Published: June 18, 2007 09:50 am         

New law would put bigger bite on biting dogs' owners

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

Today marks the 20th day following the final adjournment of the 80th legislative session; the significance of the date lies in the bills awaiting Gov. Rick Perry’s attention. Today is the last day he can either sign or veto bills passed during the previous legislative session.

While Perry has already signed bills pertaining to seatbelts on school buses, Texas Youth Commission reform and the creation of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, among other things, House Bill 1355 awaited the governor’s pen as of Friday.

Commonly known as “Lillian’s Law,” the bill requires all pet owners to secure their dogs on their property, even if they’ve not previously been declared dangerous dogs as well as provides harsher penalties if a dog causes serious bodily injury or death in an unprovoked attack off the pet owner’s property.

H.B. 1355 was given the moniker, “Lillian’s Law,” in memory of Lillian Stiles, 76, an Austin-area resident who was attacked and killed Nov. 26, 2005, outside her home by six pit bull/Rottweiler dogs.

“I think it will be a good bill,” remarked Mineral Wells Police Chief Jerry White. “Animal owners have got to take responsibility for their pets … [and their] pets’ actions.”

Currently, it is a Class C misdemeanor if a dangerous dog injures someone; it’s upgraded to a Class A misdemeanor if the dog causes serious injury or death. The current statute also requires that a dog to be officially declared dangerous; which requires a dog to have a prior, unprovoked attack for the definition of “dangerous dog.”

H.B. 1355 would provide that dog owners be held criminally responsible if their canine companions make an unprovoked attack upon a person at a location other than the owner’s property. It would become a third-degree felony for serious bodily injury and a second-degree felony for death.

The bill refers to unprovoked attacks off the pet owner’s property, as was the case in Stiles’ death, and if made into law, will only apply to offenses that occur after the bill’s effective date of September 1st. For attacks on premises, however, the bill doesn’t specify what a charge would be, if any.

Dog bites crop up in the Mineral Wells police reports from time to time, though to White’s recollection, none have resulted in the death of a resident. According to Mineral Wells Animal Control Officer Mike Mansfield, they have already seen between 20 and 25 cases of dog bites this year. When a dog bites someone, a report is made and the dog is held in quarantine for 10 days, he explained.

“The quarantine [area at the animal shelter] is almost always full,” he observed.

White noted that a police officer was bit as recent as three weeks ago while responding to a call for service. When the resident opened their door, “the dog came out and bit the officer on the hand,” he said. Following city ordinances, the dog was quarantined and a report filed, White added. For bites that required an officer to go to the hospital, White said he believed the city would seek restitution.

Another frequent victim of canine teeth often seen in news reports are the mail carriers. While the Mineral Wells Post Office couldn’t provide specific numbers on how many times or how frequently an employee is injured by a dog, one employee said they have a company policy that if a mail carrier “feels threatened, they will not deliver to that address.”

He added that it could impact delivery to nearby residences as well if the carrier felt threatened by a dog while taking mail to surrounding homes.

Dogs bit more than 3,184 mail carriers in 2006, according to the United States Postal Service.

One local mail carrier, Richie Starr, said he’s been attacked three or four times during his tenure with the USPS.

“I’ve been bit by a pit bull a year ago. I had to go to the hospital for a tetanus shot,” he recalled. In another encounter with a canine, Starr said a boxer came through a screen door when he approached another home. In the process of backing away from the dog, he fell and broke his tailbone.

According to Mansfield, they are seeing simple bites or puncture wounds when residents are attacked.

“We’ve had to have three or four people have to get rabies shots,” he said, though none of the animals they’ve tested for rabies – domestic or wild – have come back positive.

Both White and Mansfield agreed on the seriousness of biting dogs and the need for enforcement.

“We have a zero tolerance on biting dogs,” Mansfield commented. “An unprovoked bite on a public roadway, access or property will 100 percent of the time result in [legal action].”

White reiterated that pet owners have to take responsibility for their pets.

“This new law will be charging the owner,” he commented.