FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners has agreed to increase the fees to dog owners whose dogs are classified as either vicious or dangerous.

According to the county ordinance, a dangerous dog is one that causes substantive puncture of a person’s skin by teeth without causing a serious injury or one that aggressively attacks in a manner that causes a person to reasonably believe the dog poses an immediate threat of serious injury.

A vicious dog is a dog that inflicts serious injury on a person or causes a serious injury to a person resulting from reasonable attempts to escape the dog’s attack.

The current fee is $30 for the first year a dog is classified as dangerous or vicious and $20 each year thereafter.

The new fee will be $200 for the first year a dog is classified as dangerous and $150 for each year thereafter.

The new fee will be $250 for the first year a dog is classified as vicious and $200 for each year thereafter.