Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1986
Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan
7
City to settle pit bull debate
By Grant W. Butler
Staff writer
Owners of pit multerriers describe their pets as good, loving and the victims of bad public. Others see the dogs as a menace that needs to be controlled.
often.
The debate over the future of pit bulls in Douglas County shifted to the city officials of Lawrence, Eudora, Baldwin and Lecompont after the county commission asked the incorporated cities to vote on whether there was a need for a countywide resolution that would restrict the dogs.
In a public hearing on Jan. 9, Douglas County commissioners and officials from the four cities in the county discussed possible restrictions of pit bulls and problems that might be encountered in the enforcement of any regulation. Twenty-four people voiced their opinions in the meeting.
The commissioners passed the issue on to the cities, explaining that they have jurisdiction only over the incorporated areas of the county. For a countywide restriction on the bridges, the four cities would first have to agree that there is a need for regulation.
The commission and city representatives will meet again at 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 6 at the Douglas County Cour
(house, iith and Massachusetts streets.
David Hopper, Douglas County Commissioner from Eudora, said yesterday, "We have asked the cities in the county to come back together to see whether they want to pursue a unified ordinance for both the county and the cities, so that all enforcement and requirements will be the same."
The controversy over the dogs began after Robert Cole Corbridge, 3, was seriously injured by two pit bulls on Dec. 8 in Eudora.
Corbidge was admitted to Lawrence Memorial Hospital and was later transferred to the University of Kansas Medical Center where he received skin grafts on his legs, which had serious muscle damage from the attack.
Corbidge was released from the Med Center on Dec. 31.
The owner of the two dogs, Carol Bryant, 10th and Spruce streets, Eudora, told the Douglas County sheriff's department that the dogs got loose while she was moving them, on leashes, into a pen. She said she moved the dogs because they were being tormented by boys who were throwing snowballs.
While she was moving the dogs, they ran to the home of Nellie Corbidge, 1017 Walnut, Eudora, and mauled Cole, her great-grandson.
Police shot the pit bulls after the dogs ran toward them when they arrived at the Corbidge home.
Corbidge and two neighbors were also injured in the attack.
On Dec. 12, Hopper proposed that the county discuss possible restrictions of the dogs. In his proposal, he suggested that the owners of any animals with a vicious nature, such as pit bulls, German shepherds and Doberman pinschers, be held liable for any attacks.
Hopper said that he wanted an ordinance that would require pit bull owners to keep their dogs penned in, rather than allowing them to be kept on a chain that has been staked into the ground. He said pens would be more secure than stakes, which can come out of the ground in bad weather.
The county commission needs to respond to the concerns and needs of the cities, he said. If the cities want countywide regulation of the dogs, they would be responsible for enforcement within the city limits. The county would enforce the regulations in other areas of the county.
Peter Albrecht, 2524 Harvard Rd., who attended the Jan. 9 meeting and is a pit bull owner, said Monday that he thought the bad publicity the dogs had received inspired unfit owners to breed the dogs.
"The media haven't served in their
coverage because the macho people say, 'Hey, that's the dog for me,' and then again the wrong people get a hold of them," he said.
He said the nature of the dogs was good, and that any viciousness was due to poor handling and training.
"I don't believe in banning a breed, because it doesn't solve the problem," he said. "If you ban pit bulterriers, you aren't solving the problem because someone down the line will be attacked by some other vicious-type dog."
Hopper said that while most dogs that bite let go, the pit bull has a tendency to keep its hold and shake.
Albrecht said studies of pit bulls had shown that their jaw was no larger and had no more locking power than other dogs.
Because the dogs were once used in organized fights, they had developed the reputation of being vicious, he said. But the fighting temperament of any dog is determined by its stamina, not by its viciousness.
Fighting dogs would be less likely to pass on vicious traits than other dogs, he said.
"Ninety-five percent of the dogs who bit a handler or someone else in the ring were destroyed at once by the owners," he said.
Commission approves rezoning near Clinton
By Monty Headley
Staff writer
The Lawrence City Commission last night decided to rezone a 12-acre site near Clinton Parkway and Atchison Avenue for a townhouse development despite a protest from neighbors in the area.
A petition signed by homeowners near the site required the commission to pass the measure by a 4-1 margin. The commission passed the rezoning with a vote of 5-0.
A representative of about 50 of the homeowners was at the meeting to present their case.
"The homeowners are concerned with the compatibility of the existing single family homes in the area versus multi-family units," Seuferling said.
Dale Seuferling, 3009 W. 19th Ct., the representative, said that the residents were against the rezoning because it would allow the developer to build two, three and four-plex townhomes.
Richard Zin, an attorney for the developer, said there would not be a problem with a conflict between single and multi-family units.
"This is not going to be an apartment complex as many people
he feared," said Zin. "It is going to be a single family area with the only difference being that the houses are attached."
One resident, Jim McKibbin,
2519 Atchison Ave., argued that because the site was in a low area near a creek, the new houses would be in danger of floods.
"This is the lowest point in the area, and if there is a flood, people will be screaming, 'How could the city let this happen,' " McGibbon said.
On the issue of flooding, Zin quoted from a study done for the city by two hydrologists. Both hydrologists had agreed that the development would cause no significant increase in the chances of flooding.
David Longhurst, commissioner, said the issue of rezoning was the worst type of issue that faced the commission.
"This issue involves people, their homes, and their lifestyles, and people look to us, the commission, on their behalf," Longhurst said.
Longhurst said the opposition had not presented enough evidence against the rezoning.