Pitbull, Vicious Dog Ordinance Tackled in Town and Country

As previously reported by Town and Country - Manchester Patch, the city of is

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The neighbor called  several times to report the dog being off leash in a fenced in backyard. The issue is whether or not the dog is a pitbull. If so, the city then classifies the dog as "vicious," which means the residents can own the dog, but they must abide by "vicious" dog guidelines. 

According to current Town and Country ordinance (included in the PDF portion of this article), a vicious dog cannot run around loose, even in the backyard. It has to be on a leash no longer than four feet and it must be muzzled. The dog's owners, Kenneth and Kathleen Bentley, took issue with city code stating they are unclear of the bread of their dog and that a dog should not be classified as "vicious" based on its breed.

After the calls, the police department decided to take a closer look at the city dog ordinance which is what has sparked the current revision which could be voted on Monday night. 

"I think this is a collaborate effort between the Bentley's and the city," Police Captain Patrick Kranz tells Patch.

The now proposed dog ordinance would remove any reference to pitbulls by completely removing  the "vicious dogs" portion of the city ordinance. St. Louis County's vicious dog ordinance, which does not mention a breed and is behavior based only, would then apply to Town and Country. 

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Town and Country's city dog ordinance would mostly focus on dogs running at large and other issues included in the agenda in the PDF portion of this article.

"So now St. Louis County would respond to vicious dog calls," Kranz explained if the proposal passes Monday night. 

Town and Country has worked with St. Louis County to make the proposed revisions to the city dog ordinance.

"Basically what we asked animal control to do is look at our animal ordinance and form it out to St. Louis County," Kranz tells Patch.

In Manchester,

See agenda and supporting documents above for complete details about Town and Country's ordinace and other items to be discussed Monday night.

Check back to Town and Country - Manchester Patch Tuesday for any updates. 

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