STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – This isn’t about bad dogs.

It’s about bad owners.

We’ve had a lot of reports of dog attacks lately. The Advance highlighted videos of two of the more heinous ones this week.

In one video, a beloved Pomeranian dog was brutally attacked and killed by a passing pit bull.

The Pomeranian was doing what he had done for years, following along as its owner took out the trash. It was a routine they had. We all have these little routines with our pets. It’s part of what makes our dogs, cats and other pets truly members of our families.

The pit bull overpowered the child that was walking it and viciously set upon the Pomeranian. It was a horrible way for the 16-year-old pet to end his life, mauled to death outside his forever home, the safest place he’d ever known.

In another horrific video, a pair of loose dogs barged into the backyard of a Great Kills home. They attacked two small dogs and the woman who was trying to save them. The loose dogs actually followed the woman into her home as she desperately tried to get to safety. The attack eventually subsided. The woman said that dogs had been responsible for another attack in the neighborhood. She said she lives in fear of walking her dogs outside.

Last October, another dog was said to have been responsible for two attacks in Sunnyside.

So what can you to do get justice when dogs attack? What can you do if there’s a dog in your neighborhood that’s responsible for multiple attacks?

Not much, it turns out. And that’s wrong.

“In New York, there is no actual statute governing what happens if the owner of a dog allows it to attack somebody and someone gets horrifically injured,” said Glen Devora, managing attorney of the D’Agostino and Associates law firm.

The firm specializes in this kind of work. You may have seen their “Bite Back” ads.

In order to be brought to heel, the offending dog under New York law must be shown to have a dangerous propensity to be violent. It must be proven that the owner knew of this propensity.

But the owner of the dog could stop the whole thing by refusing to cooperate. And even so, the lawyers say, dogs get a free pass on their first offense. This means owners aren’t held responsible for any injuries.

Other states are different. In New Jersey, you’re responsible if your dog attacks someone. Simple. In Pennsylvania, you’re liable if your dog does serious damage.

New York needs to toughen its penalties.

We all know that some people like to have tough-looking dogs, be they pit bulls or other types. It’s like they think the dog’s toughness will rub off on them. They like the fear that the very presence of their dogs can cause.

We’ve all seen these dogs. Some are built like tanks. They look like genetic mutants. They’ve got that blank, dead-eyed look. You don’t know if you’ll unintentionally set them off.

But this is not about breed, it’s about deed. If you have a dog that can do harm, you need to be able to control it. And if it injures a person or kills another pet, you need to be held repsonsible.

An attack is an attack. Victims must be able to get justice. They need to be compensated for their physical injuries as well as their emotional trauma, including the pain of losing a beloved pet.

Victims need to be able to bite back.