Category Archives: Appellate Court Rulings

A collection of posts from the DogsBite.org Blog about state and federal appellate court rulings pertaining to dog bite victim lawsuits, dangerous dog laws and breed-specific legislation.

2017 Dog Bite Fatality: 8-Month Old Baby Boy Killed by Family Pit Bull in Calvert County, Maryland

The Family Pit Bull Attacked the Baby 'Out of The Blue' Jase Fohs, 8-months old, was killed by a family pit bull in Lusby, Maryland. Family Pit Bull Confirmed UPDATE 03/24/17: At the news conference Friday, Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans said the dog that killed an 8-month old baby was a family pit bull, 6 to 8-years old. The family had raised the dog since it was a puppy. The animal attacked the baby "out of the blue," he said. The dog had no history of aggression, Evans said. The f… [Read full blog post]

City of Montreal Wins Appeal; Quebec Court of Appeal Overturns Lower Court's Suspension of Pit Bull Ban Bylaw

The Montreal Pit Bull Ban is Now in Effect Photo: Édifice Ernest-Cormier by Mickael Pollard, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) Ban Now in Effect UPDATE 12/01/16: On Thursday, the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a lower court judge's ruling suspending provisions of Montreal's dangerous dog bylaw pertaining to pit bulls. The lower court judge erred in his ruling. The Montreal pit bull ban will be in effect until the court resolves the ongoing lawsuit brought by the Mon… [Read full blog post]

Who Can Identify a Pit Bull? A Dog Owner of 'Ordinary Intelligence' Say the High Courts

Pit Bulls Are Identifiable Meme Campaign DogsBite.org - For 25 years appellate courts have ruled that a dog owner of ordinary intelligence can identify a pit bull (See: Ohio v. Anderson, 1991). In addition to this, the high courts have ruled that scientific precision is not required when determining the breed (See: Colorado Dog Fanciers v. Denver, 1991). Yet still the myth persists ad nauseam -- pushed by the Pit Bull Propaganda Machine, pit bull advocates, animal groups an… [Read full blog post]

2015 First Quarter Report: Municipalities and Grassroots Beat Back State Preemption Bills Barring Local Pit Bull Ordinances

A Primer on State Preemption Laws and Charts for Advocates Chart illustrates 35-years of U.S. fatal pit bull attacks in 5-year periods. We added short teal vertical bars to indicate when each state passed a preemption law barring municipalities from enacting pit bull ordinances. We also marked the end of the CDC's 20-year study period, 1998, showing the dramatic rise in fatalities since. DogsBite.org - During the first quarter of the 2015 legislative season, state preemp… [Read full blog post]