A bill giving dog owners more options if their dog injures another recently passed its first House committee.
Florida law allows dogs classified as dangerous to be euthanized, but Rep. Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) says it doesn’t account for certain circumstances.
“If your dog is not a dangerous dog and bites somebody defending your house, let’s say or let’s say a burglar breaks into your house and the dog bites the burglar, the dog would have to be put down,” said Steube. “There’s no process in place that would allow the hearing officer to be able to take in testimony or evidence as to why the dog did what it did. And, that circumstance, if the dog created severe injury, i.e. lacerations that required sutures, they by law, have to euthanize the animal.”
Steube’s bill allows hearing officers to consider all circumstances, before the dog is put down. He says there are so far three cases—one pending—where two courts have already ruled this particular part of the law unconstitutional.
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