Cary - Kathy Brandwein and her husband were walking their dog in May when an unleashed, female beagle/pit bull mix rushed toward them. The pit bull injured her husband when he tried to protect his dog. Police had to come stop the attack and the pit bull mix was euthanized.
“You never forget how you feel, if you’ve had that happen to you,” Brandwein said.
Brandwein asked the village board this week to increase penalties for attacks when there is a negligent dog owner.
Village President Tom Kierna directed staff to start an internal committee to look into the village’s dog ordinances and see what the village is allowed to do within state law. He also asked staff to set up a public meeting for discussion on dog ordinances. The meeting has yet to be scheduled.
Brandwein suggested the village require hearings if there is an unprovoked dog bite and require the offending dog’s owner to give a reason why the dog should not be taken away or euthanized.
Village Attorney Michael Coppedge said the village is limited by the state’s animal control statute in what it can do.
Read more:
Northwest Herald Accessed: 2013-05-23. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/6Gq8Fb7vs)
Related posts:
Nov 5, 2005 Nick Foley Survives Agony of a Pit Bull Rampaging Attack
Dec 19, 2005 Some want crackdown on pit bulls Recent dog attacks prompt more legislative attention
May 23, 2012 Dog bites man walking pet; animal to be euthanized
Cary is one more in a string of communities that report the town leaders are hampered by the Illinois Dog Control Act (Anna's Law). This town, Cary Illinois, is the location of a horrific pit bull attack. Nick Foley and Jourdan Lamarre, both 10 years old, and four adult were attacked by 3 pit bulls in an attack that lasted half an hour. The pit bulls ripped pounds of flesh from Nick Foley's body causing him to lose 50% of his blood. Please read Tribune reporters Carolyn Starks' and John Keilman's reportage describing the attack, how it affected the children, the families, and an entire neighborhood.
Kathy Brandwein gets to the exact heart of the problem, and has some good ideas, but after reading about Nick Foley's attack, you cannot help but understand that her suggestions do not go far enough.
In 2005, after Nick Foley's attack, state representative Michael Tyron (R) Crystal Lake said penalizing owners makes sense but so does restricting some breeds that have proven to be inherently dangerous.
Tyron argues it makes no sense to require a court order to deem those breeds dangerous... His bill would consider those dogs dangerous automatically and give local authorities more regulatory power.
