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Area legislators plan to toughen dog laws
Responding to Partlow woman's fatal mauling, lawmakers want to change state code for owners of dogs that attack peopleDate published: 3/15/2005
In the wake of the mauling death of a Spotsylvania County woman by three pit bulls, a local lawmaker says he will introduce legislation in the next General Assembly session to provide increased criminal punishments for owners of dogs that attack people. Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, said he will put in a bill in the 2006 session to allow prosecutors to charge the owners of those animals with a crime. "This isn't right. This is horrible. Not only is the situation horrible, but if the law is as we think it is now, there's a serious gap in the law in Virginia," Houck said. "I'm astounded that the state law is as weak as it is." Houck said Spotsylvania Commonwealth's Attorney William Neely told him that current Virginia law does not give localities the authority to charge dog owners who allow dangerous dogs to roam freely. Had there been such a criminal statute in place, Houck said, Neely could have prosecuted under it with perhaps more confidence than he can put in the involuntary manslaughter charge he has brought. "From the comments I've seen that he's made about that, is somewhat questionable," Houck said. "I don't think there's any case law out there on involuntary manslaughter as it relates to vicious animals like this. Something has to be done. This just isn't right." A bill that would have allowed prosecutors to charge dog owners with a Class 1 misdemeanor if their dogs physically injured another person died last year in a House committee. Del. Bobby Orrock, R-Caroline, voted for that bill, and said it's appropriate to make animal owners--whether the animals are dogs, cattle or any other animal--responsible and liable for those animals' actions. He also said it's unfortunate that it took such an incident to bring such legislation back to the forefront. "It's trying to penalize after the problem has occurred," Orrock said, adding that what is really needed is to make sure owners are responsible for their pets so such situations can be avoided. Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, said he thinks the state code needs changing to give prosecutors more tools to deal with pet owners in such situations. "I definitely think there ought to be some stiff penalties if your dogs attack someone and either seriously injure them or kill them, there ought to be something more substantial than a $250 fine," Cole said. "That's definitely a hole in the code we need to try to address." He said he will look into introducing legislation of his own in the 2006 session. In the meantime, Cole agrees with Neely's decision to charge the dog owner with involuntary manslaughter. He said he hopes the victim's family will file a civil suit against the dog owner. To reach CHELYEN DAVIS: 804/782-9362 cdavis@freelancestar.com
Date published: 3/15/2005
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