Florida Dog Laws

Correction:  Tuesday 2/28 13.59 *

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Ken Keechl was serving as Mayor of the Broward County Commissioners in 2008 when the County passed tough new dog legislation. During the next two years a total of 5,828 dogs were euthanized in Broward County for various reasons. Only 56 of those dogs (fewer than 1%) were euthanized under provisions of the new law, the majority of which were pit bulls and Rottweilers that had attacked children and family pets.

During the 2010 campaign Keechl faced stiff opposition from Chip LaMarca. The dog laws that Keechl ushered into law became a  campaign issue and LaMarca promised to revoke them. This earned him the enthusiastic support of pit bull advocacy groups, and in November 2010 LaMarca defeated Keechl. In January 2011 LaMarca pushed through a revision of the dog ordinance which removed the existing provisions and replaced them with softer Dangerous Dog Laws. Under LaMarca's new law, dogs can attack a human, or kill a pet, and return to the safety of their home.

This, of course, is exactly the point! -- It's exactly what the heavily-financed and highly sophisticated pit bull lobby is working for. Across the country, pit bull advocacy groups are lobbying cities, counties, and states to roll back protections and to write laws which will allow dogs that kill to return home. As a result, incidents like the recent attack in Lake Mary (see links below), or the attack which resulted in the death of Roy McSweeney near Hawthorne, by pit bulls which were known to be dangerous, will continue with numbing frequency in Florida.


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Related posts: Lake Mary; Lake Mary II; Gameness VIII

Related Post: Pit bulls that maul Hawthorne man involved in other attacks, police say

Related Posts: Dangerous Dog Laws

Google News: Today's pit bull attacks


Correction: SRUV received the following email from Chip LaMarca:

Sir,
I would like to offer my comments [about] the new ordinance that was revised in 2010.  The ordinance does not allow an attack on a human being.  The changes were specifically intended to deal with the issue of altercations or attacks between two animals.  I appreciate your communication and look forward to any questions that you might have.

Best regards,
Chip LaMarca

Lake Mary: II

Florida statutes require that the animal 
be involved  in more than one attack
 before we can deem the dog dangerous.
Morgan Woodward, Seminole County Animal Services

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Mr Woodward's explanation was offered after the attack described in the previous post. The attack by three pit bulls resulted in the death of a Bedlington Terrier named Chewy, in her own front yard. This attack followed eight complaints to Animal Control against the pit bulls in the previous half year.

It appears that the Florida lawmakers did not anticipate situations like this when they passed Dangerous Dog Laws (DDL) allowing dogs "one free kill," as the phrase prosaically puts it.

This means that the injured parties must seek recourse through the courts, if any is to be found. The steps that the injured party could pursue, based on similar successful cases across the country, might include:

• Discover the provenance of the three pit bulls. Were they adopted from a shelter or rescue? If so, that shelter might bear liability for the attack for adopting out a dangerous dog.
• Did Seminole County make contact with the owner of the pit bulls, Kathy Hammond, following any of the eight complaints? What was the resolution of that contact? Were any citations issued?
• Did the Hammonds adopt the pit bulls from Seminole County Animal Services? And if this is the case, could this be the reason that SCAS has not issued citations after eight complaints?
• How did the owner of the pit bulls come to have three pit bulls? Is she an irresponsible hoarder? Are the Hammonds backyard breeders? Were the dogs registered and in compliance with immunization requirements? Were the dogs neutered? None of these questions were answered in the initial news coverage.
• Get a good attorney. Do your research and be sure that the attorney has NOT previously worked on behalf of pit bull owners.
• In the case of Chewy, the owners could reasonably claim that the county failed to protect them, and therefore also bears liability.

Florida state laws limit the ability of Animal Services to protect our more vulnerable animal companions and the public from pit bulls. But eight complaints? Surely after eight complaints Seminole County Animal Services should have recognized that these dogs posed a danger to the community?

