Des Moines council to review changes to dog ordinance

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Des Moines City Council will review changes to its dog ordinance on Monday that officials say will hold owners more accountable for misbehaving pets.

But the changes won't include removal of "breed-specific" rules that automatically classify all pit bull-type dogs as vicious, drawing objections from animal owners and groups that say the ordinance is unfair, The Des Moines Register reported (http://dmreg.co/1FiPG9L ).

The ordinance changes would tighten the rules on owners whose pets get in trouble more than once, requiring owners to pay for micro-chipping, as well as possible impound and boarding fees. It also tightens the rules for bringing into Des Moines dogs that have been deemed dangerous in other towns.

But restrictions on Staffordshire, American pit bull and American Staffordshire terriers and their look-alikes would remain in the ordinance.

"I'm not interested in changing the breed-specific language," said Councilwoman Christine Hensley, referring to recommendations to drop the pit bull restrictions. "That was not the intent of the committee when we took action at council to have these issues studied."

Sean Baginewski, president of Des Moines Neighbors and the Beaverdale Neighborhood Association, said more Des Moines neighborhood groups are calling for the pit bull language in the ordinance to be changed. Baginewski's associations voted last month in support of removing language targeting breeds out of the ordinance altogether.

"We call it breed discrimination," said Ledy VanKavage, a senior legislative attorney for the Best Friends Animal Society in Illinois.

Breed-specific ordinances are "ineffective and expensive to enforce, and basically they infringe on property rights," VanKavage said.

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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com