Pit bull panel narrows options (Omaha, NE)

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Pit bull panel narrows options (Omaha, NE)
Posted by: "Jodi Preis" [e-mail] jodi_preis
Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:28 am (PDT)
Published Thursday July 17, 2008
Pit bull panel narrows options
BY JOHN ASKEW
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

An Omaha committee exploring possible restrictions on pit bulls narrowed discussions Wednesday to three options: a "potentially dangerous dog" ordinance, a partial ban or a total ban.

The committee — formed last month by Mayor Mike Fahey — met in closed session for 90 minutes Wednesday.

Specifics of each option were not worked out during the meeting, said City Councilman Garry Gernandt, who is a committee member.

"Those three options contain several variables," Gernandt said. "I recommended that the city lawyers and the Humane Society get together and hammer out a line-by-line proposal of the options."

The committee was created in response to a series of recent pit bull attacks, the most serious being an attack on 15-month-old Charlotte Blevins, who lost part of her scalp. Her mother and two others also were bitten.

The committee is made up of 12 representatives: two from the Mayor's Office, one from the Police Department, three from the city's law department, five from the Nebraska Humane Society, and one from City Council.

The city has dangerous-animal and menacing-behavior laws, which allow an individual animal to be labeled dangerous, and even be put to death, if it attacks a person without provocation, snaps or bites or has been trained to fight.

Representatives of the Humane Society will meet next week with city departments to review current ordinances and discuss potential changes, said Mark Langan, the Humane Society's vice president of field operations.

The committee is expected to meet again next week, Gernandt said.

Once the full committee has agreed on a proposal, it will make a recommendation to the mayor and City Council.

Gernandt said some of the concerns discussed were what impact a pit bull ban might have on the Humane Society; the division of duties between the Police Department and Humane Society; and the potential financial and operational impact of a dangerous dog ordinance.

"There are options on the table, and we will move forward with them to create legislation to maximize public safety in the area of these dog bites," he said.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10383380

Jodi Preis
Bless the Bullys
Education... Awareness. ..Advocacy
Because preaching to the choir makes a small church.