Libby City Council repeals controversial 'pit bull ban'

With a 5-1 vote of the Libby City Council Monday, Jan. 15, the city’s so-called “pit bull ban” was lifted.

The vote followed a months-long process involving input from passionate residents and the work of the council’s resolution and ordinance committee, which collaborated with Libby Police Chief Scott Kessel and animal control staff.

“I think the process worked very well,” City Council member and committee chair Kristin Smith said via email, noting that the committee “received no testimony opposing repealing the ban.”

Some people would have liked the repeal process to have happened faster, Smith wrote, “but we wanted to make sure people had plenty of time to comment both at public meetings as well as provide written testimony.”

“I think this is a pretty good example of government and the public working together as partners, and not, as sometimes happens, as adversaries,” council member Gary Armstrong said via email. “I also feel that the City is even better protected now than it was before.”

Smith, Armstrong, and council members Peggy Williams, Brian Zimmerman and Gary Beach voted to repeal the ban. Angel Ford cast the sole “no” vote.

The City Council also voted 6-0 to approve the first reading of proposed revisions to the city’s vicious dog ordinance. The second reading will occur at a City Council meeting in February.