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"A new proposal being presented by a Cincinnati councilman would increase the punishment for dog owners in the event of an attack.Councilman Chris Seelbach is pushing for a change to the city\u2019s vicious dog law after a number of Tri-State maulings occurred over the summer.Watch this story\u201CIf your dog attacks someone and almost kills them there should be consequences,\u201D he said.Seelbach\u2019s proposes if a dog attacks, the owner could be charged with a first or third-degree misdemeanor and could face jail time.The current vicious dog ordinance in the city is lax says Seelbach.Prosecutors said it\u2019s also hard to convict someone under the law which states there has to be proof a dog attacked someone else and that the penalties don\u2019t kick in until a second attack.Speaking about the case where Zainabou Drame, 6, was nearly mauled to death in Westwood this summer, Seelbach said this will send a message out to dog owners who don\u2019t have the best interest in the animal.\u201CWe want to say look if you're going to have a dog, a vicious dog protecting your criminal activity, you could go to jail,\u201D Seelbach said.Praising Seelbach\u2019s action is Katy Blanton, founder of Cincinnati Pit Crew and advocate of pit bulls.\u201CAnytime you take a pet into your home that pet becomes your responsibility and it becomes part of your family. You're responsible for its care and well-being just as you are responsible for the well-being of the people in your community,\u201D Blanton said.Blanton, also speaking on the dog mauling from this summer says sadly, this did not come any sooner.\u00A0\u201CIt's unfortunate that it takes an incident of what happened like earlier this summer to provoke a discussion that should have been had a long time ago.\u201DEvery dog owner WLWT spoke to is for the proposal with many of them saying, it\u2019s about time.\u201CThere's not get out of jail free card just because you can't blame the dog I mean someone has to take responsibility and it should be the pet owner,\u201D dog owner Kenny Burt said.\u201CWhen I was younger I was attacked and you know it's not the dog's fault, it's the owners fault and they need to have them restrained. Whatever they can do to prevent an attack like that, it's ultimately their fault,\u201D Stephanie Webster said.The law would not be breed-specific and will be introduced next week.Councilman Christopher Smitherman also proposed similar legislation."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wlwt.com/article/councilman-seelbach-proposes-new-vicious-dog-law/3545276>