TRUMANN, Ark. — It was 2011 when the city of Trumann, Arkansas decided to ban what they call vicious dogs, listed inside their ordinance pit bulls. It’s a ban that City Councilman Matthew Miller believes needs to be changed.
“It’s very important to me as far as trying to make a change in the city,” he said. “To me the current ordinance is unfair to pit mixes and it’s also unfair to responsible pet owners.”
Miller told WREG he decided something needed to change after hearing from his constituents.
“I’ve had people that have contacted me inside the city. Some of them have pit bulls, some of them want to adopt a pit bull and they’re unable to.”
Those who were grandfathered in after the ordinance was put in place have to register with city and pay $100 a year for a licensing fee.
“And they also had to purchase a minimum of a $100,000 insurance policy and to me that’s just outrageous in my opinion,” said Miller.
He said he’s not trying to lift the ban completely.
“It put registration steps in place and penalties in place to allow responsible pet owners to be able to have a pit bull inside the city limits.”
He tried unsuccessfully to convince council to allow pit bulls back in city limits once already, but that failed by just one vote. He’s not giving up and plans to put a new proposal in front of the council in the new year.
