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The 7-year-old pit bull mix plays well with Cremers' 2-year-old daughter and is a "perfect sweetheart," the owner says.
Cremers can't imagine having to muzzle Cisco under Omaha's new dog restrictions.
"I agree with the rules," she said, "but I think it's frustrating for people with nice dogs."
She will try to get Cisco exempted from muzzling after taking him through a special behavioral test.
For Cremers and other dog owners, the rules can be confusing and costly.
Most of the city's new pit bull restrictions don't take effect until Jan. 1.
Other new rules, however, take effect Wednesday. That's when the Nebraska Humane Society will start declaring menacing dogs of any breed "potentially dangerous" after investigating complaints.
The Humane Society also will start tracking violations in order to declare some owners reckless and unfit to own pets.
Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey proposed the restrictions after a series of pit bull attacks this year. The City Council approved the rules last month.
The city considered banning pit bulls but concluded that a ban would be too costly and difficult to enforce. Nebraska cities with bans include Osceola and Ceresco.
Council Bluffs has banned residents from bringing new pit bulls into the city since 2005. Other Iowa cities with bans include Carter Lake, Glenwood and Ottumwa.
Denver also has a long-standing pit bull ban.
Omaha pit bull owners are trying to educate themselves on what the new rules mean and who has to follow them.
For example, Cremers wasn't sure her dog met the pit bull definition until the Humane Society said it did. The mix has a pit bull face, but its neck and body are less stocky.
Cremers, who lives just outside Omaha, didn't know if the rules stretched past the city's borders. The rules do extend three miles beyond Omaha, within Douglas County.
The restrictions can be expensive for owners of pit bulls and other potentially dangerous dogs. The costs of muzzles, harnesses, identification microchips, fencing, behavioral classes and other measures can total hundreds of dollars.
Although many homeowner insurance policies have liability coverage for animals, some policies don't cover dogs, especially dogs that bite. That could require a more expensive policy from an independent agent.
Renters might need to pay $10 or so a month for liability coverage that includes dogs.
Omahan Cecilia Crawford also will have to comply with the restrictions. She owns two American bulldogs, Apollo and Lola.
American bulldogs were added to the city's definition of pit bulls at the urging of the Humane Society, which said the breed shares many physical characteristics of pit bulls.
Crawford says her animals are gentle and have been used as therapy dogs for patients.
"It's unfortunate that more often than not, we get lumped into the pit bulls because (American bulldogs) are a different breed," she said.
Like Cremers, Crawford plans to avoid the muzzling requirements by taking her dogs through a behavioral test.
"I plan to test out of it," Crawford said. "If they didn't have that option, it would be ridiculous. Can you imagine me taking my dogs to a hospital or nursing home with a muzzle on them?"
She said it's the good owners who usually end up paying for irresponsible pet owners.
Opponents of the ordinance have questioned how well it can be enforced. The Humane Society estimated this summer that Omaha might have 6,000 pit bulls but only 1,400 are licensed.
"It's unfortunate that we're so greatly outnumbered," Crawford said.
--Contact the writer: 444-1149, tom.shaw@owh.com
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