Legislating Dangerous Dogs

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Legislating dogs ::

Learn about the most common types of restricted breed laws adopted by cities to regulate dangerous dog breeds, including: breed bans, prima facie legal designations and spaying and neutering laws.

Dangerous breed prohibition

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Located in the heartland, Council Bluffs, Iowa has about 62,700 citizens. After a series of devastating pit bull attacks, starting in 2003, Council Bluffs adopted a pit bull prohibition ordinance, joining over 900 U.S. cities that regulate dangerous dog breeds. The results of the Council Bluffs pit bull ban, which took effect January 1, 2005, show the positive effects this legislation can have on public safety in a few years’ time. After enforcement of the ordinance began, bites attributed to pit bulls plunged.1

The city's pit bull ordinance has also withstood two critical legal challenges. In 2021, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa, granted summary judgment to the city on each of the dog owners' challenges to the constitutionality of the ordinance, whereby upholding the city's pit bull ban. The ruling was appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which reviewed the substantive due process and equal protection claims. In 2022, the appeals court affirmed the lower court's ruling.

The equal protection analysis “is not a license for courts to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic of legislative choices.” ... “[T]he Equal Protection Clause does not require that a State must choose between attacking every aspect of a problem or not attacking the problem at all.” ... “A rational basis that survives equal protection scrutiny also satisfies substantive due process analysis.” ... Because the dog owners failed to negate every conceivable basis for the Ordinance’s rationality, the Ordinance satisfies rational basis review and substantive due process analysis.2 - Danker v. City of Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, November 2022

Well-written restricted breed laws are consitutional. Some cities, such as Pawtucket, are forced to mute their ordinances due to state legislation. In 2013, Rhode Island legislators passed a preemption law that bars cities from enacting breed restrictions.3 During the years of Pawtucket's successful pit bull ban (2004 to 2013), there was an average of 2.3 pit bull bites annually. That increased over a 10-fold to 23.2 bites by 2019, just five years after state legislators removed this local control provision.4

Council Bluffs: Pit Bull Bite Statistics

Pawtucket: Pit Bull Bite Statistics

Related articles:

• Council Bluffs Pit Bull Ban: Section 4.20.112
• Danker v. City of Council Bluffs, Iowa (U.S. Court of Appeals, 2022)
• Pawtucket Pit Bull Bites Pre-Ban and During Ban Years 2000-2013

View a special report: Pit Bulls Lead Biting Incidents Across U.S. Cities and Counties

Prima facie legal designations

Little Rock, Arkansas

Some cities adopt pit bull ordinances that prima facie designate the pit bull breed "potentially dangerous," which triggers special rules for pit bull owners. Little Rock requires these owners to obtain a potentially dangerous breed permit, a city license, and a window sticker on an annual basis and to provide proof the dog is sterilized and microchipped. Pit bull owners are also prohibited from using invisible fences, and households are limited to two potentially dangerous dog breeds per home.

Little Rock also prohibits the tethering of all dog breeds to a stationary object. The combination of the city's "potentially dangerous" designation for pit bulls and anti-tethering ordinance has led to excellent results. One year after the passage of the 2008 ordinance, Little Rock Animal Services Director Tracy Roark said that chained pit bulls are no longer seen along streets in center city Little Rock, and that "pit bull attacks have been cut in half." Roark credited the city's new ordinance for these results.5

Related articles:

• Little Rock Pit Bull Ordinance: Section 6-19

Dodgeville, Wisconsin

Other cities adopt ordinances where pit bulls are prima facie designated "dangerous" or "vicious," which sets the bar higher than a "potentially dangerous" designation. Dodgeville, for instance, declares pit bulls "vicious" and requires the dogs to be muzzled when off property, and when penned outdoors, contained in a secure 6-sided structure that is locked. Owners must also carry $50,000 in liability insurance. Pit bulls are prohibited from being kept in multiple-family dwellings as well.

Other jurisdictions do not prima facie designate pit bulls "potentially dangerous" or "dangerous," but maintain similar requirements. The city of Omaha, Nebraska requires owners of dogs designated "dangerous animals, potentially dangerous animals and pit bulls" to carry $100,000 in liability insurance. All pit bull-type dogs (American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, American bulldog, presa canario and more) must be leashed and muzzled when off property in Omaha too.

Related articles:

• Dodgeville Pit Bull Ordinance: Section: 12.11
• Omaha Pit Bull Ordinance: Sections 6-157, 6-163, 6-165

View a collection of model & noted breed restriction laws from across the country.

