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Another Thing Peter Vallone Hates: Pit Bulls
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 26, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 26, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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When City Councilman Peter Vallone is not complaining about graffiti, it seems like his other pet peeve are pit bulls. Vallone is trying to ban pit bulls from city pet owners (by way of repealing a "state law prohibiting breed-specific legislation"). NYC would join cities like Denver and Miami, and the resolution notes that pit bulls are "often a weapon of choice of drug dealers and gangs seeking to intimidate and terrorize neighborhoods." Vallone tells the NY Sun that the pit bulls' jaws "lock," which prevents people from defending themselves, their children or pets from being hurt: "It's out job to get this done before another child's face is ripped off."
However, this ban would only apply to new owners, versus the current owners of pit bulls (no words on the mixed-breeds with pit bull in them). And there are some people who think there's a lot of panic over nothing: Urbanhound.com lawyer Darryl Vernon points out that "Twenty years ago, German shepherds were thought of as dangerous dogs. Now they're patrolling our borders and sniffing out bombs; now they're patriotic dogs." Besides, criminals would just find another dog to use as intimidators.
If this is ever debated at City Hall, we would like pit bull-advocates to invite The Dog Whisperer Cesar Milan to speak. And Vallone doesn't hate all dogs - he happens to have a Bichon Frise named Gus Gus. (We have to wonder if Gus Gus met an angry pit bull during a morning walk.)
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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