AR-News: (IN - US)Hammond wants to tighten regulations on pit bulls

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JON L. HENDRICKS / THE TIMES Mary Ellen Slazyk plays with her two dogs Rufus, right, and Sheba, at her home in Hammond. 

Pit bull owners fighting mad

HAMMOND: Animal Control director wants to tighten regulations on licensing, registration, ownership

BY CHRISTINE HARVEY
Times Staff Writer



 
HAMMOND -- Mary Ellen Slazyk can't believe city officials consider her 10-month-old puppy a dangerous animal. She says her Staffordshire bull terrier is great around children.

Sheba sleeps in a bed with her 13-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and serves as the handicapped girl's closest companion. The pup, who is deaf, wouldn't hurt a fly, Slazyk said.

Yet, the City Council is considering an ordinance that would make it tougher for owners such as Slazyk to keep Staffordshire bull terriers as pets, lumping them into a category of dangerous animals that includes the pit bull.

"This is absolutely draconian," said Slazyk, who plans to fight the ordinance when it comes up at Monday's council meeting. "They're taking away people's rights. This is unfair, biased, discriminatory and, I believe, against the law."

Councilman Homero "Chico" Hinojosa, D-6th, is sponsoring the ordinance on behalf of the city's Animal Control director, LaWanda Baker.

"We're not saying it's illegal to have any kind of dog you want, but certain breeds you have to take extra precautions, extra measures," Baker said. "I hate to single out this one breed, but that seems to be the one that's the biggest problem."

The ordinance includes several provisions aimed at regulating the ownership and licensing of pit bulls, with penalties reaching up to $2,500 per day.

Perhaps most alarming to Slazyk is a requirement that owners must carry $300,000 in liability insurance. East Chicago and Gary, which already have similar ordinances on the books, require owners to carry $1 million and $500,000 in liability insurance, respectively.

The ordinance closely follows that of South Bend, save for the definition of what a pit bull is. Whereas Hammond includes the Staffordshire bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier and the American Pit Bull terrier in its ordinance, South Bend includes only the American Pit Bull terrier.

Angela Pinta, a 21-year-old student at Purdue University Calumet, said she is sad a few dogs and their owners have given pit bulls a bad name. But she said that's no reason to punish the entire breed.

"Before I had a pit bull, I thought they were vicious, too," said Pinta, whose pit bull, Duke, is a year old. "But that's just a stereotype. Really, it's how the owner treats the dog."

Baker disagreed and displayed photographs of innumerable pit bulls, many of whom died from wounds they received in fights.

While Animal Control takes animals in and readies those suitable for adoption, Baker laments the fact that she can't provide pit bulls and pit bull mixes with homes. She said she is forced to euthanize those not claimed within 72 hours, because she couldn't put a pit bull back into society with a clear conscience.

Animal Control impounded 134 pit bulls last year -- 80 percent of which had fighting scars.

Baker admits the new ordinance, if adopted, will be difficult to enforce. Roughly 240 pit bulls are registered in Hammond, but Baker estimates that number accounts for only a third of all pit bulls in the city.

Hinojosa said he is particularly concerned an ordinance under consideration in Chicago -- calling for a ban on pit bulls citywide -- will cause owners there to foist their pit bulls onto Hammond.

Christine Harvey can be reached at charvey at nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4174.