ARCHBOLD WEATHER

About 100 Attend Dog Pound Vigil




About 80 to 100 people attended a Saturday, Sept. 27 candlelight vigil at the Fulton County dog pound, said Tasha Grieser.

Grieser, a certified dog trainer and dog bite prevention educator, works with Fulton County No Kill, a grass-roots group with the goal of changing the Fulton County law on pit bull dogs and mixed breeds with pit bull as part of their genetic makeup.

Fulton County No Kill staged the event at the Fulton County pound to honor all dogs that had lost their lives there.

The vigil was “very peaceful. It went very well,” Grieser said.

However, she said some people attending the vigil “did not make good choices.”

Reports say one person who attended the event shouted from a vehicle window, “Kill ‘em all!”

At Odds

Current Fulton County policy states that pit bulls and pit-bull mixes will not be released for adoption, either to private individuals or dog rescue groups.

If not claimed by their owner, pit pulls are euthanized.

Prior to the vigil, there were two puppies classified as pit bulls at the pound. One was released back to its owner; the second was euthanized.

Grieser said the No Kill group believes that euthanizing any adoptable dog is killing one dog too many.

The State of Ohio law defined pit bulls as inherently vicious, essentially making them “vicious at birth.”

John Kasich, Ohio governor, signed House Bill 14 into law on Feb. 22, 2012, removing “breed-specific” language from the law as it applied to pit bulls.

The village of Archbold followed suit Feb. 18, 2013, changing its own law to reflect the state law.

Change County Law?

Grieser said during the vigil, the No Kill group collected signatures on its petition asking county commissioners to repeal its pit bull law. She said so far, about 100 signatures have been collected from county residents.

There is no target date for turning in the petition.

An online version of the petition, which can be signed by people outside the county, has collected over 1,000 signatures.

Grieser said members of the No Kill group asked the commissioners to reconsider their law regarding pit bulls, but Vond Hall, county administrator, declined to put the No Kill group on the commissioners’ agenda.

Hall told a regional newspaper, “The board members fully understand the position theNoKillgrouphas,andthey also fully understand their own position. They do not see the need to discuss what they feel they already understand.”



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