Were innocent dogs killed?
Pit bull advocates wonder if city has put down misidentified dogs
Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Pit bull advocates would like to know just how many innocent dogs have been killed by the city simply because the dogs were wrongly identified as being part of the banned breed.
Suggesting that hundreds of innocent dogs may have been killed by the city, advocates are calling for an immediate re-evaluation of the city’s controversial ordinance.
At the center of the debate is a recent case in which an administrative judge ruled that animal control officers wrongly labeled a boxer-mix as a pit bull. Three so-called experts with Denver Animal Care and Control had labeled Kevin O’Connell’s dog Dexter a pit bull. But O’Connell’s own experts — American Kennel Club judges and professional dog handlers — testified last week that Dexter was in no way a pit bull.
The ruling was a victory for O’Connell and Dexter — but it came with a price. The owner will spend thousands of dollars in legal and city fees by the time all his bills are paid — all for an error on the city’s part. He will even need to pay boarding fees for the 10 days his dog was locked up — during which time Dexter developed kennel cough just from being inside the shelter.
While O’Connell was fortunate enough to have the money to fight for his dog, many are not, pointed out Jennifer Edwards, founder of the Wheat Ridge-based Animal Law Center and O’Connell’s lead attorney. She and her organization believe hundreds of dogs wrongly identified as pit bulls may have already been killed by the city or are currently sitting on “pit bull row.”
“It desperately needs to be addressed,” said Edwards. “I am positive that there are potentially hundreds, if not thousands of dogs that are similarly situated to Dexter, and I think that we need to call into question Denver’s procedures as far as their breed recognition and determination of these prohibited breeds.”
System defended
Doug Kelley, director of animal control, defended the system yesterday, arguing that the appeals process is proof that it works.
“The administrative hearing process is there, it’s designed to allow owners to appeal,” he said. “That process worked in this case — the dog, upon further information, was found not to be a pit bull. So, that’s why the process is there.”
Kelley also defended the training animal control officers receive in order to label a dog.
The training is actually a voluntary program that animal control officers must opt into. The checklist to determine if a dog is a pit bull is almost entirely physical characteristics, such as lips, eye color and shoulders. If a dog matches the majority of criteria for a pit bull, then the dog is a pit bull in the eyes of city officials.
Critics of the system, however, point out that there are dozens of traits that can be applied to several breeds. In many cases, the evaluators are unable to agree on several of the criteria.
Is ban effective?
While Kelley defends the system his department uses to determine breed, he remains unclear about the effectiveness of the ban itself — a topic he has been unclear about for at least the past four years.
“It’s impossible to answer that question,” he says. “On the one hand, we haven’t had any maulings or fatalities involving pit bull bites, but on the other hand we continue to bring more pit bulls in.”
There actually hasn’t been a serious pit bull mauling in Denver since the 1989 mauling of Rev. Wilbur Billingsley, who was left with more than 70 bites and two broken legs. The incident resulted in the City Council banning pit bulls.
In that time, however, a Rottweiler-mix mauled an 11-month-old to death, according to a Westword report by Jared Jacang Maher. Rottweilers are legal in Denver.
Denver has killed nearly 3,500 dogs believed to be pit bulls. But in that time there has never been an audit of the ban to determine if it has been a success.
Misidentifications
Toni Phillips, director of Mariah’s Promise Animal Sanctuary, an animal rescue group in Divide that has rescued more than 200 dogs from Denver deemed to be pit bulls, says she knows of several dogs that walked through her doors that were in no way pit bulls. Many were later found to be bulldogs or boxer mixes, she said. Some even came with original papers from licensed breeders stating that the dog was a purebred of a different breed. Owners simply didn’t have the money or resources to fight the city, said Phillips.
“There’s a lot of people who have a hard time identifying and saying that they are for sure a pit bull,” she said. “I mean, not even the vets — they won’t even do that, I won’t even do that and I’ve been doing this 20 years.”
The majority of city officials — including Mayor John Hickenlooper — support Denver’s ban. Councilwoman Carla Madison is the lone voice on Council, proposing an ordinance change that would allow pit bulls if they are permitted. The permitting process would include temperament testing and require additional fees and insurance coverage.
But she stands alone, facing an uphill battle with little support. Madison hopes this latest discussion over the city’s ban will help her cause.
“It shows that the city’s process isn’t bulletproof,” she said. “It opens up a lot of questions.”
Lawsuit
Three former Denver residents have filed a lawsuit to overturn the ban. The group hopes the city will look for a compromise as it is facing a $120 million budget shortfall and likely won’t want to spend money defending a costly lawsuit.
In the meantime, however, the Animal Law Center is looking into a legal course of its own.
“Stay tuned,” said Edwards. “The Animal Law Center is definitely hot on the trail to doing something about these very unjust and unconstitutional procedures.”
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