Leader of Government Business in the Upper House, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, says that owners of disciplined, well-cared-for, and trained dogs are not the target of the Dogs (Liability for Attacks) Act, 2020.
She noted that the Bill, which provides for criminal and civil liability for an owner of a dog that attacks, injures and/or causes the death of a person, speaks to those dogs that display vicious behaviour and if not kept and restrained properly, pose a danger to members of the public.
“Many Jamaicans bear the physical and mental scars of dog attacks and are terrified of dogs for the rest of their lives,” she noted while opening the debate on the Bill during the sitting of the Senate on Friday (November 27).
She cited cases where persons lost their lives as a result of dog attacks in 2016 and 2018, the mauling of a grade-six teacher last year, and most recently, the vicious attack on five-year-old Mickele Allen by a pack of dogs.
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