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LAKEWOOD — Otis the dog, shocked with a Taser on July 25 by a Lakewood police officer, will be released at 1 p.m. today and removed from the city, his owner and the prosecutor's office said.
In a deal with prosecutors, Otis' owner, Daniel Kier, 36, will appear in Lakewood Municipal Court to answer charges of allowing his dog to run loose and harboring a dangerous dog in the city. The harboring charge may be dropped. A hearing is set for Aug. 25.

Kier admits he failed to secure a door, allowing the dog to escape. But he said Otis was acting scared, not vicious, when the officer encountered him near an intersection not far from Kier's home.

"He was so easy to train and he's been the best-behaved dog I've ever had," Kier said today, minutes before he headed to the Lakewood Animal Shelter to pick up Otis.

Lighthouse Boxer Rescue will care for Otis for a couple of weeks, until Kier moves out of Lakewood. He wouldn't say where he and Otis will live.

The city bars residents from acquiring more pit bulls. The dangerous dog law enacted last year requires residents to register their pit bulls. Registered, well-behaved pits can remain in the city, but police confiscate unregistered dogs, which are then shipped out of town or destroyed.

Kier did not register Otis because he insists Otis is a boxer, not a pit bull. If Kier were convicted of having a dangerous dog, a judge could have ordered Otis destroyed.

A Lakewood officer shot and killed a dog in 2006, before the department had Tasers, Capt. Edward Hassing said

I don't know what to say about this. The law is the law. Dogs will be dogs. Everyone, including myself, thinks their dog isn't dangerous.

I know what to say. Breed specific legislation disgusts me! It is no different than saying one race of people are more prone to criminal activity than another. It is a stereotype. If the city of Lakewood truely believed Pitbulls were a dangerous breed they would not allow "well behaved Pits" to remain in the city. They would destroy all existing ones and not allow any others in. All dogs are well behaved until they do something someone doesn't like, just like people. My dogs are well behaved until someone attempts to attack me or enters my home without my permission.

They don't even believe Otis is a Pitbull. Why else would they be considering dropping the harbouring charge? I'm thankful the officer chose to taser the dog instead of killing him.

Sorry. Stepping off my soapbox now.

Oh, BTW, I believe BSL is illegal in Texas. If I can find a reference I will post it.

EDITED:
Found it!

§ 822.047. LOCAL REGULATION OF DANGEROUS DOGS.
A county or municipality may place additional requirements or restrictions on dangerous dogs if the requirements
or restrictions:
(1) Are not specific to one breed or several breeds of dogs; and
(2) are more stringent than restrictions provided by this subchapter.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 916, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.