"I think it's scary we've had two of these in one year," Animal Control Supervisor Officer Melissa McKee said.

Brian Palmer, 18 months old, died April 24, the day after his family's pit bull attacked him in his mother's townhouse. Yesterday, Holden Jernigan, 2 years old, was mauled to death by his grandmother's pit bull in her back yard. She was babysitting him. Both of these deaths were in Dorchester County, South Carolina. (Click here to read the story.)

This was a male pit bull which was alone in its backyard with the master not present. On my Dog Bite Danger Scale, three of the five factors were present, making the backyard potentially very dangerous for any child who wandered there. Please review my scale on the home page of Dog Bite Law.

South Carolina is a strict liability state, meaning that dog owners are held civilly liable for all bites by their dogs. This was only the 11th canine homicide in a strict liability state all year. The one-bite states have had 19 deaths in 2007, confirming that people are at greater risk in such states.

I would not call this "scary." I would call it a crying shame. If you own a pit bull or another powerful dog, you need to review my Dog Bite Danger Scale and avoid the factors that turn a house into a potential killing zone.

Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy.

On the other hand, the owners of the dogs that killed Jennifer Lowe by ripping off her face will not face criminal charges. (See my posts about the Lowe killing, below.)

Authorities in Tennessee said that killing her was not a crime.

If you can reconcile Vick's 23 months for killing dogs, with no prosecution of the owners of the dogs that killed Ms. Lowe, please write to me and tell me how you do it.

On my part, I will not rest until there is fairness and justice and consistency all the way around -- for people bitten by dogs, for dogs, and for the owners of dogs too.

Dorothy Sullivan, 86, was killed in March 2005 by pit bulls. Her family recently filed a civil lawsuit against the County of Spotsylvania, the animal control department, and five of it officers. The suit asks for $5 million in damages and losses. (For details about this killing, see Criminal Penalties For A Dog Bite on the companion website, Dog Bite Law.)

The county and animal control department have succeeded in getting the suit against them dismissed, but that leaves the five officers still part of the litigation. (Click here to read the article about the suit.)

The family alleges that the officers knew the dogs were threats and could hurt someone, but failed to do their job correctly. They also say that no one ever investigated or cited the dog’s owner until Dorothy Sullivan was killed, and cite 13 specific instances as proof.

Suits against law enforcement, including animal control, are difficult or impossible. They have special rules, including shorter periods of limitations. Juries sympathize with law enforcement and understand that the judgment has to be paid by taxpayers. However, there are a few jurisdictions were animal control departments are held responsible for failing to take dangerous dogs off the streets.

In my opinion, suits like this should be allowed to go forward. We count on animal control to keep us safe from dangerous dogs and dangerous dog owners. If we kill or injure a vicious dog, this same government will prosecute us for animal cruelty. The government wants a monopoly on dealing with this problem -- so if they botch the job, they should be held accountable. This is especially important in cases where the dog owner has neither the insurance nor financial resources to compensate the victim.

Jeanne Kidd first called 9-1-1 at 3:44 PM, claiming her neighbor was yelling for help. But deputies didn't arrive on scene for 29 minutes, and Jennifer Lowe either was dead by then or died shortly afterwards. (See post below, Tennessee Haunted By Flaw In Dog Bite Law As Fourth Victim Dies.)

When it comes to dog attacks, Tennessee has the second highest death toll in the nation this year. Deadly dogs, bad laws and inadequate police put the community at risk, especially children, who are the most frequent victims of dog attacks. Kids in this state are not being protected as well as kids in other states. I can't believe, however, that parents in Tennessee love their children less.

The people of Tennessee need to contact their state legislators and demand that the one-bite rule be repealed. There are cities that make animal control civilly liable when it fails to take dangerous dogs off the street, but I don't think such a law is feasible in Tennessee because of the balanced-budget provision of its constitution. Therefore, at least the dog owners themselves should be held responsible for all attacks.

In 2007, the USA has seen 29 canine homicides to date. The latest was in Tennessee earlier this week. See the post, below.

19 killings have been in the 18 states that follow the one-bite rule. Only 10 killings have been in the other 32 states. Texas leads the nation with 8 deaths and Tennessee is second with 4. (See The Death Count In 2007 on the home page of Dog Bite Law; also see the month-by-month breakdown of recent canine homicides at Dangerous and Vicious Dogs on the Dog Bite Law website.)

The one-bite rule was fashioned by British judges in the 1600s and specifically exempts dog owners from responsibility for the first bite by each and every one of their dogs. Can there be any doubt that this rule of non-responsibility is a contributing cause of the dog bite epidemic?

The one-bite rule needs to be repealed in all 50 American states.

On November 12, 2007, 21-year-old Jennifer Lowe of Knox County, Tennessee, died after she was mauled by her roommate’s pit bulls.

The new Tennessee dog bite statute, enacted in 2007, specifically re-enacted the one-bite rule for dog attacks occurring on the dog owner's property. In re-enacting this ancient and unfair law of Great Britain, Tennessee specifically declared that there would be no civil liability for maulings and killings of human beings at the homes of dog owners.

I believe that this bizarre and unprecedented dog bite statute resulted from pressure that the insurance industry exerted on Tennessee lawmakers. The purpose of the one-bite rule in modern America is to keep injured people from making insurance claims -- a goal that benefits the insurance industry at the expense of the victims, who are mostly little children.

The original version of the bill would have completely eliminated the one-bite rule in Tennessee. I cannot believe that the lawmakers who amended the original bill knew what they were doing. Citizens of Tennessee should demand that the state have a modern dog bite statute making every dog owner liable for every dog bite -- meaning, in other words, that insurance will be required to pay for all maulings and killings, not just the ones that fit the limited scope of the 2007 law.

The killings that took place in Tennessee after the passage of this new law illustrate how terrible the law is. Three residents of this state were killed by dogs after the law took effect, and all three deaths occurred on the property of the dog owner. All three deaths were excused civilly under the new law. A powerful argument can be made, and should be made, that the one-bite rule makes dog owners less vigilant and that it therefore is a cause of this carnage.