LouLife

Photos by John Nation

Talking about the incident more than a year after her uncle was mauled and killed by two free-roaming pit bull dogs as he walked in Louisville’s West End, Lisa Pittman’s voice still cracks and tears still flow. "I was crushed," she says. "I couldn’t believe it. This is an issue we shouldn’t have to worry about — dogs biting people."

Hulon T. Barbour, 60, of the Parkland neighborhood, was walking home on Nov. 18, 2005, when the dogs attacked and killed him. It was the second death from a pit bull attack in the city that month. Earlier, a 14-month-old girl was killed in her Lake Dreamland home after being bitten by the family pet.

"How many examples do we need before we see that this is a problem?" Pittman asks.

Her question is one echoing around the country — and indeed, internationally — as governments try to get a handle on dangerous dogs that menace neighborhoods and attack other dogs or people. In the United States, there are more than 60 million dogs living with humans, more per capita than in any other country in the world. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, a division of the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs every year, with more than 800,000 seeking medical care. Half of these are children. (The highest incidence of dog bites is among children ages five to nine years old.) Of those injured, more than 350,000 require emergency room treatment, and each year, on average, between 10 and 20 Americans die from dog bites.

In metro Louisville, there have been approximately 900 dog bites requiring medical treatment reported each year for the last three years. There have been three deaths from dog attacks in recent years, two in 2005 and one in 1999.

Beyond the statistics are mounting fears of free-roaming dog packs and spike-collared fighting dogs lunging at fences and passersby. Last fall, Indianapolis passed a dangerous-dog ordinance after a pit bull attacked and severely injured a child. Denver outlawed the owning of pit bull dogs within city limits in 1989 after a fatal attack. Dangerous-dog laws and ordinances have been passed in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Cincinnati and a host of other cities. In 1991, England banned ownership of pit bulls and several other types of stout, muscular dogs unless an owner receives a court exemption. Recently, a Bracken County, Ky., ban on pit bull ownership was upheld in court.

Alisha Ward, who "saved" Sophia from dogfighting, takes her to visit patients in hospitals.

Hamilton, who calls dangerous dogs a "public health issue" of great concern, says before the two local attacks mentioned above, she’d already heard from constituents angered about irresponsible owners and menacing dogs — people like Douglas McGhee, a retired phone installer and repairman. McGhee called Hamilton’s office a few years ago after repeated efforts to get his neighbor, a West End breeder of pit bulls, to take better care of his dogs. "At one time he had 33 dogs in his back yard," says McGhee. "The noise and stench was unbearable. The only thing he did was breed them, fight them and kill them if they didn’t make it."

Surprised at how contentious the public debate became, Hamilton persisted in drafting a new animal ordinance, one both she and Metro Animal Services director Dr. Gilles Meloche call progressive legislation. Yet the debate continues.

The Bully Breeds?
As happened in Jefferson County, the debate over whether or not to target certain breeds in dangerous-dog legislation often turns into an argument over pit bulls. The pit bull is not recognized as a breed per se, but rather as a type — a descriptor of several breeds of dogs with similar physical characteristics. Commonly, the breeds included are the American pit bull terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier and the American Staffordshire terrier. Sometimes other breeds are included, such as the English bull terrier or the American bulldog, or even mastiff-type dogs like the Argentine Dogo, the Tosa, the Cane Corso and the Presa Canario.

Breed-specific dangerous-dog designations also sometimes include rottweilers, Doberman pinchsers and German shepherds.

A pit bill is a medium-sized, squarish dog usually weighing 40 to 60 pounds. With a short coat revealing their strength, they are sometimes called "dog bodybuilders" or more commonly, the "bully breeds." They have large heads, small eyes and strong jaws. Pit fans say the dogs are intelligent, confident and loyal. Critics of the breeds call them hyper-aggressive and unpredictable.

Historically, these are the dogs used in illegal dogfighting rings. In recent years, they have become popular as a macho symbol among urban toughs and gang members, and to guard drug houses. The dogs desc/files/storyimages/from a breeding mix of bulldogs and terriers.

Descended originally from Asian mastiff breeds, English bulldogs — now docile and harmless — once were strong, stout animals used in controlling livestock. (The dogs bit bulls on the snouts to catch and hold them.) In the early 1800s, breeders began crossing them with terriers to get a more agile dog, a mix that became popular for the gory sports of bull- and bear-baiting in Elizabethan England: A bait animal was tied and a dog set on it for a fight to the end. In the mid-1800s, England outlawed the sport as cruel, but dogfighting — dog against dog — took over and continues, illegally, both overseas and in this country.

Some of the descendents of those early mixes were recognized as distinct breeds by the American Kennel Club, beginning with the American Staffordshire terrier in 1936. But today, when people say "pit bull" they’re usually referring to a range of breeds and, often, a mixed-breed dog. Opinion about pit bulls ranges from those who consider them a menace that should be exterminated to those who insist the dogs make wonderful family pets and companions. Sorting through the arguments is somewhat akin to entering a "nature versus nurture" debate on human behavior.

