Local officials across the country are considering banning pit bulls and other attack dogs - a step Baltimore may take - despite evidence that the bans sometimes prove costly and ineffective.
Those jurisdictions that forbid certain breeds of dogs reacted to public outcries after one or more brutal maulings, often of a child. But communities sometimes later find the laws are not what they expected.
Several cities, including Cincinnati, have repealed bans such as the one proposed by the Baltimore City Council, while other jurisdictions, such as Prince George's County, are considering lifting their restrictions.
The latest local attack came yesterday afternoon, when two children were bitten by a pit bull in the 1800 block of North Chapel St. in East Baltimore, according to police. The children were said to be in good condition.
On Wednesday in Brooklyn Heights, just south of the Baltimore line in Anne Arundel County, a 2-year-old girl was nearly killed by the family pit bull, which attacked her neck.
That came two days after the Anne Arundel County Council proposed legislation to control "dangerous animals." The county is not considering banning only pit bulls, partly because it would not prevent people from owning other potentially vicious animals.
In Cincinnati, officials repealed a 13-year ban on pit bulls last year because the city was spending $200,000 a year to confiscate and euthanize less than 20 percent of the city's pit bulls, most of which had never bitten anyone, said Carol Walker, Cincinnati's senior administration safety specialist.
"It's an enormous headache and expense and requires enormous expertise and didn't solve the problem of pit bulls in our community," Walker said. "There's no way you're going to get rid of all of them. To spend that kind of money and manpower, why not take that same money and put it into dog control and responsible dog ownership?"
Baltimore's Health Department, whose Bureau of Animal Control would enforce the law, does not have the money or resources to properly enforce the proposed ban, said Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, city health commissioner.
"We oppose this," Beilenson said. "We don't have the staff. If we pick up an animal, proving it is a pit bull is difficult."
The problem is in identifying pit bull mixed breeds, which also would be banned.
