Phelan: We must muzzle Lynn pit bulls

LYNN – City Council President Timothy Phelan says a rash of unprovoked attacks by pit bulls in Lynn calls for amending the local dog ordinance so that the breed is muzzled when off the owner’s property.Phelan has asked his council colleagues, particularly Ordinance Committee Chairman Darren Cyr and other committee members, to support setting down a public hearing on the matter as soon as possible.The council president’s request was made Friday in the wake of two savage pit bull attacks that occurred over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.Kevin Farnsworth, the city animal control officer, said the attacks occurred on May 29 and 31 and were unprovoked. In the first, a Saunders Street couple was walking along Broadway, their 6-month-old daughter, Eva, nestled in the father’s chest papoose pack. A leashed pit bull, walked by its owner and her companion, lunged at the baby as the couple passed by, locking its jaws onto the small body. The startled father had no time to react. The dog tore open the infant’s left leg. The baby was taken to a Salem hospital and transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.The second incident left an 11-year-old Lynn boy with bite marks on his arms and chest, the result of a pit bull attack. Farnsworth said the vicious animal escaped from its owner’s basement on Chatham Street and apparently went on a rampage.”Both of these dogs were aggressive as hell,” said Farnsworth, noting that the animals were euthanized so that they can be tested for rabies.”Once again, we have seen a rash of innocent victims in Lynn attacked and mauled by pit bulls,” said Phelan. “In addition, there have been frequent television and newspaper reports with similar incidents in and around Boston. Almost all of these attacks appear unprovoked and many owners consistently defend their animals, stating they have never attacked before and have always been friendly.”Phelan said the fact that many recent attacks involved pit bulls cannot be ignored. “The consistence of the breed in these attacks cannot be overlooked nor can the multitude of police and medical reports,” he said. “Anyone with any common sense knows that this type of dog has the potential, at any time, regardless of any past amicable history, to attack humans of all ages in an unprovoked manner at any time. Anyone to suggest otherwise is either naïve, ignorant, or less than honest.”Last March, a 76-year-old Lynn grandmother was seriously mauled by her extended family’s pit bull while visiting her grandson. The dog lacerated the woman head to toe when she pushed open the apartment door and entered.According to Phelan, the city has limited ability to outright ban pit bulls because “breed specific” ordinances have not been upheld by the higher state courts.However, “We do have the authority and responsibility to protect the public if owners of these animals take them off their private property,” he said.The proposed ordinance amendment mandates that any pit bull terrier taken off private property and on to any public property, albeit a street, sidewalk, park, woods, playground or other venue, and whether on a leash or not, must be muzzled at all times or be subject to a $300 fine and possible confiscation of the dog by Lynn police, State Police or the city animal control officer.Under the city’s current ordinance pertaining to vicious dogs, a muzzle means a restraining device made of metal, plastic, leather, cloth or a combination of these materials that, when fitted and fastened over the animal’s snout and head, prevents it from biting while allowing room to breathe.The ordinance defines pit bull as any American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier or Staffordshire Bull Terrier, but is not limited to those breeds.Pit bull attacks on Lynn residents have made headlines since the mid-1980s when the City Council tried to ban the breed.