Pit Bull Protesters Gather As Maryland Holds Special Session

As the Maryland General Assembly met for the second day of its special session Tuesday, Marylanders protesting a recent court opinion against pit bulls gathered at Lawyer's Mall in Annapolis on Tuesday afternoon. 

"I think it’s legitimate to say that the ruling amounts to a defacto statewide breed band," Celia Craze, who heads up Greenbelt Animal Control, told Patch on Monday.

Craze knows firsthand about the challenges of a breed ban. Pit bulls have been banned in Prince George’s County since 1997, and the Greenbelt shelter has a practice of placing abandoned pit bulls outside the county.

She stands firm on the shelter’s decision against euthanizing any animal because of its breed, but worries the court’s decision has potential to flood the shelter with so many pit bulls that they can’t place them.

A group called Maryland Votes for Animals has urged Maryland lawmakers to take the opportunity of their special session to overrule a Maryland Court of Appeals decision that classifies pit bulls as dangerous animals. But lawmakers do not seemed inclined to take it up, according to a Baltimore Sun report.

One of the protesters gathering at the mall on Tuesday was bull terrier owner Stehle Harris. She said the court's opinion that pit bulls and pit bull crossbreeds are dangerous could lead to a slippery slope. The opinion also states that landlords can prohibit the dogs from their properties.

Erin Harty, of Baltimore, said Harris' fears aren't unfounded. As a volunteer at Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, she said the center is already being overwhelmed with pit bulls as a result of the opinion.

"German shepherds have been targeted, dobermans have been targeted," Harty said. "Pit bulls are the breed du jour."

Crazy said just to protect themselves she thought landlords were going to turn away tenants who have pit bulls and mixes.

"It’s going to create cascading problems,” Craze said.

Protester and a dog groomer for 25 years, White Marsh resident Angela Barnes said she has never been bitten by a pit bull. She owns two rescues of the breed.

"[Pit bulls] are being targeted because people used them in fights," Barnes said. "It all depends on how you treat them."

Practice in the country is moving toward recognizing behavioral problems are associated with ownership problems. The courts ruling flies in the face of where legislation and policy is evolving, Craze said.