Lucas County, OH: County to stop killing “pit bull” puppies

Identification of a “pit bull” is difficult enough; identification of a “pit bull” puppy is even more so. Dog warden Tom Skeldon apparently had no set criteria to identify “pit bulls,” as he could not produce this criteria when requested to do so by the Dog Warden Advisory Committee.

Previous alerts for Lucas County: http://stopbsl.com/?s=lucas+county

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091125/NEWS16/911250344/-1/NEWS04

Lucas County orders end to puppy euthanasia

Dog warden’s TV remarks draw ire

By TOM TROY
BLADE POLITICS WRITER
Article published November 25, 2009

The Lucas County commissioners voted yesterday to prohibit Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon from killing puppies at least through 3 months of age, including, for the first time in years, “pit bull” puppies.

And in a development that could threaten even the few weeks remaining in Mr. Skeldon’s tenure as dog warden, Commissioner Ben Konop called for his suspension for making allegedly false statements about the Toledo Area Humane Society in a television interview.

The commissioners adopted the recommendation of the Dog Warden’s Citizen Advisory Committee to end puppy euthanasia through the end of 2009. The only exception would be puppies that are ill, as determined by a veterinarian.

The advisory committee specifically included “pit bulls” in the moratorium for two reasons – because no 3-month-old puppy of any breed would be a threat to people and because it is too difficult to determine that such a young dog is a “pit bull.”

Mr. Konop made the motion to adopt the moratorium, although he initially proposed to make it indefinite. He voted against an amendment from President Pete Gerken to limit the moratorium to the current year. The amendment passed 2-1, with Mr. Gerken and

Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak voting in support.

“It would have made a lot more sense to do it on an indefinite basis,” Mr. Konop said. “Today there was actually some substantive change, and that’s better than the status quo.”

Mr. Skeldon did not return calls seeking comment.

Mr. Gerken said he agreed to the amended resolution because it did not conflict with the recommendations of the advisory committee.

Ms. Wozniak said the moratorium was unnecessary because the dog warden already established a policy of protecting puppies from euthanasia.

“That practice of taking care of puppies and getting puppies adopted already exists,” Ms. Wozniak said.

However, yesterday’s action was the first time that “pit bull” pups have been explicitly protected, at least until they are three months old.

“Pit bull” is a generic descriptive term for a dog trained to fight and may refer to multiple breeds, including the American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, American pit bull terrier, and other mix breeds determined to be “pit bulls” by Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon.

One week ago, the dog warden announced a policy of no longer killing puppies other than “pit bulls” and sick puppies that would be euthanized for humane reasons.

The Dog Warden Advisory Committee recommended the temporary moratorium on Nov. 12. Its recommendation said that it had asked the dog warden for the criteria used to distinguish “pit bull” type dogs from others, but so far he had not done so.

“Pit bull” is a generic descriptive term for a dog trained to fight and may refer to multiple breeds, including the American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, American pit bull terrier, and other mix breeds determined to be “pit bulls” by Mr. Skeldon.

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