A regional group of pit bull and other dog owners has succeeded in one South King County city where it failed in another.

Federal Way has decided not to pursue breed-specific restrictions against pit bulls and others dogs – at least for now. The Auburn City Council adopted such an ordinance last month.

You might be able to chalk up the victory, at least partly, to an advocacy group that e-mailed 1,000 people on a nationwide list to rally opposition. Local dog owners spread the word from there, with more than a dozen making personal appeals to a Federal Way City Council committee.

“(Breed-specific laws) do nothing to stop irresponsible ownership,” said Glen Bui, of the Belfair-based American Canine Foundation.

Bad owners – not bad breeds – are the problem, he said. Bui said he doesn’t know of any other South Sound cities considering restrictions targeting breeds of dogs.

But if they do, he said his group will hear about it and mobilize. Bui already filed a $1 million claim for damages against Auburn as groundwork for a lawsuit to overturn its new law.

Federal Way Councilman Jim Ferrell said he’s glad opponents spoke out, but he’s reluctant to give them too much credit.

“I applaud the fact that they have a mobilized, energized membership,” he said. “That in itself would not make my mind up.”

Ferrell said Federal Way just hasn’t had the problems with pit bulls that led Auburn to pass a law branding those animals and several other breeds as potentially dangerous. However, it was the killing of two small dogs by three pit bulls that led Ferrell and his committee to take up the volatile issue of dog restrictions.

Michelle Jaroszek and Toney Mikesell’s 11/2-year-old pugs were killed when their neighbors’ pit bulls got loose Jan. 17. Mikesell arrived home that afternoon to find his dogs – brother and sister Cola and Lola – dead in the backyard – one buried in a flower bed.

“I cried for two days,” Jaroszek said. She remains haunted that “their last moments living were so horrific.”

Their neighbors were devastated and had all three pit bulls euthanized, Jaroszek said.

Mikesell prompted last week’s committee meeting by asking Federal Way to ban pit bulls except for those already in the city.

Jaroszek told The News Tribune she wants tougher restrictions against pit bulls, too – but not a ban. She wants the city – with a few exceptions – to require spaying or neutering any dog at least 8 weeks old of a pit bull breed.

But Jaroszek also defends the right of pit bull and other dog owners to speak out against breed restrictions.

Ferrell and Jeanne Burbidge, two council members on the parks, recreation and public safety committee, agreed the best step was not to target specific breeds.

“When you come right down to it, any breed can cause harm,” Burbidge said. The city needs to make sure its laws “support people being responsible with their pets.”

Burbidge and Ferrell asked staff members to research how to strengthen the city’s current dangerous dog ordinance, which follows state restrictions. Changes could include stiffer fines and stricter licensing or restraints, such as muzzles.

Owners of dogs that attack animals or humans already can be sentenced up to one year in jail and fined up to $5,000.

Violating the city’s leash law is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The council committee is expected to review the staff’s advice on April 17 and send a proposal to the City Council on May 2, Ferrell said.

He said a breed-specific law is inappropriate because research hasn’t proved that pit bulls are inherently dangerous. The next move for Federal Way, he said, is to increase fines, make the leash law tougher and hire an animal control officer.

In Auburn, meanwhile, City Councilman Gene Cerino said he’s impressed with – but not intimidated by – how quickly pit bull and other dog owners have rallied.

“The word just filters through the air,” Cerino said. “They get upset the moment you get breed-specific.”

The Auburn City Council relented to the opponents two years ago but cracked down last month. Auburn police had shot at attacking pit bulls five times since May.

“We listened to (opponents) very carefully the first time,” Cerino said. “We let them talk us out of what we should have done in the first place.”

Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647

steve.maynard@thenewstribune.com

breeds Auburn’s ordinance calls potentially dangerous

 •  Akita

 •  American pit bull terrier

 •  American Staffordshire terrier

 •  Bull terrier

 •  Cane Corso

 •  Dogo Argentino

 •  Dogue de Bordeaux

 •  Kuvasz

 •  Pit bull terrier

 •  Presa canario

 •  Tosa Inu

 •  Staffordshire bull terrier

 •  Dogs partly those breeds or that look like those breeds

Requirements of Auburn’s dog ordinance

Owners must register all animals of these breeds, at no charge, as “potentially dangerous.” After an attack, the dogs are declared “dangerous” and owners must:

 • Confine the dog to an enclosure with a warning sign

 • Muzzle and leash the dog when outside the enclosure

 • Have at least $250,000 in insurance or $250,000 in a bond payable to anyone injured by the dog

 • Pay $100 per year to register the animal

 • Have a microchip implanted by a veterinarian for identification

Penalties

A person who fails to register a potentially dangerous dog could be fined up to $1,000 and jailed up to 90 days. For other violations, a person could face up to a $5,000 fine and a year in jail. King County Animal Control has the prerogative to put the dog down.