Pit bulls.

That’s all you have to say to evoke all kinds of mixed reaction.

We know of one Albert Lea woman who used to be seen walking around her neighborhood every evening, getting fresh air and exercise. Now she says she is less likely to take her walks in her neighborhood because suddenly there are several new pit bulls that intimidate her.

She even cannot enjoy her backyard like she used to because a neighbor now has a pit bull.

Needless to say, the pit bulls are aggressive. When owners of a breed have had to come up with a slogan as lame as “punish the deed, not the breed” on web forums, that alone tells folks it’s an animal that has been bred for purposes that don’t belong in a city. What good does it do to the postal carrier, police officer or child AFTER he or she has been bitten to “punish the deed”? Prevention is the name of the game. Restrict the breed.

After all, it’s not as though Labs, setters, collies, beagles and spaniels need such a slogan.

When you read about a person being bitten in the newspaper, why is it always a pit bull?

When you enter “pit bull” into Google News, you get all kinds of controversy about bites and attacks, like how one hospitalized a man or how an officer had to shoot a pit bull that tried to bite him.

When you enter “Labrador retriever” you get hero stories, like how one protected a 2-year-old overnight or how one is a guide dog for the blind.

It’s a reality that many pit bull owners do not want to face. Plain and simple, pit bulls are overly aggressive. They scare people.

We urge the Albert Lea City Council to revisit the issue of a pit bull ordinance.

Enter “pit bull ordinance” into Google and you get a slew of cities enacting laws to ban or restrict ownership of this and other attack-prone breeds. Some military installations have similar rules.

Perhaps Albert Lea could follow suit. Perhaps we can make our neighborhoods less intimidating for folks who just want to go for a walk.