VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Owners of dangerous dogs in Volusia County will now be required to carry insurance policies five times higher than the state standard.
A new law meant to hold dog owners accountable is waiting for the governor’s signature right now.
Eyewitness News has been following this issue closely since January when a child from DeLand was mauled to death by two dogs that wandered into his neighborhood.
County leaders want to send a message. Council member David Santiago said if someone wants to own a dangerous dog in this county, it’s going to cost them.
However, Santiago said he wants to make it clear that this change isn’t meant to be a punishment for all pet owners.
For him, the motivation stems from the death of 8-year-old Michael Millett.
For months, his family and Sheriff Mike Chitwood have pushed for changes in state law. Eyewitness News traveled with them to Tallahassee twice, and now the bill, known as the “Pam Rock Act,” just needs the governor’s signature to become law.
The bill got its name from a mail carrier who was killed by a pack of dogs in Putnam County in 2022.
The change in law takes a lot of the waiting out for victims and their families. It forces owners of dangerous dogs to have insurance and microchip their dogs.
If a dog kills someone, it will have to be put down.
In Volusia County, a similar ordinance was already in place, but Santiago said it needed more weight.
If a dog is deemed dangerous, the owners will have to carry a $500,000 policy, which is five times the state requirement.
Santiago added that deciding if a dog is dangerous will still take several steps.
“It all depends on the specifics of the scenario of the bite. For instance, if a dog is protecting their owner on their own property, if someone is trespassing, dogs don’t get classified as dangerous in those situations. So, every case is very specific. It isn’t as simple as you bit someone you are now dangerous,” said Santiago.
He said for the ordinance and state law to be successful, people need to report incidents to animal control and the sheriff’s office. That is something investigators said didn’t happen in Michael’s case.
The dogs in that case were put down after a 10-day quarantine, but that would have happened immediately had they been deemed dangerous before.
The owners of those dogs are currently being investigated for manslaughter by culpable negligence and owning a dangerous dog.
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