Shon
06-09-2004, 03:21 PM
Sally Mayer has been through a vicious dog attack of her own.
"It chewed my face off," said Mayer, a city councilor.
She was 2 years old at the time and had to go through a battery of medical treatments, including painful shots in her stomach to prevent rabies.
The breed of dog?
"It was a cocker spaniel, like Lady of 'Lady and the Tramp,' " Mayer said.
Mayer, now 53, has not, however, grown up to believe cocker spaniels are dangerous.
That's partly why she says banning the breeding of pit bulls in New Mexico, as has been proposed by a state senator, is the wrong approach.
"It's not the dog that's the problem; it's the owner," Mayer said.
Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, an Albuquerque Republican, said Tuesday she will pursue a ban on pit bull breeding in New Mexico, as well as stiffer penalties for owners of biting dogs.
Beffort said her interest in a pit bull ban came from the recent news of a pit bull attack against a 5-year-old in Los Lunas. The girl was severely mauled by a chained pit bull. "This is not just an isolated incident," she said.
Her legislation, Beffort said, would ban further breeding of pit bulls in New Mexico and would increase penalties for dog attacks, turning some misdemeanors into fourth-degree felonies for the first bite from a "dangerous" dog breed.
"Do other dogs bite? Yes. But we do know this is the most vicious dog breed," Beffort said. "I understand there will be resistance from certain sectors. But I think it's the responsible thing for a legislative body to do."
Mayer, who owns several dogs, is pursuing her own overhaul of Albuquerque's dog control laws and expects to unveil the policy later this month.
She said failing to neuter a male dog or leaving it chained up instead of fenced in a yard were conditions that could make it dangerous to approach such a dog.
"It chewed my face off," said Mayer, a city councilor.
She was 2 years old at the time and had to go through a battery of medical treatments, including painful shots in her stomach to prevent rabies.
The breed of dog?
"It was a cocker spaniel, like Lady of 'Lady and the Tramp,' " Mayer said.
Mayer, now 53, has not, however, grown up to believe cocker spaniels are dangerous.
That's partly why she says banning the breeding of pit bulls in New Mexico, as has been proposed by a state senator, is the wrong approach.
"It's not the dog that's the problem; it's the owner," Mayer said.
Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, an Albuquerque Republican, said Tuesday she will pursue a ban on pit bull breeding in New Mexico, as well as stiffer penalties for owners of biting dogs.
Beffort said her interest in a pit bull ban came from the recent news of a pit bull attack against a 5-year-old in Los Lunas. The girl was severely mauled by a chained pit bull. "This is not just an isolated incident," she said.
Her legislation, Beffort said, would ban further breeding of pit bulls in New Mexico and would increase penalties for dog attacks, turning some misdemeanors into fourth-degree felonies for the first bite from a "dangerous" dog breed.
"Do other dogs bite? Yes. But we do know this is the most vicious dog breed," Beffort said. "I understand there will be resistance from certain sectors. But I think it's the responsible thing for a legislative body to do."
Mayer, who owns several dogs, is pursuing her own overhaul of Albuquerque's dog control laws and expects to unveil the policy later this month.
She said failing to neuter a male dog or leaving it chained up instead of fenced in a yard were conditions that could make it dangerous to approach such a dog.