Editors note: In the aftermath of the death of little 5-year old Makayla Woodward and the serious injuring of her great grandmother, it is all the more important to address the problem of free-roaming dogs with legislation that encompasses all dogs, because pit bulls (and pit bull is not actually a breed) are not the only dogs that free roam.   It is the free roaming that makes a dog potentially dangerous, not its breed.   And breed-specific legislation has more than proven in this country and worldwide to be ineffective, unenforceable, and unconstitutional.

Please write the Shelby Mayor and City Council and politely inform them that a breed-specific ordinance will not prevent further attacks but that a well-enforced leash law and dangerous dog (owner) law which includes an escalation in fines and penalties have proven effective deterrents.

From The Shelby Star:

Last week, a 5-year-old girl was attacked and killed by two pit bulls in Waxhaw and her grandmother was sent to the hospital with injuries.

Now, Waxhaw is looking into ways to limit ownership of the dogs and Shelby City Councilman Joel Shores wants to prevent a similar incident from happening here.  

We always have to wait for someone to be killed at an intersection ” then we get the stoplight. I dont want to wait, Shores said.

…Im not advocating we go to the extreme, I just want to look at it as a council, he said.

Last year, a city worker was attacked by one of the dogs while reading meters, Shores said.

It seems like Im hearing more and more about attacks with pit bulls. It just seems like over the years Im seeing more of a trend that pit bulls are attacking people, pit bulls are killing people, he said.

Read this article in its entirety here.