Bill would require bad-dog insurance

[TribalRats]

By Mark Binker
Staff Writer

RALEIGH — Owners of dogs that animal control officials dub "dangerous" or "potentially dangerous" would have to carry at least $100,000 in liability insurance to keep their animals if the General Assembly passes legislation from a Piedmont Triad lawmaker.

State Sen. Stan Bingham, a Davidson County Republican who represents parts of High Point, said the bill was inspired by a friend who was stuck with mounting hospital bills after a neighbor's dog attacked him "a few years" ago.

"He's still paying on these hospital bills," Bingham said.

Under Bingham's bill, owners of dangerous dogs who failed to get the necessary insurance could be convicted of a misdemeanor, which could result in jail time.

Some homeowner policies cover dog bites, but increasingly, dangerous dog insurance is becoming a boutique product sold by specialty companies.

Bingham owns three dogs, one of them a German shepherd named Bellah he describes as having a big bark.

Neither Bingham's bill nor state law designates a particular breed of dog as dangerous.

Instead, if a dog attacks and seriously injures a person or other pets, animal control officials can designate it as "dangerous."

Dogs that behave aggressively also can be reported to animal control and designated as "potentially dangerous" after an assessment by at least two officers.

In Guilford County, any dog with either of those classifications must be walked on a leash and a muzzle or kept in a yard with a concrete floor and the equivalent of a chain-link fence on all sides, including the roof.

"In most instances, when people look at what's required for them to do, they decide they don't want the dog," said Alyson Best with the environmental health section of the Guilford County Health Department.

Best said Guilford animal control officers responded to 293 animal bite calls between July 1 and Dec. 31 last year — the vast majority of those for dog bites.

Nationwide, 400,000 dog bite cases require emergency medical attention each year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State law allows courts to punish people who allow dangerous dogs to roam free, but it does little to ensure owners of such dogs are able to compensate victims.

Bingham said his bill aims to make sure people are not stuck paying for medical bills in the wake of an attack.

"I didn't think I'd get anybody to come within 50 miles of it," he said of the proposed legislation, thinking people would not want to anger dog owners.

Instead, both the Senate Democratic and Republican leaders signed on as co-sponsors, as did Greensboro Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat.

"I think if you have a dog that's been determined to be dangerous, this will make people stand up and think about their responsibility," Hagan said.

[c0_re]

In the perfect world this law would be great and only punish bad dog owners