-control Reading city ordinance that required pit bulls -- and other dogs deemed "dangerous" on the basis of their breed -- be subject to restrictions that included being kept on three-foot leashes when outside the home.
The divided Commonwealth Court decision sided with two pit-bull owners -- Stacie Stankiewicz and Kenneth Steeves Sr. -- who have been fighting the city ordinance since it passed eight years ago.
The court threw out the law because it conflicted with, and was preempted by, a state law defining what makes a dog "dangerous." The state law is not "breed specific."
The Reading ordinance was among the strictest and most backward in the country, defining aggressive dogs as those that are -- even partly -- of a breed that accounted for 40 percent or more of dog-bite incidents reported in the city during the prior year. It required such dogs, when outside the home, be muzzled and kept on a leash shorter than three feet, and required their owners to pay higher fees to register them.
Violation of the ordinance was punishable with fines of up to $1,000 or 30 days in jail.
"The absurdity was that dangerous dog breeds changed from year to year, based on the dog-bite statistics -- that was the crux of the lawsuit," Al Kauffman, attorney for plaintiffs, said in an Associated Press account of the ruling.
Pennsylvania's state Dog Law classifies as "dangerous" an individual dog that has attacked someone without provocation, one that killed or badly injured a domestic animal while off the dog owner's property, or one that has been used to commit a crime.
Posted