I get what the law's trying to do, but they're penning an entire breed as bad, when that is NOT the case. You can't legitimately condemn the whole breed due to the actions of a couple individuals.

People need to think before they adopt and breed these dogs. Only then will their population get under control so there aren't so many in shelters waiting for adoption.

most communities allow sparklers.

many communities allow firecrackers

most communities ban m-80s

all communities ban dynamite.

all of the above are perfectly safe when handled responsibly. the last two can create much greater mayhem when mishandled, and therefore are banned to prevent injury of the innocent by the irresponsible.

same principle.

The Court should change this to read "All dogs" so that pit bull lovers will be happy. But we all know what type of dog attack cases would go through most. In one week in our town, 2 pit bulls attacked a man in his yard and killed him and on another day, a 14 year old girl was attacked by a pit.

S CARY you are an uneducated idiot does that mean you own a pitbull too?

What everyone says about breeds, owners, and training is true to a large degree. However, they are shoveling over the issue with any 'fighting breed' which any sort of pit bull has been for hundreds of years of breeding. There are inherent traits to the breed that simply make them much more dangerous than other breeds. The mechanics of their bite, their jaw strength. And the biggest is that they have been breed largely based on successful fighting. One of those traits is not 'warning' or having any of the normal lead up behavior to an attack. This is what makes them really dangerous because the best training and most docile dog and best owner will simply be completely unable to notice or prevent the jump from docile to attack. Attack/Fighting breeds have been bred to give no warning and no hesitation on that shift. Which removes the lead up time for an owner or training to intervene and prevent. All the other dogs that nip and bite and attack also display all the normal posturing and warning before moving to attack that should allow a good owner/training to intervene. You put any fighting breed in any unfamiliar circumstance and you have the potential to go from 0 to kill in moments with no warning. That is why they are dangerous.

Even little dogs get very aggressive, yes we do call them ankle bitters for a reason. Some are even worse than big dogs, I have had more problems trying to correct the behavior of little lap dogs than I have with the bigger dogs. Maybe this is because the owners of the little dogs think they cannot hurt someone, well they can hurt little children as they have sharp claws and teeth, it may also be that they also think it is so cute when these little type dogs are young to see them jumping around all the time and play biting, then they grow up still stay small but are bitters and barkers and can still hurt people and then those owners do not understand why it is their little dog turned out that way.

These laws may not "ban" pit bulls but have the same effect. I currently am having trouble keeping homeowner's insurance since I have 3 large dogs, 2 of which are considered "pit bull" mixes. They are rescues and who knows their parentage, but sweet, lovable and great with kids. Most of the dogs in the shelters are "pit bull" mixes, turned in because of insurance problems. I need insurance not because I expect my dogs to bite someone, but my neighbor was sued after another neighbor tripped over the leash af her Golden retriever and broke his hip. My dogs have been attacked while walking (on leash) by dachsunds, spaniels, rottweilers, jack russel terriers etc over the years. We were going to move to Prince George's county in Va a few years ago for a new job but could not find a rental that would take our dogs. (see article, the dogs are banned). I am willing to pay an extra animal bond but still the new insurance company wants to know about the dogs even after I told the agent up front. My next dogs will not be Pitts and that is a shame since the dogs are great, smart and loveable if raised right

Thousands upon thousands of maiming, attacks, and lillings by pitt bulls ahve been well documented over the years. They have been bred to be killers, period. Now, we need a Federal law banning the import, breeding, sale, and ownership of pitt bulls. Any seen running loose in the streets should not be captured, but shot on sight by the police or any homeowner who has access to a weapon. End the scourge!

Pitbulls are no inherently dangerous. @!$%#s that have no business raising dogs are what's dangerous. How about we ban people, instead?

I'm sorry, but I have to comment. How is it that you can receive a SIX MONTH PRISON SENTENCE and $1,000 FINE for owning a pit bull, yet, if I were to abuse my dog or kill him in a cruel manner (tying him to the back of a truck, starvation, beat him with a bat, etc) I get a slap on the wrist?

I agree that any dog can be violent depending on how it is raised. Every experience I have had with a pit has been negative, including my wife coming home and finding her dog dead in the back yard due to our neighbors "sweet angel baby" pit tearing it's way through the fence and killing it. Needless to say, I wanted to put a bullet through that dogs head, and told the owner that if I saw it off leash, I would do just that. If it had been my kid dead in the yard, I would probably be typing this from prison. I can not stand the breed, and I really can't stand the owners who are thugs and own them because they think they are tough. Any dog owner who's dog becomes violent needs to be held responsible, regardless of breed. Violent dogs should be put down immediately.

Once again- punish the deed, not the breed.

I know pit bulls are not the only dogs who attack, but they are a good percentage of them. The other thing is that pit bulls should never be adopted out of shelters. Shelters do not know for certain what the history of the dog is, and the dog may have bitten someone in the past. People who have a pet they like take dogs out of the area and give it to a shelter even though it has a violent past. It's one thing for you to have a pit bull from a puppy if your area doesn't have a law against it. Keep your dog if you have insurance to cover the damage in case your dog attacks someone, but shelters should not adopt out adult dogs. They could have been abused or have a history of violence.

It's too bad about the breed, but every time a breed of dog becomes the fashion for A-holes, it is a death sentence. As soon as they became the epitome of evil, pit bulls were spiraling down to this end. It's one thing to be bitten by a dog, and another thing to be bitten by a dog that won't let go until its skull is crushed and you have to open its jaws with a crowbar.

What's more dangerous than pit bulls are courts.

What a poorly-written article. This implies that somehow Maryland law didn't hold owners accountable for their pets prior to this law, which is obviously ridiculous. What this does is validate the breed ban and extend it, ultimately giving landlords the ability to evict tenants without notice in Baltimore city based solely on the suspicion that a dog might be part pit. It's sort of like the old "one drop" rule from the good ol' Jim Crow days.

And, meanwhile, if an 81 year old woman can fend off an "attacking" pit bull with a bottle of hand sanitizer, how deadly is this breed, exactly? Nice to see yellow journalism still has an outlet.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!! Dogs learn from their masters they same way children learn from their parents!! Why not start holding parents responsible for their delinquent children when they rob, steal, and harm others!!!!

I have had pitbulls all my life, I have one right now & I am going to adopt another one. I love this breed, they are kind, loving , funny , silly & loyal. I raised all three of my kids with a pitbull & he was there best friend- he went to their ballgames, carnivals , vacations , & everywhere else we went. I take my current one everywhere we go also. It is ALWAYS the people who cause the issues with any dog- when they are raised wrong then they behave wrong. The state of Maryland really needs a reality check & you can best believe that alot of people who own pitbulls also VOTE!!! So when they make BULL@!$%# LAWS they can be voted out of office & replaced with people who have more common sense. I LOVE MY PITBULL & I WILL DEFEND HIM & HIS BREED UNTIL MY LAST BREATH!!

EX-WIVES ARE 100 TIMES WORSE THAN A PIT BULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHOOT THEM BITCHES

I completely agree with Maryland court decision. Pit Bull dogs are very dangerous and are constantly attacking other dogs and people. Therefore, the owners of these dogs should be held accountable for injuries that their dogs cause. Every state should have a law that holds the owners of Pit Bulls accountable for the injuries that these extremely dangerous dogs inflict on pets and people.

It sounds like a good law, unfortunately it does not go far enough. Pit Bull owners are generally as dangerous as their dogs, and should also be banned.