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Previous post: Lake Mary

Sources: WESH.com Orlando, WKMG 6

Related Posts: Dangerous Dog Laws

Google News: Today's pit bull attacks

Lake Mary

Ken Foster Kara Holmquist Ledy VanKavage Wayne Pacelle BSL breed specific pit bull attack nanny dog America's dog

There's a lady out here. She's being attacked

by a bunch of dogs. She's screaming. There's blood.

WESH.com

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Revised: Jan 4, 2013; 19:51 GMT

That would not be a pack of Golden Retrievers attacking her.

Chewy, a Bedlington Terrier, was attacked in her front yard in Seminole County, Florida by three pit bulls on January 11th. The owner of the pit bulls, Kathy Hammond, was unable to stop the attack and screamed for help.

The responding officer hit the dogs with a baton, to no avail. The officer then shot two of the dogs in self defense. Chewy died later that day in the arms of her owner.

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Attacks such as this are so common that they barely deserve notice. But details of the case illustrate how many communities fail to protect our more vulnerable animal companions and our communities.

Chewy lived with her family, the Brabbs, in an upper middle-class neighborhood in Lake Mary. The owner of the pit bulls, Kathy Hammond, lives across the street at 456 Gehr Lane. Neighbors in the community have lodged eight complaints with Animal Control since June: that's roughly a complaint a month for over half a year.

According to Seminole County Animal Services, Hammond may be issued a citation as a result of the attack, perhaps for allowing her three pit bulls to run loose.

Even now, the surviving dog cannot be declared vicious.

"Florida statutes require that the animal be involved in more than one attack before we can deem the dog dangerous," said Morgan Woodward of Seminole County Animal Services.

A pit bull which has had eight complaints lodged against it, and which then participates in a killing, is not thought to be dangerous?

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We have all heard the phrase certain truths are self-evident.

The horror of this attack lies not only in the attack itself (and the death of Chewy), but in the legislation that protects dogs which kill, and then returns those dogs to the safety and comfort of their homes.

Pit Bull advocacy groups lobby forcefully against Breed Specific Legislation (BSL),  and lobby instead for Dangerous Dog Legislation (DDL) like that of Seminole County. Not only do they lobby against BSL; they offer to assist communities in crafting DDL legislation which would protect Chewy's killer. And too many communities have accepted their help.

This madness is equivalent to allowing, or rather inviting, Enron or Halliburton to help craft the country's energy policy.

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Sources: WESH.com Orlando, WKMG 6

Google News: Today's pit bull attacks

Escape Artists: VII

He said he hasn't heard from her since.

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On the afternoon of Aug. 31, 85-year old Joseph Marshall Thompson took Roscoe to his favorite playground, which they've gone to for the past 13 years.

When Thompson opened the back door of his car to let Roscoe out three pit bulls charged him, according to a Baltimore County police report. Police said Thompson was knocked to the ground and bitten and clawed on both hands and legs as he tried to cradle his daughter's dog in an effort to protect it.

Authorities said the pit bulls attacked the schnauzer, tearing its windpipe and biting into its spine and breaking several of the dog's ribs and damaging its lungs.

Thompson said he considered Roscoe the equivalent of a grandson.

The owner is a Caucasian woman in her 20s with light hair who's about 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 130 pounds.

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Source: WBAL TV

Good Neighbors

He didn't come through the gate, he came over the fence.

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BAYARD, Iowa -- Jack Smith said he felt helpless as he watched his dog take its last breath.

"He was just something else. He's irreplaceable." said Smith.

The two were walking down the alley behind the Smith's home when the unthinkable happened; a pit bull living two houses down jumped the fence and attacked Jake.

"It had my dog by the neck. Thirty seconds, and the dog was dead," said Smith. "We had a tussle. I was afraid he would mutilate the dog, and I didn't want that."

Smith struggled with the pit bull for about five minutes, trying to free his lifeless dog. Smith said the pit bull bit his hands as he tried to grab Jake from the dog's mouth.

"This is probably what's so hard for me to take. I was right there and I could hear the bones cracking. It's different if you walk out and find your dog dead, but I was in the middle of it and I couldn't do a thing."

The pit bull is being quarantined for 10 days and then will be released back to its owner.

The owner of the pit bull declined a request for an on-camera interview, but called it an unfortunate situation for both families.

