Gainesville woman wants ban on pit bulls

GAINESVILLE - A Gainesville woman whose 12-year-old grandson was attacked and injured by a pit bulldog in another community is mounting an effort to have the breed banned in the city of Gainesville.

Jean Brannon appeared this week at a Gainesville City Council meeting to ask council members what steps she needs to take to have the dogs outlawed.

"Do I need to do a petition? Do I need to start going door to door? Do I need to get somebody on every street to go to their neighbors and sign something? What do we need to do to get rid of them," she asked.

Ironically, the same week Brannon went before the city council, a 9-year-old Gainesville girl was attacked by a pit bull at McEver Vineyard apartments. The child was carrying a pet cat and when a dog lunged at the cat, the child suffered bites as she tried to protect the animal. That incident happened Thursday afternoon.

The motivation to ban the dogs is personal for Brannon.

Her grandson, who lives in Cartersville, suffered severe injuries to his legs. She said he's a cross country runner and he likely will not be able to run for the next several months.

"He's got lots of stitches and he's just gotten off his crutches. It was pretty bad," she said.

She said he also has nightmares about the attack.

"It's not only physical...it's mental."

Brannon said her ultimate goal is to have the breed banned in the city of Gainesville and her first step was to approach city council with the idea, although she has no concrete plans in place right now.

Councilwoman Ruth Bruner suggested the council do some research with local animal authorities before giving Brannon any advice on how to proceed.