CAMANCHE —  During Tuesday night’s Camanche City Council meeting, a discussion was held on the possibility of legislation on pit bulls.

Karen Austin, of Camanche, spoke to the council during the visitors’ portion. Austin said she had heard a breed-specific ordinance was going to be discussed and wanted to give information to council members before there was a vote on the matter.

“So, I mean, like I said, I don’t even own a pit bull, but I am a dog lover. It really bothers me when you can ban just a specific breed,” said Austin. “It’s like discrimination, against the owners and the dogs.”

Austin provided the council with information on other breed-specific legislations that were repealed. She pointed out that any dog can be dangerous.

“To provide communities with the most effective dangerous dog control possible, laws must not be breed specific,” said Austin. She said breed-specific ordinances do not give attention to the real issue of dog owner responsibility.

City Administrator Tom Roth said he feels a pit bull ordinance is a good idea. He said that while Camanche does have a good ordinance for dealing with dangerous dogs, it is reactive instead of pro-active. He said he fears that by the time they know it is a dangerous dog, it is too late.

Under the current ordinance, if any dog attacks another animal or a person or shows a propensity for attacking, Public Works Director Dave Rickertsen can deem it to be vicious. The dog can then be impounded and the owner will be entitled to a hearing in front of the mayor.

Roth said one of the previous challenges to pit bull ordinances was proving a dog was a pit bull. He said now there is a genetic test that for $75 or $80 a veterinarian can take DNA and prove it is a pit bull.

“I really believe they (pit bulls) are different. I think research is out there to show they’re different. And I think they pose a risk to folks that other dogs don’t because of those differences,” said Roth. “I would hate to be sitting here, trying to explain — if we had one of those tragedies that makes the newspaper —why we didn’t think it was a pro-active measure.”

“How can we decide just on that breed? Doesn’t our ordinance cover, like you said, all breeds. That’s where we went the last time with this, that we were covered; that we didn’t have to say ‘pit bulls’ because we’re covered with all breeds,” councilwoman Linda Kramer said.

Police Chief Robert Houzenga said there are two different schools of thought on the topic. He said many will say there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. Houzenga also referenced a 10-year pit bull study from the from the CDC from 2000. He said according to that research, pit bull types of dogs were responsible for one-third of the fatal bites across the country. Houzenga said pit bulls were originally bred to fight bulls.

“You’re going to have these people say that pit bulls aren’t aggressive towards humans, but they’re aggressive towards other dogs because it’s a breeding thing and they’re predisposed to this type of stuff,” said Houzenga. “Trouble is, if you’re walking your dog, and a pit bull attacks your dog, what do you do? You try to get them to stop fighting. And it doesn’t take long for the pit bull to decide that ‘two legs or four legs makes no difference to me, I’ll bite you too.’”

“Nobody has any personal axe to grind with pit bulls. You know what I mean? I don’t dislike dogs. I don’t dislike pit bulls, German shepherds or any kind of dog. But I really believe that — and Bob (Houzenga) just talked about it a little bit — the evidence will show that pit bulls are different. They’re different in their nature. They’re different in their strength. They’re different in the manner in which they approach an attack. They’re just a different breed,” said Roth.

Gary Hill, of Camanche, spoke to the council about two pit bulls who had been roving around his neighborhood for the past three months. Hill described several incidences he had with one or both of the dogs. He said the first time he called the police, one of the pit bulls went after his dog, but he got them separated and locked his dog in his yard. Hill then warned his neighbor with two small dogs that the pit bull was near his truck and not to let his dogs outside. Hill said he heard his neighbor yelling in his garage and saw him throw a board. The pit bull came running out of his neighbor’s garage.

“I was standing in the middle of the black top area and that dog was coming right towards me. And it jumped and it missed me. I jumped to the side,” said Hill. His neighbor scared it with another board. Hill said a lady came and took it away. He spoke of two other incidences which occurred.

A week or so ago, Hill’s dog was attacked by both pit bulls. He said the first pit bull chased her and she continued to the back of house, where the second dog jumped on her back and bit her. Hill said his dog got away from them and ran around the neighborhood as the pit bulls chased her. He said she was running for her life. Eventually his dog made it back to their yard and he closed the gate. Hill said in the three months these incidents have gone on, the owner never did a thing.

Rickertsen said they have been in the area for these calls, but the owner has received only one citation. Mayor Jim Robertson said the problem is if the police do not see it, they cannot ticket them for their dogs running at large. He said citizens can sign the complaints themselves, but many seem reluctant to become involved in the process.

Kramer pointed out that there have been other instances of dog attacks in the city from other dog breeds. She acknowledged the statistics on pit bulls. However, she said at one time, German shepherds and rottweilers may have had similar reputations. Kramer said she thinks they already have a good ordinance that should apply to all dogs. She also wanted more information on Clinton’s policy.

City Attorney Tom Lonergan said that he has been city attorney for Camanche for a long time and for at least half of that time he has supported the passing of a pit bull ordinance. He said pit bulls make up a small percentage of the dog population, but are involved with a large percentage of the fatalities and serious injuries.

“Obviously those dogs have extreme strength. They were bred for it. They never retreat. Once a confrontation happens, they will not retreat and they don’t respond to pain. So it’s a very serious occasion for those people responding to it,” said Lonergan.

“Dogs are well and fine. I’ve got nothing against dogs. But we’re looking at ‘The dogs have rights. The dogs have rights.’ No, people have rights. And a dog that’s misbehaving always has a person that’s also involved in that misbehavior also,” said councilman Paul Varner. “I want to make sure that whatever we do is more pro-active as opposed to reactive, so we don’t have a 2-year-old kid getting chewed up or worse yet.”

“Because to tell you all the truth, if it’s between that 2-year-old and that pit bull, that pit bull goes. That 2-year-old has definitely more rights than that pit bull,” said Varner. He said that applies to any breed of dog.

The council agreed to table the issue for further discussion. The matter will be discussed at the already scheduled special goal-setting meeting on Oct. 26 at 6 p.m.