Denver mayor says 30-year ban on pit bulls will remain in place

The mayor of Denver, voicing concern about the “very real risk” of injury to children, said Friday he would veto a measure passed by the City Council that would have repealed the city’s 30-year ban on pit bulls.

Mayor Michael B. Hancock said he had received passionate comments from thousands of residents on both sides of the issue but could not “in good conscience” sign the repeal, which passed the City Council on Monday.

“At the end of the day, I must ask whether passage of this ordinance would make our homes and neighborhoods safer or pose an increased risk to public safety,” Hancock wrote in a letter to the City Council,

which he posted on his Twitter account. “I have concluded that it would pose an increased risk.”

Pit bulls were banned in the city and county of Denver in August 1989, after what Hancock said were several fatal attacks, including one that he said killed a 2-year-old.

Hancock said he remained concerned that the proposed repeal does not “fully address the very real risk to severe injury that can result from attacks from these particular dog breeds, especially should they happen to a child.”

“The reality is that irresponsible pet owners continue to be a problem,” he wrote, “and it is the irresponsible owners and their dogs I must consider in evaluating the overall impact of this ordinance.”

The measure passed the City Council on a 7-4 vote, two fewer than the nine required to override a mayoral veto. Under the proposal, owners would have been required to apply for a breed-restricted license and register their pit bull with Denver Animal Protection.

Councilman Christopher Herndon, who sponsored the proposal, said that if the override were to fail Tuesday, he would seek to have the ban repealed on the November ballot.

“I’m disappointed the mayor is choosing to disregard the science on the issue of breed-specific legislation,” Herndon said in a statement. “Research tells us breed-specific legislation is ineffective at keeping communities safe and experts in the field — from the local level to the national level — agree it is no longer best practice.