(LEX 18) — After hearing the story of a woman who was attacked by dogs in a Lexington neighborhood, a Kentucky lawmaker has filed a bill he hopes will help reduce the number of dog attacks in the state.
LEX 18 Investigates first told you Sarah Bogusewski’s story last spring. She was attacked by two dogs while out for a walk in the Glendover neighborhood. After the attack, she learned she wasn’t the first victim.
The dogs’ owner had been found incompetent to stand trial, and his dogs had been returned to him after multiple reported attacks, Bogusewski learned. After outcry from Bogusewski and others in the neighborhood, the dogs were ordered to be put down.
Rep. Chad Aull (D-Lexington) worked with Bogusewski in drafting a bill, House Bill 212, which he hopes will help reduce future repeat dog attacks in the state.
If the bill became law, any dog owner who has their dog or dogs taken away three or more times within five years for incidents of the dogs biting people could be banned from owning dogs for five years, Aull said. The law doesn't include dog attacks that occur on the dog's owner's own property, Aull said.
“I was unaware there was this loophole in the law that allowed him to have his dogs taken away and then go right back out and get new dogs without any additional penalties,” Aull told LEX 18 Friday.
Aull acknowledged that with a lack of tracking between different animal shelters, some of the responsibility for tracking incidents could fall to judges or the dog owner.
“This gives the justice system and legal system another tool in their belt and hopefully discourages people in this situation to not go back out and get another dog,” Aull said.
House Bill 212 has not yet been voted on and will be considered by the General Assembly this year, according to the release.
