RHODE ISLAND — Pawtucket city leaders are requiring owners of pit bull breeds and Rottweilers to get insurance for their pets.
An amendment to the city's dog ordinance passed by the city council earlier this month mandates owners purchase $25,000 in liability insurance for each dog.
The law applies to pit bulls of mixed breed, or those identified as American pit bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers or American Staffordshire terriers.
There have been several pit bull attacks in Pawtucket in the past year, including incidents last summer when a Chihuahua was killed, and a woman, mail carrier and elderly man were attacked.
Last month, a pit bull was shot dead in Foster after it gnawed through a screen window and attacked a golden retriever.
Nationwide, pit bulls are blamed for 66 of the 238 cases between 1979 and 1998 in which people suffered fatal dog bites, according to a study published last year in the journal Veterinary Medicine Today.
Rottweilers were blamed in 39 fatal dog-bite cases, the study said.
(Insurance Times - August 7, 2001)
