WPRO News and the Associated Press
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) – Dozens of pit bull owners paraded with their dogs in Pawtucket to celebrate their legal victory that overturned it decade-long ban on pit bills.
The Providence Journal reports that about 40 dogs and their owners on Sunday celebrated a Superior Court judge’s Nov. 18 ruling overturning the ban.
Pawtucket Police Chief Paul Kelly said the city imposed the ban in 2004 to try to curtail the number of pit bull attacks on residents.
At the time of the ban, he said local drug dealers were using pit bulls to prevent police from house raids, posing a hazard to the officers.
The state barred cities and towns in 2013 from breed-specific rules or ordinances.
Dog owners said their message is to “punish the deed, not the breed.”
