AURORA, Colo.—Aurora has taken a step toward allowing pit bulls as service dogs after a Vietnam veteran fought for six months to keep his pup.
The Aurora Sentinel said a City Council committee suggested last week that the full council agree next year to allow pit bulls as pets if the animals help people with disabilities.
Aurora currently does not allow pit bulls to be kept as pets within city limits.
The proposed change came after Allen Grider Sr., who uses a pit bull service dog named Precious to help cope with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, argued the dog was an aid to him and no threat to others.
“People don’t understand that service dogs help people with PTSD” Grider told the newspaper. Precious “is a happy dog. She hates to see me sad.”
Pit bulls for non-disabled owners would still be banned under the committee recommendation, unless the owners had the dogs before 2005, when the ordinance was passed.
Those pit bull owners can keep their animals as long as they pay an annual license fee.
The U.S. Department of Justice issued new rules this summer relating to the portion of the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding service animals. Under the change, municipalities will no longer be allowed to prohibit a disabled person from keeping a pit bull or other restricted breed as a service dog, effective March 15, 2011.
Aurora City Attorney Charlie Richardson advised the Neighborhood Services Committee to follow the new rules mandated by the ADA.
“We are recommending that we proceed because taking this step significantly lowers our exposure to claims that we are violating individuals in a manner inconsistent with the Department of Justice regulations,” he said.
Candice Adler, training coordinator for the Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center’s Rocky Mountain ADA Center, said almost any type of dog can be trained to be a service dog, including pit bulls.
“Certainly there are areas of concern when it comes to the specific breed of the pit bull and whether they pose a legitimate safety risk,” she said.
Aurora’s possible new ordinance regulating pit bulls could waive the annual license fee and proof of liability insurance for service dogs.
Owners of pit bull service dogs would still be required to keep the dog in a secure, locked pen when it is outdoors unless the backyard is securely fenced and there is someone supervising the animal.
Grider and two Denver residents, Glenn Belcher and Valerie Piltz, filed a class-action lawsuit against Aurora and Denver and are seeking damages of more than $75,000. The case over the pit bull ban is still pending.
Grider bought his pit bull in 2003 on the advice of a social worker who suggested he acquire a therapy pet. In November 2009, the city’s animal control officers seized the dog because it was a banned breed, according to the lawsuit.
Officials eventually determined the dog was a service dog, and after about five months, it was released to Grider on the condition that she wear a muzzle in public.
Grider said he had trouble sleeping when he was without Precious and his PTSD symptoms were severe.
“She’s my little security blanket,” he said.
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Information from: The Aurora Sentinel,
