Pit Bull Ordinance on its last legs?

You may recall that a few months ago, Governor Patrick signed into law An Act Further Regulating Municipal Animal Control.

Among other things, the “legislation updates the state’s dangerous dog law so that it now nullifies existing city and town ordinances that focus on particular breeds, such ones that ban pit bulls or require them to be muzzled. Breed-discriminatory legislation has never proven effective at reducing dog bites, and it punishes all citizens living with a particular breed, whether they act as responsible owners or not. The new law requires municipalities to focus on the behavior of misbehaving dogs and their owners, regardless of the breed involved—for example, enforcing existing leash laws for all free-roaming dogs, which are the animals responsible for most reported bites.”

The City of Boston has already noted that “the City’s pitbull regulations and rules will become void as of November 1, 2012.”

I am checking to see whether the City of Worcester will go in a similar direction regarding its pit bull ordinance, and whether residents who have had their dogs registered as pit bulls will be notified that they no longer need to do anything different than other dog owners.

More to come in this space soon, I hope.

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