Politics & Government

POLL: Should Lakewood End its Pit Bull Ban?

The state law removing pit bills as "vicious dogs" went into effect on Tuesday. What do you think?

In Ohio, pit bulls are no longer “vicious” animals, according to a new state law that went into effect on Tuesday.

But that did little to change Lakewood’s ordinance, which considers them both dangerous and vicious. 

The statehouse voted in the Ohio Revised Code, declassifying pit bulls as “vicious animals” at the state level.

Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, it does not apply to local municipalities.

Under the new law, a dog can be labeled vicious only if it kills or causes serious harm to a person while unprovoked.

Find out what's happening in Lakewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Kevin Butler, the 's law director, told Lakewood Patch earlier this year that Lakewood’s 2008 ordinance deeming all pit bulls and canary dogs as “dangerous animals” would stand.

“I don’t believe that merely removing pit bulls from the definition of vicious animals in the state code alone would affect our ordinance, because it doesn’t classify them as vicious animals,” he said.


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