Marcy Setter, director of education and public relations for Pit Bull Rescue Central, a major pit bull rescue group based in Missouri, says fears of pit bull aggression toward humans are overblown. "This is really easy," she says. "It rotates every 10 years or so: Back in the ’70s, it was German shepherds. During the ’80s, it was the Doberman. In the ’90s, it was the rottweiler. Now it’s the pit bull."

Setter says pit bulls possess some tendencies toward dog aggression, but other breeds have been bred for this, too — such as the Australian cattle dog or the Great Pyrenees. And, she insists, "pits were never bred for human aggression."

In fact, say pit bull lovers, any dogs that showed aggression toward people in the early days of dogfighting were culled. According to local dog trainer Linda Laun, some breeds have a heightened alert mechanism. "These dogs are a bit wary of unusual circumstances, less accepting of new experiences," a trait that can make them useful as guard dogs, she says. Such types would include German shepherds, rottweilers, Dobermans and some of the pits. But, she says, "these breeds have no more propensity for causing harm or more likelihood to cause harm than a golden retriever, a Yorkie or any other" breed.

Matt Duffy, of Duffy’s Dog Training Center in Jeffersonville, a trainer of family as well as law-enforcement dogs, says that in recent years unscrupulous breeders interested in heavier, stronger and more aggressive dogs have isolated these traits and selected for them in breeding. This, combined with poor dog handling and abuse, has allowed these characteristics to run amok in some dogs. Still, he says, the top problems are owner ignorance and the improper handling that results.

Critics of pit bulls say that dogs bred for "gameness" and tenacity, as pit bull types have been, have a lowered aversion to aggression and a high tolerance for pain. And they point to the dog’s powerful tools — its massive jaws as well as its musculature — and its tendency to sustain an attack. "It’s a different kind of bite, absolutely," says Matthew Lemme, assistant Jefferson County attorney, who prosecutes animal-cruelty and dog-bite cases. He notes that "a grossly disproportionate number of the cases I’ve had involved pit bull attacks."

Getting a Handle
On a cold January evening, a cluster of dog owners have gathered with their animals at a local pet supply store for training. This is a Level 2 class, one designed to prepare dogs to become "canine good citizens," which makes them suitable for therapy work, for visiting hospitals, nursing homes and rehab centers to lift spirits, and even for going into libraries and classrooms to encourage children struggling to read.

Instructor Linda Laun is confident as she pushes her training style: a positive rewards-based approach. There are six dogs in the class: a young Doberman; another young dog, a golden retriever-poodle cross; a golden retriever; and three pit bulls. The pits have the most training and it shows: They are the best-behaved dogs in the class.

One of the owners is Alisha Ward, 36, a mental-health counselor who volunteers with Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. Always alongside is Sophia, a four-year-old albino American Staffordshire terrier, a dog Ward bought as a pup from a breeder who was marketing her for dogfighting. "People are cautious around her at first because she is a pit," says Ward. "But she comes up to people and is very cute, not at all aggressive. She even sits on hospital beds."

Sophia also assists in the public library’s Reading to Rover program, which takes advantage of the human-dog bond to help children who are struggling with reading. The other two pits in the class are with Tami Harbolt-Bosco, the public-education coordinator with Metro Animal Services and a trained dog behaviorist. One of them — two-year-old Dolly — showed up at Metro Animal Services with an amputated leg and fresh stitches. Harbolt-Bosco adopted her six months ago. She already had rescued her other pit, Drew, from Albuquerque’s city streets several years before. Dolly is in training as a therapy dog; Drew’s already there and, says her owner, is wonderful with special-needs children.

"These dogs are terriers," says Harbolt-Bosco. "They are strong-willed. You have to know what you are doing with them. When you get a good one, they are wonderful — very trusting."

In a major study published in 2000, the Centers for Disease Control, the Humane Society of the United States and the American Veterinary Medical Association investigated and summarized the breeds of dogs involved in fatal attacks on humans from 1979 through 1998. Investigators found that rottweilers and pit bulls were the most commonly reported breeds involved in fatal attacks on people, showing up in more than half of the 238 deaths. (However, more than 25 breeds and crossbreeds killed people during this period, including such family "lovables" as dachshunds, a Yorkshire terrier and a Labrador retriever.)

Investigators noted that the study was inconclusive in many respects. Are rottweilers and pits biting more simply because they are more popular today and thus more numerous? Are they more likely to be owned by irresponsible people looking for the latest "killer dog," the same types who might abuse and sometimes release the dogs when they don’t want them anymore, creating hungry, free-roaming animals poorly socialized to people?

