The 38 pit bull dogs confiscated from a southwest Denver home this week likely be put to death, said Doug Kelley, director of Denver’s Division of Animal Control.
The owner of the dogs, Michael Padilla, 38, has a previous conviction for having a banned pit bull in Denver, which makes him ineligible to get the banned dogs back for removal from the city, Kelley said.
Upon conviction of a first violation, the owner has the option of getting the dog back if he has made arrangements for it to live outside the city. For subsequent violations, the city won’t return the dogs to their owner, Kelley said.
That means all 38, including 19 puppies, will be put to death, he said.
The animals are being evaluated to determine if they possess the majority traits of any of the three breeds deemed by Denver law to be pit bulls – the Staffordshire bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier and the American pit bull terrier.
“I would say it would be unlikely that any of them would not be evaluated as pit bulls,” Kelley said.
If they are deemed pit bulls, Padilla has seven days to ask for an administrative hearing on that evaluation.
If the dogs are found to not be pit bulls, and Padilla is successful in defending himself on the charges against him, the dogs’ future would be up in the air.
Because of the animals’ “unsocial” behavior, they would not be put up for adoption, Kelley said.
