Get tough with pet owners with dangerous dogs

Some problems just don't have a good solution, but surely there's more that can be done to keep people from carelessly owning vicious dogs that attack people or other pets.

In Leisure Lakes, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office and animal control are looking for two large dogs that killed a small dog being walked by its owner. They are having a difficult time locating the dogs because the owner is struggling to identify them. But it's clear that this poor pet owner had to watch her beloved pet get torn to shreds.

The same thing happened in New Port Richey when a toddler was mauled and killed by a Rottweiler-Labrador mix during a birthday party. The dog has been euthanized, but that doesn't change the fact that a little boy died as a result.

In most cases these kinds of attacks are nearly impossible to prevent. Pets can be as unpredictable as people, and both can kill. But there are examples all of us have seen or experienced when loose dogs roam neighborhoods. One on one, or with someone they know, these dogs can be friendly and lovable. But on their own, or with other dogs, and around strangers, aggression can surface and cause a potentially deadly situation.

Clearly dog owners are responsible for this and too many do a poor job keeping their dogs restrained. It's amazing that these people will just let their dogs run free. Perhaps they don't think there are penalties if their dogs attack. There are, but by then it's too late.

There needs to be much stricter penalties for people who cause an unsafe situation in the first place. Tickets should be issued immediately. Neighbors usually know who these dogs belong to, but they don't want to cause a rift by calling authorities.

It's ridiculous when a person cannot walk their own dog on a leash or go for a walk or run themselves without being threatened by a dog. We must take this threat serious. We'll never eliminate every threat, but we can get rid of the obvious ones.