Pit Bulls Illegal in Miami-Dade County

In Miami-Dade, pit bulls remain illegal

BY ELINOR J. BRECHER
The Miami Herald
Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Pit bulls are still outlaws in Miami-Dade County.

Voters overwhelming opted to keep a 1989 ban on American Staffordshire terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers and high-content mixes of both.

“The fight does not end here,’’ said Debi Day, an activist with No Kill Nation. “Plans B, C and D will go into effect immediately. We will not let the pit bulls and their owners be forever victim to this discriminatory law.’’

Dade residents voted 63.2 percent to 36.8 percent to keep the ban, which was first put in place when a dog ripped apart the face of a Kendall 8-year-old.
...

Repeal advocates waged a passionate grassroots campaign with the help of celebrities like Shorty Rossi, from the reality show “Pit Boss,’’ and Marlins pitcher Mark Buehrle, who settled in Broward after signing with the team because one of his family’s pets, Slater, is an American Staffordshire.

Dahlia Canes, founder of the Miami Coalition Against Breed-Specific Legislation, the group that spearheaded the ban repeal, was disappointed but not surprised.

“We didn’t think it would pass,’’ said Canes. “This was handed to us [by the County Commission] whether we liked it or not and we had to take up the challenge. We only had a few months to reeducate an entire county that has been brainwashed for 23 years.’’

In February, a group of Miami-Dade commissioners short-circuited what appeared to be a winning effort in the state legislature to abolish the ban, calling it an attack on the county’s home rule authority.

Canes also said that putting the words “pit bull’’ and “dangerous dog’’ in the same sentence in the ballot question all but doomed the effort.

Repeal advocates say that pit bulls suffer from unwarranted stereotyping as vicious killers with nearly supernatural powers of destruction, and that thousands live peacefully as family pets all over Miami-Dade despite the ban.

During the day Tuesday, repeal supporter posted pictures of their illegal dogs on the Coalition’s Facebook page with from-the-dog comments like: “I can’t wait to go to the dog park!’’ and “Waiting for the results so I can walk down the street for the first time in my 10 years of life. They say every dog has their day and today is my day!!’’

Miami-Dade Animal Services Director Alex Munoz said in a statement that the department “respects the will of the electorate and its decision to not repeal the ‘pit bull’ ban today.

“We want the public to know that while this ban continues, the department will continue to work withrescue organizations and adopters to find new lifelong homes for ‘pit bulls’ outside of Miami-Dade County.’’

I voted against repealing the ban. There is a bad history of these dogs being dangerous here in South Florida, and while I'm sure there are many docile pet pit bulls in families, the breed of dog was made for fighting and unfortunately, dog-fights are still an illegal entertainment for the low-life elements that inhabit Miami-Dade county.

The problem happens when one or more of these fighting dogs escape into the community and that is where the horror stories come from. They are unstoppable and deadly. Children and elderly have been attacked and killed by these dogs, so it is best to keep this breed illegal in this community.

As a bike rider I always dread encountering dogs in the street (which is also illegal but not enforced as it should be in Miami and other third world communities here). While the average 30-pound pooch attacking me on my bike is usually a nuisance that I can defend against, my dread is a Rottweiler, Doberman, German Shepherd or Pitt Bull. All those other large dogs can usually be reasoned with to back off but Pitt Bull Dogs that have been raised to fight will come at you.

So, glad to see that two thirds of the ppl here agree to keep these dangerous dogs illegal.

 

Folk, pit bulls are banned and gaters protected............

 

We wish gators were protected. Pythons in the Glades is a whole other issue.

Here is the largest python ever found in the Everglades. 17 feet 7 inches weighing 167 pounds.

 

My husband and I have 4 dogs, 2 of them pit bulls. They are like our children. We feel that any dog can turn on a person, not just exclusively pit bulls. A dogs life dictates its reactions just as a humans does. A child that goes through an extremely troubled childhood, experiencing abuse or neglect, is likely to react accordingly when put in a similar situation when they become an adult. If a child that and a dog both resided in a house hold where they were beat constantly every day for whatever reason is presented with a situation in which they felt threatened, even years later, and both attack the one responsible for their pain or attack someone coming at them in that manner....would the child be put down with the dog? No. It is not neither the dog's nor the child's fault the way they were treated making their action a result of something that is out of their hands.
Would they still be banning if the dog in question was a 5 pound vicious chihuahua?

 

Ur talkin about a child not a man.

Have sum common sense.

 

Anyways glad they kept those dogs illegal.


I cant stand pit bulls.

 

I was always against pit bulls & they are also illegal to have where I am from as well, but then my brother got a pup pit and trained it right. I was still scared of it 4 a while then I started to warm up to it & realize he was like a big 'ol lap dog. Now thats not to say I would be comfortable with any one else around me! He never played ruff with it or anything like that so it would not get aggressive in play & he has never harmed a soul

 

I think I hate that dog more than cats..

