"Buddy Law" saves Family Pet

"Buddy Law" saves Family Pet

Owners of dogs that injure people face stiffer penalties under a new Colorado law.

But the measure, signed Wednesday by Gov. Bill Owens, also saved a dog named Buddy - and at least seven of his condemned buddies.

Colorado's dog-bite bill followed a gruesome mauling by three roaming pit bulls that killed an Elbert County woman and injured two of her friends last fall.

The new law makes owners liable for injuries the first time a dog bites. Previously, victims were prevented from recovering damages until a dog attacked twice.

Now, victims of dog bites are entitled to seek civil damages "regardless of the viciousness or dangerous propensities of the dog or the dog owner's knowledge" of those tendencies, the law says. And a court can order a dog killed if the owner knew it was dangerous.

At the same time, the bill forbids cities and counties from outlawing specific breeds of dogs.

That's where the Colorado debate over dangerous dogs became intertwined with the pending fate of one dog in Denver.

His name is Buddy. A Staffordshire bull terrier, he was picked up twice in Denver for residing in a city that bans pit bulls and related breeds, and was awaiting death at the animal shelter.

State Rep. Debbie Stafford, the bill's House sponsor, offered to take Buddy, a 36-pound dog whose owner calls him harmless, to her Aurora home. Denver turned her down.

She responded by making sure that the bill, once passed, would take effect immediately. Its final version also stopped all pending dog killings based on breed bans.

Upon House passage Wednesday morning, Stafford rushed the measure straight to Owens, who signed it at 11:46 a.m.

By late afternoon, Buddy was being freed from the Denver animal shelter.

Did Buddy's fate figure into the urgent request for a gubernatorial signature?

"Rep. Stafford made him aware of that," said Dan Hopkins, the governor's press secretary. "The sponsors certainly expedited getting the bill to his desk."

While Denver City Council members met Wednesday afternoon with a city attorney before deciding to free Buddy, opponents of dog breed bans exulted.

"The Buddy law," quipped Glen Bui, vice president of the American Canine Foundation in Seattle. He called the legislative triumph in Colorado "the biggest battle for canines in the last 10 years."

Denver Councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez said she expects the council to debate whether to challenge the new law at its Monday meeting.

In the meantime, Denver decided to release any dog with a known owner that was "held purely on the basis of its status as a pit bull," according to a statement from city environmental health manager Nancy Severson.

That includes Buddy and seven other dogs. Severson said the animal shelter also would try to relocate 14 stray pit bulls with no identified owners and would temporarily stop impounding dogs solely on the basis of breed.

"I'm elated," said Ben Wilson, Buddy's owner, as he drove home with his dog sitting beside him.

Wilson said he supports a new law that penalizes irresponsible dog owners, and he recognizes that some people train pit bulls to be vicious.

But Buddy is basically a lap dog, he said, a dog who can be trusted with his newborn baby and 2-year- old son.

"This is really a good day for us and our family," he said, "and a good day for the state of Colorado."