Pit bulls in Ohio will no longer be automatically be labeled as "vicious dogs" under a bill that's headed to the governor's desk.
State law currently defines a vicious dog as one that has hurt or killed a person, killed another dog or is a dog that's known as a pit bull.
Dog behavior experts say you shouldn't condemn the breed.
They say each individual dog is different, just as each person is different.
So breed profiling is just as unfair as racial profiling.
Anyone who's been chomped by a Chihuahua or pierced by a Poodle knows that pit bulls are not the only biters, and in many cases are not biters at all.
Over the years they have unfortunately been trained by irresponsible owners to be aggressive.
"It's pet owners that cause these dogs to fight, want them to fight," says Verna Painter, assistant Belmont County dog warden. "Dogs of all kinds and breeds can be vicious.
Painter says pit bulls should not be singled out as "vicious" in state law.
Cindy Ynez of the Belmont County Animal Rescue League says the breed-specific law was bad because any breed can be aggressive.
"A Jack Russell, any dog can be a vicious creature if it has been bred the wrong way," says Ynez. "You can teach anybody to be mean. And pit bulls were not bred for fighting originally."
She says the pit bull's sturdy muscular build attracted the wrong people with the wrong motives, who trained them for violence.
"They won't fight unless you train them," says Ynez. "They are wonderful, wonderful dogs. They are loyal."
She says the new law will have three layers of bad dog behavior--nuisance, dangerous and vicious.
She says it will not be by breed, but strictly by behavior.
And she says that's the enlightened approach.
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