By ROBERT WELLER
Three pit bull owners and a group of animal groups have won a federal appeals’ court order challenging a Denver ban on pit bulls that a critic said had resulted in the killings of as many as 2,000 dogs.
Getting the law removed has been one of the leading causes of pit bull owner groups across the country. The appeals court also ordered the lower court to consider an application to make it a federal class action suit on behalf of other pit bull owners who want to join and qualify.
Veterinarian Dr. Paula Terifaj, founder of ROVERlution, a California group that opposes breed specific legislation, said Denver should be ashamed of itself.
“That was frivolous. That was all wrong. This is going to go down to down as a city abusing its authority. Denver needs to be accountable for the poor decisions,” she said today.
The appeals court sent the case back to Denver federal district court for a new trial on a claim that the law is not rational, according to current science.
The lower courts had denied a trial on some of the claims made by the plaintiff, including that the law did not make sense based on current knowledge about pit bulls. Scientific groups, including the Centers for Disease Control, have said there is no factual basis for singling out pit bulls.
“Viewing the factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, as we must, the complaint plausibly alleges that the ordinance is not rationally related to a legitimate government interest,” the court ruling said.
“In particular, the plaintiffs contend that there is a lack evidence that pit bulls pose a threat to public safety or constitute a public nuisance, and thus, that it is irrational for Denver to enact a breed specific prohibition,” it added.
The Humane Society of the United States, Animal Legal Defense Fund and American Society for the Cruelty of Animals joined in the suit. Sonya Diaz, one of the dog owners, said she expects the case to be retried. Her lawyer, Karen Breslin, denied comment.
The law was first imposed after one fatal attack and a serious mauling in the late 1980s.
Veterinarians and other scientists say pit bulls are a mixture, and do not even qualify as a breed and thus are hard to identify accurately in many cases. Further no complete population or bite figures are available for them to compare with other dogs. Some surveys have found other dogs bite more, but supporters of the ban say they do not attack as viciously as pit bulls.
The Denver ban attracted further attention because some out-of-town owners driving through the city with their dogs were stopped and their dogs confiscated. Most were believed released. An informal underground railway was set up to help threatened dogs escaped.
Two of the three people who challenged the law moved out of Denver to get their dogs back.
Dog historians say different dogs, like bloodhounds, have gone through periods of disfavor.
Pit bulls were heroes in several wars, including the Civil War and World War I. Sallie, a Gettysburg hero later killed in action, got a tip of President Lincoln’s stove top hat.
An American soldier smuggled Stubby to France to serve with his unit in World War I. Frequently wounded, he captured a German spy, and saved many soldiers’ lives by learning to detect approaching mustard gas, after barely surviving such an attack itself.
The “Pitbull Placebo,” by veterinary technician Karen Delise, methodically tracks fatal attacks to show pit bulls are not an inherent threat.
Some cities and countries have opted to ban any dangerous dog, based on its own characteristics. Last month Italy scrapped its list of 17 banned dogs.
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Comments
Phobaeticus Chani
May 29, 2009 by Anonymous, 25 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 3582
Good news to all dog lovers of Colorado, three pit bull owners and a group of animal groups have won a federal appeals’ court order challenging a Denver ban on pit bulls that a critic said had resulted in the killings of as many as 2,000 dogs. Like people, animals do need protection. It is said that dogs are mans’ best friend. So why kill them? In relation to animal issues, the Phobaeticus Chani. This insect is officially the world's longest insect. The erstwhile insect, Phobaeticus Chani or Chans Megastick is a stick insect from Malaysia that measures up to about two feet long, and was unknown until late 2008. It's one of several newly discovered species that ought to call for a boost to science funding and a payday to science programs. Another fascinating new species is Leptotyphlops carlae, or the Barbados Threadsnake. It's very tiny, smaller than a lot of worms, but it is an actual snake. It is oft forgot how little we actually know about our own world, and scientific study is worth payday advances as we can learn more about Phobaeticus Chani and other species as yet unknown.
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