Muzzle or nuzzle?

Ethan Eddy sees the fear. It's there almost every time he walks Maggie and Toby, the pitbulls he adopted, around his Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Sometimes all it takes is the silhouette of their signature boxy heads.

"One woman started screaming, 'Get that thing away from me. That thing needs to be killed; there's no place for that in the city!' " Eddy recalled.

So when news of a pitbull attack in Hyde Park Friday spread, triggering a torrent of complaints to city officials and prompting calls for tougher animal-control laws, Eddy's heart sank.

Today, the City Council takes up a proposal that would require pitbull owners to muzzle their dogs in public, spay or neuter them, and post warning signs outside their homes -- reopening a recurring argument over a breed that has inspired fierce public debates.

Pitbull owners like Eddy say their dogs are no more prone to attacks than any other. But opponents cite statistics showing pitbulls have attacked in Boston more than any other breed.

"I have gotten calls about this all weekend long," said City Councilor Rob Consalvo of last week's attack near a Waterloo Street apartment complex. In that attack, a pitbull bit an exterminator, then mauled a small dog outside, and bit an animal-control officer before police shot and killed the dog.

"The bottom line is there's a problem, and we need to start admitting there's a problem," said Consalvo, who sponsored the measure to be voted on today. He said seven attacks have occurred in his district in the past year. Consalvo represents Hyde Park and parts of Roslindale and West Roxbury.

Animal rights activists nationwide have argued for years against attempts to restrict pitbulls, saying such rules unfairly blame a category of dogs for attacks they say are better attributed to abusive or neglectful owners. And in some cases, the courts have supported that argument. In Lynn, ordinances banning and restricting pitbull ownership were struck down by the Supreme Judicial Court in 1989 because, the court ruled, there were no scientific means for determining which dogs are pitbulls.

Still, some restrictions have been put into place. In 2002, the state Department of Social Services began following guidelines that disqualify adoptive parents who own pitbulls, Rottweilers, or German shepherds because they are considered "high bite" breeds.

Many pet owners and animal rights advocates say restrictions tend to be adopted in the wake of attacks, when fears run high. Several of those advocates criticized today's City Council proposal, saying it would not stem the number of attacks, because most are perpetrated by unlicensed dogs, whose owners are unlikely to conform with additional restrictions. The pitbull in the most recent attack in Boston was not registered or immunized.

"If they're not going to invest a couple of dollars in a license and vaccinations, they certainly aren't going to invest in a sign," said Kara Holmquist, director of advocacy for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Holmquist and other advocates said they recommend tougher penalties for violations of leash laws, more animal control officers, and a crackdown on unregistered dogs in the city. Holmquist said thousands of dogs are unlicensed in Boston, with some estimates running as high as 22,000. City animal control officials said that of the 8,000 registered dogs, about 5 percent, or 411, are pitbulls.

Saying the city should not single out pitbulls, City Councilor Maura A. Hennigan filed her own proposed ordinance yesterday. Her initiative would increase fines for leash violations and dog bites, and also require animal control to launch an education program to encourage citizens to report dogs that are off-leash. "To just go after pitbulls doesn't make any sense," she said.

But Consalvo argued that current laws are not enough to stop pitbull attacks. Boston law requires all dogs on public property to be on a leash, but Consalvo said some pitbulls strike whether or not they are leashed.

The name pitbull refers to several types of dog, including American pitbull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, and Staffordshire bull terriers. They are often the dog of choice for gang members, who may train them to fight and use them to ward off neighbors and adversaries, the city's animal control director said.

But in recent years, pitbulls have become more popular with responsible pet owners, said Alan Borgal, who has worked at the Animal Rescue League of Boston for nearly 30 years.

"Now they're all over the place," said Borgal, director of law enforcement for the rescue league. "A few years ago, I would not have expected a pitbull in that apartment in Hyde Park."

Borgal contends pitbull ownership is nothing but a passing fad. German shepherds were the guard dog of choice in the late '70s, he recalled. Then Doberman pinschers were favored, followed by Rottweilers, and now pitbulls.

Borgal was attacked twice by pitbulls in the late '90s, and suffered back injuries and nerve damage in his hand, but he said he still believes the dogs should not be singled out for restrictions. He said that a knee-jerk vote after last week's attack is not the way to go.

"People become very antidog in these situations, and you have to be careful," he said.

For Hyde Park resident Sandra Scaccia, the muzzling of pitbulls in city streets is anything but antidog. She said her 9-year-old chow, Jinx, was nearly killed last year by the same pitbull, named Bugsy, involved in last week's attack. She was walking Jinx last June when Bugsy raced across Neponset Valley Parkway and clenched his jaw around her dog's neck, she recalled. Bugsy's owners managed to pry him loose with a broomstick.

Scaccia heard the gunshots Friday and later saw the dog dead.

"I feel bad for the owners, but to some extent it was a relief because I no longer fear the dog is in the neighborhood," said Scaccia, a firm supporter of Consalvo's legislation.

But Eddy, the pitbull owner from Jamaica Plain, said that if the council passes the restrictions today and the mayor signs them into law, he would consider it a "slap in the face."

"Those of us who believe in the laws and would follow them are going to be the ones that are punished by this," he said. "My personal solution is, we're just going to move if this happens."

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.