The Florida House has unanimously passed a bill (HB 593) that requires the impounding of dogs that have injured or killed someone. It also requires owners of dogs classified as dangerous to buy $100,000 in liability insurance.
An identical bill is working it way through the Senate (SB 572) but has not reached a final vote.
The bills honor Putnam County postal employee Pam Rock, who was killed while delivering mail in 2022 in Interlachen. The Senate bill awaits a full vote of the chamber.
Pam Rock’s brother, Tom Rock, encouraged lawmakers on the Senate’s Fiscal Policy Committee to vote for the bill.
“How many more families need to endure this pain,” he said, joining other family members in wearing a “Pam Rock 1961-2022” memorial T-shirt. “How many more people like Pam will die by just doing their job, delivering mail, packages and knocking on a door — knock, knock, knock. You have the power today to say yes. Move this bill forward; make Florida more safe for our seniors and families.”
More from Jax Today
Pam Rock, 61, was killed in August 2022 when five dogs got out of a fenced-in yard in the Putnam County community and attacked the postal worker after her mail truck had broken down on a dirt road, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said. The dogs were later put down.
Two years later, the Melrose post office where Rock worked was named in her honor. The name change was sponsored by Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach and signed by President Joe Biden in 2024, WUFT reported.
After Rock’s death, her 13 brothers and sisters lobbied the Florida Legislature to pass what was called the “Pam Rock Act,” which sought creation of a statewide dangerous dog database and quicker investigations into dangerous dogs. The bill did not pass in 2024, but Rep. Judson Sapp, R-Putnam, reintroduced it this year.
The bill contains a number of requirements:
- An animal must be confiscated and impounded when it is being investigated as a dangerous dog and has killed a person or has bitten and left a mark that scores 5 or higher on the Dunbar bite scale.
- An animal that is subject to any other dangerous dog investigations must be confiscated and impounded.
- An animal control authority must notify the owner of the final order classifying their dangerous dog by registered mail or certified hand delivery.
- The owner of a dog classified as dangerous must obtain liability insurance of at least $100,000 and implant a microchip in the dog. The bill creates a third-degree felony for the removal of the microchip.
- An animal control authority must humanely destroy a dangerous dog that has killed a person or has bitten them seriously and has been surrendered to an animal control authority.
The Senate’s Fiscal Policy Committee approved the bill 19-0.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
