WESTMINSTER : Proposed Dog Law Draws Praise, Scorn

The toughest ordinance allowed by state law to control vicious dogs was proposed by the City Council Tuesday after the mauling of a 6-year-old by two Rottweilers.

The ordinance would make it legal for the city to destroy a dog that has been declared vicious, would call for stricter restraint methods and would require that the dog owner have $200,000 in liability insurance.

The council’s action was prompted by the Feb. 2 mauling of Jeffrey Kerley by a pair of 100-pound dogs as he played with a friend near his home in the 7700 block of 19th Street. He received 75 stitches.

Under current city law, a dog cannot be removed or destroyed unless it is involved in two separate attacks. The dogs in the Feb. 2 incident had not attacked before.

The owner of the two Rottweilers appeared at Tuesday’s council meeting to urge officials to listen to both sides before passing any ordinances and denied claims by neighbors that she was sloppy in her upkeep of the animals.

“This has really been a lynch mob situation,” said Cathy Weber. “It’s been a devastating tragedy for me, too. We’ve been through hell. I feel like a victim now. I’m afraid to be home alone.”

Weber, 35, said she and her husband, Bill, bought the dogs to enter them in shows. She said there were no problems before this attack.

Weber’s dogs were released from a 10-day quarantine last week and are now in two chain-link runs with padlocks on the gate. She said that while she doesn’t believe that they are a threat, she is planning to relocate the female dog, which she said is more aggressive. Weber said she also bought a $100,000 insurance policy.

For Jeffrey’s parents, Noble and Debora Kerley, it isn’t enough.

“If there was a stabbing, the person would be in jail,” Debora Kerley said. “But all a dog gets is 10 days. This wasn’t just a bite; this was a mauling. I wouldn’t want any other mother and father to have to go through what we’ve been through.”

Although Jeffrey is recovering from his injuries, his mother said he is still traumatized by the incident.

“His outside wounds are healing well, but inside, it’s getting worse every day,” she said. “He won’t go out and play with his playmates any more; they have to come over and play with him.”

“The problem is that now he’s thinking about it; before he wasn’t,” his father said.

Huntington Beach resident Anthony Passanante, who urged the council to pass the strictest possible ordinance, said he was attacked by a Rottweiler in 1985 and was plagued by nightmares long after his wounds healed.

“We should outlaw ownership of all vicious dogs,” said Passanante, 64. “It’s ironic we live in the land of the free and we can’t even walk in our own neighborhood.”

The ordinance will be brought before the council for a vote on March 13.