Unleashing the Pit Bulls: Overland Park repeals ban on pit bull ownership

Members of the city council in Overland Park, Kan. unanimously repealed their ban on pit bulls that has been in place for the last 15 years, and it officially took effect on Oct. 1.

Pit bull owners have had to follow certain guidelines since the 1980s, such as their dogs needing to be spayed or neutered. It wasn’t until 2006 that the breed was considered “too dangerous” and banned fully from Overland Park, according to Chief Communications Officer of KC Pet Project Tori Fugate.

“Information got spread through different forms of media about pit bulls having stronger bites and that they were more prone to biting,” Fugate said. “None of this was actually true, and it led to a lot of untrue stereotypes being formed.”

The growing “fear-based” stereotype led to the breed being banned in Overland Park. Many cities such as Prairie Village and Kansas City Kan. also had pit bull bans in the past, but over the last five years, six cities near Overland Park lifted their ban, according to Fugate.

Starting in May, members of the city committee in Overland Park began researching if pit bulls actually pose any threat. The evidence seemed to be underwhelming according to Fugate.

Now more cities seem to be moving toward “dangerous dog ordinances” — instead of banning breeds entirely, dogs can be classified as dangerous if they have bitten or attacked another human. Then, the owner must register their dog as ‘threatening” through the city, wearing a certain colored collar, using a leash under 48 inches and having an approved “dangerous dog” sign in their yard.

“This moves away from different stereotypes and not singling out a specific breed of dog,” Fugate said. “This way, dogs who are truly dangerous aren’t creating issues for other animals of that breed who aren’t dangerous.”

Pit bulls are considered to be a “working breed,” helping their owners with tasks such as guarding or manual labor. This can cause them to have higher energy levels, and if not trained well, they can become antsy. They do things like displaying their teeth and are also known for stronger and more gnarly-sounding barks. All of these aspects combined created the “fear-driven” stereotypes pit bulls carry, but pit bull owner junior Kurt Freeman believes this is no reason to be afraid of them.

“They’re used in a lot of dog fights because people think they’re scary looking,” Freeman said. “But a lot of times people only use them to look scary and to have a dog that makes them look tougher. The dog itself is trained to be scary, most pit bulls don’t act like that. So if a pit bull is acting that way, it’s the fault of the way they were trained, it’s not typical behavior of that breed.”

While the ban was still in place, shelters like KC Pet Project had to ask potential owners what city they lived in to make sure that they could legally own a pit bull. Now that the ban is over, Fugate is excited for more pit bulls to find eligible homes.

“Pit bulls create the sweetest bonds with their owners,” Fugate said. “It’s great after all of the stereotypes that they will be able to find great homes in cities that now allow them.”

Pit bulls are often times grouped together under certain stereotypes, such as being violent, only being used for fighting and attacking other animals and humans with no cause, according to senior Erin Hansen. Hansen owns two pit bulls and works with the breed almost daily. She has come to realize that the stereotypes are untrue.

“Once people hear a stereotype, they really don’t look any further to do research,” Hansen said. “They don’t ask around people who may own pit bulls or anything. They kind of just see it, they take it as fact rather than actually looking for the truth.”

With the ban gone, more people are realizing that pit bulls aren’t a breed to be afraid of, according to Hansen.

“I think with [all the] information that we have now, and so many people are now adopting so many pit bulls or pit bull mixes I think [the bans are] now outdated,” Hansen said. “People really just need to do more research before they get any type of dog breed, whether it’s a golden retriever or a pit bull.”