MUSCATINE, Iowa–Oct. 28, the Muscatine City Council held a special session to allow the public to comment on title six, chapter nine of city code, which bans residents from owning pit bulls. After signing in, each person interested in speaking could address the council for three minutes voicing their opinion on the ban. The council also allowed people to call in and comment using Go to Meeting. In total, 30 people spoke at the meeting, with the majority doing so in person. 27 people indicated they disagreed with the ban while three wanted it upheld in the future.

Those in favor of maintaining the pit bull ban cited concerns about the breed’s behavior. Randy Duncan shared: “I’ve seen three years ago an incident first-hand that really changed my view on this. It was terrible, it was viscious, it was vulgar, and, very, very bad.” He went on to add that the fact the city and many insurance companies flagged pit bulls as an additional risk or liability made allowing people to keep them in city limits a dubious prospect, in his opinion.

Those against the pit bull ban referenced statements made by animal welfare groups, such as the American Kennel Club, the American Humane Society, among others, which advocated for legislation based on a dogs behavior rather than its breed. Linda Kelty shared her research from city statistics that indicated that since 2016, German Shepard and Labrador retriever dogs bit more people (15 and 13 respectively) than pit bulls did (8). Because most people would find banning these breeds or large numbers of breeds untenable, she encouraged the council to create legislation that would equally regulate the behaviors of all owners and dog breeds. “What we need to do is ban behaviors and ban bad practices,” she asserted. “I think we need universal standards that need to be adhered to.

Following the public comment, City Administrator Carol Webb asked council members how they would like to proceed both regarding title six, chapter nine, as well as title six, chapter eight, which more broadly regulates pet ownership. Webb, indicated her department could prepare recommendations, for chapter eight by the beginning of December. The council seemed open to further discussion of animal regulations and to considering the future of the pit bull ban in light of other changes they may make to the code.

Councilmember Kelcey Brackett hoped to focus on having the code penalize owners found to treat their animals cruelly or neglectfully. “If we’re going to do all the rest of this, no matter which direction we’re going to change the code, we need a way to police the people who are causing the problem,” he said.

Councilmembers John Jindrich and Dennis Froelich expressed concern for maintaining residents’ safety. Jindrich stated he supported, “taking the opportunity to impose whatever restrictions necessary to ensure our city is safe,” and Froelich emphasized that if the council makes any changes to the code, “it needs to be for the best interest of the city.”