TARENTUM — As a 13-year-old borough girl slowly recovers from being attacked by two pit bulls Wednesday night outside her home, the chairman of Tarentum council’s public safety committee is taking steps to prevent another such attack. Mike Gutonski, whose brother is the soon-to-be stepfather of the victim, Abby Deluisio, said Thursday that he plans to initiate discussion at council’s Monday meeting regarding rules for owning pit bulls and similar animals traditionally considered to be aggressive. Gutonski had hoped to develop, and have council pass, an ordinance prohibiting such dogs in the borough. But Solicitor David Strellec said Pennsylvania law prevents local lawmakers from passing such ordinances against specific breeds. “We’re going to have a death, or someone is going to get seriously, severely injured, and it’s going to be too late,” Gutonski said. “In my opinion, these animals, there’s no need for them. “It’s not fair to residents. They can’t even walk the streets anymore without fear of being mutilated by one of these animals.” Deluisio, an eighth-grader at Highlands Middle School, was walking home in the 400 block of West Ninth Avenue about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday when the two pit bulls confronted her near her driveway, police said. She attempted to walk around the dogs, police said, when they cornered her. One animal knocked her down and began biting her arm with which she was shielding her face, Gutonski said. The other began pulling her hair. The two eventually dragged the girl down the street a short distance, police said. Ed Gutonski, a Tarentum police dispatcher who is engaged to Deluisio’s mother, and another neighbor hit and kicked the dogs until they released the girl, police said. It was the third attack by a pit bull on a child in the borough since July 2003. Ed Gutonski did not return a phone message left with his brother, Mike. Mike Gutonski said the girl suffered at least eight puncture wounds to her arm. She was treated and released from Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison on Wednesday night, but doctors apparently are fearful of infection, he said. She was in good spirits Thursday, he said. The dogs are being quarantined by Hoffman Kennels in Delmont, the animal control officer for the borough. Gary Hoffman, owner of the kennels, said Thursday that he was in the beginning stages of investigating the incident and hoped to talk soon to the victim and the dogs’ owner, Shirley Kramer, of the 300 block of West Ninth Avenue. Hoffman said it is his responsibility to gather information regarding the attack. If the case is serious enough, it would be handed over to a district justice, who could press charges against Kramer. He said it could take four or five days to complete the investigation. In the meantime, Mike Gutonski hopes to gain support for stricter regulations governing dogs. Strellec said that although state law prohibits discrimination against specific breeds, council could discuss, and eventually adopt, guidelines to help minimize the likelihood of future attacks. “Maybe regulate by size,” Strellec said. “The likelihood of a 5-pound dog doing as much damage as a 20-pound dog, you can’t say big or small, but you can choose an arbitrary height or weight that would cover all breeds. “These are just ideas that Mike and I talked about. “This law says you can’t isolate a breed. It doesn’t say you can’t isolate a size,” he said.

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