Pit bull repeal ordinance pulled by sponsor just one day before its hearing

Pit bull repeal ordinance pulled by sponsor just one day before its hearing

Just one day before it was to be heard and voted on by the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, the proposed ordinance to repeal the longstanding ban on pit bulls was pulled from the agenda. Its sponsors, District 5 Commissioner Bruno A. Barreiro and District 4 Commissioner Sally A. Heyman, cited lack of support for the ordinance as the reason for cancelling the hearing.

The ordinance almost failed outright when the board voted 5 to 7 against it on Oct. 5. But with Hurricane Matthew looming and the public unable to speak because of limited time, the hearing was deferred to Nov. 15.

Former County Commissioner Joe Gersten championed the ordinance banning pit bulls in 1989 just two months after a seven-year-old girl named Melissa Moreira had part of her face bitten off by a pit bull belonging to her neighbors. Currently, there is a $500 fine in Miami-Dade County for buying or keeping American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers or any dog that “conforms to any of these breeds’ characteristics” and court action to remove the dogs, often by euthanasia, from the county. But enforcement of the ban has sometimes been inconsistent, as in the case of Javon Dade Jr., age four, who was mauled to death in 2014 by multiple pit bulls illegally kept by his father. In that instance, the Miami-Dade Department of Children and Families failed to notify Animal Services of the dogs’ presence despite multiple visits to the household.

More than four years have passed since pit bulls last had their day in court. On August 14, 2012, Miami residents voted by an approximate 2 to 1 margin (63 percent) to uphold the ban. Commissioner Barreiro credited local pit bull advocates including the South Florida Veterinary Medical Association and the Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation (MCABSL) for convincing him to reattempt repealing the ban.

“Professionals in the industry, including dog breeders, showed substantial evidence that it’s not necessarily the dog breed but the owners who have unfortunately raised some of these dogs the wrong way,” said Barreiro. “It could occur with German shepherds, Doberman pincers and other dogs who turn aggressive. I know it’s a difficult situation and emotional for some people, but I thought the evidence was compelling enough to present it before the commission.”

The argument over pit bull legalization is one of nature versus nurture. Pit bull proponents argue that the safeness and temperament of a dog depends on its owner, training and socialization. They point to studies from groups including the American Temperament Test Society and National Geographic, which give pit bulls an 87.4 percent passing temperament rate (compared to 82.3 percent for border collies and 85.4 percent for golden retrievers) and found that they exerted the least amount of bite pressure when compared with the similarly built German Shepherds and Rottweilers.

“Dogs were bred for different purposes,” said Dr. Philip K. Stoddard, FIU biological sciences professor and South Miami mayor. “There are dogs that were bred for defense and their ability to work with people. Some were bred as lap dogs. You can see it in their attitudes, builds, coats and the things they’re interested in. Bulldogs were bred for grabbing hold of bulls and you can see it in their structure; when they bite something, they tend to hang onto it. We’ve got specialized dogs and the bulldogs—whether it’s the American bulldog, the French bulldog or the pit bull—were bred as fighting dogs. When a pit bull goes after a kid, they do serious damage. When a poodle does, they don’t.”

“Unless there’s a really bad owner and a dog that’s been abused or mistreated, we never found that there were more problems with pit bulls than with any other breed,” said Carol Vega, owner of West Point K-9 Academy.

Vega says that one adverse effect of the ban is that pit bulls have been driven underground. Many of them, unless they are labeled mixed breeds, are unable to get proper vet care and training.

“They’re definitely not able to come to a facility like ours,” she said. “That’s not a good thing. All dogs need to be trained. How do we expect to solve problems by shipping them away?”

Florida is one of 20 states prohibiting discriminatory laws against specific dog breeds, but the Miami-Dade ordinance is older than the state law and therefore supersedes it. Those in favor of upholding the ban argue that it is a matter of responsibility and credit research from people like Animals24-7.org editor Merritt Clifton, whose findings, referenced in Time, suggest that pit bulls are responsible for 68 percent of dog attacks and 52 percent of dog related deaths since 1982 (despite accounting for only 6 percent of the dog population in the U.S.). PETA, the largest animal rights group in the world, and the ASPCA recognize the problems dangerous dogs pose to communities, but have more breed-neutral positions on the matter.

