Pit bulls can stay (Burnham, Illinois)

Pit bulls can stay

BY MARTIN ZABELL
Times Correspondent | Thursday, January 31, 2008 |

BURNHAM | The village has decided it will not seek to ban pit bulls from the community because similar attempts to ban the dogs have been ruled unlawful.

"You can't be breed specific," Burnham Police Chief Peter Belos said last week. "What we're going to do is what we've done in the past."

Late last year, Belos and Brenda Greer, of Burnham's Public Safety Commission, launched an effort to consider banning pit bulls from Burnham. They were spurred to act by an attack by two pit bulls of a Burnham girl who was threatened but not hurt, and two incidents in Calumet City in which a boy and pet dog were severely injured.

Belos and Greer asked village attorneys to research whether a community can ban pit bulls. Extensive research revealed several cases in which judges ruled pit bull bans are illegal.

"A city in southern Illinois was sued, and it lost the suit," Belos said.

In addition, several people, including an attorney for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, saw a newspaper article on the topic and informed the village Police Department about the history of pit bull bans.

The village has no plans to pursue other new laws that will restrict the activities of dogs, Belos said. But he emphasized the village aggressively will enforce current ordinances.

In Burnham, all dogs must be leashed and 'vicious dogs' have to be muzzled.

"If they're out there loose and we found out who the owners are, they'll get a ticket," Belos said.

In recent months, several Burnham residents have complained about roaming pit bulls. In the most serious incident, an 11-year-old girl was chased onto a car's roof to avoid two pit bulls who were chasing her. Both dogs were shot and killed by police.

Many small and larger U.S. cities -- including Denver, Miami and Cincinnati -- ban pit bulls. However, courts in Alabama, New York and Washington have ruled against bans in recent years and numerous animal groups oppose them.

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/01/31/news/illiana/doc352f210126f1b933862573e10006c161.txt