West Virginia City Bans New Pit Bulls Inside City Limits

Bluefield’s Board of Directors has banned owning new pit bulls inside the city limits.

Current owners have 10 days to register their dogs with the West Virginia city under the ordinance approved Tuesday.

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports that people attending the meeting criticized the decision.

Animal advocate Laurie Harman told the board that there are no bad dogs, only bad owners.

The state director of the Humane Society, Summer Wyatt, said the city’s animal control officer hasn’t enforced existing ordinances.

Keisha Davis said pit bulls are hard to adopt because of bias and the ban will hinder animal rescue efforts.

City Manager Jim Ferguson says 41 pit bull owners have registered 58 dogs as of Monday. Another 45 pit bulls that weren’t registered were picked up.