Newport Considers Ban on New Pit Bulls, Tighter Controls on Those Already in City

Controls on pit bullterriers are to be discussed by the Newport Beach City Council at its Sept. 14 meeting.

At the urging of City Councilman Clarence Turner, City Atty. Robert H. Burnham was ordered on Monday to draft an ordinance that would prohibit bringing pit bulls into the city and put tight restrictions on those already there.

“The pit bull has been bred for over 200 years to take advantage of its very worst elements--its ability to fight, kill and maim,” Turner said Tuesday.

He said the breeding began in England, where showmen wanted a dog that could fight bulls or bears as entertainment. Then dog fighting came into vogue, he said, and today the pit bull is a vestige of outlawed blood sports.

“Now we have an animal that is unpredictable,” he said. “It attacks without provocation. It does not show anger before it attacks. It has an apparent immunity to pain, and it has a tremendous bite.”

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has denounced such assertions as pit bull hysteria. The society has said that there is no evidence that a pit bull is any more or less likely to attack than any other breed. It’s just that once it attacks, it can do much more damage because of its strength and refusal to let go of its prey.

Orange County Animal Control Director Leonard M. Liberio said the pit bull is third or fourth on the county’s list of breeds involved in reports of bitings. But he conceded that there are fewer pit bulls in the county than Doberman pinschers or German shepherds, which top the list.

The problem with an ordinance specifically aimed at pit bulls is defining the breed, Liberio said. The American pit bullterrier and the American Staffordshire terrier are the two the public commonly labels pit bulls, he said, but there are at least another half dozen hybrids that exhibit similar characteristics.

Liberio’s office is looking into stiffening the county’s vicious-animal ordinance, he said, and should have one prepared for the Board of Supervisors by Sept. 22. But it will not target any one breed, he said.

“Any animal if not treated properly can become vicious,” he said.

Turner said he also wanted Newport Beach’s ordinance on vicious animals toughened, but he said pit bulls are special.

The ordinance Burnham has been ordered to draft will be patterned after a pit bull measure passed in March by the small Northern California agricultural town of Livingston. The ordinance, said its author, city administrative assistant Jack Edwards, stipulates that no new pit bulls can be brought into the city or sold or transferred within the city limits. Any new puppy must be removed after it is weaned, about six weeks after birth, he said.

Existing pit bulls must be leashed and muzzled in public and must be in a secure kennel or pen at home, he said. Homeowners must have $50,000 in liability insurance to cover damage to people or property that might be incurred from a dog attack.

The city defines a pit bull as a Staffordshire terrier, an American Pit Bullterrier, an American Staffordshire terrier or any mixed breed “that has the appearance of being predominantly pit bullterrier,” Edwards said.

When the law was passed, Livingston had about 50 pit bulls. Now it has eight or 10 that are registered, he said.

“That’s what we wanted.”

He said the district attorney is now reviewing three possible violations of the ordinance. The maximum penalty is a $1,000 fine and 30 days in the Merced County Jail.

Courts have thrown out pit bull bans in Hollywood, Fla., Cincinnati and Minneapolis, among other cities, Edwards said. But a federal court upheld a ban in Chester, Pa., and a lower court upheld a ban in Shawnee, Kan., he said.