TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A measure aimed toward cracking down on harmful canines in Florida is advancing within the state legislature.
‘Pam Rock Act’
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Home Invoice 593, sponsored by State Rep. Judson Sapp, a Republican representing Florida’s twentieth district, would toughen penalties for homeowners of harmful canines and require stricter security measures.
The invoice, often known as the “Pam Rock Act,” handed the Home Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee on Wednesday and is now headed for the complete Home. Rock was a 62-year-old mail provider who was mauled by a pack of canines in 2022.
Courtesy: Putnam County Sheriff’s Workplace.
If signed into legislation, the invoice would require canine homeowners to purchase legal responsibility insurance coverage protection of a minimum of $100,000 if their canine is asserted harmful. It could additionally mandate that every one harmful canines be registered in a brand new, statewide harmful canine registry maintained by the Division of Agriculture and Client Companies.
What they’re saying:
“Now we have no accountability. No actual accountability,” Rep. Sapp stated on Wednesday, turning into visibly emotional whereas citing a private expertise concerning the difficulty. “Right now we have now a rise in canine bites and we have now kids dying and getting mauled in homeowners not taking accountability. This invoice goes an extended method to handle this.”
Proponents say the registry would make communities safer by permitting the general public to see the place harmful canines are positioned and who owns them. However opponents argue the invoice might result in breed discrimination and unfairly goal sure sorts of canines.
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Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood was in Tallahassee on Wednesday backing the invoice.
“This is not about law-abiding residents and their animals or, you recognize, compiling some form of checklist,” Chitwood stated. “It is about folks simply utterly disregarding different folks’s security, kids’s security, and permitting their canines to roam at massive – or permit them to be violent.”
Native perspective:
In Hillsborough County, harmful canine homeowners are already required to register their animals, present proof of sterilization and microchipping, and put up warning indicators in any respect entrances to their property. The county additionally requires canine obedience coaching and common inspections by animal management to make sure compliance.
There are comparable ordinances in impact in Pinellas, Polk, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
Below the brand new invoice, if a harmful canine causes severe damage or loss of life, the proprietor might face felony costs and the canine can be euthanized. The civil penalty for violations would additionally enhance to $1,000.
What’s subsequent:
If handed, the brand new guidelines would take impact July 1.
The Supply: Info for this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Matthew McClellan.
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