PIT BULL LAWS

PIT BULL LAWS

Community examples

Youngstown: Among the requirements for having a legal pit bull in the city is liability insurance of at least $100,000, a state requirement.

Girard: The city has had a ban on pit bull ownership and ownership of any other “vicious” dog for more than a decade. Once the dogs’ owners are notified of the city’s ban, they can either deny that the animal is a pit bull, forcing the city to have a veterinarian determine the dogs’ breed, or they can object to the city’s ban and be summoned into court.

Toledo: In August, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a Toledo ordinance restricting one pit bull per one household was constitutional.

Garfield Heights: A law went into effect in October 2007 banning all breeds under the general description of pit bulls.

Parma: Has banned pit bulls since 1987.

Denver, Colo.: A city ordinance banned pit bulls in 1989 but in 2004, a state law prohibited the singling out of certain breeds of dogs. In 2005, the city warned pit bull owners that they were continuing with the law that banned the dogs within city limits.

Kansas City, Kan.: Pit bulls have been banned since 1990.

Independence, Mo.: The ordinance went into effect in 2005 and would ban new pit bulls in city limits. Owners of pit bulls already living in Independence have to register and microchip the dog, and the pit bulls must also be spayed or neutered.

Ontario, Canada: The ban went into effect in 2005. It is illegal to breed pit bulls or bring the dogs into the province. Dogs already in Ontario are allowed to stay as long as they are sterilized, leashed and muzzled in public.

Sources: Vindicator files, various communities listed