ARIZONA, USA — Editor's note: The above video aired during a previous broadcast.
The Navajo Nation Council passed a bill on Wednesday that creates criminal penalties for the owners of free-roaming dogs if the animals attack someone.
The bill comes 11 months after a teenager was mauled to death by a pack of dogs that were left to run wild. The owners of the dogs didn't face any penalties due to a lack of nation animal control laws that address the issue.
“I just want them to be held responsible,” Ris Jones, the mother of the teenager named Lyssa Rose Upshaw, told 12 News last July.
ORIGINAL STORY: Mother asks for change and justice on Navajo Nation after teenage daughter's mauling
Around 3,000 people, mostly children and elders, are treated for animal bites each year, according to the Navajo Nation Animal Control Program. The program has also measured an increase in dog bite cases over the last five years.
"It is alarming the number of stray dogs running at large across the 27,000 square miles of the Navajo Nation," Council Delegate Eugene Tso said. "Never again should one of our young people or elders be mauled to death or severely injured."
The bill passed the council with a vote of 23-0. The bill now heads to the desk of President Jonathan Nez and awaits his signature.
Latest Arizona news
Catch up on the latest news and stories on our 12 News YouTube playlist here.