Posted on 09/07/2001 7:42:37 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill into law Thursday allowing future criminal prosecution of a caretaker of a vicious dog, not just the owner, if the animal kills or gravely injures someone.
The legislation was introduced by Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, after 33-year-old Diane Whipple was mauled to death by a Presa Canario-mastiff dog in a hallway of her San Francisco apartment building in January.
The muscular dog, named Bane, and a second Presa Canario, Hera, were owned by prison inmate Paul ``Cornfed'' Schneider. But at the time, the animals were in the care of Whipple's neighbors, San Francisco attorneys Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller.
Knoller was walking Bane and Hera at the time of the attack. She has been charged with second-degree murder, and Noel faces manslaughter charges.
Bane was put to death after the attack. The two lawyers are still pursuing legal appeals to save Hera.
Schneider, an inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison, meanwhile is among seven inmates charged this week in a separate federal indictment with a list of violent crimes allegedly orchestrated from behind bars. The indictment makes no mention of the dog mauling.
The San Francisco District Attorney's Office is aiming to show that Knoller and Noel knew the dogs were dangerous when they agreed to care for them.
Interesting it took the mauling of a lesbian to enact such a law. Before that they couldn't care less.
allows? or just if the dog kills (or injures) someone?
if that’s the case, how about the owners own spawn?
...or do we forgive the owner and charge the dog when the dog
reaches 3 (you know, dog years)?
no, i agree the owners should accept responsibility, but
what do you do with the single mom who bought a rottie and
has discovered a pony running her house? jail her? maybe,
but it just seems common sense has taken a vacation in this day
and age, and the nanny state has put (put on your seatbelt) taking any
sense of personal responsibility to code. in my book, that sucks.
The only thing this will do is hold people accountable who never had money in the first place.
Common sense has taken a vacation, as well as the notion that we are responsible for our behavior. If we wish to acquire a dog that is potentially dangerous, the owners obligation is to make sure that he/she is capable of devoting the time and energy necessary to train and socialize that dog.
Ignoring that responsibility then leads to infringing on others freedom to be in a public place without fear of attack by ones dog.
If an innocent child or adult is injured or killed as a result of a negligent owner, that owner should be held to some legal responsibility.
My litmus test is to image how I would feel if a loved one was the victim. I would want this negligent dog owner to be accountable. There are situations where some limited gov't is necessary...:)
zactly. and that is the issue i was struggling with...
there is a difference between negligence and depraved indifference,
in other words, this article is about people who not only owned
dogs who would chew you or me up, and were not only allowed to do so,
but were apparently encouraged.
there is a difference between someone who raises a junkyard dog
and someone whose dog is not trained. i.e. stupidity vs. malice.
be careful what you criminalize, because you and i have been
stupid, at some time. :-)
I only wish I was kidding.
both.
the orneriest dog i ever owned was, ready?, a lab... i raise and train
rotties, and they get a bad name due to stupid and malicious owners.
i certainly don’t want to see anyone bitten, but when we criminalize
stupidity, who’s going to feed us all in prison?
LOL.
What would you propose as justice for the victim and his survivors?
dunno... you’ll have to contact nod (national organization of dawgs). ask for ms. gandy.
thanks for the link, joe. i read that article on the way down this string...
this is my favorite
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