As the city of Lakewood continues to reshape its policies towards pit bull ownership, one of the top animal rights groups in the nation has weighed in.
According to a release from the city, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) notified Mayor Michael Summers that it supports “pit bull-specific laws and regulations” in order to protect pit bulls, other companion animals and the community at large.
Last week, Summers announced that the city's breed ban would end. However, new legislation was introduced that would place restrictions on pit bulls and other breeds such as American bulldogs and canary dogs. Those include a requirement of secure restraints both on and off-premises, a requirement to muzzle the dogs while walking them, and a limit of one such dog per household.
PETA's Animal Care and Control Issues Manager Teresa Lynn Chagrin sent an email Jan. 8 to the Mayor and the entire City Council, which included a detailed PETA fact sheet advocating for pit bull-specific regulations and an exhaustive 15-year medical study by a team of trauma surgeons in San Antonio's University of Texas Health Sciences Center.
The report concludes, “These breeds should be regulated in the same way in which other dangerous species, such as leopards, are regulated.”
“This is the first time we have heard a balanced approach from an animal expert when answering the public safety question about pit bulls,” Summers said in the release.
