The Georgia Canine Coalition (GCC) and its members support reasonable and enforceable animal laws and ordinances that hold accountable those irresponsible owners whose dogs aggressively attack and injure without provocation.
Preventing dog attacks should be everyone’s first goal, and a vital step in preventing attacks is an educational program that teaches dog owners how to have well-behaved dogs, why it is important to keep their dogs confined to their property or on a leash, and why it is important to always supervise the interaction of children and dogs.
Georgia law must, however, strike a reasonable balance that allows responsible Georgians to enjoy their ownership of dogs while affording protection to those who might be placed at risk.
Current Georgia law strikes that balance by classifying potentially dangerous dogs, dangerous dogs and vicious dogs, and placing restrictions on how owners must confine and handle dogs in each classification.
Local law-enforcement officers are responsible for ensuring compliance.
The Georgia House is currently considering House Bill 685 sponsored by Rep. Gene Maddox to better define dangerous and vicious dogs and eliminate the classification of potentially dangerous dogs.
New laws should be carefully drawn so as to avoid unintended consequences for responsible owners who contain their dogs either on their property or on a leash when off their property.
HB 685 seeks to identify those dogs that have caused an injury that is less than serious and also to identify those dogs that have aggressively attacked a person or injured a domestic animal on another’s land.
When a dog is classified as either dangerous or vicious, an animal control officer may act to protect the public while affording the owner the opportunity to comply with restrictions imposed by the law.
In crafting this bill, Maddox and his co-signers recognize reasonable exceptions for dogs engaged in and training as hunting, herding and predator control dogs; those used in law enforcement and military work; and dogs who injure a person committing a criminal offense.
We commend these legislators for realizing that not every dog that bites is dangerous.
The provisions of HB 685 more clearly identify dangerous and vicious dogs. In the 12 years I have served on the Gwinnett Animal Advisory Council, I’ve found that the laws that work best are those that are reasonable and enforceable.
While our primary goal should be teaching responsible dog ownership, we should have enforceable, reasonable and effective dangerous-dog laws to deal with irresponsible dog owners.
Gail LaBerge is president of the Georgia Canine Coalition.
About the Author
