Pit bull owners, dogs show support for ban's end
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) — Dozens of pit bull owners paraded with their dogs in Pawtucket (paw-TUCK'-et), Rhode Island, to celebrate their legal victory that overturned its decade-long ban on pit bulls.
About 40 dogs and their owners on Sunday celebrated a Superior Court judge's Nov. 18 ruling overturning the ban.
Ann Clark of Pit Bulls for PTSD, which organized the parade, said it was a celebration that "all dogs are free in Pawtucket."
In this Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014 image from video provided by WLNE-TV, one of about 40 pit bulls parades through a street in Pawtucket, R.I., to celebrate a legal victory that overturned a decade-long ban on pit bills. Pawtucket Police Chief Paul Kelly said the city imposed the ban in 2004 to try to curtail the number of pit bull attacks. At the time, Kelly said local drug dealers were using pit bulls to prevent police from house raids. (AP Photo/WLNE-TV)
Pawtucket Police Chief Paul Kelly said the city imposed the ban in 2004 to try to curtail the number of pit bull attacks. At the time, Kelly said local drug dealers were using pit bulls to prevent police from house raids.
The state last year barred cities from banning specific breeds. Dog owners say authorities should "punish the deed, not the breed."
