The anti-vicious dog bill being pushed by Rep. George Eskridge and Sen. Shawn Keough of District 1 along with the Boundary County commissioners ran into a little trouble on Wednesday. The head of the Idaho Humane Society and several others pointed out flaws in the bill that could actually weaken current vicious-dog laws, and noted that some localities including Ada County have much stronger, model laws.

The lawmakers wanted to fix the state law because when Denise Dickerson was attacked by three vicious dogs in Boundary County and nearly killed while she was out for a walk last year, local authorities couldn't find a way to order the dogs destroyed because the attack was their first offense.

The House Judiciary Committee decided to amend the bill, and the committee's chair, Rep. Debbie Field, R-Boise, said it could possibly be improved to bring in some of the Ada County provisions. That local ordinance allows the destruction of vicious dogs for a first attack, after a hearing.

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