By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer
MARGATE – After three months of discussing a possible pit bull ban, the Margate City Commission decided to continue to allow the dogs in the city, to the anger of some residents.
At the weekly commission work session Thursday, Jan. 19, Mayor Vaughn Reale asked Police Chief David Wolfson if there were any incidents of pit bull attacks in Margate. Wolfson said there has never been an attack of a pit bull on a person, but did add that there was one case in which a pit bull attacked another pit bull.
After all the meetings, interviews, and study of case law in cities around the country, the Margate Commission decided not to ban pit bulls in the community.
“We were asked to look into it and we did. We looked to the professionals, a veterinarian and the animal control officer. We looked at case law and we looked at the proponents. No one can accuse us of taking this matter lightly,” said Reale.
“My proposal is that we do nothing. We have done a lot of research, and if we put this ban in place we are fixing a problem that does not exist,” Reale continued.
Fellow Commissioner Sigmund Rimm echoed the mayor, saying, “I would never have voted in favor of a ban.”
Commissioner John Swift said, “I am glad we looked into it. To me there are a lot of laws on the books that have no legal sense. There is no sense in putting a law on the books that has no bite.”
At the Thursday business session of the Margate Commission, a quiet gentleman sat in the chambers waiting to be heard.
Joseph Ryan of Atlantic City disputed the fact that there have been no attacks in Margate. He said he was attacked by a pit bull while walking near his son’s North Haverford Avenue home just about a year ago, according to Ryan. He said his head was split open when he fell backwards and his head hit the curb and that his retina was torn as a result of the attack.
“I am fearful of going to my son’s house, and it would be awful to have a child attacked by one of these dogs,” said Ryan. As the mayor explained that the information he was given just that day indicated that no pit bull attacks had ever occurred in Margate involving a person, Ryan questioned the record keeping.
Doug Donato of the Canine Crisis Coalition of New Jersey, a proponent for a pit bull ban in Margate, said after the meeting that he had concerns that incidents such as the one Ryan spoke of are filed as nuisance complaints rather than dog bites.
Donato was angered by the commission’s decision not to ban pit bulls.
“If one kid gets bit by one of the dogs, it will be on them. I am only trying to protect people from these dogs. They have a bite unlike any other dog, and they can cause a great deal of harm,” said Donato.
Since the decision not to ban pit bulls, Donato has presented another idea that might make residents as well as vacationers think before purchasing any dog. He proposed that property owners be required to carry liability insurance to cover any injury that might occur, and also to make people think twice before bringing a pit bull or any large dog into their home, as the cost of the insurance would be dependent upon the weight of the dog. Donato believes insurance would be fair to all dog owners.
There has been no action by the commission regarding any possible insurance requirement to property owners.
