By a 9-to-1 vote, Miami-Dade County, Fla., passed a bill that would create a dangerous dogs registry online. Not unlike a human sex-offender registry, dogs that are deemed to be dangerous will have their pictures posted publically online, along with the owner’s address and other information.
“A dog can be declared dangerous for attacking or causing severe injury or death to a domestic animal on more than one occasion,” Kathy Labrada of Miami-Dade Animal Services told NBC6.com, “or for approaching a human in a menacing fashion, or apparent attitude of attack, or actually attacking a person.”
The fine for each violation is $1,000; with each violation, the fines get steeper and sanctions more serious.
“I’m a dog lover myself, and I’m a parent and I’m a person who really cares about the animals,” bill sponsor and Commissioner Jose Diaz said, “but we have to make sure people are responsible for those animals.”
Miami-Dade County, however, is not the first to have an online dangerous dog registry in the Sunshine State; Charlotte, Orange, and Seminole counties also a similar system to make “dangerous dogs” known to the public.
Sources: miamiherald.com, NBC6.com
