County Rejects Proposed Ban on Pit Bulls

Troubled by legal hurdles and enforcement problems, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday turned down a proposed ban on pit bull terriers that would have forced present owners to surrender their animals.

The controversial proposal, put forward by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, was rejected on a 3-1 vote after several dog owners and breeders protested to board members that the ordinance would punish innocent pit bulls and their owners.

At the same time, the board directed the county counsel to seek ways to toughen a present ordinance, including doubling the fine to $1,000, against owners whose animals attack humans.

Attempt Failed Last Year

Hahn, who failed in a similar attempt last year, again was unsuccessful in persuading any of his colleagues to adopt an outright ban on pit bulls in the county’s unincorporated areas.

Referring to a rash of attacks blamed on pit bulls, Hahn contended that the animals are a danger to the community and cited an incident two weeks ago when a pit bull terrier attacked a boy in the Lennox area, which Hahn represents.

A construction worker who rescued the youth was also bitten twice before the dog was finally shot by sheriff’s deputies. It marked the fourth time in the last eight months that law enforcement officials were forced to shoot pit bulls in Lennox, according to sheriff’s deputies.

“If we don’t do that, then the next pit bull that mangles a child or kills somebody or tears somebody’s arm off when they attack them, that responsibility will be on you if you don’t do it,” Hahn told his colleagues in pressing for the ban.

Hahn’s proposal, however, was met by jeers from an audience of dog owners and skepticism from his fellow supervisors who spoke of the difficulties of enforcement. The ordinance would have given pit bull owners 60 days to remove their dogs from county-controlled jurisdictions.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich warned that the prohibition would only lead to legal challenges and confusion, especially when experts remained uncertain over what constitutes a true pit bull.

“They don’t know what the definition is,” Antonovich said, “but yet here we are going to be able to define a (pit bull). It doesn’t make sense, and it’s going to cost county taxpayers millions of dollars in unnecessary litigation.”

Supervisors Ed Edelman and Deane Dana joined Antonovich in rejecting the proposal and persuaded Hahn to join them in seeking stiffer penalties in the county’s vicious animals ordinance. The board also said it will ask the state to toughen penalties against dangerous dogs.

Under the county ordinance, which went into effect in November, an animal can be seized from an owner if officials determine that it is dangerous even though it may not have attacked anyone. Presently, owners can be fined by the county a maximum of $500.

Brian Berger, director of the county’s Department of Animal Control, said there have been at least 10 cases where the vicious animals law has been used, including the recent seizure of 10 Rottweilers from an Agoura owner.

Hahn’s proposal to ban pit bulls drew a large number of speakers opposed to the plan. Barbara Fabricant, a state humane officer, said: “I am saying you can’t take the entire breed and say they are all guilty. We have some human beings who are in prison who are chronic crooks, but you can’t say you have to put everybody else in prison because we also have the potential (for crime).”

On the other side of the issue, Jan Fordham described a December attack on her 6-year-old grandson by four dogs in Tujunga that she said were initially identified as pit bulls by their owner.

Fordham, who was on the verge of tears, said her grandson in Tujunga had jumped into a nearby yard to retrieve a ball when he was attacked by the dogs and suffered head injuries. Although the City of Los Angeles has jurisdiction in the case, Fordham told supervisors that more should be done to protect victims like her grandson.

“I’m not sure, at this point, that they are pit bulls, but they are vicious dogs and they should be destroyed,” she said.