Decision to Keep Pit Bull Ban Raises Hackles Among Some Dog Owners

Education and crime have always been hot political issues in the county. People say they go to the polls thinking about them and make their choices based on where a candidate stands.

Could dog ownership be another one of those issues?

If the residents who testified in favor of a bill to lift the county's ban on pit bulls are any indication, the answer is yes.

After the County Council voted, 8-1, Tuesday to keep the county's nine-year-old ban in place, dozens of residents and dog advocates stormed out of the council chamber calling for voters to remove them from office. Council member Thomas R. Hendershot (D-New Carrollton), sponsor of the bill that would have lifted the ban, was the lone member to vote for the measure.

"Just vote them out," one angry dog owner said as she departed.

"It's a sad day in the county when our elected officials don't listen to us," said Susan Flashman , a dog owner from Mount Rainier. "I'm a person who votes. Our district has [a lot] of dog owners."

Proponents of the bill say it would have strengthened the county's vicious-dog law. Even though the legislation called for repealing the ban, it would have required that potentially dangerous dogs be vaccinated and kept in a secure area. The bill would also have required that such dogs complete a behavior program and be fitted with a microchip identifying their owners

Council members who voted against the measure said that although they are sympathetic to dog owners' arguments, they worry about pit bulls having been used to attack people. With soaring crime problems in the county, some said, they didn't want to be seen as putting another weapon into criminals' hands.

And in This Corner . . .

On the campaign trail this week, the gloves came off.

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan made their first joint appearance since the two Democrats announced their candidacies for governor. And it was this week in Prince George's County.

The fundraising event, sponsored by the county's Democratic Central Committee, was billed like the bout between Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier.

"Let's Get Ready to Rumble," read the flier, with pictures of O'Malley's and Duncan's faces superimposed on the bodies of heavyweight boxers.