Manchester Sued Over Dog Ordinance
In a recently filed lawsuit, a resident claims Manchester's pitbull ordinance is unconstitutional and vague.
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A Manchester resident is challenging in court the City of Manchester’s dog ordinance which forbids pitbulls from running at large and unleashed.
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Sheron McRoberts, of the 1000 block of Briarhurst Dr., alleges she has been unfairly and unconstitutionally penalized for owning two dogs, which her lawsuit refers to as “unknown mixed breed.” McRoberts filed the suit against the city of Manchester on June 22. It can be read in the PDF portion of this article.
McRoberts claims in her suit that between 2010 and 2011 she received four citations by the Manchester Police Department for failure to maintain or confine her dogs as required by the ordinance.
“...the Ordinance unfairly financially penalizes the plaintiff, charging her with having violated the dog ordinance, regardless of whether plaintiff’s dogs have harmed another person or property of another...” states the lawsuit.
Part of the Manchester city ordinance in question states that a pitbull is defined as either a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier or the American Pit Bull Terrier.
The ordinance, however, also includes dogs “which have the appearance and characteristics of being predominantly of the breeds” of the aforementioned dogs.
McRoberts said in the lawsuit that her dogs were only characterized by Manchester police as “vicious” based on their appearance, not the actual breed or behavior of the dogs. The lawsuit states that appearance is subjective and open to interpretation, which gives Manchester too much discretion over what constitutes a vicious dog.
“...and thus violates the plaintiff’s constitutional rights (of due process),” the lawsuit states.
According to the Manchester dog ordinance, a "vicious dog" cannot run around loose, even in the backyard. It has to be on a leash no longer than four feet and must be muzzled.
According to the lawsuit, the dog ordinance is vague and ambiguous because it lacks a criteria for finding out if a dog is of one of the three breeds addressed in the ordinance.
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McRoberts seeks for the court to declare Manchester’s ordinance unconstitutional and to be refunded for expenditures relating to this lawsuit.
The City of Manchester declined to comment on the pending lawsuit, but Manchester City Attorney Patrick Gunn said at a recent board of aldermen meeting that McRoberts is challenging the city's "vigorously" enforced dog ordinance. Gunn also said he believes she owns pitbulls.
Sheron McRoberts' attorney was not available for comment when contacted by Patch.
In a similar case in Town and Country, a woman is also complaining about Town and Country's dog ordinance, which defines a pitbull as a vicious dog and places additional restrictions on it because of the "vicious" label. Town and Country residents Dr. Kenneth Bentley and his wife Kathleen, own a dog that resembles a pitbull, but they say they don't know its breed.
Rather than suing the city, however, they are asking their aldermen to modify the ordinance.
A revised ordinance could be adopted at Monday's Town and Country's board of alderman meeting.
In This article
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Manchester City Hall
14318 Manchester Rd, Manchester, MO -
Manchester Police Department
200 Highlands Boulevard Dr, Manchester, MO -
Town and Country City Hall and Police Department
1011 Municipal Center Dr, Saint Louis, MO
Judy Schwartzer
8:58 pm on Friday, August 10, 2012
More people need to sue their municipalities for nazi dog laws befor their dogs become casualties!
Debra Griffin
10:21 am on Saturday, August 11, 2012
Good its about time people stand up AGAINST the pit bull prejudices!!!! I'm sick of stupidity regarding these amazing & intelligent baby's!!!! Good luck and keep up posted!!!!!!
Judy Luther
7:15 pm on Sunday, August 12, 2012
As a dog behavior consultant and presenter of dog bite prevention programs, I have extensive knowledge about this subject.
I agree that dogs should not be profiled because of their breed. Regardless of the breed the owners should be responsible for the actions of their dogs. Most people are not aware there have been fatal dog attacks by pomeranians, yorkies, golden retrievers, labs, and many other breeds not considered vicious or aggressive. We need to educate ourselves on what exactly is a vicious dog and what makes dogs vicious. The cause of aggression has more to do with the way dogs are trained (using punishment based methods such as shock collars, pinch collars and choke collars), the way the dogs are housed (tethered dogs bite more frequently, dogs behind electric fences have higher levels of anxiety and fear leading to aggressive behavior), medical issues, genetics, etc. These statements are facts based on research and statistics.
