FLORIDA -- Kathryn Dykes was walking her dog Sasha in her Mirror Lakes neighborhood earlier this month when three pit bulls ran from a neighbor's backyard and attacked her and the blind, 12-year-old Shar-Pei.
Sasha's injuries were so severe that the dog was later euthanized. Dykes said she was bitten 51 times on her left hand and arm and several times on her right hand.
On June 11, one week after the vicious attack, Dykes, with her left forearm wrapped in bandages, spoke to the Plantation City Council.
"I want to make our streets safer. Sasha paid a price, and so did I," Dykes said.
Sympathetic council members wondered if there was a way to strengthen the city's dog laws. City Attorney Donald Lunny said it could be done, but Plantation's 2006 ordinance does not specify dangerous breeds.
"We don't care if it's a Chihuahua or a bull mastiff," he said.
Broward County has a dangerous-dog ordinance but does not single out dangerous breeds; however, ordinances in Sunrise and Tamarac do.
Sunrise's ordinance requires that pit bulls be "securely confined" indoors or in an enclosed and locked pen with a top or with 6-foot-high sides "because of the pit bull dog's inbred propensity to attack other animals and because of the danger posed to humans and animals by a pit bull dog when running loose or while running together in a pack."
Tamarac's pit bull ordinance mirrors Sunrise's but adds that pit bulls must be muzzled and on a leash no longer than 8 feet. And the leash must be "securely held by a person."
In the recently concluded Florida Legislature session, State Rep. Perry E. Thurston Jr., D-Plantation, drafted a bill that would have eliminated the prohibition of "breed-specific" local government regulation of dangerous dogs. The bill died early last month in the agribusiness committee.
The Sunrise and Tamarac ordinances could be unconstitutional, said Tim Keller, chief investigative supervisor with Broward County Animal Care.
Keller said the three pit bulls that attacked Dykes and her dog are in quarantine and would be "put to sleep" if they are not claimed by their owner. He said he could not discuss the case because it is still under investigation, but it would be heard on July 11 at the West Regional Courthouse.
Plantation Deputy Police Chief Howard Harrison told the council that Broward County has issued "numerous citations" that could be "in excess of $2,000."
Angela Manalaysay, Dykes' neighbor, is a suspect, according to a report by Plantation Police. The dogs lived at her home at 7450 NW 13th Court and "escaped" from the backyard, police said. Calls to the Manalaysay home were not returned.
"Why can't people take responsibility for their pets?" Dykes asked.
Several council members agreed.
"We need to really start fining people who are irresponsible pet owners," Councilwoman Diane Veltri Bendekovic said.
Councilwoman Sharon Moody Uria said, "We punish the dog, but we need to punish the owner, too."
But Councilman Jerry Fadgen said allowing pit bulls in the city was the problem.
"In an urban environment, we should not have this type of animal," he said.
Fadgen said he wanted the council to look at the ordinance and for state legislators to act as well.
Harrison said he and Lunny would conduct a workshop for the City Council to toughen Plantation's dog ordinance.
Dykes said she would sue the owner of the pit bulls.
"I'm not stopping till I get some satisfaction for my dog dying such a horrible death," she said.
(Sun Sentinel - June 29, 2008)