“The vast majority of pit bull type dogs in our communities are likely the result of random breeding, resulting in a wide range of behavior predispositions,” said Danielle Arnold, ASPCA senior manager of media and communications. “Many external factors also strongly influence their behavior, including history of social interactions, training and housing conditions. The ASPCA believes in judging pit bull type dogs by their actions and not by their DNA or physical appearance.”

Pit bull advocates insist that many attacks are falsely attributed. With more than 400 breeds in existence, dogs have the greatest variation in body size and shape of any mammalian species on earth. Culprits of dog attacks have been routinely mislabeled. In 2010, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida (Appellate) ruled that the county’s policy of identifying a pit bull based on appearance alone was dependent on “subjective criteria” with “little or no peer review.” Essentially, animal control officers were deemed unqualified to identify breed and could therefore make no judgement based on looks alone.

The U.S. Humane Society—citing the opinions of the American Bar Association, American Kennel Club, American Veterinary Medical Association, American Veterinary Society on Animal Behavior, National Animal Control Association, Centers for Disease Control and others—stated that “neither science nor statistics support policies that discriminate based on breed or physical appearance alone.”

“The biggest flaw in any investigation of any type of dog bite is identifying the breed,” said Dahlia Canes, MCABSL director and founder, who is hosting the Eighth Annual Pit Nick at Amelia Earhart Park this Sunday. “The media has a lot to do with it because the minute they see anything resembling a pit bull, they categorize it as such. The misrepresentation of the breed itself has never been thoroughly investigated. Any dog—any breed—can be dangerous. Just because a dog is born a specific breed doesn’t make it so.”

The criteria by which pit bulls are identified is indeed ambiguous. Pit bulls are designated as being between thirty to sixty pounds and muscular, with glossy coats of any color and brick-shaped heads featuring square, well-pronounced jaws (“displaying strength”), wide-open nostrils and eyes set low and far apart.

“I guess there is a level of ambiguity with what a pit bull is and what is a mixed breed, but you know them when you see them,” said Gary Stein, Sun Sentinel columnist and editorial writer. “These dogs, which could be vicious, don’t belong in a congested area like South Florida. It’s why they’re legal in north and central Florida, where there’s room. Take Davie, which is horse country. People don’t have horses where I live, in Coral Springs, where the houses are one foot apart. You’ve got to take location into account. Otherwise, it’s unfair to the animals and unfair to your neighbors.”

There are currently 75 restricted or banned dog breeds across the country including the golden retriever, Great Dane, German shepherd, chow chow, bloodhound, Boston terrier and, perhaps most surprisingly, the pug, whose stockiness and short muzzle, on paper, infer similarities to the comparably more dangerous bull breeds.

“All dogs are the same and it’s about education and training,” said Vega. “If we don’t educate the public, how do we expect things to get any better? I’ve only been bitten by a dachshund. What am I going to do, fight to ban dachshunds? To me that’s like banning planes or cars because one of them crashes.”

To contact the County Commissioners, please visit www.MiamiDade.gov/Commission


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14 COMMENTS

  1. My dream was when I retire, that is what help me fall a sleep hearing the waves the beauty of palm trees, making new friends just finally make my dreams come true. I was in Clearwater to visit my Dad the beauty of the beach and the pier. All the apartments banned my best friend Max he’s a German Shepard. My family nick named him chicken little. He loves kids and I feel safe because I live alone. I’m extremely disappointed of the bias living in the dark ages. I raised two Rottweilers with my dog two cats, and my grandkids and their friends loved all of them. I lost my son in 2006, my daughter is being treated for cancer, she’s my only child, now it’s time for my dreams why do I feel like the political bull crap and the decisions make probably are poodle owners. I’ve always had big dogs because that my preference. I’d like to sleep at night knowing I don’t have to worry about someone crawling in my window when I sleep. I don’t like guns, I love my dog. And the political crap should ban the following small dogs. I’ve been bite buy a wiener dog, poms, poodles, when I take my dog to the vet in the waiting room it’s always the little dogs that lunge at my dog. Max is very passive and extremely intelligent. I truly suggest that these people need to get informed. Check out the AKC website. Because German Shepard’s are in the top ten rating intellect. Please don’t take my dream away.

