Seriously! Yes you should. BSL helps no one and only condemns an entire breed and their owners for no good reason. Punish the deed, not the breed!

Time to remove the ban.

Absolutely time to remove the utterly pointless ban.

Absolutely end it - ban bad owners.

Lift the ban. Smoking, fast food, alcohol, etc... kills every day. Not pit bulls.

Bay Village just ended their ban yesterday. Time for Lakewood to step up and remove this discriminatory ban that provides no real safety to the public, only heartache. Common Lakewood, do the right thing, end it now...

Yes yes yes!!!! It is time to lift the ban and punish bad OWNERS and not discriminate against the breed. The law makers need to update their very out dated..inaccurate research.

THIS! The #1 reason why I moved out of Lakewood. Second was ridiculous taxes for non-home owners.

But, the Pit thing? Yeah. ALL cities should fall in line with the STATE law.
Example of Lakewood stupidity?
In my case, I was stopped on Clifton while walking my BOSTON TERRIER in 2010 and was given a verbal assault by an officer who was HELL BENT on stating that "your dog is a puppy pit! GET OUT OF MY CITY" Well, the license number proved him otherwise and a strongly worded letter to the legal director resulted in a written apology for the officer’s treatment. Still doesn’t negate the fact that the officer was a jackass about it, even when PROVEN WRONG/

If Lakewood cops (and other areas) are going to CONTINUE do that, they best go to veterinarian school!
OR, better yet, just fall in line with STATE law.

While doing crossing guard duties after school just yesterday, a nice lady with a nice pit bull came jogging down the street and I prepared to cross them. As they crossed at my intersection, the lady waved and smile and the dog lunged with a deep growl and a bared teeth.

Nice lady, nice dog. A slightly longer leash and I'd be telling a different story.

Ban bad owners? This lady wasn't a bad owner. Her dog wasn't a bad dog. You can never predict when dogs are just gonna flip the heck out.

Solve that problem and you can bring a pit bull to my birthday party any time you want.

thanks

I agree with you Allison. This has very little to do with the breed of the dog and more to do with the breed of the human.

Time to end this barbaric ban

There's only one problem here...our government won't listen to the majority of its citizens...look at the poll numbers above! They (city council, mayor & police) have an agenda here, although it will never be publicly decreed. Related/unrelated, when I asked at Safety Committee meeting late last year how many pit bulls were actually registered in Lakewood, the ballpark number of 18 was given...when I asked how many problems they had had with any of those 18 was, I was told "none." Yet, there are 18 or so of us paying the extra $50 a year for absolutely no purpose. REPEAL THE BAN CITY COUNCIL!!!

Lakewood has many more problems than a handful of dogs. For instance, did you know that there are over 60 sexually oriented offenders that live in Lakewood. People who have crimes against children on their record! And, dogs are the problem? We have bigger fish to fry here Lakewood!! Repeal the ban and let's work on things that desperately need our attention. If our children's safety is the big concern in Lakewood, then can we start by getting rid of people who have crimes against children?

I am looking for someone to educate me:

Why do dog fighters use pit bulls? Who do they opt for that breed over chocolate labs and toy poodles?

Lakewood needs to lift the ban! It's ridiculous to begin with! No one died from a pit bull here, they just jumped on the dog hating bandwagon. The animal warden is a joke as well. I had to get a DNA test to prove my dog was a boxer. I'm in the animal care field and have been for 4 years and I've NEVER been bit by a pit bull or pit mix, but I sure as hell have been but by rat dogs, labs, poodles, weiner dogs, and so many more.
Vicious dogs should be labeled by their BEHAVIOR, not their breed.

U PEOPLE WOULD THINK DIFFERENT IF ONE OF THESE VICIOUS PIT BULLS KILLED ON OF YOUR CHILDREN, LAKEWOOD LAW DEPARTMENT IS PROTECTING YOUR KIDS, KEEP THE BAN, KEEP LAKEWOOD SAFE!!!!!!

