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Inside Denver's Pit Bull Row

September 24, 2009, 10:43PM MT

By Katie Bray, Best Friends Network Volunteer

Denver's Westword allows a close look into Denver's "death row" for dogs confiscated under the city's pit bull ban.

In a series of articles appearing in Denver's Westword, Jared Jacang Maher investigates whether twenty years of outlawing pit bulls in the Mile High City has made the community safer.

The feature article reports: "Aside from a bump in 2004 when enforcement of the ban was temporarily suspended, reported bites from pit bulls in Denver have stayed relatively static — around twelve per year.

"What is notable is the significant drop in dog bites of all breeds, from 1,146 in 1990 to 305 in 2008. Animal control officials attribute this decrease in total bites to increased enforcement of Denver's non-breed specific dog laws and county-wide spaying and neutering efforts."

Read the feature article: "For two decades, pit bulls have been public enemy #1 in Denver. But maybe it's time for a recount."

"3,497 dead dogs and other numbers from Denver's pit bull ban" includes charts and data on dog bites in Denver.

"Inside Denver's 'Pit Bull Row'" is a poignant photo essay of the city's "pit bull row," the home of Denver's confiscated pit bulls.

In addition, read how the City of Boulder is dealing with aggressive dogs without banning pit pulls.

Breed Profiling Doesn't Work
Best Friends opposes canine profiling as it does not reduce dog bite incidents nor effectively manage dangerous dogs. Rather than breed-discriminatory restrictions, communities should enact good generic dangerous dog/reckless guardian laws such as:

•    Protect innocent dogs and responsible guardians.
•    Encourage residents to spay/neuter their pets.
•    Effectively identify and manage truly dangerous dogs.
•    Restrict tethering.
•    Enforce stricter consequences for dogfighting.
•    Prevent reckless guardians from having dogs.

How You Can Help

To stay informed about pit bull issues around the country and to help end breed discrimination become a fan of the Best Friends "Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog" campaign.

The Denver Kills Dogs campaign has been battling Denver’s discriminatory pit bull ban with an ad campaign to alert the public to the threat to their pets and to ask the city to repeal its breed ban. Donate to the campaign here.

Contact Denver Elected Officials

If you live in Colorado, please contact legislators asking them to repeal the pit bull ban.

City Council

Denver Elected Officials

Council members:

Send an e-mail to City Council members, dencc@ci.denver.co.us

Send an e-mail to Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper, MileHighMayor@ci.denver.co.us

Additional Information and Resources

It is often difficult, even for experts, to determine the breed of a dog — particularly with mixed breed dogs. Click here to "find the pit bull" on the web. Often a dog is misidentified and confiscated simply for its appearance.

Learn more about breed bans and dog bite facts at the National Canine Research Council.

Photos reprinted with permission. Taken by Anthony Camera.

Comments

Posted September 28, 2009, 10:23AM by southerndogmom

Denver. Miami-Dade County, Florida. Salina, Kansas. New York City Housing Authority. Pilot Grove, Missouri. Shame on them all and may God bless those who have been killed as a result of ignorance. Every time I think of Denver, I just cringe. How is it possible that in this day and age, we can ignore the experts and enact legislation that is this unenforceable and this deadly? It simply boggles my mind. I was recently asked by the vet who runs the local city/county shelter in the city where I work to write a position paper supporting her adoption of bully breeds. I thought I knew a lot about BSL and how we got to this point before I began my research. Looking back, I really didn't have a clue. Now that I know how we got into this mess and how much the media and politicians are to blame, I'm 25 percent sad and 75 percent just plain livid. We're better than this. I hope my paper does some good somewhere but realize that there's a mountain of ignorance out there which we have to tear down.

Posted September 28, 2009, 8:3PM by tigifred

Denver has provided the country with one of the most barbaric and inhumane models of legislation, it makes me sick to even think about it. Their city council is so ill informed and ignorant, they should all be tossed out on the street. Bravo to Westword and Jared Jacang Maher for shining a light on this dark topic that many of the city's own residents don't even know about. When most people hear about this type of BS Legislation, they can hardly believe it's real. Shame, shame, shame on Denver, and every other city who enacts this barbaric and misguided legislation. For any dog lover out their passionate on this topic, read Karen Delise's (of the NCRC cited above) book the Pit Bull Placebo. Politicians will forever villify whatever the breed du jour is to pander to their constituents and make their communities "safer" which has never worked- what a cruel joke.

Posted September 29, 2009, 4:19PM by Desertponder

As a lifelong (51 years and 3rd generation) resident of Colorado, I'm beyond ashamed of Denver. I have not set foot in Denver for nearly 8 years because of this ban. I'm a pit bull advocate and rescuer and I am working hard with several organizations to fight Denver's ban and to try to stop other communities from adopting breed bans. I encourage everyone to support organizations that are working hard to fight BSL and educate communities.

Posted September 30, 2009, 7:13AM by patvanil

It is not the breed, it is the idiots who own them. I cannot tell you the idiots that come into a small shelter I volunteer for. We have people come in who do not even know what spay/neuter is. Why doesn't Denver spend some money on spaying/neutering and education? It would go along way. Continued killing does nothing for anyone. Why do we feel in this country killing is the answer to all of our problems? We all had better grow up and look at pet overpopulation in a different light. May I suggest starting with the owners of these animals.