If you’re a dog lover living in Prince George’s County, Maryland, you have historically been able to own virtually any variety of dog you wanted — with one big exception. As Paul Ruffins noted in an article for Streetcar Suburbs in 2022, this ban has been in place for decades, and has been controversial for almost as long. In 2019, the county council declined a measure that would have undone the ban.
Six years later, however, the county has decided otherwise. Writing at The Baltimore Banner, Clara Longo de Freitas reports that the county coucil approved CB-097, a bill known as the Animal Control Modernization Act, which would pave the way for residents to own pit bulls. Some regulations will remain, however, including requiring dogs to have microchips implanted and placing a 10-foot limit on leashes.
The organization Prince George’s County Pet Unity Project, which had advocated for doing away with the ban, applauded the council’s measure in a post on Instagram. “CB-097 strengthens leash laws, increases accountability for dangerous dogs, updates outdated definitions, improves public safety, and launches a pilot foster/adoption program for the dogs who were once banned,” the organization wrote. “It is a modern, compassionate, community-centered path forward.”…