The American Bar Association put out a statement regarding BSL this week. http://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/blog/american-bar-association-aba-urges-repeal-of-all-breed-specific-laws/
I work very closely with investigators who work on fatal dog bite cases and I can assure you BSL has not stopped or reduced dog bites. In the UK Pits were outlawed 20 years ago and since then dog bites have increased 150%
Gabrielle Biondo
1:17 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Judy - do you work here in St. Louis?
Julie Green
1:00 pm on Sunday, August 19, 2012
THE HUMANS, WHO SENDS THE ENERGY TO THE BREED! IT’S NOT THE BREED OF AN ANIMAL, THAT’S THE PROBLEM! IT’S THE OTHERS, THAT INTIMIDATED THE BREED!!! ONCE YOU ARE IN FEAR OF ALL BREEDS, THAT SENDS THE ENERGY, THAT YOU’RE FEARING THEM! IF YOU DON’T FEAR THE BREED, THEY WON’T ATTACK, UNLESS THE OWNER SAYS THAT ONE OR WORDS FOR THE BREED TO ATTACK! THAT’S ANY ANIMAL, NOT JUST THE BREED OF A PIT BULL OR ONES, THAT LOOK LIKE THE BREED OF A PIT BULL! YOU TRAIN THE DOG RIGHT, & LET YOUR DOG GO THROUGH TRAINING THE RIGHT WAY, & QUIT SENDING OFF ENERGY, THAT YOU’RE FEARFUL OF THE BREED, I GUARANTEE YOU’LL HAVE A LOVING PET OF A BREED, THAT WILL NOT ATTACK! EVERY DOG SENSES ENERGY OF FEAR! MY YORKIE MUST BE A PIT BULL, CAUSE HE SENSES HUMANS FEAR! HE WILL BARK & GROWL AT ANYONE, THAT FEARS HIM, OR SEND AN ENERGY OF FEAR! IT'S IN THEIR NATURE TO HAVE THE SENSES, JUST LIKE US! HUMANS HAS GOT TO BE AT FAULT TOO! ANY BREED OF ANIMALS HAS TO SUFFER & DIE FROM HAVING BEING THE INNOCENT ONES, OF WHAT GOD CREATED, THEN THE ONES WHO ARE MAKING THIS HAPPEN NEEDS TO BE CONVICTED IN THEIR OWN SINS, WHILE HERE ON EARTH! PLEASE RECOGNIZE, THAT ALL ANIMALS HAVE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM HUMANS, WHO ABUSE, NEGLECT, CRUELTY, DOG & COCK FIGHTING, INTIMIDATION, SLAUGHTERING, ETC... THE VOICELESS NEEDS RIGHTS TOO! THEY FEEL PAIN & SUFFERING! WHY KILL OR MURDER INNOCENT ANIMALS? I FEEL ALL OF THE ANIMALS PAIN & SUFFERING, THAT IT TEARS ME UP INSIDE FOR THEM! STOP BSL PERIOD!!!
bill anderson
8:40 am on Monday, November 26, 2012
are you people stupid or what? pitbulls were originaly breed for one thing fighting to the death. 80% of all reported dog bites across the us are from pitbulls. the idiot above that typed in all caps when was the last time a yorkie killed a person? sure its idiot humans that keep pitbulls and teach them to fight and the arguement goes "if it werent pitbulls it would be some other breed" but why do you think its pits? because they are the best at it, they were breed to be fearless and once they smell blood they CANT quit. the answer isnt to ban them but to make the owners have enough insurance to cover ANY attacks and fine the crap out of the owners if they do attack
edward p storey
5:10 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
bill andersons comment that 80 % of all dog bits in U.S. are pit bulls is a bunch of bull. You are way off base mr. anderson.
edward p storey
5:58 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Learn more about which dogs bite the most. The poodle(and dog)blog