Two headlines from my local paper, just this month: "Pit bull dogs attack man, 70, in wheelchair" and "8-year-old boy mauled, critically injured by dog at Athens home."

God help us. When will we pass laws making dog owners totally accountable for what their dogs do to people? That will put an end to people wanting to own these monsters in short order. No matter how good an owner is, they can't control what their dog does 100 percent, and that's why we shouldn't have pets that are so powerful. Ask Siegfried and Roy! 

In general, law enforcement treats dog attacks as "acts of nature." It's hell to get a strong response from them no matter how necessary. I lived for years with a neighbor dog that was big and strong and aggressive enough to kill me if it wanted to, and it acted like it did want to. On three occasions, the dog got loose and came into my yard and cornered me. Once, I barely got back into the house with the dog on my heels. Two other times, I had to fend him off with a stick and a hammer. The 100-pound-plus large dog had its hair up on its neck and was enraged each time. I almost fainted from the fear and exhaustion of these attacks. The best the ACC attorney could do was fine the college-kid owner. There should be a law whereby the dog was taken from the negligent owner. Finally, the young man got rid of the dog, but the law needs changing.

I knew two people killed by dogs outside of Athens a few years ago. The dog owner got a slap on the wrist. We've had three children killed by dogs in recent years in Georgia. I hope our city and state representatives will read this and do something about it.