From KPTM Fox 42 in Omaha:

“Wednesday’s [“pit bull”] attacks are sparking new interest in a possible pit bull ban in Omaha. Mayor Mike Fahey will meet Monday with the Nebraska Humane Society and the Omaha Police Department to try to prevent future attacks.

Wednesday night’s attack on a 15 month old girl marked the 48th pit bull attack this year in Omaha. Last year there were 88, and in 2006 there were 109.

It’s an entirely different story across the river in Council Bluffs.

‘We have zero pit bull bites thus far this year,’ said animal control officer Galen Barrett.

Barrett credited that statistic to the city’s pit bull ban, created three years ago. Now, there are only about 80 of the animals in town that were grandfathered in when the ban took effect.

Before the ban, Council Bluffs had 29 attacks in 2004. Since then the numbers have dropped significantly.

‘The ban is the only thing that’s been introduced since then. I have nothing else to attribute that to,’ said Barrett.

Omaha city leaders are now looking for ways to prevent future attacks. The Nebraska Humane Society said a pit bull ban may not be the best answer.

‘We just don’t think breed specific legislation works. We have no evidence to support that,’ said Pam Wiese of the Nebraska Humane Society.”

Read this article in its entirety here.

Please contact the Omaha Mayor and City Council and politely inform them that breed-specific ordinances are unenforceable and ineffective. Please also tell them that it is very unlikely that American Pit Bull Terriers (a breed commonly and erroneously called “pit bull”) were responsible for 88 attacks in Omaha last year, or 106 in 2006.

If actual breed determinations were made for each of those incidents instead of simply labeling the dog with the blanket “breed” designation “pit bull,” a different picture would appear which would most likely show a free-roaming dog and/or irresponsible owner problem, not a “pit bull” problem. An enforced leash law and a good non-breed-specific dog law are more than adequate to police free-roaming dogs and irresponsible owners. Breed bans, however, do not work.