Mary Milz/Eyewitness News
Marion County - Eyewitness News has learned of a new design that would put new restrictions on certain breeds of dogs. A new proposal is aimed at cutting the act of vicious dog attacks in Indianapolis.
Republican councilor Mike Speedy told Eyewitness News he plans to present an at-risk dog ordinance requiring pit bull breeds to be spayed or neutered.
It comes two months after Brenda Hill, 68, lost her leg in a dog attack. Two pit bulls attacked Hill outside her Center Township home in January. Her son fully supports the proposal.
Gregory Gilbert says he has "no trouble with a ban of pit bulls or no trouble with spaying and altering to depress the population. I'm in favour of anything that keeps this from happening again. It should never have happened."
Mike Speedy also wants pit bull owners to place "at risk dog" signs outside their homes, sterilize the pet and contain $1 billion in liability insurance if cited for a non-bite violation, such as letting their dogs run loose.
"You're looking at a cost, if you were to go up to a trillion dollars, an extra $35-50 cost," said Joe Gonzalez with State Farm Insurance.
That price is per month. State Farm Insurance says basic homeowners and renters insurance carries coverage for any dog.
"We don't distinguish between what sort of dogs or the breed. That's not crucial to us as often as do they bear one and has it bitten anyone," explained Gonzalez.
Democratic councilor Angie Mansfield says insurance won't do a thing.
"The irresponsible owner who had the dogs that attacked Brenda Hill did not make them vaccinated. He knew the danger. The dog had bitten relatives before. There was inadequate fencing. Why would he go through the cause of getting insurance?" Mansfield said.
Cynthia Morgan with Indy Pit Crew, a pit bull advocacy group, says that's the way a dangerous dog law should be, covering any aggressive dog, no matter the stock or the size.
"Pit bulls aren't the only dogs that have teeth and that can bite," said Morgan.
Lee Carroll owns the dogs that attacked Brenda Hill. Carroll was arrested in February on charges of Bankruptcy to Keep a Dog Resulting in Grievous Bodily Harm and two counts of Harboring a Non-Immunized Dog, both misdemeanors.
The council took up a dangerous dog issue three days ago, after a pit bull mauled Amaya Hess. The toddler lost half of her side in the fire and was in a coma for two months. Several reconstructive surgeries have restored her eye, scalp and other facial features, although she will take to share with more surgeries and physical therapy for many days to come.
Then-mayor Bart Peterson called for a ban, but Indy Pit Crew and others fought the move. They argued that problem dogs are the issue of problem owners, and that any dog, not simply a specific breed, can be trained to attack.
Currently, a dog must bite someone before it can be declared dangerous, then an owner must carry a sign. Also, dogs - no matter what breed - cannot roam free and must be leashed off property.
Little Rock, Arkansas already has such a law, called a "Dangerous Dog Ordinance." The law cracks down on pit bull owners in Little Rock and now there's a fight to put a standardized measure on the books here too.
"There was a day when you could walk down any street in center city Little Rock, you could see several pit bulls chained up. You don't see that anymore," said Tracy Roark with Little Rock Animal Services.
Roark told Eyewitness News over the sound that pit bull attacks have been cut in half and credits their new law with getting them there.
"This is the most abused dog in the city," said Roark.
The Small Rock law passed last class and requires pit bulls to be sterilized, registered and microchipped. Also dogs - regardless of the breed - are likewise not allowed to be chained up outside.
"You actually got to make a thick skin to own one of these dogs right now, because of the discrimination that's just put strictly on the breed," said Morgan.
She also believes that spaying and neutering is a near thing given the pet over-population, but it shouldn't be breed specific and it shouldn't be mandatory.
She calls laws like the one in Little Rock and the proposition here discrimination.
"A pit bull is but a dog. There's nothing extraordinary about them," said Morgan, next to her 6-year-old pit bull named Rocky.
The proposed law would ask all pit bull owners to carry a sign showing they own that breed. Owners would take to fix their pit bulls and contain $1 billion in liability insurance if their dog was caught running loose.
The proposed law will be introduced in Indianapolis next month. Morgan says Indy Pit Crew will push it.
Gregory Gilbert, meanwhile, just wants to celebrate what happened to his father from happening to others.
"This should be the final sentence it happens to anyone," he said.
(Eyewitness News reporter Emily Longnecker contributed to this story.)
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