A Marion resident is trying to get town bylaws changed after her daughter’s dog was attacked by another dog in her neighborhood.

Deborah Giokas appealed to the Selectmen at Tuesday night’s meeting, telling them that the attack by Greg Silva’s pitbull on her daughter’s labradoodle has had a “devastating effect” on her family.

“We can’t even walk to the end of the cul de sac because my grandson is afraid,” Giokas said. “I can’t live with this in our neighborhood. It’s not fair.”

Giokas is concerned that if Silva’s dog gets loose again, it might kill her daughter’s dog. She did receive a letter from Silva, apologizing for the attack and promising to install an electric fence. However, Giokas was not satisfied, referencing an article she read that suggested an electric fence wouldn’t be enough to stop a pitbull from going after something it wants.

“I have an article about how to house pitbulls, and electric fences are not it,” she said.

To remedy this, Giokas said she wanted to see a change in the bylaw that required more “dangerous” breeds of dogs to be subject to stricter leash laws.

“Something needs to be done,” she said. “The rest of us in the neighborhood need to feel safe.”

Ultimately, Giokas can take two courses of action. She can either log a formal complaint, which would lead to a public hearing about changing the bylaws, or she could file a citizen’s petition.

However, Town Administrator Paul Dawson did caution Giokas about singling out any one type of dog breed.

“The Attorney General’s office frowns upon singling out breeds of dogs and will typically disallow those laws,” he said. “You have animal control bylaws or you don’t, you can’t separate it out by breed.”

Giokas, Dawson and the Selectmen agreed to set up a public hearing to discuss the possibility of a bylaw change. If a bylaw change is proposed and agreed upon at the public hearing, it would still have to go through Town Meeting.