Post by RealPitBull on Jan 12, 2009 16:27:01 GMT -5
began in 1996
John Hult
Champion Editor
January 07. 2009 6:00AM
For over a month, the Tea City Council has wrestled with the possibility of
changing the city's banned breed ordinance, originally passed in 1996.
The ban could force Tea resident Megan Hes to either move out of the city or
find a new home for her two American pit bull terriers.
The incident that first led the council to tackle the general problem of
vicious animals, however, was a series of attacks in 1996 by a Doberman -
one of which resulted in a bite.
Dennis Meyer's wife and a group of her friends were nearly bitten by a
neighbor's dog.
"They had to duck into the garage to get away," Meyer said.
The same dog later bit his neighbor, he said.
Those incidents, combined with a pit bull attack on a child in Flandreau and
a national push to ban the breed, led to the creation of Tea's vicious
animal ordinance. Meyer helped construct that ordinance along with a group
of concerned residents.
The rules were refined over months. There were no regulations to deal with
vicious animals at the time, and former council member Jo Niles remembers
taking a lot of calls about animals on the loose.
"We really discussed that a lot," Niles said. "It just got out of hand."
The ordinance that passed requires animals deemed "vicious"
following attacks to be chained up or muzzled for a period of time following
the incident.
The ban on the pit bulls was passed due to national and local concerns,
however. A boy in Flandreau was mauled and killed by a pack of pit bulls in
1995.
According to Dick Dubro, who was Tea's police chief in 1996, calls about pit
bulls within Tea city limits at the time weren't actually violent.
"I never had any complaints other than them barking or running loose," Dubro
said. "It got all hyped up."
There were plenty of pit bulls in Tea in 1996, he said. At the two council
meetings prior to Jan. 5 at which the issue of a breed ban was discussed,
Mayor John Lawler acknowledged that there still are today, despite the
long-standing ban.
On Dec. 15, Tea City Attorney Todd Meierhenry said explained that the ban -
and many of them implemented across the country in the late 1990s - is only
partially about the dogs themselves.
"I think certain people know that a dog like that will strike fear into the
hearts of people," Meierhenry said.
Banning a preferred species of guard dog used by drug dealers and other
criminals was seen as a way of cleaning up the community, he told the
council.
"The rational basis for a lot of this is if you ban the dog, you ban the
owner," he said. "Unfortunately, you throw out the good with the bad."
Dubro, who now opposes the breed ban, said the "bad owners" factor had a lot
to do with Tea's problems in the past.
"A lot of people have fear of them," Dubro said. "My opinion is that (dogs)
take after their owners."
Niles and Meyer both said they hope the ban will stay in place as a
precaution. Meyer said no one should be forced to flee from an animal whose
owner takes poor care of it.
"This is what happened, this is what will happen again," Meyer said.
"It's for our protection."
John Hult
Champion Editor
January 07. 2009 6:00AM
For over a month, the Tea City Council has wrestled with the possibility of
changing the city's banned breed ordinance, originally passed in 1996.
The ban could force Tea resident Megan Hes to either move out of the city or
find a new home for her two American pit bull terriers.
The incident that first led the council to tackle the general problem of
vicious animals, however, was a series of attacks in 1996 by a Doberman -
one of which resulted in a bite.
Dennis Meyer's wife and a group of her friends were nearly bitten by a
neighbor's dog.
"They had to duck into the garage to get away," Meyer said.
The same dog later bit his neighbor, he said.
Those incidents, combined with a pit bull attack on a child in Flandreau and
a national push to ban the breed, led to the creation of Tea's vicious
animal ordinance. Meyer helped construct that ordinance along with a group
of concerned residents.
The rules were refined over months. There were no regulations to deal with
vicious animals at the time, and former council member Jo Niles remembers
taking a lot of calls about animals on the loose.
"We really discussed that a lot," Niles said. "It just got out of hand."
The ordinance that passed requires animals deemed "vicious"
following attacks to be chained up or muzzled for a period of time following
the incident.
The ban on the pit bulls was passed due to national and local concerns,
however. A boy in Flandreau was mauled and killed by a pack of pit bulls in
1995.
According to Dick Dubro, who was Tea's police chief in 1996, calls about pit
bulls within Tea city limits at the time weren't actually violent.
"I never had any complaints other than them barking or running loose," Dubro
said. "It got all hyped up."
There were plenty of pit bulls in Tea in 1996, he said. At the two council
meetings prior to Jan. 5 at which the issue of a breed ban was discussed,
Mayor John Lawler acknowledged that there still are today, despite the
long-standing ban.
On Dec. 15, Tea City Attorney Todd Meierhenry said explained that the ban -
and many of them implemented across the country in the late 1990s - is only
partially about the dogs themselves.
"I think certain people know that a dog like that will strike fear into the
hearts of people," Meierhenry said.
Banning a preferred species of guard dog used by drug dealers and other
criminals was seen as a way of cleaning up the community, he told the
council.
"The rational basis for a lot of this is if you ban the dog, you ban the
owner," he said. "Unfortunately, you throw out the good with the bad."
Dubro, who now opposes the breed ban, said the "bad owners" factor had a lot
to do with Tea's problems in the past.
"A lot of people have fear of them," Dubro said. "My opinion is that (dogs)
take after their owners."
Niles and Meyer both said they hope the ban will stay in place as a
precaution. Meyer said no one should be forced to flee from an animal whose
owner takes poor care of it.
"This is what happened, this is what will happen again," Meyer said.
"It's for our protection."
I look forward to learning much here