Sheriff wants pit bulls out of Thomas County

By Christian Jennings - bio | email

January , 2009

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - It's a breed that stirs up controversy everywhere. Pit bulls often raise the question, friendly pets or ferocious killers?

Last week in Thomasville 5-year-old Cheyenne Peppers was killed when three family pit bulls mauled her to death in her own back yard.

"What value do we put on the human life? Does my right to own a dog go past the right of a person to survive and have a life?" said Sheriff Carlton Powell.

Thomas county Sheriff Carlton Powell says absolutely not. And in this morning's County Commission meeting he took a stand.

"I've asked for them to ban pit bulls as a breed in this county," he said.

The father of Cheyenne Peppers, the child killed last week, spoke in this morning's meeting too. Expressing grief over his loss and backing the Sheriff in banning the dogs that took his daughters life.

"This type of dog have a nature that say attack, and hold, and kill," said Sheriff Powell.

But the arguments against the ban are just as strong as the ones for it. Pit bull owner Ronnie Bryant doesn't see the need to ban, what he calls, just good dogs.

"Any type of dog can bite a person if they really wanted to. It just depends on how you train them or how you do this or that," said Bryant.

And while that may be the case Sheriff Powell doesn't want to risk human life for an animal ever again.

"In this case I think the redeeming qualities of these animals are far off set by the damage they can do in a particular case," said the Sheriff.

Sheriff Powell says he expects county officials to take action in the next couple of months. Feedback