Thursday, August 4, 1988

Florida: Numerous Attack By Pit Bulls Triggers Call For More Regulations

FLORIDA -- An attack on a teen-age boy by two pit bulls in an neighborhood where unleashed dogs have been a problem for years has some residents demanding more county regulations of dogs and the banning of pit bull ownership.

"I'm tired of people not being able to walk the streets. People who live around here have been terrorized by those dogs," the boy's father, Dennis Kauffman Sr., said.

Dennis Kauffman Jr., 14, of the 4300 block of Northeast 13th Avenue, south of Deerfield Beach, was walking home on Tuesday after mowing the lawn at an aunt's house when two pit bulls ran from a nearby yard and attacked him. He was mauled in five parts of his body.

Even before the attack, the neighborhood homeowners association had scheduled a meeting for tonight with an official of the Broward Sheriff's Office on the problem of unleashed, vicious dogs.

Kauffman was bitten by a different pit bull last year. That dog, which belonged to a neighbor just two houses away, had also attacked another resident.

"I think they should be outlawed," said Erika Termyna, 67, who was bitten on her arms and legs. "They're dangerous, very dangerous. Shoot them all down, period."

Termyna owns a Doberman Pinscher.

Neighborhood residents said there are two other homes in the area with pit bulls. At both locations, several pit bulls are raised and bred, they said.

In the last month, in other parts of Broward County, there have been two other serious dog attacks.

Anna Young, 76, of the 5900 block of Northwest 41st Terrace, near North Lauderdale, was mauled by two mixed breed dogs owned by her son. She remains in a coma at Northwest Regional Hospital in Margate. The dogs had attacked a mail carrier six months before.

Also in July, a pit bull jumped from a pickup truck in Plantation and bit a woman on the leg in a parking lot.

The man identified as the owner of the dogs that bit Kauffman could not be reached for comment. Joey LaCross, who also owns two pit bull puppies, was out of town, according to relatives at his house in the 5000 block of Northeast 14th Street.

Kauffman's father said he will ask the homeowners association to get involved in the fight to better regulate dogs.

Thelma Ramsey, program director for the Pompano Beach Highlands Civic Improvement Association, said the organization has been trying for years to get county officials to address the problem of unleashed dogs.

The association petitioned the County Commission to give the county's Animal Control Division more money and more power to cite violators.

"I think it's getting out of hand with pit bulls and other animals. It's not fair to the animal and not fair to others," Ramsey said.

The County Commission had adopted a regulation that required pit bull owners to carry $100,000 in liability insurance, but it was struck down by a court ruling in 1986.

Larry Atwell, assistant director of the Animal Control Division, said the dogs that bit Kauffman are being held for a required 10 days rabies watch. One of the dogs was shot in the lip by Sheriff's Deputy Michael Bounassi as they ran toward him after the attack on Kauffman.

Atwell said the physical structure of a pit bull makes its bite more severe because of its ability to lock its jaws once it has bitten a victim. He said pit bulls are both naturally vicious and bred or trained to be vicious.

He said LaCross was in violation of the county's leash law and also had not had the dogs vaccinated or tagged. He said LaCross would have to pay a $56 fine for each dog.

The Sheriff's Office considered but then rejected filing charges of aggravated battery against LaCross. It can't be proven that he intended for the dogs to attack, Sheriff's Office spokesman George Crolius said. However, he said, the dogs may be taken from the owner and destroyed under the county's vicious dog law.

(Sun Sentinel - August 4, 1988)