MARIETTA, Ga. — After failing to clear the committee and fetch a vote to cancel it, a ban on rottweilers and pit bulls being off-leash at Marietta dog parks remains tabled until October.
The rule to have both pit bulls and rottweilers on leashes, even at off-leash dog parks in Marietta, has been a rule since 2009.
City officials are now weighing whether to bring the ban to heel with a second dog park under construction.
Councilwoman Cheryl Richardson, who owns two rottweilers, told Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell at Tuesday’s council meeting that she wants to remove that rule.
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“I’ve had rottweilers since 2008,” Richardson said. “My dogs are well trained, one of them is a K-9 good citizen, which is extra training you do, they are allowed to go everywhere I take them.”
The District 1 Councilwoman said while her dogs Aries and Titan have never bitten anyone, she can’t bring them to Marietta’s off-leash dog park due to the ordinance in place about “aggressive dogs.”
“Aggressive dogs is listed already, but first they exempt out two dogs and then they say aggressive,” Richardson explained.
In the city, signs show pit bulls are rottweilers are banned from off-leash areas. Richardson pointed out that it’s the first thing on signs at the off-leash park. Now she wants to remove the rule altogether.
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Channel 2 Action News spoke to multiple dog owners about the issue.
“There’s plenty of golden retrievers that are aggressive, you don’t want them in here but you won’t see their name plastered on the sign out front,” Matthew Thomas, a Marietta resident, said.
“Pit bulls and rottweilers should be able to be in these parks,” Bo Hurley, a dog owner, said.
However, not all residents and dog owners agree.
“They are too big, I think they should have their own separate park. I stopped coming to this park because those types of dogs were very aggressive,” Paula Lowe said.
Marietta’s not the only city in the metro Atlanta area to ban pit bulls and rottweilers from dog parks, but the City of Clarkston also does.
Some cities ban ‘aggressive dogs’ rather than specific breeds and Richardson hopes Marietta will follow suit.
However, that hope will have to wait. Richardson’s bid to vote the ban off the books at the Tuesday meeting failed to advance in committee, according to the city clerk’s office.
Officials told Channel 2 Action News a council member could take further action and put the item on the agenda, though. Richardson told Newell she’ll try again at the next council meeting, on Oct. 9.
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