  2. That is true it’s not the breed it’s the owner it’s all in how 7 raise a pit bull I have raised 3 and now currently raising my 4th none of mine was aggressive I had three kids aggressive lots of nice and nephews that came around all the time plus my kids friends who came over pits are misunderstood dogs if u have never been aggressiveness Ndamukong one or raised one then wat gives u the right to ban or on put these Gentle giants down so please stop the ban on these pit bulls

  3. I am a converted pit bull owner in Coconut Creek, Fl. If anyone is really interested in what a pit bull personality is really like under the most stressful and abusive conditions, then the real Pit Bull expert is without a doubt Tia Torres of “Pit Bulls and Parolees”. Watching her show completely changed my mind about this wonderful and misunderstood breed. I am sure Tia could provide years of pit bull behavior data to substantiate that it is not the breed that has the issues. It is the owner!

  4. Call or email your County Commissioner and let them know how you feel.
    They can be reached at miamidade.gov

  5. Remember, those supporting repealing the ban on pit bulls are ANIMAL rights folks. They don’t give a dang about humans and don’t care if those dogs kill you or your kids. Think not? Then research how they have treated victims of pit bull attacks around the country.

  6. Their’s nothing more than this law that makes my blooD boil!!!! It’s barbaric!!! What yr are we in? This should’ve never existed. Don’t people know by now that Merritt Clifton, dogbites.org stats are bogus. They didnt know the specifiction breed of every dog that has attacked. And Peta? You figure it out! It’s just ridiculous! The media and groups mentioned above lovery to put the fear into people! That’s what they are about! Lift this ban!!!! You have all the professionals coming forward with evidence that this specific breed is not the problem so let’s do the right thing!!!

  7. We have leash laws and dangerous dog laws here in Miami-Dade. They need to be enforced. I’m all for lifting the ban. Punish the deed not the breed. It’s labeling. We need to enforce stronger animal abuse laws and dogfighting laws

  8. Every owner should be educated and licensed to have certain animals. In my neighborhood any person can purchase pit bull puppies from ages 13 and up. Pitbulls run loose;get out of fences and are often left on the streets due to improper treatment and nothing is being done in unincorporated neighborhoods. This is a crucial issue. I’ve seen too many attacks because of unresponsive OWNERS. Why are children buying pitbulls? Please Help. Thank you.

  9. Gary Stein – you know them when you see them? “These dogs could be vicious and don’t belong in congested areas like South Florida.”? Veterinarians and experienced shelter works misidentify dogs. How is it that you are certain of your ability to identify one when you “see them.”? And, Dr. Stoddard, “when a pit bull goes after a kid it does serious damage. When a poodle does, they don’t.” These blanket statements are perpetuating the myth that the media jumped on heavily in 1987 with fad scare reporting. Breed has been over focused on as the problem. “It’s a lot more complicated than that,” said Dr. Jeffrey Sacks, a public health epidemiologist at the CDC. “Any bite involves a confluence of factors: a dog’s genetics, the victim’s behavior, the dog’s socialization, the dog’s medical history, the owner’s training. You can’t isolate one factor and say ‘That’s it!'”

  10. I’ve had a few putties and none of them ever bit anyone. They were protective of the family but never bit. The last one I had passed away a year and a half ago. He was 14 years old and was nothing but a lap dog. He never hurt any of my other pets, cats, dogs, bird,chickens, or ducks. My miniature Chihuahua would bark and growl and try to bite him and he would just look at her. My grandkids and nieces and nephews would crawl all over him,try to ride him, pull his ears,tail or any part they could grab he never, ever even looked at them. He would lay there until I made the kids leave him alone. Now I know that pits can be vicious and that when they attack it can be deadly but if you raise them right and treat them good love and respect them they will make you a very loyal pet. One thing my pity didn’t like was or dogs that didn’t belong in his yard or house. And he knew if they didn’t and he would fight then.

  11. I agree with the Biologist Mayor of South Miami that function follows form and the breed’s various names proves it with the various kennel club’s names of: UKC American Pit bull terrier; the CKC & UK named Staffordshire bull terrier; the AKC American Staffordshire terrier; the American Bulldog is not recognized as a breed by any kennel club and is universally considered a Pit bull type along with 3 names of Dogos (Cubano Dogos & Dogo Argentinos); Presas (Presa Mallorquin & Perro de Presa Canario).

  12. Love the animals but the breed truly kept us from visiting businesses in the grove, beach,
    the owners -not the dogs- were responsible. But we were in grove parks that were scary enough for us to take our business elsewhere.

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