OHIO -- Pit bull ban: Gallipolis is saying no to the breed after two viciously attacked a 13-year-old girl.
That attack happened in the city in January -- that's clear. But the circumstances surrounding the attack are anything but black and white.
“If my dog was vicious, I'd kill him myself,” Chris Vanmeter said.
He is grieving the loss of two beloved family members.
“I feel like they assassinated my family,” he said.
For years, Vanmeter has owned, bred and raised pit bulls. He said his last two, Face and Little Momma, were so gentle that his two young children, including his 2-year-old son, played and toyed with them fearlessly.
“They weren’t raised to be vicious; they ate out of my kids’ hands,” Vanmeter said .
But in January, the dogs attacked when a family friend, a 13-year-old girl, slipped into Vanmeter's home when no one was there.
“My dogs don’t know her that well, and she’s always roughhoused with every dog she’s ever had," he said. "My dogs are very protective.”
Police responded quickly and shot both dogs, killing them.
“They were very troubled and want to make sure nothing like that happens again,” Gallipolis Police Chief Clint Patterson said.
He said the attack was so gruesome, the little girl's arm was nearly destroyed. It didn't take the City Commission long to create and pass a pit bull ban.
“We won’t go searching for the dogs, but if someone calls us or we run across them in the line of duty, we will take care of them,” Patterson said.
This ban isn't limited to American Pit Bull Terriers. It includes any variation of bull terriers, including the Staffordshire.
Once police find out about it, they can seize the dog if it demonstrates vicious behavior. If it doesn't, the owner has seven days to get it out of town. If the owner fails, the city can then take the dog or impose a penalty of up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.
Amy Bailey has a Poi -- or a type of Hawaiian Terrier -- not included in the ban. But that didn't stop someone from calling the police on her. Needless to say, she has mixed feelings about the ban.
“I don’t think it should target any one breed," Bailey said. "It should be about how the owner raises the dog.”
Back to Vanmeter -- he said this whole thing didn't have to happen, and he's the one suffering the most.
It's up to police discretion as to what's considered a pit bull or any one of the banned bull terriers. Patterson said he's in the process of helping the officers recognize the various breeds.
In the meantime, he encourages owners to keep papers that verify their dog's breed. One more footnote: the ban also includes any other breed of dog that has killed or caused serious injury to another person or dog.
(WSAZ - April 8, 2009)
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