amend section 955.11 and to enact section 955.111 of the Revised Code to prohibit the owning, keeping, or harboring of pit bull dogs beginning ninety days after the effective date of the act and to require specified officers to seize all pit bull dogs after that date.
It includes this change to Ohio law:
Sec. 955.111.
(A) Beginning ninety days after the effective date of this section, no person shall own, keep, or harbor a dog that belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog.
(B) Not later than ninety days after the effective date of this section, a person who owns, keeps, or harbors a pit bull dog on the effective date of this section shall surrender the dog to the dog warden. Not later than ten days after receiving the dog, the dog warden shall euthanize the dog.
(C)(1) Beginning ninety days after the effective date of this section, if an officer has probable cause to believe that a dog is a pit bull dog, the officer may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for a search warrant. The court shall issue a search warrant for the purposes requested if there is probable cause to believe that a dog is a pit bull dog.
(2) After obtaining a search warrant, an officer shall seize the pit bull dog and surrender the dog to the dog warden. Not later than ten days after receiving the dog, the dog warden shall euthanize the dog.
(D) As used in this section, "officer" has the same meaning as in section 959.132 of the Revised Code.
The bill has been referred to the State Government & Elections committee. It does not currently have any other sponsors.
Rep. Yates proposed the bill after a 12-year-old was bitten numerous times by a pit bull. Unfortunately, banning and killing a particular breed is not going to eliminate the possibility of dogs biting kids. Yes, pit bulls, because of their physical characteristics and generations of breeding, can cause more damage with their bites than other types of dogs, but that is not a reason to confiscate private property and destroy it.
And that's what this bill does - it takes something that belongs to you and destroys it under the guise of 'keeping the community safe.' But how this bill with solve the problem of dog bites, even the sponsor doesn't know.
"How it's going to work out in the end, no one knows because when you talk about basically destroying a breed or euthanizing a breed that raises all kinds of moral challenges," said Yates.
Yates says he will reintroduce the bill next year if it doesn't pass during this House session. Considering the opposition that is already present (with on-line petitions and PETA involved), I don't think his bill will be passed.
