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It's a tragedy when serious dog attacks occur. Those dogs and their owners should be held responsible for their behavior. I include both the dogs and their owners because both are at fault: The dog for biting and the people for either training their dogs to be aggressive or allowing their dogs to become aggressive.

Courtesy of the Humane Society

Michael Simonik with Maxi, a pit bull available for adoption from the Humane Society on Airport-Pulling Road.

No puppy starts out as a dangerous dog. Irresponsible pet owners create the problem, whether on purpose or through negligence.

Today, pit bull breeds take the brunt of the fear-driven response to a serious attack. It's true that certain breeds have a higher incidence of bite cases than other breeds. However, banning a specific breed will not accomplish the results intended, that is, to stop biting dogs from living in our community.

Breed-specific legislation creates a false sense of public security through oversimplification of the problem and doesn't regulate dangerous dogs that do not fall within the regulated breed.

First of all, in 1990 the Florida Legislature passed a law (Statute 767.14) that prohibits any municipality in Florida from passing ordinances that ban a specific breed in a city or county. Miami-Dade County banned pit bulls in a 1988 ordinance, which was grandfathered into the 1990 law. Even with the ban there are an estimated 50,000 pit bulls in residence in Miami-Dade. Enforcement is impossible and enforcement costs are prohibitively high. But now that the state law exists, the issue is moot. Our state does not allow breed-specific bans of dogs, period.

So, what is Collier County doing to make our residents safe from aggressive dogs? Collier already has an effective aggressive-dog ordinance with serious repercussions for dogs and owners. We have a strict "dangerous dog" ordinance. And the state backs that with criminal penalties against owners of dogs that "aggressively attack" a person and cause severe injury or death. The crime is punishable by up to five years imprisonment or a $5,000 fine.

But is that enough? Probably not, because we still see the same old problems — irresponsible pet owners with unrestrained aggressive dogs terrorizing neighborhoods. Obviously, this is not acceptable in our community.

It is generally accepted that the problem with dangerous dogs is attributable to irresponsible owners. In areas that have banned pit bulls, the number of dog attacks continues to increase. Moreover, even if one breed is banned, owners who desire vicious dogs can circumvent the law by breeding and/or training a new vicious breed. First it was German Shepherds, then Rottweilers, then Dobermans, and now it's pit bulls. I hope that my beloved Australian shepherds aren't the next "bully breed."

But, I will be the first to say that improper breeding could turn a perfectly gentle breed into a monster, including my Aussies.

Dog-bite law expert and attorney Kenneth Phillips says, "Any dog — literally any dog — can be a bad dog if the owner is a bad owner or the breeder is a bad breeder." Banning the currently perceived dangerous breed causes a rise in the popularity of other breeds that can be trained to attack. I would certainly hate to cross an 80-pound Chihuahua in a back alley!

Another method to attack the problem is a "potentially dangerous dog law" at the state or county level which declares dogs "potentially dangerous," subjecting them to regulations after an unprovoked attack or bite that results in minimal or no injury.

The new law could require owners to keep such dogs muzzled, on a six-foot leash or enclosed in a pen with a warning sign on their property and carry high liability insurance.

If we want to attack the problem at its core, then we need to look no further than irresponsible breeding. Perhaps we should investigate increased efforts to spay and neuter more pets, thus preventing the pet overpopulation problem altogether.

Or perhaps we can create a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance for all pets.

Or perhaps we can regulate breeders through a breeder licensing ordinance. Any reputable breeder would be in favor of breeder licensing.

Or perhaps we can substantially increase fees for owners of non-neutered pets.

There are many more ways that we can effectively cure the dog-bite epidemic than by banning specific breeds. Any proposed solution must balance the need to protect society from dangerous dogs and irresponsible dog owners with the obligation to recognize and respect the rights of responsible dog owners.