The investigation revealed that 24 percent of the deaths were caused by unrestrained dogs away from their owners’ property; 58 percent were from dogs unrestrained on their owners’ property; 17 percent were restrained dogs on their owners’ property; and less than one percent — just one dog — was a restrained dog off its home turf.

Behaviorists say these are key findings. Dogs that are chained or tethered for long periods of time are neglected and frustrated, and can become overly territorial. If a person approaches, a chained dog, statistically, is nearly three times as likely to attack as an unchained dog. And the absence of spaying or neutering can be a key component in violent behavior; though not all agree, many experts say that unaltered dogs, especially males, are more aggressive.

What a dog’s temperament comes down to, Laun says, involves several factors: its genetic background; the temperament of the parents; the care given to the mother while she is pregnant; primary socialization (proper feeding and nurturing interactions with people) from birth to five weeks; secondary socialization (interacting with people and other animals as well as proper handling and nurturing) from five to 16 weeks; and ongoing care, handling and training.

The study group reporting in 2000 recommended that dangerous-dog laws address owner behavior, not specific breeds, an approach based on "the deed not the breed." This is exactly what Louisville Metro has done with the new ordinance, says Meloche of Metro Animal Services. "We went after the whole problem," he says, the behavior of the dog and of the owner. "You can’t let your dog do whatever it wants."

There are nuisance-dog provisions in the ordinance, as well as measures to address dangerous and "potentially dangerous dogs." License fees rise for unaltered animals and there are new restrictions for keeping and selling dogs that have shown aggression toward other animals or people. And there are strict time limits on how long a dog can be chained or tethered. Meloche says the new law does not affect dog shows and does not harm legitimate breeders.

Early reception of its provisions after a late-night, late-December vote approving the ordinance included a lot of disagreement. Some Metro Council members expressed a belief that the new law must be amended in response to some of the criticisms, and the Louisville Kennel Club announced plans to fight the ordinance and force changes. The League of Kentucky Sportsmen also spoke out against the statute and one of its representatives noted that it "will probably be joining" the kennel club in a lawsuit to block enforcement of certain provisions.

Says Donna Herzig, a breeder of champion show dogs and the Louisville Kennel Club’s vice president and legislative chair, "The whole ordinance is the worst thing that’s happened."

For others, it’s the beginning of a new and better day for dogs and city residents. "You need a three-pronged approach," says Pam Rogers, Kentucky legislative coordinator for the Humane Society of the United States. "Legislate, educate, sterilize."

Meloche agrees. "I’ve seen so many dogs in poor situations," he says. While overseeing a department that kills 8,000 unwanted dogs a year, he stresses the need for better control. "There are rights and responsibilities to dog ownership," says Meloche. "If you have a dog, you are a parent."

Hope Lindsey, 32, seems to agree. Six months ago she adopted Margo, a happy-looking young American pit bull terrier. Lindsey, who regularly fosters dogs for the local pit bull rescue group Pit Mountain Rescue, says she "fell in love with" the red-brindled dog, who’d been "over-bred and dumped." Margo joined a busy household: three children, ages two to 11 (including one child with Down’s syndrome); two cats; and four other dogs. Margo is gentle with the children and "wonderful," but needs her regular exercise sessions in the park, says Lindsey.

"People have a lot of misunderstandings about these dogs," says local pit bull rescuer Ellen McKnight, 37, who fields as many as 300 distress calls about neglected, abused and abandoned pit bulls in a week. "But if they see a dog that’s been well-raised in a loving home, they will see a wonderful animal."

On Jan. 4, Mayor Jerry Abramson signed the new animal welfare ordinance into law. Many of the new definitions and requirements target the dangerous-dog issue. Among them:

• A "dangerous dog" is defined as one used in dogfighting; one that kills or injures someone in an unprovoked attack; one that attacks and injures other pets or livestock; or one that is used in the commission of a crime.

• A "potentially dangerous dog" is one that bites or harms someone "in an aggressive manner" or attacks and injures another pet or livestock.

• Owners of dogs deemed dangerous or potentially dangerous must pay higher licensing fees for these dogs and keep them behind six-foot-high fences.

• Selling a "dangerous dog" or "potentially dangerous dog" without permission from the Metro Animal Services director is prohibited.

Some measures are aimed at regulating unaltered dogs, including higher licensing fees for unaltered animals, a prohibition against the use of "invisible fences" for restraining unaltered dogs, a requirement that unaltered dogs to be kept on four-foot leashes while off their owner’s property, and a requirement that unaltered dogs be microchipped.

Some measures aimed at backyard kennels prohibit them from keeping more than three dogs outside on residential lots of one-half acre or less and prohibit them from keeping more than seven dogs outside on residential lots of one-half to two acres.

Dogs of any owners cannot be chained outside at all between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m., a dog can be chained outside for no more than one hour.

The full ordinance can be viewed at www.louisvilleky.gov under "Search Metro Ordinances."