Alabama laws dealing with dangerous dogs in question

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WAFF 48 News

One dog, two attacks. The fate of a valley pit bull is in question tonight. And so are Alabama's laws on dealing with dangerous dogs.

WAFF 48 investigates who decides when an animal is a threat.

Some states have what's called Dangerous Dog Laws, which enforce tough penalties for dog owners.

But in Alabama, the law is much more lenient.

How many chances should a dog and its owner get?

"The dog could have killed me and I could be dead. I could be dead," said Mike Kilpatrick.

Kilpatrick says a pit bull named Ginger viciously attacked him August 28th. He filled out a bite report at the hospital so local agencies could investigate, as required by law.

Those agencies say they never got that report until Kilpatrick followed up three weeks later.

WAFF 48 News discovered that Ginger the pit bull had a bite record before Kilpatrick's attack.

Ginger attacked a neighbor's dog on that neighbor's property in December.

Ginger's owner was cited, and Ginger officially tagged as a "vicious animal."

So what does the law say happens to dogs that attack?

"A lot of people do assume three strikes and you are out kind of thing with dog bites and that is not in the law," said Mary Ultz, of Huntsville Animal Services.

Owners are usually cited and fined then they decide what happens next.

"A lot of dog owners are so appalled that their dogs would behave in that manner they make the decision to get their pet euthanized," Ultz said.

After Kilpatrick's attack the owner quarantined the pit bull for ten days.

We wanted to ask him, with two attacks now on his dog's record, what, if anything else, he'll do about his pit bull.

We tried contacting the dog's owner six times in three days, in person and by phone.

During our first visit, we met the dog owner's sister. She was on the phone with the man we were looking for, and explains to him why we're there.

"I'll get a card from her and give it to you so you can call her back, how about that," she says to her brother on the phone.

That phone call never came.

We never laid eyes on Ginger the pit bull.

But our third visit answered our question: What did the owner do with his dog?

After we knocked on the door, and a dog started barking.

"Ginger shut up. Who is it?" asked the woman inside the home.

The pit bull is at home.

We finally tracked down Ginger's owner the next morning. He refused to speak with us. Someone else met us at the door.

"You need to get out of here," we were told.

WAFF 48 Investigators told Mike Kilpatrick there was no law requiring that anything happen to the dog that mauled him.

"I wouldn't be so angry at the owner so much as I am angry at the system," he said.

"Kilpatrick has the option to take this to court and see if a judge will take further action against the dog and it's owner. He's still considering his options. He has one year from the date a police report was filed to press charges.

Alabama legislators have defeated a dangerous dog proposal twice.

It's being proposed again next legislative session.