Mandatory spaying & neutering

San Francisco, California

A restricted breed law that began in San Francisco, mandatory pit bull spaying and neutering, has since been adopted around the country. Cities burdened with high pit bull biting incidents and shelter occupancy rates seek to combat both problems at once with this law. In January 2006, San Francisco enacted its ordinance. After 18 months of passing, pit bull impoundments declined by 21%; pit bull shelter occupancy rates fell from three-quarters to one-quarter and pit bull euthanasia dropped 24%.6

In 2010, it was reported that pit bull biting incidents had significantly decreased in the city as well. Sgt. Bill Herndon of the San Francisco Police Department's Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit said the numbers and severity of pit bull attacks are down since the ordinance was enacted. The same article reports that pit bull euthanasia dropped to 30%. Rebecca Katz, then the director of San Francisco Animal Care and Control, said, "We've seen it as very effective from an animal welfare perspective."7

Related articles:

• San Francisco Pit Bull Ordinance: Section 43

Beaufort County, South Carolina

In October 2015, Beaufort County Council adopted a similar pit bull sterilization ordinance in an effort to reduce the overpopulation of pit bulls hindering their shelters. One year before the ordinance was passed, 285 pit bulls were spay and neutered free of charge by the county shelter and the Hilton Head Humane Association. That number more than doubled to 691 in the 14 months after the ordinance regulations took effect, according to Tallulah Trice, the director of Beaufort County Animal Services.8

Studies indicate that pit bulls have the lowest prevalence of sterilization (27%) among all dog breeds and that 64% to 73% of dogs in the U.S. are sterilized.9,10

The ordinance, however, only applied to unincorporated Beaufort County. In 2016, the city of Beaufort, the county seat, followed by passing the same ordinance, requiring all pit bulls over 4-months old to be spayed or neutered. The town of Bluffton did as well, effectively covering most of the county under the mandatory pit bull sterilization ordinance.11 During the 2021-2022 South Carolina legislative session, a bill was introduced requiring a $25 fee to own an unsterilized pit bull. The bill did not succeed.12,13

Related articles:

• Beaufort County Pit Bull Ordinance: Section 14-30

View a collection of mandatory pit bull sterilization ordinances from across the country.

Restricted breed license

Denver, Colorado

In November 2020, voters in the city and county of Denver repealed their 30-year old pit bull ban and replaced it with a breed-restricted license. Under the new ordinance, the requirements for owning a pit bull include: registration, microchip identification and rabies vaccination -- basic steps that responsible dog owners already take. No mandatory pit bull spaying and neutering was included in the repeal ordinance. The breed-restricted license also limits the number of pit bulls per household to two.14,15

One year after rescinding the ban, pit bulls became the top-biting breed in Denver with 117 bites (17% of total, 117/695), nearly twice as many as the next top-biting breed, German shepherds, 61 bites. Prior to the ban being rescinded, our nonprofit examined three years of Denver dog bite data (2017-2019). Pit bulls inflicted 41 bites in 2017 (6% of total), 34 bites in 2018 (7% of total), and 38 bites in 2019 (7% of total). Thus, between 2020 and 2021, which includes a year before and after the ban was lifted, pit bull bites tripled in Denver. 16-19 - Combination of data from Axios.com and DogsBite.org (2017-2021)

Over the course of the ordinance's 30-year history, Denver's pit bull ban withstood numerous legal challenges in state and federal courts. On each occasion, the city and county of Denver prevailed. The litigious history of the law, and Denver's consistent victories, helped many jurisdictions across the country adopt a similar law. The language of the Denver pit bull ban remains the beacon that illustrates the legal viability of a restricted breed law and continues to be the model pit bull ban ordinance.

Related articles:

• Denver Pit Bull Ban Ordinance Through 2019
• Denver Breed-Restricted Ordinance 2020
• Denver Dog Bite Statistics by Breed and Injury Severity (2017-2019)
• One City's Experience - The Narrative and Legal Summary, 2005
• Denver Pit Bull Ban - History and Judicial Rulings, 1989-2005

Download the model pit bull ban ordinance: IMLA Model Pit Bull Ban Ordinance

Generic dangerous dog laws

State and local laws

Other jurisdictions opt for generic dangerous dog laws instead of restricted breed laws. Such laws classify a dog dangerous after one or more attacks causing serious bodily injury. The key word here is "after," whereas restricted breed laws are designed to prevent first attacks by dog breeds with well-identified risks. Both types of laws are needed and combine well: (1) prevent first attacks by dangerous dog breeds and (2) classify any dog dangerous after a damaging attack and penalize its owner.

