Bogalusa, Louisiana Dog insurance

Dog insurance?
By Jacob Brooks
The Daily News

New law may charge $200k insurance for vicious dogs



BOGALUSA - A city councilman is calling for an ordinance that will require people who own "vicious" dogs to have $200,000 in liability insurance.

Councilman Paul Penton said there is a big dog problem in Bogalusa, including dogfighting.

Vicious dogs are causing concerns for Bogalusa residents, said Penton. Some mothers he's talked to say they are afraid their child may get attacked by a pit bull or other dog, and then they don't know where to turn for the medical bills.
Penton plans to introduce a city ordinance based on a Mandeville law that sets a number requirements, including the $200,000 in insurance requirement, for people who own vicious animals.

According to the Mandeville ordinance, a vicious dog is any dog which attacks a human being or domestic animal without provocation; any dog trained for dogfighting; and any pit bull.

Mandeville's city attorney said the law was passed by the Mandeville City Council in 1977, and amended 10 years later. When people get a pit bull in that town, and then later find out about the insurance costs, they usually get rid of the dog, he said.


Needless to say, there are not many pit bulls in Mandeville. In Bogalusa, however, it is a popular breed.

One local woman who owns three pit bulls, said none of her dogs are vicious. She raised all three since they were puppies, and none of them would make an unprovoked attack. Furthermore, any dog that is abused early in its life can grow up to be "vicious," she said.

All her dogs are up to date on shots, and are well taken-care of. She doesn't see why she needs to pay insurance simply because her dogs are pit bulls.

Penton said he is giving copies of the Mandeville ordinance to the city animal control officer and city attorney, and is asking them to go over it and make revisions. Penton said that a vicious dog being defined as "any pit bull" will likely be changed. Rather, any dog deemed "vicious" will be required to have insurance, even Chihuahuas, Penton said.

"What I want to do is make sure that if people are out walking around, there aren't any dogs out that are going to bite them," he said, adding there are definitely vicious dogs in the Bogalusa community.

"If they get loose, they're going to bite up a kid or an adult," Penton said.

Penton said drug-dealing dog owners use the animals to guard the front door, and vicious dogs can act as a distraction to police, giving drug dealers time to flush cocaine down the toilet.

In the past three weeks, Bogalusa Police Department received eight calls concerning dogs. In two of the cases, a dog bit a human. One victim was a child, and the other was a woman.

David Kellis, the city's animal control officer, says he has to deal with vicious dogs on a regular basis.

"I got a dog bite yesterday," he said.

On average, Kellis estimates he responds to two or three dog bite cases per month. With any dog-bite case, Kellis has to file a report and make sure the dog is quarantined for 14 days to ensure it is not rabid.

Many of the calls Kellis receives do concern pit bulls, he said.

In some cases, where there is an 80 pound dog charging him, Kellis said he has had to use lethal measures.

"I've had to shoot several dogs that were vicious," he said. "I can't leave a vicious dog running loose."

Included in the proposed ordinance, Penton said he wants to add wording similar to St. Tammany Parish's leash law which requires all dogs to be fenced or leashed at all times.
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