VICTORY! A 22-year-old ordinance banning pit bulls within Salina city limits will remain in place following a special mail-in election on Tuesday, February 23, 2026. Congratulations to the citizens of Salina, Kansas who had the common sense and concern for public safety to vote to keep the pit bull ban that has kept their residents safe for years.
The vote results were 4,123 in favor of changing the ordinance and lifting the ban, and 5,239 votes to keep the ordinance as is.
The pit bull ban has been in place since 2004. After a petition was circulated, city officials put the issue to a public vote. Now that the issue has been decided, it cannot be revisited until 2036!
Breed restriction laws, including breed bans, are shown to prevent tragedies.
DogsBite.org reports: A restricted breed law is a type of dangerous dog law. It is defined as any ordinance or policy that restricts one or more dangerous dog breeds to protect public safety. Proponents of these laws seek to limit public exposure to well-documented high-risk dog breeds by regulating the ownership of them. The objective of legislation that restricts dangerous dog breeds, which primarily involves pit bulls and mastiff fighting breed derivatives, is to prevent severe and fatal dog attacks before they occur.
Dangerous dog laws that do not restrict breeds with well identified risks, only react after a damaging or deadly attack; they do not prevent the first attack. In parts of the U.S. and 84 countries worldwide, jurisdictions restrict a small group of breeds that have a genetic propensity to attack and inflict severe injuries so that first attacks by these breeds can be averted. First attacks by pit bulls, for instance, almost always result in severe injury. In some cases, the first attack by a pit bull or rottweiler is fatal.
