By Pat Hammert/Staff Writer In a quiet neighborhood last year, a 10-year-old El Reno boy was playing with his collie on the front lawn when two stray pit bull terriers attacked the puppy — and then the youngster. When local animal control officer Mike Townsend arrived at the scene, the child was being taken to the emergency room to have several bites treated. “The little collie dog and the pit bulls got into a fight and the kid tried to break them up. The dogs turned and jumped the kid and bit him multiple times below the waist,” Townsend said. The dogs had somehow escaped their pen in the back yard next door. Vicious dogs are a problem in El Reno and pit bull terriers are the number one dangerous breed, local officials say. Of the 2,239 dogs and cats animal control handled last year, from one-quarter to half were pit bull terriers or pit bull crossbreeds, Townsend said. Townsend said there are no professional breeders in town, but several of what he calls “backyard breeders.” About a half-dozen owners of potentially dangerous pit bulls are scattered in several areas of town, he said, including one near Lincoln Elementary School and another near Hillcrest Elementary School. In the dog pound on Thursday, Townsend had seven pit bulls or cross breeds that were put to sleep on Friday, the scheduled day when dogs who have not been claimed within 72 hours are euthanized. He picked up the stray pit bulls over the past two weeks. Once the dogs are captured by animal control, owners do not want to claim them because of the fines involved, he said. As for the owner of the two pit bulls that attacked the child, Townsend said they were remorseful and gave permission for both pets to be put to sleep. “We handle more pit bulls and pit crosses than any other city around,” he said. Townsend said “pepper spray is my best friend.” As well, he carries an “asp,” a long night stick that pops, a dart gun and a shotgun. “I use the shotgun as a last resort,” he said. But about a year ago, he had to use it to corral a snarling, wounded pit bull. The overlarge brown terrier with cropped ears and tags was snarling at a woman trying to leave her home near downtown. “The pit knew there was a dog in the back yard in season and he wouldn’t let her (the owner) out of her front door,” he said. When the dog turned to charge Townsend, he got a nose full of pepper spray — and the chase began as the dog circled the downtown and headed toward the northeast part of town where the officer lost him at the Foreman bridge. The next day the dog was spotted again and Townsend got close enough to hit him in the foot with his dart gun. The officer lost the dog’s trail again, but two days later the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church called to say a wounded pit bull was sprawled in front of the entrance door growling. The chase was on again across town to the cemetery, Alice Drive, across a wheat field and back north to Alfadale Road, where dog and officer met face to face. In obvious pain and growling fiercely, the dog was repeatedly biting the truck tires, Townsend said. He said he had no choice but to shoot the dog. The dog’s tags were registered to an owner in Dumas, Texas, but when that individual was tracked down, he turned out to be in his 70s and owner of a Pomeranian that had had its tags stolen. Townsend and local police suspect there may be an illegal and often mobile dog fighting ring in the area where pit bull owners allow their animals to “earn their keep. “People own them for three reasons: protection and they just like the breed, to fight and make money, and because they think it’s a cool thing, kinda like a punk kid is cool,” he said. Owners nickname their favored breed “bullydogs.” Intent on freedom, they climb tall fences, jump over them, dig underneath and escape the most secure yards. And in El Reno, once they are out and snared by animal control, they are seldom returned, said Police Chief Fred Savage. “Most pit bulls, if they are in our custody, never go back to their owners,” he said in a recent City Council retreat. “Seems to me pit bulls are the ones doing the most damage.” Both Savage and Councilman Paul Atkins agree there are ways to strengthen the ordinance already on the books. “It is a message we need to get out to our citizens that we are not going to allow a child to get killed by being attacked by a dog,” Atkins said. At a recent retreat, Atkins handled out samples of other cities’ animal control ordinances, wanting the Council to tighten up the vicious dog section by increasing the fines, broadening the dangerous dog definition and requiring stronger penning. No “dangerous dog” owners in El Reno have registered their pets with the city, Townsend said. If a pit bull or any dog exhibits viciousness, the dog is placed in the pound and typically when the owner learns of the fines attached, the dog is never claimed, he said. Many times the owners of vicious dogs attempt to break in the animal shelter after hours. “If I have several pit bulls out there, I alert the police to provide extra patrol of the shelter,” Townsend said, because of potential break-ins. The owner can face a potential fine of $200, paying for damages the dog has done, plus an impound fee of $20 and $10 for each day the dog is held. The current ordinance requires an owner of a dog determined “dangerous” to have a $50,000 liability policy, the dog must be registered for a $110 fee, confined indoors or in a securely enclosed and locked pen that provides 150 square feet of space for each dog. Outside the pens, the “dangerous dog” must be muzzled at all times. City ordinance only allows four pets of any kind to a household. Under the city ordinance, when pups are 6 months old, they have to be separated, given away or sold off. Atkins said rottweilers may be more dangerous, but pit bulls seem to be the ones making the national and local news. Owners say pit bulls are misunderstood because of media hype, untruths and half-truths. Townsend said he can only relate his own experience with the dog. He’s found in rare cases, well-bred pit bull terriers are friendly and lovable. Hooch was such a dog, he said. Hooch was like most pit bulls, eager to get out of their pens. “That dog would come up to me and lick my face and if he was loose and saw my truck he’d run to try and jump in the back of it,” Townsend said. Sadly, Hooch choked to death recently when his chain got hooked on the fence as he was trying for freedom, Townsend said. After learning that a 4-year-old boy in Bartlesville was attacked and killed Dec. 30 by a pit bull dog, a state law-maker has said he intends to continue to push for legislation to effectively ban the breed from the state. Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, said the laws on the books now are inadequate in keeping pets and children and other vulnerable citizens safe. State laws do not allow breeds to be singled out in city ordinances. Wesselhoft is introducing legislation that would place stringent regulations on Oklahomans who own pit bulls, including the requirement that all pit bulls in Oklahoma be spayed or neutered. The measure would also prohibit any more pit bulls from being brought into the state, effectively banning the breed statewide. “If just one pit bull is within striking distance of a child, we have a problem, and we need specific laws that will address that problem,” he said in a recent press release. Wesselhoft said a statewide survey conducted in August 2005 by a private polling firm found 55 percent of Oklahomans favor a pit bull ban, as opposed to 35 percent that do not. Savage said he is opposed to state laws imposing on city ordinances. “Municipalities should have the right to regulate their own problems,” he said. Rep. Ryan McMullen, D-Burns Flat, will introduce a dangerous dog bill, one that is not breed specific, he said. “I’m opposed to Wesselhoft’s proposal because it is breed-specific legislation,” he said. “Statistics show that the rottweiler has injured more children than the pit. And there are many responsible pit bull owners who have well-behaved dogs. “We just need to do a better job of holding dog owners li-able, stiffer criminal penalties and certainly increase the civil penalties. We need to put economic barriers in place.”