Dog bill waits for governor
BY ANDREW WALTERS
SVN REPORTER
awalters@svnmail.com
It has been two and one-half years since Lydia Chaplin, a 14-year-old girl from rural Erie, was mauled by three pit bulls that left her to die just blocks from her home.
While nothing can ease the pain of that loss for Chaplin's family, Illinois legislators recently took steps to help prevent a similar incident from happening again.
The Illinois House of Representatives and Senate each unanimously passed a bill proposed by state Rep. Jerry Mitchell, prompted by Chaplin's death in January 2005.
"As a father, I am sure her parents feel, 'Thanks, but too little too late,' but this is something that will help in the future," said Mitchell, R-Sterling.
In the Chaplin case, three dogs owned by a neighbor were traveling in a pack and acting aggressively for days before attacking Chaplin. The neighbor never was charged with anything relating to Chaplin's death. There was no law on the books at the time prohibiting dogs in rural areas from being out unsupervised. Mitchell's bill aims to change that.
If signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the animal control act would be amended to include a definition of potentially dangerous dogs. Under the proposed new law, if three or more dogs are running unsupervised, the animals can be deemed as potentially dangerous and then could be required to be spayed or neutered within 14 days.
Failure to comply will result in impoundment of the dog or a fine of $500.
An amendment to the bill reads that animal shelters cannot adopt the captured animal to a person other than the owner unless the animal has been sterilized and microchipped before adoption, or the new owner signs an agreement to have the procedures done within 30 days of adoption.
If the dog goes a year without incident, then the potentially dangerous label is lifted.
"We just needed to start taking better control of our dogs, period," Mitchell said. "These dogs had been running loose before. Had the law been in place before, they could have been picked up and spayed before this happened."
An earlier attempt at writing a law to address the dog issue was met with strong objections by some dog advocates. Mitchell and others, like state Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, set out to target specific breeds, such as pit bulls. The new bill makes no mention of breeds. It also includes the term unsupervised, so as not to affect hunting dogs or people who take their pets to dog parks.
"I was probably heading in the wrong direction when we were looking at specific breeds. For whatever the reason, any dog can become aggressive," Mitchell said.
Having passed both houses last week, it now goes to the governor to be signed. Blagojevich spokesman Gerardo Cardenas said it will be reviewed by the governor's office in the next 60 days.
