EAST PROVIDENCE -- In response to a rash of pit bull terrier attacks in communities throughout
Rhode Island, Councilman Patrick A. Rogers is seeking to reintroduce an ordinance requiring pit bull owners to obtain
liability insurance for their dogs. Last year, Police Chief Gary P. Dias recommended that the City Council enact
a vicious-dog ordinance requiring pit bull owners to have $100,000 liability coverage for their dogs. The ordinance
actually won first passage, but was never enacted. Instead, the measure was withdrawn after the council came under intense
pressure from a loosely organized, but vocal alliance of dog lovers.
Yesterday, Rogers said he has asked the police chief and City Solicitor William J. Conley Jr. to review the ordinance that
was shelved last year and come up with recommendations. "I would support a complete ban on pit bulls in the City
of East Providence, but I recognize the political reality is such that a complete ban would be difficult to achieve," Rogers
said.
Rogers said that, short of a complete ban, the council should enact an ordinance "to deal with pit bulls and other vicious
dogs such as rottweilers..." The councilman said he asked the police chief and city solicitor to revisit
the issue" in response to an alarming number of pit bull attacks in communities around the state, including East Providence." "The
regulation I would recommend has two components. First, any owner of such a vicious animal would be required to have a license
from the City of East Providence."
In order to qualify for a license, Rogers said, the owner would have to have "evidence of insurance in the amount of not less
than $100,000 and that the insurance was in place for not less than three years going forward and that all premiums have
been paid up front." Rogers said the intent of the ordinance is to ensure that victims of a pit bull attack would
be compensated for their injuries. The councilman also said pit bull owners should be required to have American
Kennel Club certification indicating that they understand how to be a good and responsible pet owner. "The goal
would be that if a person wants to be a responsible, good citizen and legitimately have a vicious animal as a pet, then at
least the ordinance would establish a process requiring these individuals to have some credentials."
Rogers pointed out that one of his constituents was mauled by a pit bull while walking in the the Hunt's Mills area of Rumford.
The victim of the attack, Barbara Deacon, testified in April of last year at a council hearing on the vicious dog ordinance
that had been recommended by the police chief. "I think it's long overdue," Rogers said. "I would hope this
ordinance is brought up, debated and acted on quickly and we don't get caught up in some kind of smoke-screen opposition. "There
are few other animals I know of that have the power and instincts to attack and kill humans."
Conley, the city solicitor, said he was asked by Rogers to review the previous ordinance with the police chief, "with hopes
of refining the ordinance and bringing it back to the council."
In 1984, Providence became the first municipality in the state to enact an ordinance requiring pit bull owners to have liability
insurance. Pawtucket adopted a similar ordinance a year later. Concerned about a rash of pit bull attacks, the
City of Pawtucket two weeks ago closed a loophole that allowed owners of mixed-breed pit bulls to avoid obtaining liability
insurance for their dogs. In Pawtucket, liability insurance of $25,000 for each dog is now required even if
the pit bull is a mixed breed, or if it has been identified as a Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire
Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire Terrier. Liability insurance is now also required for Rottweilers, a breed
that Pawtucket Animal Control Officer John Holmes said has been increasingly implicated in vicious attacks.
Two years ago, West Warwick adopted pit bull regulations. Earlier this month, town officials in Bristol discussed banning
pit bulls after an attack that killed a Shih Tzu. In Foster, earlier this month, a pit bull gnawed through a screen
window and jumped two stories to attack a golden retriever on the street below.
