ASHTABULA —
There’s no bull when area residents give their opinion about pit bulls in the city.
Some people see the dogs as harmless victims of bad press, while others are leery of the powerful jaws of any pit bull.
Tom Collins, 26, believes the dogs are vicious and have no place in the city.
“When I see teenagers walking them on the sidewalk, I think, ‘What are you doing?’ he said. “I don’t like them.”
A mother of three boys, Roxanne Greening, 36, said, “Yes! They should be banned. They are dangerous around children and small animals.”
Ashlynn Sharp, 20, of Ashtabula said she has owned pit bulls in the past and she just loves them.
“I think pit bulls are the victims
of a bad reputation,” she said. “I know some people think they are vicious, but it all depends on how you train them. My pit bull loved kids and loved people and she was just a great dog.”
Candice Kinser, 22, of Ashtabula, said she is glad City Council is considering a revision of the city’s vicious dog ordinance, but with one change.
“I don’t think it’s right that people have to adopt a pit bull only from the (Ashtabula County Animal Protective League),” she said. “If you can get a Labrador from a breeder, you should be able to get a pit bull from a breeder, too, if you want.”
Ken Kovacs of Ashtabula said his daughter has had pit bulls as pets for 20 years.
“She just loves them,” he said.
But that love hasn’t rubbed off of Kovacs.
“I personally don’t trust them,” he said. “I think they should be outlawed everywhere, but that is just a personal choice. If someone asked me if I would sign a petition to ban them, I would sign it.”
James Wright of Ashtabula said pit bulls are “too protective,” but he doesn’t like any large dog.
“Pit bulls, German Shepherds, they are all too protective. They turn on people, just like that. I don’t hate pit bulls specifically, because all big dogs are capable of hurting a person — an adult or a child,” he said. “I like little dogs because they can’t harm anyone.”
Naudia Hagenbaugh, 11, and her mother Bobbi Jones of Orwell agree — pit bulls are not for them.
“I just don’t like them,” Jones said. “They are too protective. I guess if someone wants a guard dog, that is one thing, but as a family pet? I don’t think so.”
Jones owns a bull dog, which is similar to a pit bull, but not the same, she said.
“Bull dogs are different,” she said. “They are friendly.”
Joan Coulton of Conneaut said she knows many people who own friendly, loving pit bulls.
“They are great dogs,” she said. “It think it all depends on their owners and their training, and of course their breeding, but bad pit bulls aren’t the problem — the people who own bad pit bulls are the problem.”
Coulton said any dog can be vicious, depending on who raises it.
“The ban on pit bulls should be lifted in Ashtabula,” she said. “Let good people adopt these dogs and let the APL screen the dogs and the people to find the right matches.”
But the ordinance needs one change, Coulton said.
“The ordinance should include the condition that the owner must be 18 years old,” she said. “Pit bulls, like all other breeds of dogs, need responsible owners.”
One Ashtabula resident, who didn’t want his name in the paper, believes pit bulls should be banned from the city, but not in the rural areas of the county.
“Other animals which are not conducive to city life are banned such as horses, cows, pigs, etc.,” he said. “So if a person truly wants a pit bull then they, like farmers, should live outside of the city.”
He said he’s not for the extinction of the breed but perhaps one should look at breeding the aggressive aspects out so that once again they can live in the city or anywhere else.
“For example, I believe that at one time the bull dog was also aggressive but their aggressiveness was bred out of them,” he said. “I guess one would do this over a period of time by just having the non-aggressive pit bulls breed so that eventually one has a non-aggressive breed.”
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