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PARMA, Ohio– Residents of Parma voted against repealing the city’s long-standing ban on pit bulls.

The resolution failed by 21 votes, according to unofficial Cuyahoga County Board of Elections results Tuesday night. It was 5,876 for and 5,897 against with 100 percent of precincts reporting and absentee ballots counted.

Click here for more May primary election results

The breed-specific legislation, which has been on the books for more than three decades, will remain in effect.

Parma Mayor Tim DeGeeter pursued the ballot initiative last fall to let voters decide whether to allow pit bulls, defined as American Staffordshire terriers, the Staffordshire bull terriers and the bull terriers.

Last year, Lakewood and Rocky River repealed similar ordinances that labeled the breed as vicious.

More stories about pit bull bans here