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Stakeholders are working on a bill for 2021 GA Session. In light of that effort, please consider these suggestions
2VAC5-620-30
2. l. Add language to specify that enclosure be constructed so as to prevent escape by the animal or contact between the animal and persons or other animals,
2. m. Add language to specify that signs be posted at all points of entry to the property,
2. n. Specify that verification the microchip has been registered to the owner of the dangerous dog is required.
2VAC5-620-50
4. Require that completion of the initial certification and all renewals must include visual inspection of the dangerous dog and the premises on which it is kept.
2VAC5-620-80
Removal or change to the dangerous dog registry would serve only to further reduce Virginia citizens’ already limited recourse when they or their domestic pets are injured or killed in a dog attack.
Virginia is one of only 4 states that allow for "contributory negligence" when people are harmed, e.g. parents you should have paid attention when Ring Dog Rescue posted that Leeloo must be “only dog,” or “no little humans with their sticky jelly fingers” and certainly “no kitties.” These euphemisms abound as shelter directors, afraid of losing their jobs or enduring harassment, struggle to place the large Molosser type dogs that appear to make up around 70% of canines in shelters in the US. Moreover, Virginia has the dubious distinction of joining the dwindling number of states that do not have strict liability for dog bites - -14 states, to be exact.
The horrific death of a 90-year-old Virginia Beach woman killed by an adopted Pit Bull who had been cycled thru several states, several times returned, and a violent history concealed, did result in a must-tell provision requiring disclosure of biting history. But then the president of the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies grudgingly did not oppose, but said “such incidences are rare.”
Well, 15 studies since 2011 from Level One Trauma Centers in every geographic area of the US say quite differently. The alarm has been raised in the medical community as to the disturbing increase in devastating injuries and morbidity from dog attacks. Being dispassionate trauma surgeons and unconcerned about being considered a “canine racist,” these studies are quite breed-specific and urge caution to parents considering adoption of the family pet. (References available).
Yet even in the face of these numerous studies and over 530 Americans dead since 2005, we see relentless promotion of high-risk dogs as just getting a "bad rap.” How many Virginians realize that if hurt by a dog, the animal control officer or warden determines the extent of your injuries as to whether or not to ask for a hearing; not you, not your physician. As they are increasingly stripped of police authority in many Virginia municipalities, it is unfair to expect Animal Control to determine crush injuries from a dislocation or research whether or not you spent weeks in the hospital or developed sepsis. How many Virginians realize that if a dog harms you or kills your pet and you are fortunate enough to get a hearing, that dog may be transferred to another owner, and the appeals are endless, and at the very most the charges are mere misdemeanors.
In fact, our General Assembly passed legislation this year that allows for the offending dog to be adjudicated no longer dangerous if the owner complies with certain conditions. Respectfully, ladies and gentlemen, I would suggest that while a "time out" for children may be appropriate, it is ludicrous to apply it to dogs.
Recent proposals that failed include changing jurisdictions in these hearings or transferring dangerous dogs to other states that do not border Virginia, embarrassing! Equally concerning is that legislation by Delegate Willett to give a "fair shake" to human victims was withdrawn as it was not supported by the Attorney General’s animal law division. Even more confounding to victims was a meeting in Henrico designed to give citizens time to tell their stories and ask for change in Virginia law. While the effort by VAAS & VACA was appreciated, it was distressing that the attorney general’s office sent a founding and supporting member of a molosser rescue and unabashed admirer of Pit Bull type dogs as the office’s representative.
Please do not deprive citizens in Virginia of the ability to know where NOT to walk their dog or NOT have their children play. Increasingly policy in Virginia is driven by well-funded organizations that have as their agenda "save them all,” and are devoid of any legal (or apparently moral) obligation to humankind. Please do not remove the dangerous dog registry.
If anything, the dangerous dog statutes, laws, and regulations should be strengthened. How many of us have to experience the horror of watching our beloved pet or loved one be mauled and killed by dangerous dogs? In October of 2018 my precious six year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was attacked and killed by two loose dogs while we were out for our evening walk. One of the attacking dogs was already deemed a dangerous dog two years before. Virginia needs stronger laws regarding dangerous dogs, steeper penalties, fines, and jail time for the owners of those dogs. Death or injury from a dangerous dog should be treated by the law the same as death or injury from other means such as firearms, assault and battery, DUI, etc. What’s the difference?
