ATLANTA – State Representative Ann Purcell (R-Rincon) commented today on the General Assembly’s passage of House Bill 685, which passed the state Senate earlier last week with a vote of 50 to1 and received final passage on Thursday, March 29, in the state House with a vote of 157 to 0, showing broad bipartisan support for the measure. Sponsored by State Representative Gene Maddox (R-Cairo), HB 685 not only clarifies state law regarding dangerous and vicious dogs in Georgia, but it also includes a measure that was originally co-sponsored by Rep. Purcell to help protect the public from dangerous dogs.
“In the past year, we have seen several serious dog attacks across Georgia that could have been prevented if only the owners had taken responsible actions to secure their dogs,” said Rep. Purcell. “I am pleased that my colleagues in both the House and Senate addressed these attacks by passing HB 685 to help prevent future attacks in our state.”
Rep. Purcell was originally led to co-sponsor legislation to protect the public from dangerous dogs after learning of a dog attack involving two pit bulls that attacked a Chatham County child last summer. The seven-year-old boy, Javon Roberson, spent several days in intensive care after he was mauled by two unleashed pit bulls while swinging in a playground in Savannah’s Treat Park.
In order to ensure passage of the measure and consistency in state law, Rep. Purcell’s legislation, House Bill 717, was amended into HB 685 to create one uniform piece of legislation that would reform and simplify Georgia’s complex patchwork of dog laws. Under this amended version of the bill, HB 685 would penalize negligent dog owners whose failure to secure their dog results in a dog attack that causes severe injury or death to a human being.
HB 685 also establishes a classification system for dangerous and vicious dogs. According to the bill, “dangerous dog” means any dog that causes substantial puncture of a person’s skin without causing serious injury or who kills a pet animal while off the owner’s property. “Vicious dog” refers to any dog that inflicts serious injury on a person.
Upon the report of a dangerous or vicious dog, HB 685 would allow an animal control officer to verify the dog’s dangerous or vicious classification. That officer would then mail a notice to the dog’s owner, requesting the owner to appear for a hearing, which would officially determine the dog’s classification and potentially allow for the euthanasia of that dog.
HB 685 also requires owners of dangerous or vicious dogs to have a certificate of registration. This registration would automatically be issued to owners of dangerous dogs. Owners of vicious dogs would receive a certificate of registration if they are able to follow a number of provisions which include maintaining an enclosure to confine the vicious dog, clearly marking the enclosure with warning signs, obtaining a microchip for the dog, and maintaining adequate liability insurance.
According to the American Humane Association, an estimated 4.7 million dog bites occur in the United States each year, and nearly 800,000 of these require medical care. These bites total more than $1 billion in damage each year. Approximately 58 percent of attacks that caused human deaths involved unrestrained dogs on their owners’ property.
The Georgia House of Representatives passed HB 685 on March 7, 2012, by a vote of 170 to 0. The state Senate passed the legislation on March 26, 2012, by a vote of 50 to 1. For more information on HB 685, please click here.
Representative Ann Purcell represents the citizens of District 159, which includes portions of Chatham and Effingham counties. She was re-elected into the House of Representatives in 2009, and currently serves as Chairman of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, and Vice Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee. She also serves as a member of the Appropriations, Education, Health and Human Services, and Economic Development and Tourism committees.
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