Terry, MS

[MeSheLL]

Fw: Terry, MS
Posted by: "lor" [e-mail] presdlcc
Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:58 am (PDT)

To: bsl-updates- owner@yahoogroup s.com
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 10:16 AM
Subject: Terry, MS

Terry residents lobby for vicious-dog legislation
Nicole Spinuzzi • nspinuzzi@jackson. gannett.com • July 24, 2008

Ever since Allen Kelly was mauled by two pit bulls in December 2005, he and his wife, Cathy, have been fighting to get a state law that just might help save a life, Cathy Kelly said.

The Kellys of Terry are strong advocates for House Bill 1364, which died in February in the House Agriculture Committee.

State Rep. Jim Ellington, R-Raymond, who sponsored the bill that would place more restrictions on vicious dogs, said he plans to reintroduce it in the Legislature in January.

The bill defines a vicious dog as one that has shown a tendency to attack unprovoked, to cause injury or to otherwise endanger the safety of people or other animals. It gives law enforcement the authority to euthanize animals if necessary. The bill also requires vicious dogs be confined at all times in most subdivisions and that anyone who owns a vicious dog place "beware of dog" signs on their property.

If made into a law, violators would face a maximum $5,000 fine and imprisonment in the penitentiary for up to three years or in the county jail for up to one year.

But Ellington said Tuesday night's mauling that left 3-year-old Tony Evans Jr. dead could not have been prevented even if the bill had passed.

"We had modeled the bill after a Hinds County ordinance. So, therefore, (the law) would have been statewide instead of just Hinds County," Ellington said. "Hinds County had the kind of restrictions we were trying to place on the whole state. It obviously didn't work."

The Hinds County ordinance, which is not breed specific, says all dangerous dogs must be securely confined by the owner. Animal control determines what constitutes a vicious dog, generally when the dog poses a threat to public safety and/or has injured a human. If the dog is considered dangerous, then the owner must register the dog.

Violations can result in up to 90 days in jail and $3,000 in fines.

The Hinds ordinance would not have applied to the attack on Tuesday night. Jackson has its own ordinance, passed on June 27, 2006, that requires owners of dangerous dogs to register them with the city's animal control authority and to keep their dogs indoors or in an enclosure.

The city ordinance does not ban pit bulls or list any breeds as dangerous. However, it allows animal control officers to deem a dog dangerous if it has attacked a person or domestic animal or if it acts menacingly without being provoked.

Violations are punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $200 fine for a first offense and up to 90 days and a $1,000 fine for a third offense.

Richland banned pit bulls from its city more than two years ago, Mayor Mark Scarborough said.

Scarborough said previous pit bull attacks in Richland motivated passage of the ordinance.

Ellington said he hopes Tuesday's mauling will give House Agriculture Committee Chairman Greg Ward more motivation to pass the bill next year.

Efforts to reach Ward for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Cathy Kelly said she and her husband will continue to push for the bill when it gets to the Legislature again, especially since a young boy's life was claimed.

"We knew it was a matter of time before someone got killed," Cathy Kelly said. "I know that there's always some good that comes out of something terrible.

"This law that we're trying to pass is not going to prevent all of (incidents), but it might deter somebody from having a pit bull. If it deters even one person, it's worth going through the trouble."

To comment on this story, call Nicole Spinuzzi at [phone].

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080724/NE...