Don't Ban Petey!

City Hall

by Gerard Spicer

Monday, January 30 th, 2006 was the meeting date that the city council of Lakewood, Colorado set to discuss the issue of pit bulls in the community. Facing possible BSL against their pets is something that owners of pit bulls fear and it was no different for me. That Monday morning I woke up after a night of tossing and turning with BSL consuming my mind. All I Could think about was what would come of tonight’s meetings. I couldn’t help but to wonder if the council was planning an all out ban, or placing heavy restriction on the breed, or perhaps the outside chance of focusing on the irresponsible owners. One good thing going into the meeting was that Parker, a community on the southeast side of Denver, had just recently decided to address the pit bull issue by going after the irresponsible owners instead of punishing the breed through a ban or restrictions. Several Parker city council members told the media after the meeting that they were originally in favor of some type of ban on pit bulls but because of the overwhelming turnout of people in support of pit bulls they decided against any type of BSL on the breed. This was good news considering all the communities in Denver and Colorado that were passing legislation against the breed. I could only hope that a large group of supporters of pit bulls would show up for tonight’s meeting.

Alex and I spend most of the day Monday in preparing for the meeting. We had in mind a publicity stunt that we hoped would give people some positive information on pit bulls and would perhaps add a lighter side to the often emotional charged issue of pit bull legislation. At 6:15 pm we showed up at city hall for the 7 pm meeting. We set up a display that announced “Meet Petey, the World’s Friendliest Pit Bull”. Petey himself had a circle drawn around his left eye to make him look like Petey the Pup from the “Little Rascals.” The stunt worked better then expect as we soon found ourselves surrounded by the media and supporters. There were four television news crews, three newspaper journalists and a photographer who were documenting our attempt at portraying the pit bull terrier in a positive light. It was amusing watching Petey being photographed by a photographer from the Denver Post. Every time the photographer put the camera close to Petey, we would all laugh, as Petey would lick uncontrollably at the lens. After we both had finished with the interviews Alex took Petey home and I headed inside for the meeting.

During the meeting it was announced that several other communities on the west side of metro Denver (Jefferson County) were going to take up the pit bull controversy but were waiting the outcome of the meeting to see what direction Lakewood was going to take on the pit bull issue. I immediately recognized that this was a very important meeting and the future of pit bulls on the west side of Denver may somewhat hinge on the outcome of the meeting.

I would to see an overwhelming turnout of people against BSL. The local members of the “Pit Bull Band” were out in full force with their “No BSL” buttons pinned to their shirts. I have to admit that I was extremely impressed with the level-headedness and professionalism that was expressed by the mayor and members of the Lakewood City Council. The members thoughtfully considered the complex issue using open minds and rational thinking to finally arrive at the decision that banning pit bulls was not the solution for Lakewood. The focus of the meeting shifted halfway through from pit bulls to the irresponsible owners of pit bulls. A vote was taken to take a pit bull ban off the table and it passed unanimously by all the council members. The two-hour meeting ended with some positive results and a first victory for pit bull owners in Lakewood.

The following morning we open up the Denver Post, which contained a hilarious photo of Petey outside city hall. We also reviewed the Rocky Mountain News and Lakewood Sentinel, which carried quotes from us concerning the meeting. Three days after the meeting the first series of my article “A Fall From Grace: the Story of the Pit Bull” come out in the Denver Post with the headline “Lakewood resident fights for his right to own a pit bull with historical outline of dog’s past.”

Since the story came out I have received quite a number of emails of support, not only from Lakewood, but also from as far away as Austria. The overwhelming show of support for the story was the driving force for putting together this website. It is our desire that you enjoy the site and we hope that it results in changing some people’s negative perceptions about pit bulls, and to others who love the breed, we hope that it encourages you if you find yourself one day facing BSL in your community.

 

When BSL came to our community we decided to do something about it. This is our story.