Minneapolis Maps Bad Dogs

San Diego maps the location of sexual predators.

Minneapolis maps the locations of vicious dogs.

Four of Minnesota's four-legged offenders

You can take a virtual tour of bad dogs on their interactive map.

This is Barron, He bit someone.

You could take an actual tour, too, if you wanted. Besides having their pictures and rap sheets posted on the website, the dog's owner's name and address are listed and located with a numbered red dot on the map. Click on the dot, and you can zoom in to see exactly where the dog lives.

If a dog acts aggressively in Minneapolis, it is put on a "potentially dangerous dog" list and the owners are required to follow some rules such as keeping it on a 3 foot leash or muzzling it.

This un-named dog is on the city website.

If it offends again, or if the first offense is serious enough, the dog goes on the map. Once that happens, the dog must be sterilized, the owners have to take out a $300,000 insurance bond on the dog, and must post a warning sign in front of their home, and pay an anuual registration fee of "not more than $500." The dog must be microchipped and wear an identifying collar..

Collar Identifying a Dangerous Dog

The dog doesn't have to stay on the map for life. The city's website states:
 If an animal's owner completes the necessary training and education for themselves and their pet, and an approved trainer affirms that the pet and pet owner have made progress toward meeting certain safety goals, the City of Minneapolis will review the case after a reasonable amount of time (6 to 12 months, for instance) and may remove the dangerous dog declaration.

A dangerous dog has to wear this tag.

For the most serious incidents, or if the owners refuse to comply with the requirements, they may be issued a "destruct" order..

There are some exemptions.

Police dogs are exempt. No surprise there.

If someone gets bitten while trespassing, committing a crime, or tormenting a dog (or if it can be shown that he has repeatedly tormented the dog in the past)--too bad. In those cases, the dog was within his rights to bite.

I thought the regulations were pretty well thought out. They seem to have taken some care to insure that a dog is not put on the list without a good reason and that it can get off the list with proof of good behavior.

I would hope they've made keeping a dangerous dog expensive enough and onerous enough that most people would take the trouble to make sure their dogs don't get on the list.

Minneapolis is not the only city to have a map of dangerous dogs. Austin, Texas, has one, as does Knox County, Tennessee.  Orlando, Florida, was considering such a map, but decided against it for fear it could cause mass hysteria or bring down property values.

I'd be interested to see whether the maps have made a difference in the number of dog bites.

Some Dog Bite Statistics

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/299122381.html
http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2015/04/09/minneapolis-maps-out-citys-dangerous-
dogs/25517985/
http://minneapolis.about.com/od/familieschildren/a/dangerousdogs.htm
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=347.51&year=2008
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/299122381.html
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/animals/dangerous/index.htm
https://www.avma.org/Events/pethealth/Pages/Infographic-Dog-Bites-Numbers.aspx