In addition, owners of dangerous dogs who have failed to responsibly contain their pet should NEVER be allowed to own animals again.
Please please make these laws stronger to deal with dogs that are just as much a weapon as a gun or a vehicle. It is your job to protect the public. Thank you.
Virginia should maintain and standardize its Dangerous Dog Registry. This is an important tool for citizens to be able to check for dangerous animals in their area, or to check for dogs they meet in an aggressive encounter to determine if the dog may have a previous history of violence.
Furthermore, the registry should be either standardized or direction given to Animal Control divisions in localities across the commonwealth to advise how they must enter "the facts that resulted in the dog being designated as dangerous." Animal control officers should not be able to subjectively choose "the facts" they enter on the registry. My mom and her dog were attacked four times in the public road by the same dog, resulting in her need for urgent care twice, and her dog requiring veterinary care 3 times, and "the facts" listed for this dog on the registry read, "attacked a neighbor's dog." This dog was also found to have attacked two other people in the neighborhood who did not require medical care. The understatement of the dog's offenses is inaccurate, inappropriate, and is not in the interest of public safety.
The registry should require "the facts" to include the number of times a dog has attacked humans and other animals, whether medical or vet care was required in each attack, and whether those attacks happened off or on the owner's property and whether they happened on public or private property.
This registry absolutely should not be abolished and should be strengthened as a reference tool in the interest of public safety.
Document prepared by:
Connie Sullivan and Reviewed by Susan Sale, Front-line Victims of Dog Attacks, Involving Dogs in-a-Pack, At-large and Their Repeat Offender Owners
1. Eternal Gratitude
Gratitude to Senator Norment for his efforts to help bring into law during March 2019, a first time ever fine for at-large dogs, in a pack. (It is our sincerest hope that in that law, the fine can eventually be escalated, so that the dollar amount of the fine will be viewed as financially significant and therefore a strong deterrent to indifferent negligence when owners/guardians allow their lethal dogs to roam.)
Gratitude to our former, Delegate Pogge and our current, Delegate Batten for their swift efforts to secure a change in the legal language regarding alpacas during the January 2019 legislative session.
Gratitude to our local James City County Board of Supervisors and our Commonwealth Attorney who have recognized the risks and have acted on behalf of the safety of our community against the threats posed by dogs at-large
Gratitude to Delegate Willett during this most recent legislative session.
Gratitude to VACA and VAAS for their efforts.
2. Ms. Jobyl A. Boone’s concern:
Allowing the owner of animal found to be dangerous to petition the court for the removal of such a finding after two years.
Upon such petition, the court, taking into consideration the views of the appropriate animal control officer and the compliance of the owner with the provisions of this section, may remove the dangerous dog finding…
Such removal shall relieve the owner of the obligation to renew the dangerous dog registration certificate, but shall not affect the status of the animal as having been previously declared a dangerous dog…
Susan Sale and Connie Sullivan, Front-line Victims and members of the Colonial Heritage Dog Safety Committee in Williamsburg, Virginia join with Jobyl Boone’s concern for the following reason:
It is a small thing to require the owner to renew the dangerous dog registration certificate, but
a huge help to law enforcement and Animal Control, particularly in densely populated areas where the location and ownership of the dogs may not be possible to know without the dangerous dog registration certificate.
Renewing the dangerous dog certificate provides ongoing, continuity of institutional knowledge to law enforcement and Animal Control. It is important for both to know where the dangerous dogs are.
Connie Sullivan and Susan Sale respectfully request that the statute continue to require the owner to renew the dangerous dog registration certificate yearly, for the safety of humans, companion animals and domestic animals.
3. Containment Language in Statute Regarding Dangerous Dogs Regarding a Securely Enclosed and Locked Structure
Respectfully request that consideration be made to include specific language to this effect:
Use of an ascending scale for containment that is appropriate to the size, strength, nature and capacity of the dangerous dog/dogs needing to be contained, which is “designed to prevent its escape or direct contact with or entry by minors, adults or other animals”.
i.e. concrete footers, fencing height, roof lid for larger, aggressive dogs
4. Members of the Colonial Heritage Dog Safety Committee in Williamsburg, Virginia Respectfully Request
Consideration of the Following Statute Change by the Virginia Legislature:
Prohibiting Ownership or Possession of Any Dogs
after owners/guardians are found guilty of allowing dog(s) to run at- large, after already being declared dangerous dog(s).
