Aurora – A district court judge Wednesday threw out a lawsuit seeking to overturn Aurora’s pit bull ordinance that bans new dogs from the city and imposes strict new rules on existing dogs.
The ordinance, passed by the City Council in October, goes into effect at the end of January. The suit was filed by Brighton resident Khristina Villani in early November, just after a 10-year-old boy was mauled by three pit bulls in the backyard of his Aurora home.
A different group also tried to force the City Council to reconsider the law but didn’t get enough signatures.
The ordinance stands, said Assistant City Attorney Suzanne Staiert, and pit bulls will be regulated under the new rules.
“Everything is a go,” she said. “It would have been anyway, even with the lawsuit pending. I imagine we’ll see something again.”
That’s precisely what Glen Bui of the American Canine Foundation threatened after learning the lawsuit was thrown out.
“It looks like what needs to go on … is a real thorough federal investigation,” he said. “(Villani) is going to go to federal court and sue Denver and Aurora. We will just go to federal court with this thing. They play by different rules.”
Villani’s lawsuit had asked the court to declare the Aurora ordinance unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment and to order the city to return any seized pets and money collected from fines.
In tossing out the suit, 18th District Judge Michael Spear agreed with Aurora’s motion to dismiss, which was based on several grounds.
The city contended that in Colorado, dogs are property and are subject to “the proper exercise of police power for the protection of the public’s health, safety and welfare.”
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer may be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
