March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Mary Legorreta of El Paso, Texas, had to raid her retirement account and mortgage her house to help pay $300,000 in medical bills after she was mauled by two pit bulls, suffering more than 30 puncture wounds.

The retired teacher's story led state Senator Eliot Shapleigh to introduce a bill that would impose criminal penalties on owners of dogs that injure or kill someone without provocation. It's one of three such bills being considered by the Texas Legislature this year.

``Texans will act when pit bulls attack grandmothers,'' said Shapleigh, a Democrat from El Paso. ``We'll get this passed.''

Lawmakers are reacting to a spate of fatal attacks that manifest Texas's status as the U.S. dog-bite capital. Texas has had at least 13 fatal dog attacks since 2004 and the most such fatalities in two of the past three years, according to data compiled by Richard Polsky, an animal behaviorist based in Los Angeles.

One of those cases, the November 2005 death of a 76-year-old Thorndale woman who was mauled by six pit bull-Rottweiler mixed- breed dogs while working in her yard, inspired bills by state Senator Jeff Wentworth and Representative Dan Gattis.

The bills by Wentworth of San Antonio and Gattis of Georgetown, both Republicans, would add felony charges. Owners of dogs that kill or injure could be sentenced to as long as 20 years in prison. All three measures remain in committee awaiting hearings.

``Texas is a libertarian, small-government, individualist state, so there tends to be less regulation in general,'' said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

`First Bite Is Free'

The legislation would eliminate the notion that owners can't be held responsible unless their dog has already bitten someone and been adjudicated a dangerous animal, Wentworth said.

``The first bite is free'' in 19 states, including Texas, said Ken Phillips, a Los Angeles lawyer who specializes in dog- bite cases. Phillips, who helped write legislation that was recently passed to toughen the law in Tennessee, said the principle traces to 17th-century England, where animals roamed freely and owners weren't expected to control them.

``Texas has been saluting the flag of England when it comes to dog-bite law, and it's not fair to the kids and elderly people who are getting bit,'' Phillips said.

Six Million Dogs

Texas, with a human population of 23 million, estimates its dog population at about 6 million, second only to California's.

``Texas has a mentality that your dog is your private property and you can do what you want with it,'' said Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for Houston's Health and Human Services Department.

Houston led the nation in dog bites of letter carriers for five of the past 10 years, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman David Lewin. There were 108 Houston-area postal workers bitten by dogs in the 12 months through September 2005, the latest statistics available.

``Hardly any letter carrier would go through their whole career without some kind of dog bite or attack'' in Houston, said Prissy Grace, president of the local chapter of the National Association of Letter Carriers union.

Grace, 63 and retired, knows from experience. When she started more than three decades ago, she was attacked by a dog in her first week on the job.

Short of Manpower

Part of the challenge is a shortage of animal-control officers. Harris County, which encompasses Houston, has 19 field officers to cover an area of 1,300 square miles (3,400 square kilometers) and almost 2 million people. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends having one officer per 16,000 to 18,000 people, said Dawn Blackmar, director of the county's Veterinary Public Health Department.

``Like with any other laws, unless you can enforce them, it's a problem,'' Blackmar said.

Barton, the health department spokeswoman, said another factor is the region's status as a hub for breeding dogs for fighting. Proposals that would toughen the ban on dog fighting are pending in legislative committees as well.

The dog-bite bills would create a new class of potential felons while doing nothing to prevent the problem, said Jeff Shaver, a Houston lawyer who owns 14 dogs and does volunteer work for two groups dedicated to responsible dog ownership.

``The last thing we want is a dog bite,'' he said. ``Every time that happens, somebody wants to infringe on other people's right to own a dog that's not part of the problem.''

Forcing Responsibility

Shapleigh is seeking accountability for those owners whose dogs are a problem.

Almost two years after the pit bull attack, Legorreta, 61, said she limps, can't run and can no longer play the piano. She's pulling for passage of Shapleigh's legislation.

``It won't help my case,'' she said, ``but it will certainly help other people.''

Marilyn Shoemaker, daughter of the Thorndale woman who was killed, agrees. She said three of the dogs that killed her mother, Lillian Stiles, were allowed to roam free, and three were kept in a chain-link fence that lacked a bar across the top to prevent sagging.

``The scales of justice are tipped way in the wrong direction, and it's time for a change,'' Shoemaker said. ``My mother didn't get a second chance.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Cox in Houston at acox3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 30, 2007 01:01 EDT