I'm not sure what to think;I was walking my pug and toy fox terrier on the side walk@9:00pm (it was summertime) 4 years ago past a neighbor who had 2 Rotts.Well the dogs had barked at my dogs in the past and the owner yelled at them
but on this occasion both jumped THRU the screen door and ran after my dogs into the street! I freaked out and if the owner wouldn't have come running out to get them the terrier would've been done for because the one had him on the ground.my dogs don't like big dogs now!I like all animals so I don't know what to think.

Bob Smith- pits are chosen because of their strength, loyalty, and eagerness to please. Not because they are vicious. Denny, get a clue. This breed of dog is great; just because they're the most ABUSED doesn't mean they should be discriminated against. Look at the facts buddy, pits scored just behind labs and ABOVE golden retrievers in their temperament tests. Do your research and stop letting the "news" make up your mind for you!

Try clicking on this website and identifying the pit bull. Don't feel bad if you can't find him/her in the first try. But if you can't identify them, how will the law enforcement officers? http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

It has nothing to do with the breed and everything to to with the people raising them. And by the way the pic shown isn't a Pit. That's part of the problem the name has been thrown around so much. Not many people even know what a true Pit looks like..... Pic shown is a Staffordshire Bull terrier. The nicest dog Wichita was also referred to as the "Nanny Dog" in England.

My opinión is this: the only People that bsl helps is the folks that it was Targeted to hurt....those folks that miss treat.them and make money off them though fighting rings..its helps them to make even more money and hurt even more dogs, Yes its time to put an end to BSL!!!!!

Absolutely! Breed bans imposed in any city-town have done nothing but cause public outcry, heartache to those affected, the destruction of healthy/well-adjusted dogs and more underground crime.

Yes!!!!!!!!!

Yes, overturn the stupid law. The evidence is irrefutable, breed doesn't correlate reliably with behavior of dogs. Neuter status and living outside 24 hours a day do, however!

Yes lift the ban. Banning a certain breed does not make a city safer. Regulating dogs that are proven to be vicious will

Yes, overturn this ridiculous law! Do we live in the Dark Ages where we cower in fear of everything we don't understand and then just find some mystical scapegoat for it, along with an equally useless "cure"? Come on- join the 21st century where most people (certainly not the Lakewood govt.) look at the FACTS, make decisions based on a RATIONAL response to those facts and find a SOLUTION that really works, not one that plays into media and uneducated stereotypical hype. If you aren't part of the solution, you are definitely part of the problem!!!

Perhaps the majority of your should consider abiding by Patch's Terms of Use. The following people have plenty of opinions on pit bull laws, yet refuse to be obedient when it comes to even simple website rules:
Trista N
jennifer
Sarah
Megan
Connie M
Jessica
pitbullmom
steve
& Many more!

Way to spread your message, you trash.

@Bob Smith - My phone # is 216-299-8557. Give me a call so we can arrange to meet face-to-face so you can call me "trash," too.

Peter - your avatar suggests that you are older than dirt and can probably barely move. I suggest you change gears and focus on your Metamucil consumpton and upcoming Social Security checks.

@Bob Smith. I sure as hell hope you don't live here in Lakewood. You know we have a litter law here too!

My reaction was a result of the juvenile responses to my original question.

Pits are used in dog fighting due to their instinct and effectiveness. When a loose pit attacks a lady walking her poodle, it's not because of it being extremely loyal to its owner. I understand that all breeds bite. But when a pit does, the damage and nature can be extreme.

The problem with this legislation is not that that we are unfairly singling out this breed - we have to do 'it' with more breeds. Pits are not the only dangerous dog.

Also, by 'it', I am not saying a ban is the right thing to do. Instead, maybe it is a special licensing process, or a class - something. Something to ensure that the owners of breeds capable of causing significant damage other animals and people are in the hands of responsible owners.

If you want to carry a gun, you have go through this process.

Let's stay away from name-calling. Stick to the topic. We don't allow personal attacks.

