After Aurora, Colorado Councilwoman Renie Peterson was unsuccessful in repealing Aurora’s 2006 pit bull ban back in 2011 she said yesterday she would try to bring up the issue of a repeal again in Spring of 2014. (In 2011, Peterson was successful in getting the pit bull ban limited to three breeds — the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier — three breeds commonly and erroneously referred to as pit bulls.)

Councilwoman Peterson stated,  

Im thinking that now is probably the time to bring it back . . . Its all about how you treat an animal, its not the breed of animal, its the owner.

For so-called pit bulls, Peterson’s statement could not be more true.   They are quite possibly the most abused dogs in the world.  

And while Denver keeps touting its supposed pit bull ban success, why has it escaped theirs and Aurora’s attention that dog bite incidences have actually gone up in Denver County? (and in Miami-Dade County where they likewise claim pit bull ban success.)

Still, some of Aurora’s councilmen, like Councilman Brad Pierce, refuse to do any proper research, insisting instead on holding fast to ridiculous urban myths — like that certain breeds should be restricted because they are more dangerous than others — that have long been debunked.   Yet as the Aurora Sentinel noted,

A 2010 study by the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora reported that mixed breeds and Labrador retrievers are the cause of most human bites, which correlate to their popularity among dog owners.

But inexplicably, councilmen like Pierce still want to adhere to junk science “statistics” from sources, if you could call it that, like Dogsbite.org.

Indeed, while some will claim that so-called pit bulls are responsible for a majority of dog bites in the United States, all that those “statistics” really prove is that no one, including Denver and most likely Aurora itself, knows what a pit bull is since they still refer to pit bull as if it were an actual breed.   Pit bull is not a breed, but a type that can describe countless medium- and even large-breed dogs, their mixes, and lookalikes.  

For instance, if Denver doesn’t know the difference between an American Pit Bull Terrier and a Boxer mix, which they don’t, then do they really have any business banning so-called pit bulls?   Does Aurora?