CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio will join the rest of the United States Tuesday when it removes pit bulls from its definition of "vicious."

House Bill 14 (See full text of the law in the DocumentCloud viewer below) takes effect Tuesday.

The new law does not overturn community pit bull bans, like those in some Northeast Ohio communities such as Lakewood, Parma, Garfield Heights and Warrensville Heights.

The law removes pit bulls from the definition of "vicious dogs"; defines "vicious," "dangerous" and "nuisance" dogs without regard to breed; sets liability, confinement and licensing requirements for vicious and dangerous dogs; prohibits people convicted today or in the future of felonies involving violence, animals, drugs, conspiracy, weapons or corrupt activity from having an unneutered dog for three years after their release from prison or probation.

Felons must also get a microchip for their dog.

The bill also requires the owner of a dog confiscated for nuisance, vicious or dangerous behavior to pay county-pound expenses for keeping the dog while a court determines whether it should be labeled a nuisance, vicious or dangerous.

And it raises the fee for transferring ownership of any dog or replacing a lost dog tag from 25 cents to $5.

Dogs that chase or try to bite someone without provocation will be deemed nuisances, while dogs that injure someone or kill another dog without provocation or are caught running loose three times will be labeled dangerous.

A dog that kills or seriously injures someone will be deemed vicious, unless the person was attempting to trespass or commit another criminal offense on the owner's property.

Dangerous and vicious dogs cannot be debarked, must be neutered, microchipped and wear special $50 dog tags, and their owners must post warning signs on their property.

Vicious dogs that aren't ordered destroyed and dangerous dogs have to be kept in locked pens with a roof or locked fenced yard. While off their property, they have to be on chain tethers no longer than six feet and constantly monitored or muzzled.

Owners of vicious and dangerous dogs have to carry $100,000 in liability insurance. BEGIN \styles.httServer: CLE1 wmsql version: 4.5.012profile: template: ONESTORY_PRINTuser: news END \styles.htt(According to the Insurance Information Institute, dog bites accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claims last year, costing nearly $479 million.)

Violations of the law range from orders to get dog training, minor misdemeanors for nuisance dogs getting loose to fourth-degree felonies and euthanasia of the dog when a vicious dog gets loose and kills someone.

For the Love of Pits, a nonprofit group based in Northeast Ohio, is celebrating the new law by offering free vaccinations for the pit bulls of low-income Cleveland residents.

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"When pit bulls were labeled vicious, residents who love their dogs, were afraid to take their dogs out in public," said Marlo Slusarski, director of community outreach for For the Love of Pits.

"Now that the law has changed, we are also hoping to help these dog owners socialize their dogs to interact with other people and dogs and understand the benefits of neutering."

The group begins in Ward 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at Roberto Clements Park, at West 38th Street and Seymour Avenue. The first 200 pit bulls to arrive will be vaccinated. Up to 50 owners can have a pit heartworm tested for just $3.

Dog trainers and behavior experts will be there to answer questions.

In Ohio over the last seven years, 80 percent of the 57 dogs that killed or seriously injured people were pit bulls, according to media reports compiled by Animal People newspaper editor Merritt Clifton.