ATLANTA, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Pit bull owners are protesting a bill in the Georgia Legislature that would ban the ownership of the sometimes-aggressive dogs.
Rep. Earnest Williams, D-Stone Mountain, introduced a measure that would ban the importation, sale and possession of new pit bulls in Georgia and require pit bulls already in the state be neutered, leashed and muzzled when in public, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday.
Williams said his bill was promoted by pit bull attacks. Three weeks ago there was an attack by a pit bull on a 5-year-old child in Atlanta.
But owners of the breed have promised to fight the measure.
"I have a dog that has some pit bull in her and she is the sweetest little creature," Sheri Divers of Stone Mountain told the newspaper. "It all depends on how these dogs ... have been socialized. If you teach them to be violent and hateful, then they will be. Man has a great hand in how pit bulls behave."
Williams' bill has yet to be assigned to a subcommittee, so may not be considered this legislative session, the newspaper said.
