OAKLAND COUNTY, MI - A message on a digital billboard in Oakland County calling for a ban on pit bulls was taken down hours after it was put up following complaints from a nonprofit education group that backs the breed.

A message reading "BAN PIT BULLS" went up Friday, April 20, on a billboard located at Interstate 75 and the Grange Hall Road exit in the Holly area.

William Guzman, the man behind the message, said it was supposed to stay up for two days -- April 20-21 -- but it came down before day's end on Friday after pressure from animal advocates.

He put up the message in response to the state Senate approving a package of bills in March, including Senate Bill 741 that would prohibit local governments from enacting or enforcing any laws banning a specific breed.

"I think that the risk posed by pit bulls far outweighs the benefits," Guzman said, arguing the breed was "genetically engineered" to fight.

Guzman cited the risk of pit bull attacks as the "impetus" for a campaign he's leading, which includes the billboard and literature, to combat what he believes are media efforts to show a softer side of the animal.

He claimed the billboard message come down following an effort by Terry Hodskins, president and founder of the nonprofit Michigan Pit Bull Education Project.

Terry Hodskins

Hodskins confirmed she and others contacted the sign company to get the message taken off the billboard as soon as they were notified it'd gone up.

Unlike Guzman, she believes the media villainizes the dog breed.

She argued the media only mentions the breed of dog when a pit bull is involved in an incident and that other dog breeds often get mistaken for pit bulls.

"It's discrimination at its worst, at that point," said Hodskins, who sold an insurance company more than a decade ago to begin rescuing pit bulls and start the nonprofit education project that, in part, helps owners keep their dogs when faced with issues involving landlords, insurance or breed restrictions.

The breed-specific bill sponsored by state Sen. Dave Robertson, R-Grand Blanc, originally came up in 2014 after members of the Make Michigan Next coalition held a rally at the state Capitol and received a call from the senator to discuss his support. The bill died after not being called for a vote.

Some communities, such as Waterford Township in Oakland County and Tawas City in Iosco County have enacted bans on pit bulls, with several others labeling the breed "dangerous" or "vicious" and requiring an enclosed area or mandatory spaying or neutering for anyone who owns the breed.

Guzman said he would continue his opposition to the breed and was unfazed at threats posted on social media over the message.

"I've received a ton of threats, calls for violence," he said, sharing screengrabs of some of the comments left on social media. "There are even people that said they want to burn the billboard down."

The bill has been referred to the House committee on local government.