Councilman proposes pitbull ordinance
Residents sound off on idea of banning fighting breeds from city
By Jenifer Gee Journal Staff Writer
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Kevin Hanley
Should the city ban pitbulls or put restrictions on their owners?
It’s a question Auburn City councilman Kevin Hanley has put forward to city staff.
In a recent memo, Hanley asks city manager Bob Richardson and Police Chief Valerie Harris to consider a pitbull ordinance to be placed on a future city agenda.
The memo comes in the wake of a September incident during which four pitbulls attacked and severely injured a 17-year-old Weimar resident in a parking lot off Lincoln Way in Downtown Auburn.
“The question is whether there are some good ordinances out there to take a more proactive stance to ensure that people can walk safely in Downtown neighborhoods,” Hanley said this week.
In the memo, Hanley suggests two ideas: one is to ban pitbulls and other fighting breed dogs from city limits. The other idea is to put certain restrictions on those types of dogs and list them on a dangerous dog registry.
Some possible restrictions could be fence height and enclosure rules those owners would need to make sure were in place on their property.
Also, Hanley thought limiting owners to one pitbull or fighting breed dog per household could be effective.
Hanley requested that a proposed ordinance be placed on a future city council meeting agenda for discussion among members and the public.
“I’m just asking people to give us input,” Hanley said. “I want the average resident to chime in, too, and say what they think the city council should on this.”
Auburn resident Dave Imgrund said he doesn’t support banning the breed but agreed there should be restrictions.
“I think the problem with pitbulls is not the dog, it’s the owner,” Imgrund said. “I’m not in favor of banning them completely from Auburn.”
Imgrund said his son once had a pitbull that never caused any problems.
“It’s my observation that pitbulls have a natural instinct to be vicious but if they’re raised with love and care by the owner, I don’t think they’re a problem,” Imgrund said.
Auburn resident Jeannette Klebofski, disagreed and said she is now afraid to park her car in the Downtown parking lot where the teen was attacked.
“We used to park there all the time and now I’m not even going to begin to park there until I know the dogs are no longer there,” Klebofski said. “I’m just not going to do it.”
Klebofski said she supports completely banning pitbulls from city limits.
“I want to feel that I or my grandchildren or children or neighbors can walk down the street and not worry about having a pitbull come after them,” Klebofski said. “With everything going on in the world we don’t need them to have an additional thing to worry about.”
Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com.
