San Francisco Approves Law Regulating Pit Bulls

This city and county Tuesday became the first in California to pass a law regulating pit bulls, in the wake of a state law change last month that allows municipalities to enact limited measures regulating specific breeds.

Mayor Gavin Newsom sought the change in state law after the mauling death in June of a 12-year-old San Francisco boy left alone with two family pit bulls.

The mauling triggered a heated debate in the Bay Area on whether breed-specific rules are appropriate or would constitute an unfair ban on pit bulls. A well-organized lobby of pit bull supporters derailed an earlier -- and much broader -- bill that would have allowed cities to call for mandatory insurance and placement of identity microchips on breeds considered dangerous.

The narrower version, sponsored by state Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) -- and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month -- is limited to the regulation of spaying and neutering and backyard breeding.

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors was ready to go with just such legislation. On Tuesday it unanimously passed a bill that requires, with certain exceptions, the spaying and neutering of pit bulls (after defining them -- another contentious issue here).

It also strictly regulated breeding of pit bulls, requiring a permit and extensive reporting to the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control. Fines for violators reach $1,000.

Carl Friedman, director of Animal Care and Control, has said that pit bulls are responsible for nearly half the dangerous dog cases heard by the city.