Virginia Unveils Dangerous Dog Registry
Dangerous pets to be registered online like sex offenders under new Va. law.
July 25, 2007— -- Ginger is one marked mutt in the state of Virginia.
The female Australian Cattle Dog mix is among nine dogs featured on the state's newly unveiled Dangerous Dog Registry, an online database that allows residents to monitor threatening pets living inside the state.
In Ginger's case, a scrap with a neighbor's dog prompted local animal control to declare her a dangerous stray and require her owners to register the animal.
"Another little dog was walking in front of the house at the time," Jennifer Daly, Ginger's owner, told ABC News. "Ginger took off after her like a squirrel."
The Web site was mandated by the state's general assembly in 2006 and was prompted by a pair of high-profile fatal maulings -- one of a toddler, the second of an 82-year-old woman.
The registry, described by the state as "similar in concept to the Sex Offender Registry," requires local officials to provide various information about a pet if the animal is ruled dangerous.
Beyond registering the dog, pet owners must take additional strides to protect neighbors from possible attacks, including posting signs, confining animals in proper enclosures and outfitting their pets with special tags and markings.
That's not all. Owners of dogs marked dangerous must maintain a minimum of $100,000 in liability insurance for the animals and must provide renewed insurance information to the state every year as long as the dog is alive. The animal must wear a muzzle if not on the owner's property.
Though only nine dogs across the state have been registered since the Web site launched about a month ago, the state expects the number of offending dogs to climb as local animal control officers familiarize themselves with the new registry, according to Elaine Lidholm, a spokeswoman for Virginia's agriculture and consumer services department.
Lidholm acknowledged a split opinion about the new policy, which took more than a year to travel through the Virginia Legislature.
"About half of the people are saying this doesn't go far enough. The other half is saying the sate has overstepped its bounds," Lidholm told ABC News. "The opinions are divided and they're diametrically opposed."
