ST. PAUL -- After several recent vicious dog attacks in the Twin Cities, including one this week in St. Paul, the city is going after what many experts say is the real problem: bad owners.
Under the measure the St. Paul City Council passed Wednesday, owners who have a dog taken away because of abuse or neglect more than once in five years would lose the right to own a dog.
And one council member wants to take it even further. Dan Bostrom is calling for a state law that would allow the city to prohibit entire breeds of dog, singling out pit bulls.
"There are dog bites all the time where you get a nip here and a nip there," Bostrom said. "But if you research this thing I think you'll probably find that the major bites are from pit bulls. There's a feeling that we've got to protect our citizens."
Council Member Dave Thune objected to singling out particular dogs.
"There's absolutely no reason to single out American Staffordshire terriers as more dangerous than other breeds," he said of the dogs more commonly known as pit bulls. "... It's the owners. It's not the breed of dog."
The St. Paul ordinance was in the works before Monday's attack on 59-year-old Joann Jungmann. It's meant to address complaints from some that when the city removes an abused dog, or one that's been trained to fight, the owner simply buys a new one.
The two pit bulls involved in Monday's attack were euthanized Wednesday and will be tested for rabies. Jungmann was up and walking Wednesday, but still has several skin grafts ahead of her.
St. Paul animal control chief Bill Stephenson said the dogs' owner, Jerry Lorenzo Morgan, would likely get a citation. Morgan had been cited for a previous dog-bite incident.
Morgan said Wednesday his "deepest sympathy" goes to Jungmann.
"We really, really feel bad for the woman," Morgan said. "It's just a sad, sad thing."
Jungmann was just the latest victim in a string of Twin Cities dog attacks. The first three were in Minneapolis, some involving pit bulls and some other breeds.
Linda Peterson, a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club, was wary of St. Paul's new ordinance. She said they take away a pet owner's property rights.
But Mike Fry, executive director of the Animal Ark No-Kill Shelter in Hastings, said it was the right move.
"Pet ownership is a privilege, not a right," Fry said. "The way we handle them and care for them has impacts throughout our culture."
Patrick Bettendorf, a local radio host and owner of a 3-year-old pit bull, said it was fair to go after the owners but not the dogs. "If you chain them out in the backyard, you are absolutely going to have an antisocial dog," he said.
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