Senate bill targets harsher penalties for dogs attacks

Dayton resident Klonda Richey spent two years involved with police, courts and an animal resource center seeking protection from her neighbors and their mixed-mastiffs.

Richey believed the dogs were threatening or not receiving adequate care.

In February 2014, Richey was mauled to death by the dogs in her own front yard.

The owners of the dogs were not indicted by a grand jury and were charged instead with misdemeanors for failure to control the animals.

Ohio Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, shared Richey’s and others’ stories before the Senate Judiciary Committee Oct. 3. Beagle has introduced a bill he said would create a “more comprehensive penalty structure for nuisance, dangerous and vicious dogs, including more severe penalties for seriously injuring or killing a person, or killing a companion animal.”

“Because of these and several other tragic incidents not only in my district but across the state, I have worked diligently with county and state officials, prosecutors, dog wardens, law enforcement and humane officers, and an array of other individuals and organizations to create a better system to protect innocent Ohioans from dangerous or vicious dogs,” Beagle said.

Beagles said that under current code, dogs have “what has been described by those in the field as ‘one free growl, one free bite and one free kill.’”

“While it is not the intent of the law to punish good dogs and their owners from an isolated incident, giving dogs a ‘onetime pass’ causes dangerous dogs to get a second chance to harm someone.”

The harsher penalties include the possibility for:

• Dogs to be humanely destroyed when they kill a person

• Dogs to be humanely destroyed when the dog has caused injury or serious injury to another dog and has been recommended by a vet, registered vet technician or county dog warden after evaluation of the dog’s injury

• Owners to be charged with a fifth-degree felony on the first offense under certain conditions.

• Gives the tools to local authority to make the calls as to how to proceed with charges.

The bill would also change provocation to an affirmative defense, instead of being the burden of the prosecution.

Prevention measures include requiring every call to a dog warden generate an investigation or follow up. The bill would also require owners to respond to warnings or posting on the dwelling about their dogs within a “defined reasonable amount of time.” The bill clarifies that dog wardens have arresting authority.

Another proposal would require each dog that is deemed a dangerous dog to be registered and on file with a dangerous dog registration certificate each year and would establish penalties for not registering the dog.

The amount of time violent felons cannot own dogs would increase from three years to five years. Child abusers cannot own a dog for that same amount of time.

Beagle told the committee the changes come from requests from local authorities and those in the field.

“While it is not the intent of the law to punish good dogs and their owners from an isolated incident, giving dogs a ‘one-time pass’ causes dangerous dogs to get a second chance to harm someone.” — Ohio Sen. Bill Beagle