He says the Humane Society can and has gone to court to ask that a dog be put to sleep based on what the agency has observed, but that doesn't happen often. And so, responsibility rests with the people who are bitten, and with the dogs' owners. Assistant Chief Anthany Beatty, who heads the Lexington police department's bureau of patrol, acknowledged that the recent attack on the police officer might have been avoided if one of the other victims had filed charges. The public needs to know that reports should be filed at both the health department and in the courts, he said, and then someone has to be charged with following up on those complaints. That doesn't mean the dog should be destroyed.
Judges can instead order the dog's owners to keep the animal in a secure pen.
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