2007 PRESS RELEASES
July 2, 2007
STATE LAUNCHES ONLINE DANGEROUS DOG REGISTRY
Contact: Elaine J. Lidholm, 804.786.7686
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) today launched a new interactive Web site, the Dangerous Dog Registry. The registry, which is similar in concept to the Sex Offenders Registry, enables people to check to see if dangerous dogs reside in their area. Legislation from the 2006 General Assembly mandated creation of the online registry and also placed other restrictions on dangerous dogs and their owners. The legislation was spurred by events where people and animals were killed or seriously injured in dog attacks in Virginia.
The Office of the State Veterinarian in VDACS has primary responsibility for maintaining the registry, which was created by software designer Virginia Interactive. The site is located on the Web at www.vdacs.virginia.gov/animals/dogs.shtml. Users may search by locality or by zip code to determine the presence of dogs deemed dangerous by the courts or local officials.
The process of creating the registry took more than a year, beginning in June 2006 when State Veterinarian Dr. Richard Wilkes and his staff sent a questionnaire to 133 jurisdictions in Virginia to gather information about existing Dangerous Dog Registries and numbers of dogs already registered. In consultation with the Attorney General’s Office, it was decided that the local animal control officer or other official should be the clearinghouse for all information posted on the site. Dogs must be declared dangerous by local officials or local courts before being entered in the Registry.
Last month, VDACS sent an informational letter to contacts in the localities to let them know the capabilities of the system and their responsibilities for reporting dangerous dogs. That packet also included a sequential batch of tags that registered dogs must wear. Virginia Interactive began user acceptance testing the week of June 25, then e-mailed the locality contacts their User IDs and Passwords so they could begin using the system. When the site launched, it contained names, addresses and photos of nine registered dogs.
Other safeguards were mandated in addition to listing an animal on the Registry. Owners are required to confine dangerous dogs in a facility that meets local specifications, to post signs on the property where the dog is housed and to spay or neuter the animal. The dog must wear a special dangerous dog tag and must be identified with a tattoo or electronic chip. The owner must maintain a $100,000 liability insurance or surety bond and must renew the registry information every January as long as the dog is alive. Dangerous dogs that are not on the property of the owner must be on a leash and must wear a muzzle.
“The Dangerous Dog Registry is the State’s effort to inform people of the location of dangerous dogs in their area,” said Dr. Wilkes. “It is an information tool for pet-owners, parents, the elderly and anyone else who is concerned about the presence of dangerous animals in their area. Pet-owners still need to handle their pets responsibly, keeping them on leashes, providing suitable protection with fences or runs in their own yards and being vigilant when outdoors with their pets. But this new online tool will alert citizens to the presence of dangerous dogs in their areas and enable them to avoid those areas when walking with their pets or young children.”