Earlier this month, the state dropped the breed-specific ban.
Lebanon’s law would be rewritten to ban the owning of a “vicious dog” defined as “any dog (that) without provocation has caused injury to a person; any dog that has been trained for dog fighting; or any dog used in commission of a crime.”
The law makes exceptions for police dogs and guard dogs who attacked a person while protecting private property or its owner.
“It’s very difficult to enforce a law that is breed specific,” said Lebanon City Attorney Mark Yurick. “This new law is not breed specific and instead focuses on the conduct of any dog or the purpose for which it is bred.”
Yurick said the new law would be much easier to enforce as law officers would no longer have to “prove” a dog was a pitbull or of pitbull ancestry.
Mari Lee Schwarzwalder, the executive director of the Humane Association of Warren County, said she was in favor of the law change.
“In my 39 years of experience as head of the Humane Association of Warren County, I feel that dogs need to be judged on an individual basis and not as a particular breed,” Schwarzwalder said.
Lebanon Mayor Amy Brewer said she would not support the lifting of the ban.
“I feel strongly that these dogs are dangerous and can’t support the legislation,” Brewer said.
Vice Mayor Charleen Mehaffie Flick said she felt the new policy worked better because the old law was too specific.
“I think the notion of a blanket term for vicious dogs is a better way to protect the citizens of Lebanon,” Flick said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4544 or jmcclelland@coxohio.com.
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