From Deseret News archives:
Bad dog! Registries tell the tale
Their mug shots, misdeeds and home addresses went online this month at the Virginia Dangerous Dog Registry, a new Web page modeled after the state's sex offender registry. It lets residents locate dogs in their county that have attacked a person or an animal, and that a judge has decided could cause injury again.
Created after dogs killed a toddler and an 82-year-old woman in separate incidents in the past two years, Virginia's registry is part of a growing effort by states to deal with dogs deemed dangerous. More than 25 states hold owners legally liable if their dogs maim or kill.
In the past two years, nearly 100 municipalities have taken similar steps — banning pit bulls, Rottweilers, English bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers or passing regulations that require owners to use muzzles or short leashes in public, according to the American Kennel Club.
In June, Texas responded to a November 2005 mauling death of a 76-year-old woman by enacting some of the harshest criminal penalties for delinquent dog owners, making it a felony with a possible 10-year prison sentence for anyone whose dog seriously injures a person while off its leash.
Counties in Florida and New York have also created publicly accessible dangerous dog registries like the one in Virginia, and legislators in Hawaii are considering one. Critics of the registries say that they invite harassment by neighbors and invade the privacy of dog owners.
"It seems a little unfair to single out a dog if they haven't done something in the past," said Jacqueline Short, 40, who lives in Newport News, Va. She is Bear's owner and says the bicyclist was her pet's first biting offense.
Now that Bear has been officially designated a dangerous dog, he must be muzzled and walked on a short leash when he is taken in public. But Short says the toughest requirement has been the $100,000 liability insurance that she now has to carry, which costs about $1,000 a year.
"Courts need to look at the dog's history and the severity of the incident," Short said, "and if the dogs haven't shown aggression in the past, then that should be taken into account before they are considered dangerous."
