Judge tosses pit bull lawsuits against Denver, Aurora

[Criminal Justice Major Extraordinaire]

Hi, all,

Saw this on another guide dog related list and thought I'd send.

Bibi and son Odie

Sent: Saturday, August 03, 2013 2:11 PM

Subject: Judge tosses pit bull lawsuits

against Denver, Aurora

Judge tosses pit bull lawsuits against Denver, Aurora
By Carlos Illescas
The Denver Post
Posted:   08/03/2013
Source:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_23787969/judge-tosses-pit-bull-lawsuits-ag
ainst-denver-aurora
A federal judge in Denver late last month threw out lawsuits against Denver
and Aurora regarding their pit bull bans, specifically, when pit bulls are
used as service dogs.
While both cities allow pit bulls as service animals Aurora maintains a
policy that requires owners of pit bulls to follow more restrictions than
service dogs of other breeds.
The city says its restrictions are meant to protect others from the animals.
In Denver, law enforcement officers are essentially told to look the other
way when they encounter the animals as service dogs, but the city otherwise
bans the animals.
In their lawsuits, users of pit bull service animals said the cities didn't
follow federal law.
But U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Krieger ruled that Aurora and Denver
had done enough to allow the pit bulls as service dogs.
Regardless, Jay Swearingen, a lawyer for the Animal Law Center who
represented the plaintiffs - two war veterans and a visiting dog-show judge
- said he plans to appeal.
"It's the fact that their dog is treated differently ... than if it were a
golden retriever," Swearingen said. "They run into more issues than the
average person with a non-pit-bull service dog."
Denver and Aurora originally had banned pit bulls, even for service dogs,
but altered their rules after a 2011 federal ruling.
The lawsuits were combined into one.
Denver City Attorney Doug Friednash, in a written statement, said the city
was pleased about the court dismissal of the case.
"We believe the court correctly determined that none of the plaintiffs were
harmed by Denver's ordinance or animal control policies," he said. "Denver
has and will continue to respect the rights of individuals with service
animals."
Aurora City Attorney Charlie Richardson said the ruling was a fair one
considering the changes the city made after the 2011 ruling by the federal
government that updated regulations to the Americans with Disabilities Act
clarifying the definition of a service animal.
"We are gratified the judge recognized that Aurora made some significant
modifications to the original complete ban," Richardson said.
War veterans Allen Grider and Glenn Belcher, and Valerie Piltz, the dog
judge, sued the city several years ago.
Aurora took Grider's pit bull mix away in 2009 for more than a week. Grider,
who says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, then had to keep
his dog at a friend's house outside the city for several months.
Belcher, a Persian Gulf War vet, said he suffers from depression, anxiety
and other physical disabilities and needed his dog. 
Piltz was visiting the Denver area to judge in the United Kennel Club Dog
Show. She was able to secure a temporary permit to have her two pit bull
service dogs in Aurora, where the competition took place, but not from
Denver, where she was staying with her sister.
Swearingen said this is a relatively new area of law and cited a ruling by a
judge in Iowa that went in the opposite direction. He noted that neither
case made it to trial.
"The judge made a ruling on the law," he said. "Naturally, we respect the
judge's ruling, but we disagree with it."
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cill...@denverpost.com or
twitter.com/cillescasdp