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Compiled from various sources, including KCCI8 Des Moines,

Witness

Jesse Lorange and his Shih Tzu, Bailey, appear in this undated photo.

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People who live in a south-Ottawa apartment building are angry after a neighbour's pit bull attacked and killed a small dog -- while the 11-year-old owner watched in horror.

Jesse was taking Bailey for a stroll after school on Wednesday when he encountered a woman walking three dogs, including two pit bulls.

Suddenly one pit bull broke free from its leash and attacked, going for Bailey's throat. The Shih Tzu was dead moments later in what witnesses say was an unprovoked attack.  The 10-year-old American red nose pit bull, Tyrus, wasn't wearing a muzzle, in violation of provincial law.

The Ontario government issued a pit bull ban in 2005. The law prohibits breeding, importing or abandoning pit bulls in Ontario, and requires a muzzle for existing pit bulls when in public .

Charlie Mayer told us the dog belongs to his daughter. He also admitted to having a pit bull of his own, and said that the dogs had never behaved violently before. "In the past, it was very controllable," he said. Mayer now faces the possibility of eviction.

"I feel really weird, upset, complicated, confused," Jennifer Mayer said Thursday. "My hands are tied. If it was my choice, I'd be keeping my dog."

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Compiled from various news sources, including CTV Ottawa, CBC News, and the Toronto Sun.

Over, Under, Through

Revised: Dec 18, 2013; 22:20 GMT

Joshua Tate, 25, of Phelan holds one of two dogs that survived a pit bull attack where the pit bulls dug under a fence, entered the garage and forced opened the door to the kennel and killed Tate's dog last Friday in Phelan.

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OAK HILLS • Seth Tate, 19, arrived home recently to a sight that appalled him: his brother’s black Scottish Terrier dead on the garage floor.

The dog’s throat was ripped open, and two other pit bull-type dogs Tate recognized as belonging to his neighbors were hovering over the dead pet, according to Seth Tate's father, Dan Tate.

What was especially concerning to the Tate family was that the two pit bull-type dogs had apparently dug their way through a hole below their fence, made their way into the open garage and broke open the kennel that the terrier, Jax, had been locked inside.

Pam Hoffman, spokeswoman with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Victor Valley station, said deputies responded to the incident around 5:10 p.m. Friday. They found the pit bulls next door covered in blood, she said.

But she noted sheriff’s officials will not get involved in animal attacks unless they find there to be a criminal element.

“Two pit bulls had dug under the fence and broke into a kennel and killed a dog at the location, but then we turned everything over to (San Bernardino County) Animal Control,” Hoffman said. “Viscious dogs are not criminal, unless we could prove that the owners knew that the animals were vicious and didn’t do anything about it — then we might be able to get criminal (charges) — but it’s pretty difficult.”

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Source:
This article was originally published in the VV Daily Press.

Statistics:
Statistics quoted on SRUV are from the 30+ year, continuously updated Dog attack deaths and maimings, U.S. & Canada, published by Animal People. To view or download the current PDF click here. This page may also include information from Dogsbite and Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

Information on euthanasia rates is from Pit bulls and Political Recklessness, by Merritt Clifton. Shelter  intake and euthanasia rates are published annually in the July/August edition of Animal People.

Google News: Today's pit bull attacks in the US

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Jack Russell

Judge Rules Pit Bull Not Dangerous After Attack in Pecos 4/5/11

Meron Berkson
CBS 7 News
mberkson@cbs7.com
April 5, 2011

PECOS - A decision has been made after a Pit Bull attacked and killed a Jack Russell Terrier at a Humane Society Mobile Care Unit in Pecos.

The owner of the Jack Russell filed a civil suit trying to get the Pit Bull euthanized claiming it was a “dangerous dog”. According to State law, a dog is considered dangerous if it attacks a human, not an animal. But the case of attacking another animal could be brought to a judge for further review.

After a neighbor’s testimony about the Pit Bull and Animal Control said the dog did not seem harmful in their care, the judge ruled that it was not a “dangerous dog” and ordered the owner to pay for the vet bills. The dog was returned to its owner.