Dog Bites, Dog Attacks, and Dog Maulings – What to Do

08 Apr Dog Bites, Dog Attacks, and Dog Maulings – What to Do

Yesterday afternoon, the Texas Legislature opened a bill related to vicious dogs to public hearing. Known as House Bill 1982, and introduced by Representative Fischer (D-San Antonio), the vicious dogs bill would require the registration, significant restraint, and insurance for dogs described as vicious.

This bill follows several tragic vicious dog events, including the dog mauling of a seven month old child, and a dog attack of a ten year-old child while riding his bike, both of which have occured in the past couple weeks.

The bill originally included language to define breeds of dogs, including Rotweillers and Pit Bull terriers, but this language has since been struck. Instead, vicious dogs are generally defined as:

• capable of causing serious injury
• overly aggressive
• has committed unprovoked acts previously
• owner is aware that the dog is likely to attack or bite

Under the constraints of the bill, a vicious dog must be registered with the county, must be properly restrained in an enclosure, and must be insured for at least $100,000 in liability coverage. If the dog attacks unprovoked and while unsecured, the bill increases the penalty to a second degree felony and up to tewnty years inprisionment.

Yet the bill does NOT apply in situations where

– Dog is to protect a home and the act was committed in the dog’s enclosure (so long as victim is at least 15 years old);

– A person over the age of 15 trespasses into the dog’s enclosure;

– Use for law enforcement procedures, including arrests;

– Defense of the owner’s property;

– A child trespasses into the enclosure despite reasonable measures to prevent trespassing by a child.

Though reaction was mixed at yesterday’s public hearing, the Rasansky Law Firm stands firmly behind the bill, supporting past and present victims with an eye to preventing as many future dog-related incidents as possible. Dog owners should be held responsible for the acts of their animals, and this bill provides serious consequences for owner neglience and carelessness.