Pit Bulls No Longer Named in Vicious Dogs Ordinance

(South Charleston) A reworked version of South Charleston's vicious dogs ordinance will be up for a second reading, but not after a healthy amount debate. The new version presented Thursday took out language related to specific breeds of dogs.

"The punishments and intent of the legislation is still in place. Basically what we did is we didn't deem your dog dangerous just because of what its breed was.  It has to actually show that it has that aggressive nature to it," says Mayor Frank Mullens.

That change did not sit well with Councilman Dayton Griffith who said the language should have been included. He was the lone council member voting against passing this version to the second reading.

Another person attending meeting that night opposed the ordinance for a different reason. Jo Staats operates the West Virginia Pit Bull Haven shelter in Hardy County that rehabilitates fighting dogs. She drove four hours to oppose the ordinance in order to address concerns she had about rehabilitated dogs.  

"Where it references that fighting dogs or dogs trained to fight will be deemed be dangerous, that's a lump some. That's not evaluating the dog individually," Staats says.

Staats did not get to present her concerns at the meeting that night since South Charleston does not take public comment on an ordinance until its second reading, but she intends to return in four weeks.

South Charleston will take a final vote on the vicious dog ordinance at the next council meeting on October 1st.