City Manager Andrew Neiditz said in examining dangerous-dog calls in Lakewood in 2007 that he found a large proportion involved pit bulls. There were 235 dangerous-dog reports and, 111 involved pit bulls, about 47 percent of all calls, according to a city report obtained Tuesday.

He told the City Council on Monday night that officials will look at what other cities have done, including Auburn. That city adopted an ordinance in 2006 that lists 12 dog breeds, including pit bulls and bull terriers, as potentially dangerous and requires owners to register them with the city.

The City of Buckley has gone even further. It bans ownership of pit bulls and other dogs considered dangerous.

City Council members’ reports of dog-attack complaints over the past several months prompted Lakewood’s review, Neiditz said Tuesday.

City Councilman Ron Cronk told the council last month that a family was attacked by two dogs. No one was injured, he said, but family members had to jump into or on a car to avoid the dogs. The father pepper-sprayed the dogs to drive them off, he said.

City Councilman Pad Finnigan has said he would support a ban on pit bulls in the city. Councilman Don Anderson said Monday night that it seems like a disproportionate number of bad owners had pit bulls.

The Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County says breed-specific animal control laws aren’t the way to go.

“The wrong dogs suffer,” said Marguerite Richmond, spokeswoman for the Humane Society.

She said a breed-specific law promotes growing public prejudice against certain breeds of dogs, especially pit bulls. “The breed itself is not the issue,” she said. “A lot of pit bulls can be and are wonderful family dogs.”

She said dogs of many other types bite and cause serious injuries to people.

Lakewood police are investigating a dog attack on people that occurred March 10, said Lt. Dave Guttu. The dogs involved weren’t pit bulls, he said; they were a boxer-Labrador retriever mixed breed and a Lab retriever mixed breed.

Neiditz said he wouldn’t propose a breed-specific animal control ordinance. It’s up to the council to decide what to do, if anything, he said.

He wants to better coordinate the process for people who appeal animal control officers’ rulings on what to do after dangerous-dog investigations. There have been 15 appeals in the past three years, he said.

Under the Auburn ordinance, if the registered dogs of specific breeds bite someone, owners must confine them, muzzle and leash them when they are outside their enclosures, purchase a minimum of $250,000 in insurance or a bond, and pay $100 a year to keep them registered, among other things. If owners fail to comply, they could be fined $1,000 and sentenced to 90 days in jail.

Lakewood’s animal control ordinance has no automatic registration requirement for owning certain breeds of dogs. The city ordinance authorizes fines and punishments in dealing with dog attacks and irresponsible owners. Repeat offenders receive tougher conditions.

“It’s based on the dog’s behavior,” said Guttu.

Rob Tucker: 253-597-8374