The Village of Rockville Centre reversed a ban on pitbulls and Rottweilers at a hearing Tuesday night.
Village officials rescinded the ban to avoid violating a New York State law that forbids municipalities from regulating specific breeds of dogs.
The village board voted 5-0 in favor of the repeal, said village spokesman Jeff Kluewer. The ordinance was passed in June, but had not yet gone into effect. Although opposition to the ban was minimal at the time of the initial vote, it quickly gained momentum, forcing officials to reconsider the ban.
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Kluewer noted that the strong reaction to the ban brought on a slew of information that was not available to the board at the time of the vote also played a key role in the decision to hold a second hearing.
The meeting lasted about two hours, and featured statements from more than 30 people.
“The public that showed up certainly wanted a repeal of the ban,” said Kluewer.
One of the few who spoke out against the repeal was Lisa Shulman, whose three-year-old daughter was bit in the face by a pitbull in a Rockville Centre hair salon in March. The girl required stitches and plastic surgery. Kluewer added that Shulman lobbied for the need to protect people from unleashed dogs, rather than the ban itself.
“[These] laws are unfair to the millions of good dogs throughout the country,” said Carmen Armstrong, spokesperson for the Long Island Coalition of Dog Fanciers, who spoke in favor of the repeal at the hearing on Tuesday. ” We hope to work with the Village of Rockville Centre to draft a good dangerous dog law that will protect its citizens and give responsible dog owners the rights to enjoy their dogs.”
The law would have allowed village residents who already owned pitbulls or Rottweilers to keep them as long as they spayed or neutered the animals, muzzled them, kept them on a leash in public, insured them against liability for at least $100,000 and paid for annual licenses.
After the vote, village Mayor Mary Bossart stated “The board will continue to work to craft a piece of legislation that will satisfy all sides.”