5. Timely Dangerous Dog Hearings
Respectfully request that language become a part of the statute as a matter of best practice that the dangerous dog hearing will occur as quickly as it can appear on the local jurisdiction’s docket, following the incident,
given the resources of the courts/law enforcement/animal control and the availability of participant, judges, dog owners, and victims.
(Hearings held within 10 days after a dog attack are not possible as a universal rule in all parts of our state, due to differing times court is in session, in different parts of the state of Virginia and other factors, such as the ones listed above.)
6. Checklist for Victims to Be Better Informed and Prepared for Dangerous Dog Hearing
While the dispute during a Dangerous Dog Hearing is between the dog’s or dogs’ owners/custodians and the Commonwealth, the victim benefits in numerous ways from being prepared in advance of the hearing.
We therefore respectfully request that the appropriate parties in local jurisdictions throughout the state of Virginia, take this under consideration as the need for a victim’s checklist is an urgent and present one.
7. Safe to Rescue
Following the sheer terror and heartbreak of the attacks on companion animals in our Williamsburg community, we are unified in a commitment to work toward safety for humans, companion animals and domestic animals. We ask that those in a position to send dogs into homes and communities first fully vet the dogs’ histories, in the responsible stance of first doing no, uninformed harm.
Respectfully request that the State of Virginia’s legislature appropriately designate experts, such as animal behaviorists, the state animal law attorney, or others deemed appropriate by the state … to consider the need for the development of a revised, safe to rescue scale/checklist for our state.
Respectfully request consideration be made that persons implementing this scale be qualified to certify that the dog or dogs is/are safe to rescue and the person(s) would also be required to affix their signature to the safe to rescue certificate.
Connie Sullivan, One of Three Victims on December 11, 2016 - Backstory
I do not and have never held the three large aggressive dogs, moving in unsupervised, instinctive pack drive mode that lethal night, as responsible for what happened.
I do, however, hold their owner and custodian fully responsible for what happened. (My focus is on legal, peaceful means that impact any indifferent and negligent owners in the state of Virginia or elsewhere in the world.)
I think it is tragic that sometimes dogs are specifically bred to be lethal and equally tragic that some of those same dogs are doomed to be euthanized.
Where is the love of all God’s Creatures, Great and Small, in that kind of beginning and potential end for some large, aggressive dogs?
Sunday, December 11, 2016 – took my twin Westies for an after dinner, leashed walk, near our home in a residential community.
It was dark and cold – neighbors’ doors and windows closed
Terriers are natural barkers, but that night when surrounded, as if by stealth warriors, my dogs were silent.
Lucy guarded me with her body taking the position in nature, of submission
Michael took the position in nature of fear, curling into a fetal position.
The three large aggressive, at-large dogs surrounded us, trying at first to knock me over.
I remember thinking, “This is it.” and then saying, “Now and at the hour of our death.”
Then two of the three large aggressive dogs went directly to Lucy and Michael.
Each of those two large aggressive dogs took one of each of my dogs and held them in their gripped, locked jaws.
The third large aggressive dog darted in and out attacking my dogs’ backs as they hung like haunches of beef on meat hooks in a slaughterhouse.
It was cruelty piled upon cruelty.
I do know that I screamed for 15 minutes, calling, “Help me, they are killing my dogs!”
I do not remember when or how the three large aggressive dogs managed to remove the sweaters from my dogs’ bodies,
but it had to be horrifically painful because the sweaters remained buttoned when later found by a neighbor, hurled into the street that night.
I had to witness my female dog’s eyes change as her throat was fatally pierced.
I had to witness my male dog be repositioned in the gripped locked jaws of his would-be killer, at which time Michael let out an angry snarl, but was easily silenced.
After 15 minutes when my screams were responded to, a neighbor came from behind, with a shovel, striking the buttocks of the two large aggressive dogs who were gripping and locking my two dogs.
Then and only then did those two large aggressive dogs release my dogs.
Had the police and Animal Control not arrived almost simultaneously, I am not certain of what would have happened to my neighbor, my dogs and myself because the two large aggressive dogs had only sulked off to the near-by woods and were watching the scene.
When I looked at Michael laying on the frozen ground I could not detect that he was breathing. The Emergency Room vet later explained to me that he was in such serious shock that his breathing became extremely shallow.
The vet advised that it did not look promising. In my rational mind, I knew how could it possibly look good after what my two Westies had endured?
