Ald. Fioretti Suggests Licensing Dog Owners
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Dog owners might find themselves applying for licenses, under a plan that the Chicago City Council is being asked to consider.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) says there has to be some accountability, and the answer might be to license not just dogs, but their owners too.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports
Podcast
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Fioretti is calling for City Council hearings in reducing dog attacks, and he says any new law should not be breed-specific, but owner specific.
How such a regulation would work would be part of the hearings.
Fioretti is also looking at the possibility of requiring all dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered, which has been the subject of heated debate in the past, the Sun-Times reported.
Calls for a crackdown on dangerous dogs, specifically pit bulls, were renewed after a high-profile incident in which Joseph Finley, 62, was mauled by two pit bulls in Rainbow Beach Park.
On Jan. 2, the dogs mauled Finley until police finally shot and killed them. The attack cost Finley his left leg.
"The way they attacked me, these were not just regular dogs, no. These dogs attacked in the way of dogs that have been trained to kill," Finley said earlier this week.
Soon after the attack made headlines, Fioretti suggested that a pit bull ban be studied.
That suggestion infuriated some pit bull owners, including former Army Sgt. Chris Middleford. He was worried he could lose his service dog, Mira, who is a pit bull, and said he would leave the city if a ban passed.
Fioretti later changed his mind about the idea of a pit bull ban
"We're going to make sure that he keeps that dog here in the city of Chicago," Fioretti said earlier this month.