 

I feel that bans like these hurt the good citizens, who have well trained dogs and can't get proper licensing or vet treatment for them; and do almost nothing to effect the actual criminals that make their dogs into killers.

I would hope in the future you reconsider your vote; focusing on the people the law hurts, rather than the criminals that aren't going to be dissuaded by the law in the first place.

 

With the law in place, making the breed illegal cops can confiscate any pit bulls they see. Without the law, the criminals could just raise and train their dogs and only have to hide the illegal dog fights. There have been fewer attacks on ppl and other dogs on the streets of Miami since the law has been in force, mainly because there are fewer pit bulls and those around are hidden away and don't jump fences or pens.

I know a lot of animal lovers don't give a shit about ppl being hurt by animals, which is why I mention that pitt bulls are notorious for ripping apart small dogs when they get out on the street. Lots of horror stories there, having to watch your little Chihuahua or Pomeranian on a leash being brutally attacked and unable to do anything about it.

Like I mentioned calling Miami-Dade County a "Banana Republic" is not really a joke. We are in fact a third world country with all the barbaric practices of those cultures imported here. Cock fights and dog fights are considered OK by many ppl here so it is a local problem and we have made an attempt locally to solve it.

 

they are banned here too... (ontario canada)

and I sure dont miss them

 

I don't think responsible pet owners should be punished for the actions of criminals.

I've seen the good and the bad side of pit bulls. I had two pit bulls run at me snarling when I was on my front porch a couple of years ago and I barely made it inside in time. I have no doubt they would have ripped my face off. My old neighbor chained them up outside on 2 foot chains, rarely fed them, never showed them attention. I don't know if he ever trained them for dog fighting but I know he grossly neglected them. He made them mean. He created monsters.

He almost did the same thing to my Lab/German Shepherd mix but I rescued..er...stole her. She's the sweetest dog in the world but I have no doubt she would be an evil little fucker, just as evil as the pit bulls, if she had stayed chained up in my neighbor's backyard her whole life.

I also have a few friends that have pit bulls as family pets, and they are some of the sweetest and most loving dogs you'll ever come across. I don't think my friends should be punished because my old neighbor is a piece of shit excuse for a human being.

I understand Miami may have a bigger problem with dog fighting than other parts of the country and I understand its a public safety issue that needs to be addressed. I believe there are better solutions than completely banning the breed. Busting dog fighting rings and giving stiff penalties to anyone involved should be a bigger priority than taking pit bulls away from loving owners.

The worst part about this is what happens when the pit bulls are picked up off the street. I'm assuming they are automatically put down regardless of whether they were trained to fight or they're just an innocent family pet that found their way out of the fence one day.

Also, pit bulls can be rehabilitated after being trained to fight and placed successfully in family homes so its not like death has to be the end of the road either way.

http://www.dontbullymybreed.org/

 

youll think differently when one those ****** mutts attack you..

 

yet an other case of a poor breed being banned because of people's stupid actions... i hope no dogs are unfairly put to death because of this.

 

no i won't. its still the owner, not the breed. Focus on the word choice there....******. All racial slurs aside, the owners that are raising pit bulls to be killers are ignorant pieces of shit excuses for human beings. Niggers (white, black, cuban..whatever. you're right. they're niggers). Throw those fuckers in jail, throw away the key, and send their dogs to a rehabilitation center.

There are a lot of breeds of dogs that are big enough and fierce enough to kill or seriously maim a human if they're trained to be fighters. Stick a rottweiler outside on a two foot chain and never pay it attention then let it off the chain after a few years and see what it does. Or use a doberman as a bait dog in a fighting ring and tell me how friendly that dog is afterwards.

When i first rescued/stole my lab/german shepherd when she was a puppy she would turn her head around and snarl and try to bite my hand anytime I touched the scruff of her neck, I guess because she constantly had a chain pulling at it before. If she had been a grown dog she probably would have bitten the shit out of my hands. And we're talking about the labbiest lab of all the labs in the land. Absolutely any dog can be trained to be a killer.

Look at chihuahuas. They're fucking bitches. If they were three feet taller they would probably kill any human that crossed their path, and thats after being raised in a loving home. I hate those bitches. ban Chihuahuas. Pit bulls are good dogs if they're raised right.

 

yeah but chihuahuas are nice because they talk mexican and make chalupas

 

well, what can I say? They hired a good PR person. sneaky little dogs and their sneaky little marketing campaigns.

 

I am totally for banning chihuahuas those dogs are the true vicious breed.

Pit Bull Violence is a horrible thing. But the deed should be punished and not the breed. I would never live anywhere with breed specific laws....it's bullshit

 

****** ****** ****** MUTT.. sorry you cant handle a fucking word,.. I live around niggers and black people(lots of them) and the black people know when Im yelling at the niggers not them black people.. 99% the time I yell at the ****** they have white skin.. To fucking bad.

 

Dude calm down no one was upset but you. Maybe you expected to be harrassed for saying ****** so much that you thought someone actually gave a shit.