NYC Housing Authorities Ban Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and Dobermans

Vicious and Threatening
New York, NY - On the heels of the U.S. Army (a federal institution) banning dangerous dog breeds from all U.S. base housing facilities, the New York City Housing Authority (a city, state and federally funded institution) followed suit. As of Friday, pit bulls, rottweilers and dobermans are banned from all city housing projects. Residents who currently own these breeds can keep them as long as they register their animals in the next 48 hours.

According to their Fact Sheet, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the largest public housing authority (PHA) in North America. NYCHA's housing program has 177,976 apartments throughout the city in 2,618 residential buildings. NYCHA has 12,260 employees serving 173,731 families and 402,370 authorized residents. A total of 633,637 people, about 1 in 13 New Yorkers, are served by NYCHA's Public Housing and Section 8 Programs.

"If NYCHA were a city, it would rank 19th in population size in the United States, with New York City ranked first."

New York City Councilman Peter Vallone, who has unsuccessfully lobbied state legislators to ban pit bulls, said, "Finally someone is realizing that these potentially dangerous animals have no place in a confined urban space." City housing officials said that residents urged them to ban the dogs that they claim are too "vicious and threatening." A pit bull owner was cited in the article as well, who called his 6-year old pit bull named Chopper, "his baby."

The article also quoted the New York City-based ASPCA. The ASPCA decries breed-specific laws as "discriminatory," yet launched an advertising campaign last October that "specifically" targeted blacks and Latinos to help reduce the number of unsterilized pit bulls and rottweilers. The ASPCA also pushes pit bull adoptions and distorts the dangers of pit bulls to the American public, but does not distort these same dangers to shelter workers.

07/03/08: 2008 Dog Bite Fatality: Henry Piotrowski, 90-Years Old, Killed by Two Pit Bulls
06/02/08: ASPCA Pushing Pit Bull Adoption: Adopt-A-Bull Contest

4 thoughts on “NYC Housing Authorities Ban Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and Dobermans”

Agency sued after vicious pit bull attack
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http://tinyurl.com/cbsb5c

MAY 5, 2009 – Carmen Delgado, 65, was walking into her building in the Eastchester Gardens housing project in December, her arms filled with groceries, when her neighbor’s pit bull, King, attacked her.

“The dog jumped on me. He threw me to the ground,” she said.

“The packages fell. He ripped off pieces of my jacket. He got my face. He took a chunk out of my lip, all the way through the skin. You could see my teeth.”

Delgado, a retired 30-year secretary for the Housing Authority, is missing part of her lip, has facial scars, and is afraid to leave her apartment.

Now, she has filed a lawsuit against the Housing Authority in Bronx County Civil Court.

The suit follows the agency’s recent announcement that it will change its pet policy as of May 1 – reducing the size of permitted dogs from a current maximum allowed weight of 40 pounds to a maximum of 25 pounds when full-grown.

The authority also is outlawing certain breeds, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, Doberman pinschers, German shepherds and English mastiffs, except for those already registered. They say they’re doing this “because of an increase in biting incidents.”

…snip…

“I pray to God that they do something,” she said.

“Thank God my jacket was high and I had a scarf. He could have killed me. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.”

A couple of years ago the City of New York paid out $5 Million due to the actions of a Pit luvin’ police officer. He picked up a stray pit bull off the street and gave it a family. The wigglebutt subsequently mauled a chid and the city paid out.

Yep, the little wigglebutt mauled the child instantly (within 24 hours):
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https://blog.dogsbite.org/2007/12/new-york-city-to-pay-huge-damages-to.html

More:
“A jury in the Bronx just last week fixed the blame not only on the pit bull, but also on New York City, paving the way for Makailah’s family to receive millions of dollars in damages. Makailah’s mother, Shannon Smith, received the dog from a police officer the day before the mauling, according to the complaint filed in the suit. The unusual circumstances behind Officer Sean Smith’s decision to give the dog to Ms. Smith, a stranger, were enough to make the city liable for the attack, the jury decided. The day before the mauling, the pit bull was being kept at the 43rd Precinct after police found it abandoned near the station. Ms. Smith was at the precinct at the same time, waiting to file papers in an adoption proceeding. Officer Smith struck up a conversation with her about the dog and Ms. Smith ended up taking the animal home. A lawyer for Ms. Smith, Thomas Minotti, said Officer Smith was looking to give the dog away and had told Ms. Smith that it would soon be put to sleep. A spokeswoman for the city law department, Laura Postiglione, said Ms. Smith had “asked to take the dog home.”

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/city-liable-for-mauling-by-a-pit-bull/67869/

I wonder how the adoption proceedings went after this reckless endangerment of a child?

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Trigger on May 5, 2009 at 7:55 pm said:

Agency sued after vicious pit bull attack
—-
http://tinyurl.com/cbsb5c

MAY 5, 2009 – Carmen Delgado, 65, was walking into her building in the Eastchester Gardens housing project in December, her arms filled with groceries, when her neighbor’s pit bull, King, attacked her.

“The dog jumped on me. He threw me to the ground,” she said.

“The packages fell. He ripped off pieces of my jacket. He got my face. He took a chunk out of my lip, all the way through the skin. You could see my teeth.”

Delgado, a retired 30-year secretary for the Housing Authority, is missing part of her lip, has facial scars, and is afraid to leave her apartment.

Now, she has filed a lawsuit against the Housing Authority in Bronx County Civil Court.

The suit follows the agency’s recent announcement that it will change its pet policy as of May 1 – reducing the size of permitted dogs from a current maximum allowed weight of 40 pounds to a maximum of 25 pounds when full-grown.

The authority also is outlawing certain breeds, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, Doberman pinschers, German shepherds and English mastiffs, except for those already registered. They say they’re doing this “because of an increase in biting incidents.”

…snip…

“I pray to God that they do something,” she said.

“Thank God my jacket was high and I had a scarf. He could have killed me. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.”
Anonymous on May 6, 2009 at 11:22 am said:

A couple of years ago the City of New York paid out $5 Million due to the actions of a Pit luvin’ police officer. He picked up a stray pit bull off the street and gave it a family. The wigglebutt subsequently mauled a chid and the city paid out.
Trigger on May 6, 2009 at 2:31 pm said:

Yep, the little wigglebutt mauled the child instantly (within 24 hours):
—
https://blog.dogsbite.org/2007/12/new-york-city-to-pay-huge-damages-to.html

More:
“A jury in the Bronx just last week fixed the blame not only on the pit bull, but also on New York City, paving the way for Makailah’s family to receive millions of dollars in damages. Makailah’s mother, Shannon Smith, received the dog from a police officer the day before the mauling, according to the complaint filed in the suit. The unusual circumstances behind Officer Sean Smith’s decision to give the dog to Ms. Smith, a stranger, were enough to make the city liable for the attack, the jury decided. The day before the mauling, the pit bull was being kept at the 43rd Precinct after police found it abandoned near the station. Ms. Smith was at the precinct at the same time, waiting to file papers in an adoption proceeding. Officer Smith struck up a conversation with her about the dog and Ms. Smith ended up taking the animal home. A lawyer for Ms. Smith, Thomas Minotti, said Officer Smith was looking to give the dog away and had told Ms. Smith that it would soon be put to sleep. A spokeswoman for the city law department, Laura Postiglione, said Ms. Smith had “asked to take the dog home.”

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/city-liable-for-mauling-by-a-pit-bull/67869/
Anonymous on May 7, 2009 at 11:06 am said:

I wonder how the adoption proceedings went after this reckless endangerment of a child?