Oklahoma: Tahlequah City Council Bans Pit Bulls

OKLAHOMA -- Municipal officials here have joined a growing number of cities nationally in banning pit bull terriers from within city limits because of residents' fears.

The Tahlequah City Council in a unanimous vote earlier this month passed the ordinance, city attorney Jack Bliss said.

"Pits just aren't good dogs," he said in explaining why the ordinance was passed.

The move to ban pit bulls in Tahlequah began more than a year ago when citizens complained about a resident who owned seven of the dogs.

Because the city had an ordinance banning the harboring of more than three dogs without a kennel license, city officials were able to force the owner to get rid of four of the pit bulls.

However, city residents told the council they became alarmed when one of the three remaining pit bulls crawled under a fence and attacked another dog.

"The pit bull started after our son," said Lee Simons. "Whether he was going after our son or not, we don't know. But before he could get very close, our dog intercepted him."

Simons said the two dogs became involved in a fight and his dog suffered severe injuries.

"Our son tried banging on the pit bull with a water hose, but it didn't work. Our neighbor tried as hard as possible to separate the dogs, but he didn't have any luck," Simons said. "Finally our neighbor ... shot the dog (pit bull) three times."

After the dog fight, neighbors asked the city council to pass the ordinance barring the dogs from Tahlequah.

Neighbors are concerned with the pit bulls because they think the animals are being raised as fighting dogs, Simons said.

The American Dog Owners Association, headquartered in New York City, has called unconstitutional the ordinances passed around the country prohibiting the ownership of pit bulls.

Gordon Carvell, president of the organization, says the ordinances usually are ambiguous.

A ban should not be against a specific breed of dog but against all vicious dogs, he said.

(NewsOK - June 13, 1986)

Florida: Doberman pinscher mauled to death by two pit bulls

FLORIDA -- A Doberman Pinscher owned by a Wilton Manors woman died May 28 of injuries suffered during an attack by two pit bulls in the 6800 block of Northwest Eighth Terrace, according to a police report.

The Doberman was severely injured during a May 23 fight and was being treated at Academy Animal Hospital when it died, the report said.

The Doberman, which was being kept by a Parkland resident while the owner was out of town, wandered onto private property patrolled by the pit bulls, a police spokesman said.

(Sun Sentinel - June 6, 1986)