WAUSEON — Dog owners will have to wait for a change in municipal dog laws.
City Council explained Monday that the Dec. 15 second reading of a proposed ordinance to remove breed-specific language against “pit bulls” failed because it did not have a majority of four votes. The vote was 3-2, with one abstention.
“We incorrectly indicated during the meeting that that was sufficient for passage,” said Thomas McWatters III, the city’s law director. “Upon further review and reflection, looking at the code and the charter, we determined that was not sufficient.”
That means the proposal failed, and the current law that defines all “pit bulls” and “pit bull” mixes to be registered as vicious remains in place. Owners must pay $25 every year to register them with the city, show proof of insurance, and adhere to fencing and muzzling rules.
Resident April Petz, who owns one of only two “pit bulls” registered in Wauseon, said she is fed up with having to register one dog, but not a second dog — a bluetick coonhound-mountain cur mix — that she says is actually more likely to cause trouble.
“I’m not registering; I’m making that perfectly clear,” Mrs. Petz told council members. “I’m registered through the county with my tags how I’m supposed to, and that’s all the further that we’ll go.”
Mrs. Petz moved with her husband, Mike, her one child, and two dogs to Wauseon in 2007 from Cleveland. She has since had two other children. Mrs. Petz registered Gambit, a 10-year-old American “pit bull” terrier, after being informed of the law by police after a neighbor complained.
She forgot to register Gambit in 2008 and 2009 because the city did not send reminder notices, but has registered each year since 2010. Then she discovered almost no one else is registering their dogs, including one she knows of that isn’t a “pit bull” but has bitten twice and was formally declared dangerous.
“That really got me,” she said Tuesday. “Why should I have to register her when she’s not done anything behaviorally to justify that? If she were aggressive or had bitten, I would completely understand that. It’s almost like we’re admitting that something is wrong with her, that we’ve done something wrong as owners, just because she’s a ‘pit bull.’ ”
Mrs. Petz acknowledges that Gambit and the second dog, Phoenix, have escaped their yard, but fence improvements have stopped that.
Councilman Martin Estrada, who has led the effort to change the law, said the failure was a “technicality.”
“We had a strange vote, and that’s what killed it,” he said Tuesday. “As far as I know, nobody knew that’s what would happen. Everybody thought it passed.”
Mayor Kathy Huner said the proposal will be returned to the city’s safety and code committee and can be reintroduced. The committee is to meet at 3 p.m. Jan. 19 in council chambers at the municipal building, 230 Clinton St.
Contact Alexandra Mester: amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066, or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.
First Published January 7, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
