New pit bull policy Pit bulls must be confined at home, muzzled on streets   HOCKING COUNTY - Dog owners, listen up: if your canine companion is a pit bull or pit bull mix, you and your pet face new regulations in Hocking County. Pit bulls must be confined in a fully enclosed pen (with padlock and roof) when on their owner's property, and they must be muzzled when taken off their owner's property. Violators face a $90 citation. The regulations stem from sections 9511.11 and 955.22 of the Ohio Revised Code - an item of legislation the 6th District Court of Appeals deemed unconstitutional for a number of years before it was recertified by the Ohio Supreme Court this August. The reactivated legislation defines pit bulls as "vicious dogs" that have been known to "cause serious injury to any person," or "kill other dogs" without provocation. In previous cases, Ohio courts ruled the legislation unconstitutional due to the difficulty in defining "breeds of dogs commonly known as pit bulls," (among other reasons). The state Supreme Court "turned back the clock" to the original intent of the legislation, based on the belief that some dogs, such as pit bills, are inherently more aggressive than others. Franklin and Hocking counties are enforcing the policy on the following breeds "commonly known as pit bulls": American Pit Bull Terrier Staffordshire Bull Terrier American Staffordshire Terrier American Bulldog Any other pure bred or mixed breed dog whose appearance and physical characteristics are predominately those of any of the dogs listed above, or is a combination of any of the dogs liste above. "They ruled that pit bulls are more likely to attack than any other breed," said Hocking County Dog Warden Don Kiger, referring to the state Supreme Court's Toledo v. Tellings decision. Before the Court reversed the previous ruling, Kiger couldn't declare a dog dangerous or vicious and enforce liability on them without going in front of a review board, he said. "A lot of people think the way they're raised will keep them from being aggressive, but it doesn't," he said. "Pit bulls are dog-aggressive dogs." Kiger claims the pit bull's aggressive nature is predetermined in its genes. "A pit bull has the genetic makeup of a fighting dog. It pleases them to fight, whereas it pleases a lab to retrieve a duck for a hunter," he said. "It's not so much that they have a 'taste for blood' as it is the inherent genes of the dog." Kiger said pit bull mixes possess the same aggressive tendencies as pure-bred pit bills, and that labeling the dog "a lab mix," doesn't change its predisposition toward aggression, nor does it exclude it from the pit bull policy. "People hide them now by disguising the name of their breed," he said. "They call them 'boxer mixes,' 'terrier mixes' and 'lab mixes,' but once you see the frame, posture, build and distinct head and jaw sizes of a pit bull - it's obvious." Assistant Hocking County Dog Warden Kyle Merritt agrees that pit bulls should be confined at home and muzzled on the streets. "You can't trust them," Merritt said, referring to the "Beware of Dog" sign hanging on a pit bull's cage at the Hocking County Dog Shelter. "We don't like people petting or touching them, because you can never tell when they're going to snap." Some pit bulls seem docile as puppies, Kiger said, but oftentimes the "fighting gene" takes over around the age of two. "You can socialize and socialize, but you can't take the fighting gene out of a fighting dog," he said. The dog shelter has taken in about 30 pit bulls this year, but because of the breed's reputation for aggression, they are euthanized instead of adopted out to families - a policy that Hocking County shares with about 80 other counties in Ohio. "It's something we're required to do for liability reasons; it's not that we want to do it," Kiger said. "But because of people being 'sue-happy' we have to protect ourselves and protect the county." (Regarding their adoption rates in general, the Hocking County Dog Shelter boasts a 47 percent success rate, compared to the state average of 10 percent.) No serious attacks involving people have been reported this year (only "nips" and "light bites"), but Kiger has seen two cases where pit bulls have killed other dogs. "We haven't had any bite children this year, but last year we had a couple incidents where children were bit," Kiger said, referring to a case where a young girl jumped off a couch and startled her neighbor's pit bull, who then bit her in the face. Approximately 60 pit bulls are currently registered in the county, but Kiger estimates there could be 30 more that have not been registered and tagged. The $100,000 of insurance coverage required of pit bull owners has not changed, but it is now possible to obtain coverage through the Ohio Insurance Exchange for $394 for six months, (an effort meant to "ease the pain of purchase," a press release said). For more information on how to comply with new and old regulations, please call the Hocking County Dog Shelter at 385-2319. The dog shelter, located at 120 Homer Avenue, is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Hours are 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday and Sunday. http://www.logandaily.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=123531