While I don't personally know any "pit bull" owners that fit that description I do recognize that it does happen and that it is a serious problem.
I would wish that those of you who only see that side of the issue would realize that there are many owners who don't fit that description and while we all want to get rid of irresponsible dog owners let's not do it by punishing the responsible owners.
Detroit Animal Control has the right idea about how to deal with the breed.
Detroit council backs off pit bull banFebruary 1, 2006
BY MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERIn the face of vociferous opposition from dozens of pit bull owners and animal activists from the city and metro area, the Detroit City Council on Tuesday backed off a proposed ban of pit bulls.
Instead, the council opted to form a task force to look for ways to strengthen the city's existing laws against so-called dangerous dogs.
The task force, made up of council members, dog advocates and victims of attacks, is set to meet sometime the first week of March.
During a more than two-hour hearing Tuesday, a standing-room-only crowd of irate pit bull lovers jammed the council's 13th-floor chamber in city hall. They defended their animals, saying the breed has a bad reputation because of irresponsible owners who raise and train the dogs to be aggressive.
"I think the proposed ban is a discriminatory way to handle dangerous dogs," said Mike Rafferty, a pit bull owner who said he would rather have moved than give up his dog.
Victims of dog attacks, however, were in favor of the ban.
Lloyd Wesley Jr., the U.S. postmaster in Detroit, told the council that he supported any measure that would reduce the number of dog attacks on postal workers. Forty-one Detroit letter carriers were bitten or attacked by dogs in 2005, compared with 32 in 2004, according to the U.S. Postal Service.
Under the proposed ordinance, any pit bull puppies older than 8 weeks would have had to be taken from the city or put to death, and permits would have been required for those traveling through the city with the dogs.
Current pit bull owners, who would have been grandfathered in under the proposed ban, would have needed to license their dogs, take out $100,000 worth of liability insurance for each dog and have the animal spayed or neutered.
Councilwoman JoAnn Watson, who introduced the proposed ban with former Councilwoman Sharon McPhail last year, said the heavy opposition caused her to look at other ways to enforce the city's existing dog laws.
Watson said the proposal was in response to complaints of stray dogs, particularly pit bulls, terrorizing neighborhoods and attacking residents. She said the attacks culminated with several high-profile incidents last year, including that of Detroiter Mary Stiles, who at 91 was fatally mauled by her bullmastiff.
"Something ought to be done," Watson said.
Watson's colleague, Sheila Cockrel, suggested the task force as an alternative.
"The issue of dangerous dogs in the city has been before the council several times over the last eight, nine, 10 years and it seems to have grown worse," she said. "But I don't think, and have never thought, that a breed ban is the answer."
Detroit Free Press Jan.31/06~snip~
“I’m definitely more in favor of this direction,” said Dr. Angela Hines, a veterinarian who heads the city’s Animal Control division. Hines said a specific pit bull ban was not only nearly impossible for the city to enforce, it also would have been ineffective because it did not address the problem of other dangerous dogs.
Watson said she introduced the ordinance because she was trying to find ways to respond to citizens who complained repeatedly of dangerous dogs on the loose, particularly pit bulls, who attacked people and terrorized neighborhoods.
“Something ought to be done,” she said.
But she said the task force would be the best way for citizens who are concerned about the issue to air their views and look for ways to enforce the city’s current dog laws.