Pit Bulls Will Remain Prohibited In Glenwood

The City Of Glenwood’s ordinance prohibiting pit bulls will remain in place despite a request to have the ban against the dog breed lifted.

Resident Katy Pfeiffer made a plea to the city council in June, stating that pit bulls aren’t as vicious or aggressive as they’re perceived to be. The council considered the request but decided to keep the pit bull ban in place after studying the issue and considering the policies of other cities.

“We reached out to several cities. They all have the pit bull ordinance,” council member Donnie Kates said. “I understand people’s concerns, but I don’t feel  at this time that we need to change anything with it.”

The ordinance has a grandfather clause that permits pit bulls that were residing in Glenwood when the ordinance was adopted.

“As I recall, the grandfather clause was put in place because the city had just annexed Oak Circle up by the Catholic church and there was some pit bull owners out there,” Glenwood Police Chief Eric Johansen stated. “They put the grandfather in so they could keep their dogs.”
Johansen said pit bull owners are only grandfathered in for the dogs they owned at the time the ordinance became effecitve.

Council member Christina Duran noted that pit bulls aren’t considered to be the most aggressive dogs by some canine experts. That distinction belongs to chiwawas  and dashhounds. Duran conceded, however, that when a pit bull does attack, the victim’s injuries are often severe.

Kates said although other breeds of dogs may be considered more aggressive or vicious, he thinks the ordinance should be kept in place.

“My thing is, a chiwawa is not going to bite a child’s face off compared to a rottweiller or pit bull,” he said. “There’s a plan in place for good reason.”

Although pit bulls will continue to be prohibited, the language of the ordinance could be tweaked down the road.