City makes pit bull ban official
by Elizabeth Rigel
GALLIPOLIS — Gallipolis City Commissioners officially passed the second reading of an ordinance to ban pit bulls with a three to one vote during their regular Tuesday meeting.

The ordinance makes it unlawful to own, possess, keep, exercise control over, maintain, harbor, transport, or sell any pit bull dogs within the city limits. According to the legislation, pit bulls are defined to include the breeds of American Pit Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or American Staffordshire Terrier. The ban also extends to mixed breed dogs that contain pit bull and “vicious dogs” that have without provocation killed or caused serious injury to any person, or have killed another dog.

The ban came about after a 13-year-old girl was seriously injured by two pit bull dogs inside a city residence in January.

Jo Staats of West Virginia Pit Bull Haven requested privilege of the floor concerning the legislation. She passed out a lineup of dogs and asked the commissioners to identify which ones were pit bulls to demonstrate how difficult it may be to determine whether or not a dog is a pit bull. Few guesses were ventured and none present were able to correctly judge all of the dogs.

Commissioner Jon Lynch maintained that his primary concern was for the young girl who was the victim of the recent dog attack.

“It’s not her fault because a dog attacked her and my position as a city commissioner is that I don’t want that to happen again,” Lynch said.

The Gallia County dog warden and assistant dog warden, whose shoulders this ban will inevitably fall on along with the Gallipolis Police Department, also attended Tuesday’s meeting. Dog Warden Paul Williams said that he understood where both parties were coming from, though he expressed apprehension at being forced to decide whether a dog is a pit bull or another breed.