Town wants to amend laws on dangerous dogs

The Town of Babylon wants to amend its laws to strengthen penalties on owners of dangerous dogs who lack insurance and to extend the time dogs are held before they may be euthanized.

The proposed changes would expand the dog licensing requirement from owners to individuals "having care or custody or responsibility for any dog." The amount of insurance that owners must obtain for a "dangerous dog" also would increase from $100,000 to $250,000. The penalties for not having such insurance would increase from $100 to $1,000 for a first offense, from $200 to $3,500 for a second offense, and from $300 to $5,000 for any subsequent offenses.

In addition to any dogs trained for dog fighting or to attack humans or domestic animals, a court-declared "dangerous dog" is defined by the town as "any dog which menaces, threatens, attacks or bites" a person or another dog, cat or animal "who is peaceably conducting himself or herself in any place where he or she may lawfully be."

The town also proposes to extend the amount of time a dog is held before it may be euthanized. The town previously used state guidelines that, according to town officials, advise a five- to seven-day holding period before "stray and owner-identified" animals may be euthanized. Under the changes, the town would not euthanize dogs unless they are "unadoptable due to temperament or have been available for adoption for at least 90 days." After this period, the dogs would become town property and could be held for an additional 30 days.

A public hearing on the proposed changes will be held Aug. 16 at 10 a.m. at Babylon Town Hall in Lindenhurst.