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City administrator Tom Landers says local leaders have heard enough about threats and actual attacks on people by pit bulls in South Pittsburg.
TOM LANDERS, CITY ADMINISTRATOR "Many of the animals we have in town run loose. There's a leash law, but they still run loose. We just got to the point where we're going to enforce the law."
And in this case, the focus is on pit bulls.
CHARLES HAGGARD, FORMERM PIT BULL BREEDER "They can turn on you if you don't treat them right. Keeping them chained up, penned up is a good idea."
SHAWN GRIFFIN, SOUTH PITTSBURG "A woman was dropping off her kids down here at Richard Hardy Memorial. They ran her. She had to climb in top of her vehicle to get away."
There are plenty of case histories of people maimed or killed by the steel-jawed animals, but owners say there are pit bulls and there are pit bulls.
Nathan Ellis runs an auto-repair shop just off Cedar street, and he has two normally friends dogs protecting cars. He says they can be dangerous to anyone who goes inside the fence at night, but Nathan says that's the whole point.
NATHAN ELLIS, PRO-TECH AUTOMOTIVE "I agree that they are aggressive dogs. They need to be restrained, but don't limit one breed. You can't say my dogs don't do anything. They do have a bad rep about them 'cause people make them that way."
So Nathan has started a petition campaign to force the city to change the law or at least include more breeds, not just the pits. In the meantime, he is has two small doberman's at the shop. City administrator Landers says the rule will stay, but a battle over pets and threats seems to be shaping up.
The city administrator says the new ordinance banning the pit bulls will be phased in over the next few weeks.
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