Let me start by saying that I am not the most familiar with dangerous dog laws in Virginia but I am extremely familiar with the lack of help for victims. I know this because I was the victim of a vicious dog attack on August 24, 2015 in the middle of the street in front of my home in Danville, VA. I am still a victim of that same attack. It took less than 3 minutes for a neighbor's pit bull that was running loose in a city with a leash law and a tethering law to attack me. it took less than 3 minutes for the owner's son to see the dog attacking me and to run out of his shoes to get in his house and close his door, leaving me there to face that attacking dog on my own with no help. It took less than 3 minutes for life as I had known it to be turned upside down by a vicious dog, a dog that the owner admitted in court had been taught to protect its property and people. I was in the middle of a public road and of no danger to either his property or his people. This dog was not kept in the home and the dog was not kept in a fence, he was simply tethered with a chain that he got off of. I spent 24 days in the hospital due to sepsis that almost costed me my foot. I was out of work for 3 months. I used all of my savings, maxed out my credit cards, borrowed money, got help from family and friends just to survive for 3 months with no income and all of that added expense. It has been almost 5 years and I haven't recovered much financially. Physically I have my foot but I have permanent nerve and tendon damage that causes constant pain and discomfort that I have just had to learn to deal with without medical help because I can't afford the doctor. My kidneys recovered after a couple of months but I live in constant fear of them shutting down again due to the injury they sustained. I suffer from PTSD and panic attacks. I cry daily for so many reasons, the physical pain, the overwhelming fear, the financial stress, the guilt of surviving when so many don't from these attacks. I struggle with the polar opposites of feeling blessed with surviving and such a miraculous recovery and the feeling of being cursed because I will never be financially stable again unless another miracle happens. I watch almost daily as the owner of the dog buys new things, takes vacations, lives a life that I only dream of now all because a judge decided my case should be dismissed and I should not receive any compensation. Had there been a registry maybe I would have known to watch out for that dog, had the laws been stricter perhaps that dog would have been in fence instead of tethered and would not have been running loose, had there been stricter laws perhaps my life would have been worth more than a $100 fine. I sit here typing this crying because I think of how horrible things are for me and how much worse it is and will be for so many more and my heart aches for each of them. We need stricter laws, we need registries, we need to protect innocent people in our communities. I was and am a victim of a vicious attack by a dog that could have very easily killed me, and in so many ways he did. I am not who I was. I don't go for those long walks around the neighborhood anymore, I can't take my grandchildren places, I urinate on myself if I am surprised by a dog in a car as I walk through a parking lot to my car. I tense up everytime my phone rings wondering which collector it is this time that is going to tell me that the fact that I was attacked by a dog does not negate the fact that the bill is owed. We need laws that are stronger, that help the victims, that protect the victims. Once attacked by a vicious dog a person is never who they were and that is all we want to be is who we were before. Again I say I am not very knowledgeable about the laws but I am very knowledgeable about how they have somehow managed to allow me to become victimized a second time and because of that I still can not decide if my survival is my blessing or my curse because most days I wish that dog had killed me because this is not a life. If my story helps you understand anything I hope that it helps you understand that I believe that all life has value but, with that said, no life has the right to victimize another. We need stricter laws to protect our children, our elderly, our citizens everywhere of all ages from these vicious dogs. We need disclosure about the history of rescues so that they do not get transported and adopted by people that become victims. I don't want anyone to ever feel like this ever.