Texas, which has a generic dangerous dog law,20 also has a felony dog attack statute. Owners of loose dogs face 10 years in prison if an unprovoked attack results in serious bodily injury to a person and 20 years if the attack results in death. A conviction is unattainable unless the dog was unsecured and there is proof "beyond a reasonable doubt," the owner knew or should have known the dog was going to cause serious injury or death, or with criminal negligence, the owner failed to secure the dog.21,22

Related articles:

• Texas Felony Statute: Section 822.005

Visit dogbitelaw.com to read an in depth legal discussion about the Texas felony statute. Citations

1. Statistical information provided in legal filings for Danker v. City of Council Bluffs, Iowa No. 1:20-cv-00016 (November 2021) United States District Court, Southern District of Iowa. Report and Addendum of Felicia Trembath, PhD, MPH for Council Bluffs, October 26, 2021;29.
2. Danker v. City of Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, No. 21-3794, November 2022
3. § 4-13.1-16. Prohibition of breed specific regulation, West's General Laws of Rhode Island Annotated, Animal Legal &Historical Center, December, 2019.
4. Pit bull attacks on the rise since ban overturned, by Ethan Shorey, The Valley Breeze, October 15, 2019 (valleybreeze.com).
5. Indianapolis ordinance puts restrictions on pit bull breeds, by Mary Milz, WTHR 13, April 7, 2009 (wthr.com) (Archived by the Wayback Machine)
6. S.F. Sterilization Law Successful in Reducing Pit Bull Population, by Marisa Lagos, The San Francisco Chronicle, August 28, 2007 (sfgate.com) (Archived by the Wayback Machine)
7. Auburn seeks ways to prevent another pit bull attack: Council weighs options in the wake of maulings, by Ed Fletcher, The Sacramento Bee, January 30, 2010 (sacbee.com) (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5sPLO97oa)
8. Required spay and neutering helping take bite out of pit bull overpopulation, by Lucas High, The Beaufort Gazette, by Lucas High December 6, 2016 (islandpacket.com) (Archived by the Wayback Machine).
9. Epidemiology of surgical castration of dogs and cats in the United States, by R Trevejo, M Yang, E Lund, J Am Vet Med Assoc, 2011 Apr 1;238(7):898-904.
10. Estimate of Spay/Neuter Surgeries in the United States & Opportunities for More Affordable Nonsurgical Sterilization, by Joyce Briggs, Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Non-Surgical Contraceptive Methods for Pet Population Control, Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs, November 2006 (acc-d.org).
11. Code of Ordinances of City of Beaufort, South Carolina (updated on February 18, 2020), Section 6-4005. - Declaration of restricted dog, appeal of breed determination | Code of Ordinances Town of Bluffton, South Carolina (updated May 27, 2020), Section 4-30 - Declaration of restricted dog, appeal of breed determination (library.municode.com).
12. H 4094, sponsored by Rep. Chip Huggins, South Carolina General Assembly, 124th Session, 2021-2022 (scstatehouse.gov) $25 dollar fee. The legislation did not succeed, but it was heavily backed by the Charleston Animal Society, as seen during the powerful April 22, 2021 hearing in the Special Laws Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
13. H 3709, sponsored by Rep. Chip Huggins, South Carolina General Assembly, 123rd Session, 2019-2020 (scstatehouse.gov) $500 dollar fee. The legislation did not succeed, but it was heavily backed by the Charleston Animal Society. | Proposed SC bill aims to control pit bull population, by Caroline Balchunas, WCIV, January 30, 2019 (abcnews4.com).
14. Breed-Restricted License for Pit Bull Owners, February 10, 2020, Denver City Council (denvergov.org).
15. Denver, Colorado, Ballot Measure 2J, Remove Pit Bull Ban and Establish Microchip and Other Requirements for Pit Bull Licenses (November 2020), BallotPedia (ballotpedia.com).
16. Pit bull bites in 2021 outnumber those of any other breed, by Alayna Alvarez, Axios, January 5, 2022 (axios.com)
17. The City and County of Denver Dog Bite Statistics by Breed and Injury Severity Over a Three Year Period (2017-2019), by DogsBite.org, February 23, 2020 (dogsbite.org)
18. Addendum to data - Denver Top-Biting Breeds by Bite Level and Denver Top-Biting Breeds by Year, January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019, DogsBite.org, May 30, 2024 (dogsbite.org)
19. Dog Bites on Humans and Injury Severity Level, January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019, Denver Animal Shelter | DogsBite.org adapted dataset (PDF) | Raw dataset of all top biting breeds (PDF)
20. Texas is one of over 20 states that prohibit local governments from enacting most types of restricted breed ordinances. Learn more about state preemption laws that remove this local control provision.
21. The Texas felony dog attack statute, known as "Lillian's Law," was enacted in 2007. The first conviction under Lillian's Law occurred after the 2008 mauling death of 7-year old Tanner Monk. In 2011, the 11th Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of the dogs' owners, Jack Smith and Crystal Watson.
22. New dog-mauling statute tested, by Stephen Bristow, Former District Attorney in Young and Stephens Counties, Texas District & County Attorney's Association, November-December 2009 (tdcaa.com)