The South Milwaukee City Council has reversed a controversial ban.

Residents are now free to own or adopt pit bulls.

The Pit Bull Ban went into effect in the 1990's. Councilmembers voted to remove it last week. 

In a post online, South Milwaukee Mayor Erik Brooks says the city doesn't have the resources to keep track of people's pets and even if they could, there's no scientific way to tell if a dog is even a pit bull at all.

Animal activists say lifting the ban is a step in the right direction to fighting the stigma surrounding pit bulls. 

"It's not based on science or fact...It doesn't prevent animals from biting."

The South Milwaukee Mayor says area dogs are subject to a "vicious dog ordinance."