A woman whose dog was involved in the fatal mauling of an 8-year-old boy in DeLand earlier this year will face only a second-degree misdemeanor charge due to legal limitations, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Amanda Franco is charged under Florida’s Dangerous Dogs Act for an “attack or bite by an unclassified dog that causes severe injury or death” in connection with the January killing of Michael Millett.
“A misdemeanor. Sixty days in jail, maximum. For your dog killing my child? My 8-year-old child that was out riding his bike in his safe neighborhood?” his mom, Tiffani Connell told WFTV. “Not just killing. The dogs tore him apart.”
The boy was riding his bike in his neighborhood when the animals escaped from a nearby home and set upon him. Both animals were later euthanized.
Because the dogs had not been declared dangerous before the incident, state law limits the charge to a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail or a $500 fine.
“We don’t make filing decisions based on emotion,” said William Scheiner, State Attorney for the 18th Judicial Circuit. “We don’t make filing decisions based on public pressure or comment or because someone says we should. We make them based on the law.”
MOM OPENS UP TO CITIZEN AFTER WITNESSING FATAL DOG ATTACK
Authorities say Franco owned one of the dogs, while the other belonged to another person. Investigators said they lacked sufficient evidence to bring charges against the second owner.
Officials noted that a new law that strengthens penalties for the owners of dogs involved in serious attacks could not be applied in this case because it passed after Millett’s death
The “Pam Rock Act” is named in honor of Pamela Rock, a mail carrier who died in a dog mauling.
The law mandates mandatory impoundment for dogs that severely injure a person or animal and declares a dog dangerous if it attacks or threatens a person while unrestrained.
It also requires owners of dangerous dogs to obtain liability insurance, spay or neuter the dog, properly confine it, and microchip it.
