The city banned pit bulls in 2012. A recent post on the city's Facebook page says there was a biting incident involving a pit bull that happened on Wednesday.
In the post, the city went on to announce new measures that will be taken for anyone who adopts a dog in city limits.
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| Mr. Wilson and his dog were attacked by a pit bull |
The widely-shared post was met with criticism from many commenters.
"Etowah Tennessee is advocating the denial to the First Amendment! They are against the freedom of speech!" says commenter Todd Smith.
Commenter Randa Lynn Rhoades suggested that some people may be inclined to lie about the breed of the dogs they adopt: "Seems to me that this ordinance is nothing but fear mongering and ignorance. Just fyi, start calling your dogs Staffordshire Terrier or American bulldog mixes."
When the city passed the pit bull ban in 2012, they wrote an ordinance outlining some of the characteristics that make them dangerous, including "a diminished tendency to warn they're going to attack, a tendency to "fight to the death" and to tear flesh "which has resulted in grotesque injuries to human victims."
Mayor Jim Bull, Vice Mayor Matt Goodin and Commissioner Jim Swayne voted in favor of the ban in 2012. Commissioners Dennis Morgan and Burke Garwood voted against it.
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| Gizmo was attacked by a pit bull |
The ordinance allowed prior owners of pit bulls to keep their dogs, but required them to buy $100,000 in liability insurance, to keep the dogs muzzled on short leashes when outside of the home, and to keep the dogs confined indoors or a in a locked pen or kennel while at home.
The issue of whether pit bulls are an inherently dangerous breed has long been a topic of discussion online and on social media. Read Time magazine's look at the topic here, and check out this entry from "DogsBite.org" on the nature of pit bulls.
(News Channel 9 - March 11, 2016)
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