Family pleads for its dog

(by Rachel Scofield, Staff Writer - September 17, 2009)

Nicky Wilds and her father-in-law Larry Wilds, Sr. tearfully pleaded with the council during the Sept. 14 meeting to repeal the ban on pit bulls.

After taking her dog to the veterinarian and updating its registration, Nicky was informed that pit bull was a breed listed as dangerous and thus illegal in Reynoldsburg.

A letter from the city instructed the Wilds to remove the dog from their home or pay fines.

The Wilds have raised the dog for nine years and consider it a family member.  Her daughter considers the dog her sister, and her mother-in-law included the dog's birthstone on her mother's ring, Nicky said.

"These dogs are not vicious - it is all in how they are raised," Nicky said.

The city will "drive away with our family member in front of the children to be killed not because our dog was unstable of mean, but because of her breed," Nicky said.

Discriminating a dog based on breed is no different than profiling a person based on race or gender, Larry said.

"This dog has hurt no one," Larry said.  "(Pit bull owners) are not all thugs and gangsters."

Hills said that the law outlawing pit bulls in Reynoldsburg is not new and has not been discussed in seven years.

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