Denver ban curbs pit bulls, sends them underground

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

By John Keilman - Chicago Tribune staff reporter

DENVER -- In a city where owning a pit bull is against the law, Sonya Dias didn't have the stomach for a life of crime.

For months, her downtown condo served as the hideout for Gryffindor, a brown and white Staffordshire terrier that Dias rescued from a neglectful family. She rose as early as 4:30 a.m. to walk him in predawn darkness, keeping a sharp watch for police.

The stress consumed her, even in her sleep. So earlier this year, she left the neighborhood she loved for a suburb where Gryffindor would be legal.

"It's literally an upheaval of everything," said Dias, a loan officer. "I went from this beautiful turn of the century loft to a suburban white box. It was a total, complete life change, but I would do anything to keep him safe."

Pit bull attacks have spurred communities around the nation to ban or restrict the dogs, hoping to protect residents from what some call a uniquely dangerous animal. Illinois towns such as Addison and North Chicago have adopted the policies, and Ald. Ginger Rugai (19th) has proposed that Chicago do likewise.

No city, though, has gone further than Colorado's sprawling capital, which has outlawed pit bulls since 1989. Hundreds are rounded up annually, 821 so far this year, and though many owners get the chance to send their animals out of town, most of the dogs are destroyed.

Proponents say the ban has been a success but concede that the evidence is murky. Although no one has been seriously hurt by a pit bull with the ordinance in place, officials estimate that thousands of the dogs continue to live in the city, sheltered by residents ignorant or contemptuous of the law.

"People ask me a whole bunch whether the pit bull ordinance is effective, and my answer is, I don't know," said Doug Kelley, Denver's director of animal control.

Attacks prompted legislation

Like most bans, Denver's began as a response to horrifying violence. In 1986, a pit bull chained to a stake killed a 3-year-old boy who had wandered into a yard. Three years later, one savaged a minister who was on his way to the store.

Within weeks of that mauling, the City Council decreed that pit bulls would no longer be allowed in Denver. The ban was based on the assumption that pit bulls, long bred to be fighters, have a greater potential than other dogs to kill or seriously injure a person. The animals are strong and tenacious and have a high threshold for pain--a combination that can be lethal.

"It's true that the old trainers, people who did it 50 years ago, severely limited aggression toward people," said Peter Borchelt, a New York animal behaviorist who has testified on behalf of Denver's ordinance. "[But] if you were an idiot and didn't care about getting into trouble, you could easily get them to [attack humans]."

Others contend that pit bulls' reputation for hostility is greatly exaggerated. Adam Goldfarb of the Humane Society of the United States, which opposes breed bans, said cruel treatment and the failure to neuter a dog are better predictors of violence than an animal's genetics.

"If you do ban pit bulls, then people who are breeding human-aggressive pit bulls are just going to switch to another breed," he said.

From the start, Denver's ordinance has been the subject of heavy criticism, lobbying and litigation. The city stopped enforcement for nearly 13 months when a state law nullified the ban but resumed last year after prevailing in court.

Suburbs following suit

Denver's measure has prompted some suburbs to adopt similar measures out of fear that they would become pit bull dumping grounds. One of those towns, Aurora, has seen an unwelcome side effect.

Cheryl Conway, spokeswoman for Aurora's Animal Care Division, said people who think they have spotted pit bulls have bombarded authorities with phone calls, creating backups with what often turn out to be false alarms.

"We're finding that some [supposed pit bulls] are labrador retrievers, boxers, shih tzus," she said.

Ty Yamron, a 32-year-old restaurateur, said his dog, not a pit bull, was caught in Denver's dragnet. The city confiscated the animal last year even though Yamron had breeding papers stating it was half-Neapolitan mastiff and half-English bulldog.

But when a hearing officer agreed with three Animal Control employees that the dog possessed most of the physical characteristics of pit bull breeds--the standard by which dogs are outlawed--Elmo had to go.

The city allows first-time offenders of the pit bull ban to send their animals out of town, so Yamron gave Elmo to an acquaintance in a rural area. Dozens of other dogs have ended up at Mariah's Promise, an animal sanctuary in the mountains two hours southwest of Denver.

Toni Phillips runs the shelter, and on a recent afternoon, she showed off the 41 pit bulls staying there. Some were in kennels scattered over 43 acres of aspens and evergreens, while others lounged inside a small house.

About 150 pit bulls have arrived at the sanctuary since Denver resumed enforcing its ban, she said. Some owners have reclaimed their animals after moving out of the city, while others, unable to leave, have been forced to let strangers adopt their pets.

"I've watched 6-foot-5 bikers, tattooed from head to toe, cry when they left their dogs behind," Phillips said.

Some owners have decided to take their chances. One woman, a graduate student in her 30s who asked not to be identified, has nervously kept her pit bull at home in north Denverfor two years.

She has moved her mailbox from the doorstep to the curb to prevent postal carriers from spotting her dog through a window. When it's time for a walk, she bundles the pit bull into her car, rolls up the tinted windows and drives him 5 miles out of town.

"I get nervous if anyone knocks on my door," the woman said. "It's uncomfortable."

`Underground' pit bulls

Assistant City Atty. Kory Nelson said such caution explains why no one has been gravely hurt by a pit bull with the ban in effect, even though officials estimate that thousands of the dogs still live in Denver.

"When they're being kept underground, there's less likelihood they'll be out in public, walking the street, playing in a dog park," he said.

He pointed out that when the ban was suspended in 2004 and 2005, two people were mauled by pit bulls. One victim was Josh Armijo, a 48-year-old hairdresser and artist who had been walking his lhasa apso when a pit bull charged from a porch.

Armijo suffered nerve damage from a bite to his right arm before he and his pet could get away. He said his dog was treated for multiple puncture wounds.

The injury has cost him $20,000 in medical bills, he said, and made it difficult to work, leaving him little sympathy for pit bull owners forced to surrender their animals.

"You have a legal weapon running around on four legs and think it's OK?" he said. "Hell no."

But even dedicated supporters of the ban were troubled by the fate of the "Denver 38," a truckload of pit bulls, including 15 puppies, the city seized from a breeder in May.

A volunteer at the city's animal shelter, Tami Bishop, 36, spent weeks trying to find homes for them and finally lined up takers in Utah, Wyoming and Montana.

The breeder, however, had an earlier citation for violating the ban, and Denver's policy calls for the pit bulls of two-time offenders to be put down.

So despite Bishop's efforts, seven weeks after the dogs were confiscated, the city destroyed every last one.

"I was dumbfounded, angry, devastated--almost as if I had lost my own pet," Bishop said. Denver City Council Member Rosemary Rodriguez regretted the deaths but said that neither she nor her colleagues are interested in softening the policy.

"We don't believe pit bulls are more likely to attack than other dogs, but we know that when they do attack, the chances for real, serious harm are exponentially higher," she said. "We don't want someone seriously injured on our watch."

Pit bull bites soar when ban lifted

Denver banned pit bulls in 1989, but thousands continued to live in the city. Pit bull bites remained relatively rare until 2004 and 2005, when a state law nullified the ban for 13 months.

NUMBER OF BITES PER YEAR Among select breeds in Denver
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
German Shepherd 118 72 83 86 78 72
Labrador 99 67 73 58 42 39
Chow 53 56 49 52 51 48
Pit Bull: Bites 13 17 10 18 56 39*

*Tied with Chow

Source: Denver's Division of Animal Control

Chicago Tribune