Pit bull ban remains on the books in Independence

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) - The decision on who will determine whether the nearly 20-year-old Pit bull ban in Independence will remain in place or not is still unknown tonight.

There were some people who came to the city council meeting in hopes the council would take some type of action on the issue. However, that just wasn’t the case.

The topic of repealing the Pit bull ban was brought up during a good chunk of the meeting.

A group of people wearing red in support of getting rid of the ban filled room. They recently collected more than 5,000 petition signatures to repeal the ban. That is nearly 2,000 more signatures than they needed.

They submitted that petition to the city and Jackson County election office today, hoping the city council will either allow the issue to be put on a future ballot or decide to instead have the council decide the fate of the ban.

Many of the council members want to wait for the signatures to be counted and verified before making any decision.

Part of the reason the ban was implemented back in 2006 was due to several attacks involving pit bulls in the city.

Since then, many cities in the metro have repealed their bans.

“It’s not the dogs. People, look in the mirror. It’s you,” one person speaking at the meeting said. “So, stop all this ‘Pit bull ban.’ We need to get some hobbies; we don’t know what we want to do, woke up today saying, ‘Hey let’s ban Pit bulls.’ Like, knock it off.’”

“German Shepherds were bred to protect livestock, Pit bulls to fight and kill,” another person at the meeting said. “I can see that each of these breeds has seen duties as pets, but it’s inescapable that the dog’s natural tendencies will shine through.”

The county has 30 days to process and verify the signatures.

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