COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio lawmakers are looking to change vicious dog laws, which have not changed in years.

“Story after story after story of sad situations where folks were seriously, seriously injured and/or killed,” Rep. Kevin Miller (R-Newark) said.

Miller is sponsoring House Bill 247, which makes several changes to the law, but he said one major portion of it allows a dog who attacks someone to be seized immediately by the dog warden.

“So, in many cases, those dogs that maybe bit a neighbor, they remained in the community because the dog warden couldn’t remove them,” he said.

Some members of the Ohio House Public Safety Committee raised concerns about these dogs being immediately removed from a home.

“When [animal shelters] are full, they don’t take dogs,” Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) said. “That’s why people are quarantining them at home.”

“You’re taking them out of the home without due process or going through the hearing process,” Rep. Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland) said.

But Miller said that the provision acts in the best interest of the victim of the attack.

Under the bill, once the dog is seized, there is a ten-day period in which the case must be heard; then if the dog is deemed vicious, the court will decide whether the dog must be humanely put down.

“The responsibility is on the owner,” Miller said. “However, if they’ve done such an egregious thing, I feel that the dog should be euthanized.”

The bill also increases legal penalties, but not in all cases of attacks.

“If my dog has been a loving animal, no issues of any aggression, but one day it happens to lash out, this bill doesn’t change the penalties for that,” Miller said. “It keeps those the exact same. The increased penalties in this bill are for the repeat offenders.”

This is not the only bill being worked on — there are two Democrat-led bills, House Bill 240 and 241, and a Senate bill also being worked on. Lawmakers hope this helps fast track some sort of action.

“Bottom line is what we’re trying to do is come up with something that we all can agree on that makes sense,” Rep. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) said.

The House bills are being heard in the House Public Safety Committee. Those three bills all had sponsor testimony on Tuesday and now await both proponent and opponent testimony.