Aurora – Peter Mustacchio looked on as his 3-year-old granddaughter tossed a tennis ball to Poseidon – Mustacchio’s 9-year-old pit bull.
The girl was about the same height as the dog, whose massive jaws quickly clamped down on the ball before it scampered into the backyard.
It was a scene that would make pit bull critics shiver.
This, after all, is the type of dog some call an unpredictable killer, the preferred hound of drug dealers, with a bloodline filled with violence.
Pit bulls also are family pets, loved by thousands of Americans.
Pete, the amiable pooch with the circle around his eye in “Our Gang,” was a pit bull. So was Buster Brown’s trusty hound, Tige.
Nevertheless, pit bulls are no longer allowed in Denver, Castle Rock, Wiggins, Wellington and Fort Lupton.
Aurora leaders will explore a ban in an Aug. 9 meeting, and Commerce City may approve one tonight.
The debate over pit bulls continues to swell across the country as other cities consider similar restrictions.
“It’s a shame,” Mustacchio said, smiling as his granddaughter, Malarie, played with his dog. “They don’t get much better than Poseidon. He’s never been aggressive. It’s not the breed. It’s the owner.”
The debate of whether a pit bull is a killer or a potential best friend touches deeply on both sides of the issue.
Lines are clearly drawn. Each side has facts, studies and arguments about the dogs.
“This is coming from unnamed fear,” said Sonya Dias, a Denver resident and pit bull owner who is organizing rallies against the ban. “You’re not going to hear about a dog bite unless it’s a pit bull.”
In contrast, city leaders in Denver and Aurora note that pit bulls have been bred through the centuries to be vicious.
They cite dozens of attacks that killed or maimed people and say banning the dogs will protect the public.
“For every little Muffy that is as cozy as a bedroom slipper, there is a killer,” Aurora Councilwoman Molly Markert said.
Technically, a pit bull is not a breed. It’s a generic term, like “retriever,” that describes an American pit bull terrier, an American Staffordshire terrier or a Staffordshire bull terrier.
A federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that at least 25 dog breeds were involved in 238 fatalities from 1979 to 1998. Pit bull-types and Rottweilers accounted for 66 and 39 deaths, respectively.
The CDC study warned against specific bans, saying breeds responsible for attacks vary over time. Great Danes, for example, were the lead killers from 1997 to 1998, and other breeds have killed as well, including Dachshunds, a Yorkshire terrier and even the popular Labrador retriever.
Approximately 4.3 million people are bitten every year, and about 800,000 of those incidents require hospitalization. No group has done an analysis of which type of dog bites more.
Organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States and the American Veterinary Medical Association oppose breed-specific bans. They say one of the biggest problems is determining the breed.
The best way is through DNA analysis, which is expensive and time consuming. Denver uses a visual checklist, looking at the structure of the dog’s head, body and coat.
“Using breeds as the only indicator that a dog is going to be a danger is a bad idea,” said Stephanie Shain, director of outreach for companion animals for the Humane Society of the United States. “You get rid of a lot more dogs that are perfectly safe. … You don’t address at all the irresponsible ownership.”
Denver’s ban was prompted by 20 pit bull attacks in Colorado from 1984 to 1989.
The ordinance that prohibits the dog within the city’s borders was approved in 1989. It survived a state Supreme Court challenge in 1991 and was reinstated in May after a year hiatus following a statutory challenge by the legislature.
This spring, Denver began impounding illegal dogs again. From May 9 to July 21, the city nabbed 430 pit bulls. Nearly 300 of those were killed, and another 100 were forced to leave the city.
“Most cities impose restrictions – muzzles, spay or neuter, microchip,” said Ledy VanKavage, attorney with the ASPCA. “They just don’t carte blanche say they are banned and … send them into the freezer.”
Denver Assistant City Attorney Kory Nelson said pit bulls cause too much damage if they strike.
“The very bottom line,” Nelson said, “is a pit bull attack is more likely to cause serious bodily injury than any other breed. … They will try to rip your flesh, like a shark.”
Aurora has had a vicious-animal law since 1979. Last year, the city increased the fines. Now, the city may add a ban in the name of public safety.
“The thought of one kid getting hurt is too much for me,” said Bob Fitz Gerald, an Aurora councilman.
FitzGerald and others supporting the ban point to an attack in Aurora last year involving a 3-year-old girl.
Vivianna Vigil was walking to her friend’s house in her Aurora neighborhood and was met by a charging pit bull. The dog leapt on Vivianna, clamped on and shook her like a rag doll.
A neighbor beat the dog off the girl. Vivianna had a fractured skull and required 51 stitches. The pit bull was later killed. Medical costs have hit the family hard, and Vivianna hides whenever she hears a dog barking in the neighborhood.
“She has scars,” said her father, Donnie. “When we got to her, the dog had her in its death grip and was shaking her. … Any dog could be vicious and raised to be violent. But it is this specific breed that you hear about.”
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
Impounded in Aurora
Aurora has impounded 202 pit bulls this year, continuing a recent upward trend:
2000 126
2001 148
2002 169
2003 289
2004 372
Licensed pit bulls: 140
Source: City of Aurora
