Dog owners bite back at proposed pit bull ban - by Lisa Colangelo, New York Daily News - Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Inc. - Working with the City of New York to promote dog and cat adoption and spay and neuter programs to make New York a no-kill city.

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Dog owners bite back at proposed pit bull ban

by Lisa Colangelo, New York Daily News

Friday, December 29, 2006

Deb Young goes to great lengths to glam up her beloved pooch Elie, even dressing her in a red coat with pink trim.

But despite Elie's sweet nature, Young doesn't dare bring her to the dog park near her Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, home.

"She's a pit bull," Young said. "If something happens, I will be the first to be blamed."

Pit bull owners went on the defensive yesterday against a city lawmaker's proposal aimed at banning the breed.

Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) has introduced a resolution asking the state Legislature to make it easier for the city to implement a ban. He said pit bulls are dangerous and are bred to be violent.

"He's just a couch potato," Marge Madrazo of the Rosebank section of Staten Island said of her pit bull, Petey. "I'm looking at 70 pounds of dog lying on the sofa."

But Madrazo admitted that Petey is "overprotective" of her family, including her teenagers.

"People say they turn on you," she said. "That would never happen. All he wants to do is get his belly rubbed."

Mariann Sullivan said she was outraged to hear about a move to ban pit bulls.

"I think most of the time they are friendlier than other breeds," said Sullivan, who lives in SoHo with her dog, Rose.

At the Little Shelter in Huntington, L.I., staffers showed off some tiny, friendly pit-bull pups to photographers.

"Let's see all these vicious pit bulls," said spokeswoman Marge Stein. "Give the breed a break."

Jane Hoffman called her pit-bull mix, Sam, "the United Nations mediator" at the dog run.

"He doesn't like when anybody gets into a scuffle," said Hoffman, who runs the Mayors Alliance for NYC's Animals.

Hoffman said the whole effort to ban pit bulls is "misguided" and that dangerous dogs are created by neglectful owners who often leave them chained up in a yard.