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More Cities Contemplating Pit Bull Laws

Sioux City Considers Pit Bull Ban
Sioux City, IW - Sioux City may be joining a handful of other Iowa cities that ban pit bulls, including: Council Bluffs, Maquoket, Fremont and Outtuma (view ordinances). The city council is set to consider an ordinance banning pit bulls. Pit bulls currently make up about 3% percent of Sioux City's dog population, but are responsible for about 50% percent of violent animal incidents.

As DogsBite.org states in our FAQ on breed-specific law, "Communities that enact breed-specific laws usually do because a single class of dogs -- pit bulls -- constitutes a small percent of the registered dog population but commits a large number of bites. This is further compounded by the fact that many pit bull bites result in severe injury."

Sioux City Council member Aaron Rochester agrees. He believes that pit bulls are a specific problem because they have dangerous genetic traits. Like most bans, Sioux City's proposed ban would not require current pit bull owners to give up their dogs, but would require them to register their pit bulls. Once the dogs died, they could not be replaced by a new pit bull.


In other news:

Newport Opts into Ohio State Law
Newport, OH - The unincorporated community of Newport, Ohio (population 2,200) has opted to follow Ohio state law. After a surge in pit bull attacks, a new ordinance was devised that requires pit bull owners, or any other dog deemed "vicious," to be microchipped. The ordinance also requires these dog owners to have $100,000 in liability insurance.

Ohio state law declares all pit bulls as "vicious" and requires owners to carry $100,000 in liability insurance, securely constrain the dog when on-property and to use a chain-link leash when off-property. Possibly because Newport is unincorporated, they had not needed to abide by state law.

Related articles:
Breed-Specific Law FAQ
State of Iowa Pit Bull Ordinances