The city of Laurel is asking Price George’s County to lift their long-standing pit bull ban.
Contact information for Prince George’s County:
Office of the Clerk of the Council
14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive, Room 2198, Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772
(301) 952-3600
Fax (301) 952-5178
clerkofthecouncil@co.pg.md.us
You may send correspondence to the Office of the Clerk of the Council with a request to distribute it to all County Council members.
Jack B. Johnson, County Executive (to whom the request was made)
countyexecutive@co.pg.md.us
Contact information for individual council members can be found here:
http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/Government/LegislativeBranch/index.asp?nivel=foldmenu
The County Council meets as a legislative body at 10:00 a.m. every Tuesday in the Council Hearing Room on the main floor of the County Administration Building in Upper Marlboro.
Looking for more info or talking points? You can read the Prince George’s County Vicious Animal Legislation Task Force report here: http://www.canineadvocatesofohio.org/Docs/Prince_Georges_County0001.PDF
http://www.gazette.net/stories/07232009/portnew180447_32544.shtml
City of Laurel asking county executive to revisit pit bull ban
Mayor sends letter saying it’s time to lift restriction
by Timmy Gelles and Jeffrey K. Lyles | Staff Writers
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Laurel Mayor Craig A. Moe said he has noticed an increase in pit bull terriers within the city, but the animals were leashed, well-behaved and completely under the owner’s control, prompting him to ask that the county ban restricting them be lifted.
A discussion at the July 13 City Council meeting regarding pit bulls in the city prompted Moe to send a letter to Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) July 14 asking the county to revisit the existing county-wide ban.
“We ought to look to work with the county. We need to revise the law and take a look at it,” Moe said at the meeting.
The Staffordshire bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier and the American pit bull terrier breed of dogs born in Prince George’s County after Feb. 3, 1997, are illegal in the county. The late County Councilman Isaac Gourdine pushed for the law after a young girl in his district was mauled, but survived an attack by a pack of pit bulls. Residents who have had their pit bull before that date can apply for a dog license and pit bull registration form through the county.
Those found with pit bulls born after that date can receive a maximum sentence of six months in prison and up to $1,000 in fines.
Prince George’s County Police spokesman Henry Tippett said he estimates that there has been a decrease in calls concerning pit bulls since the ban took effect. Laurel’s animal control officer, a member of the city police department, enforces the law within the 22,000-resident municipality.
The County Council rejected requests by task forces consisting of community members, animal groups and county officers to rescind the ban in 1999 and 2006.
“There are still concerns about some people who utilized such dogs to assist in gang and drug related activities,” County Council Vice Chairman Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Dist.1) of Laurel said in an e-mail. “A lot of animal lovers want the ban repealed and some residents oppose lifting it. I doubt that the issue will go away any time soon.”
Adrianne Lefkowitz, president of the Maryland Dog Federation, a Greenbelt-based organization that favors the ban’s removal, said her group plans to offer assistance to Laurel.
“The law is still ineffective. It is still doing all of the negatives and none of the positives. The breed ban is an overlay law and not really needed,” Lefkowitz said. “It’s not really working. It hasn’t done much to reduce the numbers. It’s been repealed in many places such as Miami and it’s being challenged in Denver.”
City Councilman Frederick Smalls (Ward 2) said that until the ban is rescinded, residents must be mindful of the restriction.
“I am a dog lover but the law is the law,” Smalls said. “I ride around city and see so many people walking their pit bulls with seemingly no regard.”
E-mail Timmy Gelles at tgelles@gazette.net and Jeffrey K. Lyles at jlyles@gazette.net.
Filed under: Maryland, Proposal to Repeal | Tagged: ban, breed specific legislation, city, county, dog, pit bull, task force
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This would be great if it was repealed. Could you keep me posted? I live in PG County and I was a pit bull owner, breeder and I used to show them when I lived in the midwest. I would love to be able to own another one they are great dogs.
What’s sad is Prince George’s County has gone out of its way to ban the PITBULL Terrier, which overall has a far better tempermant and less dangerous than many other breeds that are legal in the County. See where the APBT ranks in comparison to many other breeds at this website: atts.org. Breed Specific Legislation has never made sense, just simply enforce animal control laws abroad and hold owner’s accountable for their pets no matter what the breed.