Yes, please end the ban it's flat out discrimination and it's just plain wrong. These are amazing dogs and they do not deserve such treatment.

Keep the ban. It is a breed that has a propensity for killing. If you treat them right and socialize them they may never cause a problem. The gene is there and is not in other dogs. I have been attacked and seen attacks at the Lakewood Dog Park. All of the attacks were by pit bulls or partial pit bulls. You can't stop bad owners from getting dogs but, you can stop potentially bad dogs manifesting their instincts.

Pitbull mom - You are right about people being the main problem. Now go over to Birdtown and explain to those animal renters that they need to be smart and responsible about their dogs. Tell them that they need to train their dog. Explain that instead of buying a bag of meth and a big screen tv, they should neuter thheir rottweiler.

You think they are going to nod their heads and change their ways? Because the answer is a strong no, regulation is the only way we are going to move forward.

Go watch the movie Idiocracy, which is a glimpse into our future.

:)

http://youtu.be/NhOjT8KWYe8

Has this poll be presented to city council? Can we get an official to sound off here and explain why the ban is going to remain in place? Kevin Butler simply said (2/2012) that the ban would remain in effect but did not give his reasoning. Higher courts than his have deemed this issue null. I would like to understand Power's agenda as well... we can look to him as to the one that got this ball rolling. His reasoning back in 2008 was with flawed research. The locking jaw and propensity to kill nonsense. This is discriminatory (as BobSmith is proving with his comments regarding Bird Town) that this is a bigger issue than dogs… Beautiful.. loving … friendly and loyal dogs are being killed every day in shelters because of media hype and public prejudice.
Step up Mr Butler.. please answer.

End it.,and never see it again. No breed should be subject to bsl. All of my dogs a pitbull mixes and out of every kind of dog I have owned I trust these dogs the most.

The B.S.L. doesn't make sense. The Center for Disease Control went through the records of dog attacks over the last 50 years and found no link between specific breeds and attacks. Studies done on breed's tendencies to bite found pits to be less likely than most to attack people. Pit bull's bite is less powerful than many bully breed dogs. Golden retrievers have more incidents of bites per year than pit bulls and they have a larger bite area. Almost 100% of all fatal dog attacks are done by unfixed dogs. The dog that fatally attacks the most in any given year is the same breed most popularly used for home security. BSLs only change the breed that usually becomes the most violent it doesn't prevent violence by dogs or to them. BSL laws force people to hide their dogs giving them less exercise and socialization. This leads to more violence and less safety. The majority of dog attacks are by unattended dogs chained outside. If the laws required dogs not being used for breeding to be fixed and no dog to be left unattended outdoors for more than short amounts of time serious dog attacks would be curtailed by at least 90%. If you make laws that force people to responsible than their will be less violence. Plus, you can't tell what a pit bull is through visual means. The $1000s of dollars that have been used on law suits, won by people who it turns out don't own pits speaks to this. Let's use science and facts to solve this problem not fear and ignorance.

@Peter- How did you get wind of this? And who is propossing? Thanks in advance.

I keep my ear (and nose) to the ground. :-) I will not say who is proposing the expansion of the breed ban until something formal is presented (I do not want to be be accused of yellow journalism) ... but please be assured that the concept is being kicked around. With regard to the limit of dogs per household: Councilwoman Madigan asked Lakewood Animal Safety and Welfare Advisory Board to "look into" this issue. I believe at LASWAB's March 2012 meeting this was discussed (with Lakewood Animal Control's input) and it was determined that any situation where an unusual amount of dog (or pets in general) were being kept by a single household could be dealt with under existing "nuisance" ordinances rather than creating new laws/ordinances to specifically address "limits." The reason I bring the "limits" situation up is to give an example of the kind of thinking which exists our there.

ok my name is angelo evans im 15 and i hsve been bit by chiwawas and german sheperds but never a pitbull a pitbull saved my fathers life twice i believe they should be aloud