By VINAYA SAKSENA

CENTRAL FALLS — Over the objections of some local residents, the police officer in charge of regulating household pets in the city said he does not plan to back off the new law against pit bulls he helped put into effect earlier this week.

At their meeting Monday, the City Council approved an ordinance introduced by Animal Control Officer Joseph Bolvin that effectively bans pit bulls as pets in the Square Mile City. And while he stands behind the ordinance, Bolvin readily admitted Friday that “(some) people are not happy.
“We’re taking the dogs for being illegally within the city. And of course they’re not happy,” he said. “Dogs become part of people’s families.”
Bolvin said the pre-existing law concerning vicious dogs did not go far enough. He decided the new measure was necessary after a series of complaints about pit bull attacks on people and other signs of aggression from the breed.
“I put it in because of the attacks and the abandonment specifically of these dogs in the city,” he said. “I think it’s a great ordinance.”
Bolvin said his statute was more or less identical to one already on the books in Pawtucket. Under the ordinance, it is illegal “for any person to own, possess, keep, exercise control over, maintain, harbor, transport, or sell” any type of pit bull in Central Falls.
According to the measure, a pit bull is defined as “any dog that is an American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier; or any dog of mixed breed displaying the majority of physical traits” of those breeds.
Under certain conditions, pit bulls may be exempted from the new law. Those that get a pass include pit bulls temporarily in the care of a licensed shelter and dogs brought into the city on the occasion of a public exhibition.
Bolvin added that some local pit bulls would be “grandfathered in” if properly vaccinated and insured with the city. He estimated that about 17 pets fell into this category.
As a pit bull owner himself, Bolvin, who doesn’t live in Central Falls, said he would have no problem living under such a law.
“I have two pit bulls,” he said. “I wouldn’t have a problem with it, because my dogs are legal. My dogs would be grandfathered in.”
However, Bolvin said he had encountered some animosity from residents whose dogs had to be confiscated. He said some had refused to comply, and that one man seen with a pit bull in the city had run away when confronted by police Thursday, leaving the animal unattended.
Bolvin didn’t know why the man fled, speculating only that the man may have had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. He also noted that he had spoken to many residents who owned pit bulls in the past, informing them that the new ordinance would be going into effect soon.
Even so, he said, there were still reports of residents rushing to register their dogs at City Hall shortly before the ordinance was enacted.
Bolvin also noted that he had occasionally received reports of pit bulls used for dogfights in the city. However, he said he had found no evidence to back up those reports.
Bolvin pointed out that the ordinance was not aimed at those who kept dogs as civilized pets, but at those keeping dogs for fighting or other antagonistic purposes. And toward this end, he said police would continue to sniff out illegal canines.
“We’re actually working overtime getting these dogs out of the city. We (intend) to get warrants for their houses that we know have them.”