|
Fate of 'dangerous dog' bill in House committee's control
BLAINE NEY "This is a good bill and I think it will pass if we can just get it out on the floor for discussion," said Mindy Gilbert, president of the Alabama Humane Federation and program coordinator for the Humane Society of the United States. She added, however, "Time is running out." The bill provides authorities a legal means to impound a dog if it has physically attacked an individual without provocation. It then calls for the dog to be euthanized if it caused serious physical harm; and if there was no serious injury and the dog is found by a required court hearing to be legally dangerous, it must be registered as a dangerous animal, confined to the owner's property and insured or bonded for at least $100,000 to cover any possible future attacks and resulting injury. The owner is also responsible for the cost of holding the animal while its impounded. "It puts the responsibility on the owners," Gilbert said. The bill's sponsor in the House, state Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said the bill's passage will end an era in Alabama where authorities have no means to hold a dog's owner responsible for its actions other than through leash laws. Ward said he chose to sponsor the bill after three people in his district were attacked by dogs that had attacked people before. "There was very little we could do to punish the owners," Ward said. "That seems very unfair to the people." Gilbert, who is a resident of Jasper, said she agrees. "(Cities and counties) need to have a tool to respond appropriately," she said. She mentioned, for example, an incident reported in The Decatur Daily late last week when a pit bull bit a teenager in Valhermoso Springs. The responding sheriff's deputy was then attacked and wounded by the same animal. "What gets me the most is that the officer, Gary Landers, told us he was just out there last week," Retta Knox, the mother of the 17-year-old victim of the dog's original attack, told The Decatur Daily following the incident. "'I just told him last week to do something with that dog!' Those were his words as he was sitting there, bleeding profusely from his hand." "Had the law been in place, this may not have happened this way," Gilbert said. The bill passed the Alabama Senate with a 19-8 vote despite objections from state Sen. Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb. Smith is quoted in an article of The Montgomery Advertiser as saying, "I think this bill's far-reaching. ... It will be declared a dangerous dog just for chasing somebody." Gilbert said this is incorrect, and indeed there is no line within the legislation that supports Smith's claim. The bill's definition of a dangerous dog is a "dog, regardless of its breed, that has bitten, attacked, or caused physical injury to a human being without provocation, or has repeatedly bitten or caused physical injury to humans." The legislation defines attack as "aggressive physical contact," not merely initiating chase. Ward said he has received "overwhelming support" for the bill while trying to push it during discussions with other representatives in hopes of it reaching the legislative docket in time. "I think, with bipartisan support, it stands a very good chance to pass," Ward said. (The bill's Senate sponsor was a Democrat, state Sen. Gerald Dial of Lineville.) However, there are only five days remaining in the legislative session. The bill is now in the hands of the House Rules Committee, which determines which bills make it to the House floor for consideration. House majority leader Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill, who chairs the committee, said he has yet to form a definitive opinion on the bill and could not say with any finality whether it would make it past the committee stage. "I plan to examine it some more in the coming days," he said. |