mljdeckard
Member
Not in Utah. STRICT LIABILITY. The dog is always wrong. If the dog was loose in the first place, the owner has surrendered control. It was already acting aggressively.
Leash Law
By law, dogs are not permitted to “run at large.” This means the owner, possessor or keeper must have control of the dog through the use of a leash, cord or chain, and the leash must be in the hands of a human, not tied to a post, fence, etc. There is no length requirement in the leash law, but the person on the other end of the leash must have control of the dog or it is a violation. A dog may also be classified as running at large if it is confined in such a way as to allow the dog to have access to the public right-of-way. This means a dog cannot “break the plane of a fence,” so for example sticking its head over a fence to bark at someone is a violation.
Breed Ban Enforcement
Denver law prohibits any person from owning, possessing, keeping, exercising control over, maintaining, harboring or selling a pit bull in the City and County of Denver. A pit bull is defined as any dog that is an American Pit Bull Terrier, an American Staffordshire Terrier, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or any dog displaying the majority of physical traits of any one or more of these breeds. (Physical traits of American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are listed at www.akc.org/breeds/breeds_a.cfm.) It is permissible to transport illegal breeds directly through the county, from a starting point outside of Denver to another destination outside of Denver, provided the dog remains in the vehicle.
There are at least 200 registered dogs in Denver that are illegal; Animal Control has sent letters to registered dog owners advising them of impending enforcement. Animal Control Director Doug Kelley estimated that there were about 4,500 illegal breeds before enforcement of the ban ended last April.
Denver’s original ban went into effect in 1991, and was upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court. The ordinance was challenged last year when a state representative sponsored a bill prohibiting all Colorado counties and municipalities from having breed-specific bans on dogs. The state passed the bill, and the City filed a lawsuit in May 2004 against the state. In December 2004, Denver District Court issued a ruling that the bill violated Denver’s home rule authority, and upheld the constitutionality of Denver’s ordinance.
Copies of the three official breed standards are available at the Denver Municipal Animal Shelter, located at 678 South Jason Street. For more information, call 303-698-0076.
"pit bull" is the "assault weapon" of dogs
I take it you're not a "dog" person?I wish people wouldn't try to equate your right to bear arms with your right to own a dangerous breed of dog. They're not equal.
If you treat it like some morons treat their pit bulls to toughen them up, it doesn't matter if it's a poodle, it's going to be dangerous.
I take it you're not a "dog" person?
I still think the breed should be banned or at least heavily regulated.
Inbreeding normally does not produce vicious dogs though. Most often you see health problems, not behavioral problems. IMO, the reason you see so many pit problems form the pit bull mills is that they are selling to anyone with the cash, and not taking the time to make sure the buyers understand the many issues with pits and other strong, aggressive dogs.There's so much "Thug Street Cred" associated with the dogs, that they've come to be in high demand. High demand creates suppliers who indiscrimately inbreed their stock in order to turn a fast buck. Inbred dogs are subject to go bad within 3 years...any breed. Inbreed Golden Retrievers or Siberian Huskies for 3-4 generations, and you've got a time bomb on your hands.
Inbreeding normally does not produce vicious dogs though. Most often you see health problems, not behavioral problems.
I was not aware that pits were susceptable to that.joint problems and hip dysplasia
I was not aware that pits were susceptable to that.
I've done this several times, but it's probably worth doing again.
Unless there are contravening laws in Utah's urban areas, you can shoot a stray dog if it wanders onto your property- at least in the rural parts.