New bill seeks to stiffen dangerous dogs laws

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Another bill to stiffen the state’s dangerous dogs laws has been filed in the Florida Legislature for the session that started on Tuesday, March 4.
Senate Bill 572, co-introduced on Feb. 10 by Republican Senators Jay Collins and Tom Wright, would make dog owners liable for any damage caused by their dogs to persons, domestic animals or livestock.
What’s more, if a dog owner has knowledge of a dog’s dangerous propensities, the animal must be securely confined in a proper enclosure, per the bill.
States HB 572, “The Legislature finds that dangerous dogs are an increasingly serious and widespread threat to the safety and welfare of the people of this state because of unprovoked attacks
See BILL page 3
which cause injury to persons and domestic animals.”
It further finds that such attacks are in part attributable to the failure of owners to confine and properly train and control their dogs, and that existing laws inadequately address the growing problem. Hence the necessity for the state to impose uniform requirements, the bill states.
Per HB 572, the proper enclosure of a dangerous dog means that while on the owner’s property, the dog must be securely confined by such means as keeping it indoors or in a locked, fenced yard, suitable to prevent the entry of young children and designed to prevent the dog from escaping over, under, or through the fence; or in an otherwise securely enclosed space or locked pen or structure suitable to prevent the entry of young children and designed to prevent the dog animal from escaping.
The bill makes it so that an animal that is the subject of a dangerous dog investigation may be immediately confiscated by an animal control authority and placed in quarantine, if necessary, for the proper length of time, or impounded and held.
An animal that is not impounded with the animal control authority must be humanely and safely confined by the owner in a proper enclosure, pending the outcome of the investigation and the resolution of any hearing or appeals.
If a dog is determined to be dangerous, it must be included in a statewide Dangerous Dog Registry, and if it is classified as a dangerous dog due to an incident that caused severe injury to a human being, it must be destroyed in an expeditious and humane manner.
Furthermore, upon issuance of the final order classifying the dog as dangerous or the conclusion of any appeal that affirms such final order, the animal owner must obtain liability insurance coverage in an amount of at least $100,000 to cover any damages resulting from an attack by the dog. The person must also provide proof of the required liability insurance coverage to the animal control authority for the area in which the dog is kept.
Finally, if a dog that has not been declared dangerous attacks and causes severe injury to, or the death of, a human, and the owner of the dog had knowledge of the dog’s dangerous propensities yet failed to secure the dog in a proper enclosure, the owner of the dog will have committed a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable by law.
This latest amendment to the law comes in response to the mauling death of an eight-year boy in Volusia County by two dogs while the boy was riding his bike in his neighborhood. Other dog attacks leading to deaths have also been recorded in the state in recent years.