Aurora residents to vote on repealing pit bull ban in November

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to remove inaccurate information about other communities with pit bull bans.

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — With November right around the corner, Aurora pit bull advocates are heading out into the community to discuss a bill that would lift a ban on the breed.

A ban on pit bulls was imposed almost 20 years ago. Then, in 2014, voters in Aurora decided to retain it. In 2021, the City Council voted to have it removed. However, a citizen came forward later with a lawsuit saying that a decision like this should be left up to the voters and a judge agreed, so it was reinstated earlier this year.

“Now that this is back into place, people who own pit bulls are automatically criminally liable because of the wording of the bill,” said Bryon Taylor, volunteer for End Aurora Breed-Specific Legislation (BSL).

End Aurora BSL hosted a community event to help inform Aurora voters about what a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ vote means.

“A ‘Yes’ vote means that dangerous dog legislation is going to apply to all breeds no matter what kind of breed there are. It means that they’re only going to be deemed dangerous after an incident occurs,” Taylor said.

Meanwhile, a ‘No’ vote would keep the ban on pit bulls, which Taylor said could be more dangerous for the community.

“It’s going to discourage people from getting training, socialization, veterinary care and insurance in the long term. And in the short term, it will make things more dangerous by making people abandon their breed,” Taylor said.

Some have argued that pit bulls are a dangerous breed and should be banned in Aurora but other say it has to do with how the dog is raised, not the breed specifically.

“I feel like a lot of aggression comes from the way the dogs are brought up,” said Candy Reynolds, who has owned her pit bull for nine years. “They lick more than anything, you know. They snuggle. They’re just lovable.”

Taylor has also argued that breed banning has not been shown to work, and will only cause more issues in the long run.

“All studies that have been done on it in every city that it’s been put into place, it’s never been shown to reduce the population or reduce incidents,” Taylor said.

According to Aurora Animal Services, from 2016-2024 the Labrador retriever was the leading cause of dog bites in the city with German shepherd second and pit bull coming in third.

In Denver, all pit bull owners and adopters must contact Denver Animal Protection to schedule an appointment for a restricted-breed assessment.

Currently, Aurora pit bull owners say they do not know how they will be impacted if this ban goes through again in Aurora.

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