The City of Kearney asked residents to respond to a Polco poll they created to help Aldermen with the decision to repeal the current pit bull ban or keep it in place.

To ensure that city officials received responses from residents living inside Kearney city limits and to avoid fraud and ballot box stuffing, only answers from verified respondents were considered.

City Administrator Shelia Ernzen reported that the poll received a total of 950 responses. Out of those responses only 450 were verified responses. Out of those responses, 407 were from residents who lived inside the city limits.

According to the poll, 58% of the respondents strongly support a repeal of the pit bull ban and 33% strong support keeping the ban.

Respondents to the poll also said that if the ban is repealed then they wanted stronger leash laws, mandatory dog registrations, and harsher penalties for dog bites.

This was an opinion poll and not a vote to change policy or the pit bull ordinance. No discussion or action was taken by the Aldermen at the meeting.