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Greenbelt group fights to overturn county pit bull ban

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Allison Pasek⁄The Gazette Maryland Dog Foundation President Adrianne Lefkowitz of Riverdale Park with her American Staffordshire terrier Zuzu at her side gets a kiss from member Pam Loeb’s Rotwelier Ben during their visit to Riverside Drive Park in Riverdale Park.

The Maryland Dog Federation is a Greenbelt based advocacy group that formed when the county banned all American pit bull terriers or any dog resembling that breed in 1997.

Foundation President Adrianne Lefkowitz said the group decided to plead for dog owners because they felt the county ban on pit bulls was too broad.

‘‘You can have a dog that looks like a pit bull but isn’t,” Lefkowitz said.

The bull terrier breeds are similar to the breed of dogs banned in the county, the American pit bull terrier.

The federation feels that bull terriers with a not-so-perfect egg shaped head could easily be mistaken for a American pit bull terrier and killed because of this law.

Lefkowitz said a lot of angry residents felt like they were being treated like drug dealers and criminals because they had dogs who fit the criteria that were being taken away.

Jarreau, a former county resident who asked to be referred to by only his first name, said he tried to get an apartment in Fort Washington, but the homeowners association told him that because it had to follow the county law he couldn’t keep his dog.

‘‘I didn’t like it because I wanted to keep my dog so I had to keep my pet at someone else’s house,” Jarreau said.

‘‘It took a lot of time and gas because of traveling back and forth to see my dog in another county. I had to move to Wardorf in Charles County paying $200 a month more in rent so I could be with my dog.”

The federation’s mission is to preserve the special and historic relationship between people and dogs as well as to encourage and protect the welfare of dogs by promoting communication between individuals, dog clubs, dog related businesses and interests in the state.

‘‘We have been working for the repeal since the pit bull law has been in effect,” Lefkowitz said. ‘‘Through our networking and e-mails, we have kept people informed of the ban.”

The federation has worked with organizations like Fido’s For Freedom in Laurel, which trains dogs for the hearing impaired, and the Humane Society of Harford County, which takes in homeless dogs and cats.

Tammy Zaluzney, executive director from the Humane Society of Harford County, said her organization is a private nonprofit whose mission is to educate the public so that every animal has a responsible owner.

‘‘To solve the problem with animals, you have to do it on the human level, which is through education,” Zaluzney said.

She said Humane Society of Harford County likes to advocate with any organization that has a similar mission.

‘‘We interpartner with organizations like the Maryland Dog Federation who believe that the way to solve animal problems is by solving people problems,” Zaluzney said.

She also described the county pit bull ban as archaic. ‘‘There is not another county in the state that has this ban, only specific townships,” Zaluzney said.

Lefkowitz said because of the pit bull ban, people are hiding their dogs. ‘‘We have people whose dogs never go out,” she said. ‘‘Their dogs have to be trained on potty paper because they are afraid that their dogs will be taken an slaughtered. We want to work with legislative bodies into putting laws that are beneficial to dog owners.”

Prince George’s County Animal Control said the reason the county banned pit bulls was because there were so many incidents of reported pit bull attacks. If a dog owner has proof that they had a licensed pit bull before Feb 3. 1997 and that license was current, these owners were allowed to keep their dogs.

A pit bull license is $50 and the county license is $25 or $5 if an animal is spayed or neutered. If not licensed, then the owner has 24 hours to remove their dog from the county.

The County Council created a vicious animal task force as a result of their report a proposed law sponsored by County Councilman Thomas R. Hendershot (D-Dist.3) of New Carrollton.

The proposed law, which would have replaced the current pit bull ban stated that if a dog is caught running loose more than twice or if it exhibits menacing behaviors, then animal control would determine in person if the dog was potentially dangerous or not.

Lefkowitz said the federation was hoping that Hendershot’s proposal would take the place of the existing dog ban. But the County Council voted 6 to 3 against Hendershot’s proposal on Oct. 25. even with the dangerous dog language being amended.

County Department of Environmental Resources Director Donna Wilson changed the policy to allow out-of-county adoption of pit bulls effective Feb. 1 to animal control facilities that agree to accept the transfer after reviewing legislation on the books and recognizing that some pit bulls weren’t vicious in response to public outcry.

Once the dogs are under the control of another animal control facility, any adoption will be in accordance with that facility’s policies and procedures, and the receiving county’s laws, rules and regulations governing the adoption of animals.

Dog owner Monica Minter said she and her husband moved here from Virginia Beach with her dog Jersey, who has been to obedience school.

‘‘Last year, when we signed a contract to build a house in Prince George’s County, we had no idea about the dog ban,” Minter said. ‘‘We found out after the work was half way completed. Now our dog is staying in Alexandria, and I’m not going to give my dog up. Maybe the last solution is moving out of this house.”

Although Minter said it would be a great financial loss to move, she considers Jersey part of the family.

‘‘I don’t see any logical reason to give her up because of the breed,” she said.

She also said she knows a lot of responsible dog owners in Virginia Beach who haven’t had any problem.

Minter said she and her husband have hired an animal rights lawyer.

The federation applauds the recent policy change made by the county to allow out-of-county adoptions of pit bulls.

Lefkowitz said the federation is not an animal rights group, but it will continue to promote public education about dogs and fight for issues that affect the interest of responsible owners.

E-mail Michael Zimmerman at mzimmerman@gazette.net.