CENTERVILLE, Ga. — A recent dog attack sent Centerville leaders back to the drawing board on their pet ordinance -- here's what they came back with:
If you're out with your dog in Centerville, you better have it on a leash.
"She's very hyperactive, she wants to chew everything and give you lots of kisses like puppies do," Trenise Tillman said.
But even the sweetest of puppy kisses don't distract Tillman from leashing her 11-week-old Cocker Spaniel puppy Harley.
"I'm not worried about her attacking, I'm mostly worried about her getting attacked by another dog, so if I have her on a leash and I see another dog coming up to her, it’s a little bit easier to grab her," she said.
Tillman says she uses a leash in public places and believes owners are responsible for any incidents.
"I think dog owners should be held accountable, if my dog, even if she's a little dog, if she attacks someone, I am her owner," Tillman said.
The Georgia legislature passed a Responsible Dog Owner Act in 2012. It revamped existing laws and was designed to protect the public from injury or death from dog attacks and to hold dog owners accountable.
"A couple of weeks ago, we had an incident where a dog left the carport area from its owner, was barking at a citizen walking by, and actually engaged into biting the citizen and pushing the citizen down," Centerville Chief Cedric Duncan.
Chief Duncan says that's when they gave the city ordinance a second look. They found their ordinance wasn't up to par with state law. Now, dogs must be leashed in public and must be properly enclosed at home.
"With the city attorney looked at the verbiage of the ordinance in comparison to the state law, we had to amend our ordinance to mirror the state law," Duncan said.
Dog owners can be fined or cited.
"When a dog is out, put it on a leash and then keep the dog with you -- plain and simple-- and we wouldn't have this problem, “he continued.
For dog owners, it may be helpful to always keep a leash in your car, and for those without dogs, don’t assume it’s safe to walk up and pet an animal. That ordinance was passed at the April 3 city council meeting.