Advocates saw Renee, a pit bull terrier mix, trot out of the Prince George’s County animal shelter with a volunteer on Monday on her way to her foster home. She was one of 13 dogs moved out of the county after being marked at risk of being euthanized.

She might be one of the last pit bulls that needs to be moved as Prince George’s County sunsets a nearly 30-year ban on the dogs. Prince George’s was the only county in Maryland that still had a ban on pit bulls, which is not a specific breed but an umbrella term generally applied to dogs with muscular bodies and broad heads.

The Prince George’s County Council passed a bill on Monday that will allow residents to adopt and foster pit bulls through a pilot program. The bill, which advocates call the Animal Control Modernization Act, will require pit bull owners to have a special permit, expand leash laws and increase fines for violations.

County Executive Aisha Braveboy still needs to sign the bill into law.

Advocates with Prince George’s Pet Unity Project have pushed for the ban to be lifted for years. The county was the largest jurisdiction in terms of population to still have a ban on the dogs, said Caitrin Conroy, the organization’s executive director.

“Breed bans have been proven ineffective for decades,” Conroy said in an email. “Every other major jurisdiction followed the data previously, removing their bans for laws that prioritize physical and fiscal safety.”

The county first passed a law banning pit bull terriers and mixes in 1996, according to county documents. Some officials and animal rights groups attempted to repeal the ban in 2019, according to a report from the county’s Department of the Environment, and the county stopped enforcement of the law in March 2023 due to a federal lawsuit.

The environment department estimates that there are already thousands of pit bulls in Prince George’s County. Maya Fiellin, a founding member of Pet Unity Project, said 1,154 had to be euthanized in 2023 and 742 in 2024 due to overcrowding in the county’s animal shelters. Advocates work with shelters to publicize when dogs need to be moved to surrounding counties, posting on social media and tagging a network of nearby volunteers, rescues and foster programs, Fiellin said.

Shelters are often overcrowded, and many staffers are overworked, said Fiellin, who lives in Northeast Washington, D.C. She adopted her pit bull, Banana, from the Prince George’s County shelter.

Maryland will no longer have any breed-specific bans once this bill takes effect, though rules on pets and leashes vary by jurisdiction. In Baltimore, dogs must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet in public areas.

Prince George’s County’s pilot program will allow pit bulls to be adopted and fostered, and some could be trained as service animals. The permit will require proof of microchipping, vaccination and spaying or neutering, and owners must also agree to safety inspections. Leash laws will also be more strict, limiting length to 10 feet.

If a dog owner doesn’t obtain a permit, they may be fined $300. Repeated violations could result in the dog’s impoundment or removal.