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Denver and Aurora, CO: ADA lawsuit continues to challenge breed ban

What happens when a city bans pit bulls and a disabled resident has a pit bull service dog?

A lawsuit.

City officials in Denver and in the neighboring suburb of Aurora are being sued over their enforcement of dog breed bans. The suit claims the bans violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Aurora resident and Vietnam veteran Allen Grider is one of the litigants. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and claims his 8-year-old trained service dog, Precious, is essential in helping him cope with his disability....

In 2009, Aurora officials seized Precious under the city’s 3-year-old pit bull ban.

Though city officials eventually returned Precious to Grider, the reunion came with restrictions, including muzzling the dog in public.

Grider and his lawyer, Jennifer Reba Edwards, say that the restrictions make it impossible for Precious to work as a service dog, and that they violate the ADA....

Edwards commends the changes in the laws in Denver and Aurora, but she says she intends to proceed with the lawsuit until she’s convinced her clients may use their service dogs without cumbersome restrictions and without the fear that the dogs may be taken away by an overzealous animal control officer.

Source: Nuisance or Necessity? ADA Suit May Overturn Pit-Bull Bans By Arin Greenwood, abajournal.com