Pit-bull terrier owner says he plans to move family from city

Matt Wallace is a veteran who battled dictators abroad so foreigners might enjoy the freedoms he had come to know in the States. However, Wallace is now battling to keep the pet he has raised from a puppy.

Wallace owns a pit-bull terrier that he was forced to remove from the home he and his wife own a home at 1108 California Ave.

“That’s the hardest part,” Wallace said. “I fought overseas so others may have freedoms, and now they’re being taken away from me here. It’s just not right. I thought we made discrimination illegal in this country.”

Wallace owns an 18-month-old pit-bull he has raised as soon as it was weaned from its mother, and now, because of a new Libby Animal Ordinance, he cannot own his dog within the city limits.

“This dog is part of our family, Alice,” Wallace said. “It sleeps in my 8-year-old son’s room at night to keep the dark demons away. Now, it’s gone. He’s scared to sleep without her. This is crazy. We’re selling our house.”

In the meantime, Wallace has moved the dog into the county, someday hoping to reclaim it.

“Hey, dangerous? I don’t think so,” Wallace said. “I’ve got 16 nieces and nephews, and this dog is great with all of them.”

Wallace also took exception to the fact that police came to his place of business to get him to remove the dog. However, Lincoln County Animal Control Officer Sarah Pisciotta said Wallace ignored the warnings to remove the dog.

“We left notices at his house that he needed to comply,” Pisciotta said. “An officer followed up with me and asked whether the dog was removed. So, they went to his work.”

Pisciotta said she understands the concern about pit-bulls because the breed can be aggressive.

“These dogs are just all muscle. They bite you and they just don’t let go,” said Pisciotta, who was once attacked as she tried to euthanize a pit-bull mix. “It attacked me and broke my arm. Still, I’m kind of in the middle, but I have to enforce the law.”

Last year, Pisciotta said seven people were bitten within Libby city limits, none of which by a pit-bull.

Wallace’s co-worker Brandon Anderson said he knows of other people who have pit-bulls.

“I’ve seen the dog,” Anderson said. “No one can help but love that dog. I don’t think there’s any way possible than to take it personally.”

Another Wallace co-worker, Derek Breiland, said a dog’s viciousness has less to do with breed than the company it keeps.

“Any dog can be brought up to be aggressive,” Breiland said. “It’s all in the way it’s brought up.”

Chapter 11 of the ordinance defines pit-bull dog as any species including the pit-bull terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier, the American pit-bull terrier, the American Staffordshire, dogs of mixed breeds containing one of these breeds or any dog with the appearance of being predominantly of the breeds of a pit-bull.

Wallace said even though he’s buying his home in Libby, he’s looking to move to the county.

“Hey, Alice is part of our family,” he said. “We’re going to sell the house so we can have her.”