I know I was operating on adrenaline to get me through what I needed to get through.
My throat was raw like someone had slit it from the 15 minutes of screaming and my heart and head pounded for two days.
I do not know why I did not have a stroke, but I have been on high blood pressure medication since then.
I could not read the medical description of either dogs’ injuries for more than a year after the attack,
just as I could not speak of any of this without crying for two years.
Lucy had lacerations to the trachea, a crushed cervical anatomy, severe bruising, multiple bite wounds and pulmonary contusions. She was bitten down to the cartilage. Lucy died at 4:30 a.m. on December 12th. Borrowing from Robert Frost, “As dawn goes down-to-day, nothing gold can stay”.
She was the heart of our home. Michael and Lucy were littermates and loved each other, played with each other, depended on each other.
Michael was at the point of full on internal bleed-out but was saved by his persistent and talented surgical vets at Anderson’s Corner Animal Hospital in Toano, VA. He was in the hospital from the 11th of December to Christmas Eve that month in 2016.
Instead of coming in from a routine evening walk to cuddle and rest, Lucy was sentenced to eternal rest before her natural time, by eight full years.
Michael mourned her death and his own traumatic attack for close to a year, but then was able to unexpectedly return to his happy self with moments of PTSD when circumstances provoked that fear.
I spent over two years meeting with a trauma therapist which was essential to my capacity to move on from such a chilling, frightening, heartless, hopeless night.
Walking was a simple, shared pleasure for us that now has become a fearsome burden. We still never know when a lethal, pack of large aggressive dogs at-large will return. I drive Michael to the other side of our community to walk him.
Then in October of 2018, the same large aggressive dog who killed Lucy, seriously wounded my neighbor’s dog, attacking with a different large aggressive pack partner. (Her attack partner from 2016 had been euthanized in 2017.) My neighbor’s dog, (Susan Sale - owner), needed to be put down a few days later, due to the extent of his injuries. That large aggressive dog who viciously attacked my neighbor’s dog had already been declared dangerous when she killed my dog, but in October of 2018, almost two years later, she was out without a collar, running at-large with another large aggressive dog.
In 2017, it was a civil case, but now became a criminal case. Following the Dangerous Dog Hearing in March 2019, the owner and the custodian were ordered to have no dogs of any kind for ten years.
In the attack on my Westies, two of the three large aggressive, at-large dogs are identified as the number one lethal breed on insurance actuary charts. The third at-large aggressive dog in that attack, is listed second in terms of lethal breed, on insurance actuary charts. With indifferent repeat offenders living in proximity, our community remains at risk. In college, I raised concern to my World Literature professor for the number of literary pieces we were required to read in which many of the protagonists displayed no remorse. My professor advised that the materials I was expected to read when I was nineteen, were my best preparation for the yet unknown difficulties ahead in life.
Thanking you for whatever efforts you can make to try to protect humans, pets and domestic animals from the unimaginable harm that comes to them in circumstances such as what I have described here.
First, do no harm is not just for the medical profession. It is a maxim for humanity.
Connie Sullivan, Member of Local Dog Safety Committee, Williamsburg, Virginia
(My male dog is now suffering from debilitating Westie Lung disease and pulmonary hypertension, so I am at present preoccupied with his care. I accept that life is both beautiful and unfair. My beautiful surviving dog suffered enough when we were attacked by three at-large aggressive dogs.
Please keep and strengthen the Regulations pertaining to the establishment of the Dangerous Dog Registry [2 VAC 5 ? 620] for Virginia.
It is in every person's best interest to have awareness of dangerous animals within their area and for public officials to have the appropriate authority to restrain and, if necessary, impound animals that are a threat to themselves, humans or other animals.
The Dangerous Dog Registry should not be abolished.
Being the parent of a young girl who was attacked and viciously mauled by a neighbors dog this past December, I fully support the need to continue and even strengthen the Dangerous Dog Registry in Virginia. Having gone through this horrific ordeal and seeing first hand the severely inadequate laws that afford protection and accountability in these tragic situations, priorities should be shifted to support attack victims, not the owner.
After serving over 40 years in the Fire/EMS service and seeing numerous dog attacks that might have been prevented with more stringent reporting, enforcement, and education of Dangerous Dogs, I encourage our legislators to protect their communities by using this opportunity to review and recommend enhanced legislation.
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.