Ever since 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish was killed by his
family’s pit bull in their San Francisco home last June, the breed
notorious for its powerful bite became a target for city ordinances
throughout the state.
Ever since 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish was killed by his family’s pit bull in their San Francisco home last June, the breed notorious for its powerful bite became a target for city ordinances throughout the state.
And with a string of pit bull attacks in South County, some Morgan Hill residents have formed a committee designed to revise our city’s dangerous dog ordinance.
Originally, the committee, headed by a local resident who suffered a pit bull attack last year while walking his own dog down a Morgan Hill street, had plans to follow laws put into place by cities such as Denver and San Francisco which imposed restriction on canines based on their breed. A state law passed last year, Senate Bill 861, prohibits counties and cities from labeling specific breeds as “dangerous.”
Now, it appears as though the committee has seen the light and realizes dogs are a reflection of their owners. Pups raised with praise and affection seldom become fierce attack hounds, but mistreated dogs have the potential to grow into vicious killers.
The committee hopes to craft a law that hits bad owners with stiff fines for their dog’s behavior. They’re headed in the right direction.
But, we think they should try to take it one step further and explore the possibility of preventing repeat offenders from owning dogs in Morgan Hill altogether.
Anyone willing to poison an animal by treating it unkindly obviously doesn’t deserve to own one at all. The city needs revised laws that not only protect our residents, but also looks out for dogs too.
We urge the city council, who will soon make the ultimate decision on what shape an ordinance will take, only pass a law that targets lousy owners instead the pups themselves.
