Hayden Town Council to hear pit bull ban request
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Past Event
Hayden Town Council meeting
- Thursday, November 3, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
- Hayden Town Hall, Hayden, CO
- All ages / Free
Hayden — A Routt County resident on Thursday night will ask the Hayden Town Council to consider banning pit bull terriers from the town.
Carolyn Montieth said her daughter, who lives in Hayden, was bitten last month by a neighbor’s pit bull. Hayden Police Chief Gordon Booco said officers responded to the incident Oct. 8 and issued the dog’s owner citations for owning two vicious animals that were running at large. Montieth’s daughter did not require medical attention, and the dog’s owner is scheduled to appear Nov. 7 in Hayden Municipal Court to face the complaints.
Montieth said she would like to see the Town Council adopt an ordinance that would ban all pit bulls.
“I’m scared to death of them, mainly because of the publicity they get and what they can do to people,” she said Wednesday. “It’s no secret pit bulls have killed.”
Booco said police each year receive occasional complaints about vicious dogs in town.
“There haven’t been a lot of problems with them in Hayden, but pit bulls are naturally on people’s minds because of the publicity they get,” he said. “We get a couple animal bite calls a year, but nothing out of the ordinary. Most of them are for a dog attacking another dog.”
The Town Council meets at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Hayden Town Hall with a light agenda. The board is not scheduled to take action on any items.
— To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210 or email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com
Comments
heboprotagonist 1 year, 6 months ago
As a big government liberal I'm in favor of all manner of regulations, but this is just ridiculous. Pit Bulls are no more vicious than any other breed of dog. Dogs that misbehave or have violent tendencies are a result of poor dog ownership.
If you want to regulate dogs require all dogs to be registered with the city and wear I.D. tags at all times. Require animal control to enforce leash laws and increase fines. Maybe certain breeds of dogs could be labeled "high risk" and require a more expensive registration- as a deterrent.
Ultimately the responsibility should be placed on the owner, never the dog.
Stephen Evans 1 year, 6 months ago
My tennants boyfriend had a pit bull and it was bad. It attacked my innocent friendly rescue dog and it took three of us to pull the dog off. I was twisting the collar and pulling the pit bulls ears and it did slow down the vicious dog. The Owner started kicking his dog as hard as he could and finally the pit bull released its deadly grip. The next time their dog attacked they had to put it down. DEAD DEAD mean pit bull was a just ending. Everybody is happy dog is dead. Keep pit bull out of neighborhoods With people, especially children, & dogs.
Cresean Sterne 1 year, 6 months ago
Pit Busls are a breed that have gotten the worst reputation ever. I have owned dogs my entire life and used to think this way when I was young. In the last 20 yrs. I have educated myself with different breeds of dogs. What I have learned is that banning a specific breed of dog from your town that typicaly acts the way the ower does should not be allowed. If this was a lab or retiever that bit someone, would you want that specific breed banned from your town. Of course not. I have seen Akitas and other strong large dog breeds attack and there is realy no difference. Akitas, German Sheperds,etc have incredibly strong bites and can kill or create major injury to a dog or human. You never here anyone complaining about these dogs. I know that the controversy is around the tempermant and locking bite that pit bulls have. This use to be my fear with these animals when I was young. After being around many pit bulls and service pit pulls in other towns and dog functions, I have changed my way of thinking about these dogs and blame all there behavioral problems on there owner. I believe that any breed of dog can be a great family pet if trained correctly, exercised and most of all socialized. I have seen plenty of these dogs used as SERVICE DOGS... Please dont start descriminating against one style of dog in your town. Maybe holding an awareness and education function is the way to go instead. Every dog breed is a little different and there are specific needs for training that breed. I am saddened by what has happened to the family but banning this type or any type of breed will not make the problem go away. I hope that the town of Hayden truly looks at the message they will send if they do decide to ban this type of breed. Educate,Educate,Educate,, (knowledge is power)
Oshkoshgirl 1 year, 6 months ago
I agree with Crash about educating dog owners and training dogs properly, unfortunately I will stereotype the people who want to own a pit bull in the first place - people who want a big, mean looking, tough dog. Typically young men. Who are not inclined to train their dogs at all, no matter what kind of dog they have. I believe all dogs can be good dogs as long as they are trained. Instead of banning one type of dog, require special licensing and mandatory dog training - with this the dog will learn and the owner will learn how to properly look after such a big, strong breed.
Brian Kotowski 1 year, 6 months ago
An American is killed every 48 seconds on American roadways. An American is injured every 14 seconds on American roadways. I think Hayden should entertain banning motor vehicles within city limits.
bandmama 1 year, 6 months ago
Pitts can be great loving family dogs. But they can also be the vicious animals that so many were bred for. It is in the genes. Nat Geo recently had a great article about breeding of foxes in Russia. After so many generations most of the "wildness" is bred out of them. A ban for these canines which can be bred, to not be so aggressive is stupid. Instead perhaps an evaluation by an trained individual to see if the animal shows tendencies towards aggression would be a wiser choice.
I have a Chow/Shep mix. The sweetest dog that ever lived. But both breeds have reps as being aggressive. In his MUCH younger days we had to really be respnsible dog owners around other dogs as he would live up to that rep. It was an alpha thing but he certainly thought that he was THE dog. (Ok, he was...). If he was on leash he was fine, but if not and another pup came onto his property? It wasn't pretty. Knowing this, would I ever support a ban for Chows or Shepherds? Not for all the money in the world. It was MY responsibility to keep him in check. If he ever turned vicious, would I accept that maybe he needs to be put down? Yes, as much as I love him I would have too. It is the individual animal, not the whole breed. Oh yeah, I agree with Sep......lol!
Brian Kotowski 1 year, 6 months ago
As captnse evidently believes that anecdote=evidence, here's mine: Pit Bull Terriers are among the sweetest (in terms of temperament) dogs I have ever been around. At the other end of the spectrum - in my experience - are Akitas. I once thought I would like to have one - I think they're spectacular looking dogs - until I got face to face with them. I've met a total of 4 of them, and they've all been hyper-aggressive; nearly beyond their owners' ability to control. Too much dog for me. And I am perfectly willing to admit that the limited sample I've been exposed to may not be representative of the breed as a whole; and that the owners of the animals I encountered may not have been equipped to handle their dogs. Regardless, based on my personal experience, I would never own one. At the same time, I would never presume to restrict ownership based on my limited exposure. I am not as holier-than-thou as captnse.
I presently own an adopted Bouvier - quite a large, powerful breed. He had clearly been abused by a man (or men) prior to my acquiring him. It's taken a good deal of effort & training to mold him into a companion I can trust to safely interact with whomever I come into contact with. And you can believe that I'm enormously attached to him. Nonetheless, if he ever went off the rails and attacked someone, I'd take him out to an isolated portion of my acreage, put a gun to his head, and pull the trigger. Most importantly: the failure would be MINE - not his. And I would expect to hauled up on charges of negligence for that failure.
Any domestic pet's misbehavior is the responsibility of the owner. If you're going to ban dogs because of their potential to inflict damage and injury, then you might as well forbid cars. And skateboards. And hunting rifles. And swimming pools. And martial arts. And football. And firefighting....
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