An 11-year-old girl was visiting relatives Saturday in Energy when two pit bull terriers jumped on her.

When Amanda McCall tried to run, one of the dogs attacked her, biting her hands and feet and knocking her to the ground. She was rushed to the emergency room in Herrin and needed 11 stitches in her right foot.

"I thought I was going to die," she said.

Amanda's father, Thomas McCall, called on the dogs to be destroyed and for pit bulls to be banned in Energy.

"Some attention has got to be brought about these dogs again," he said. "People are still getting them, and other people are still getting hurt."

The attack and McCall's strong words came at a time when Illinois lawmakers were wrestling with the issue of violent attacks by vicious dogs.

Tuesday night, the House unanimously passed a bill to stiffen penalties for dog owners with animals that attack people. The bill, introduced by state Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, increases the penalties for unprovoked attacks by dogs that have been declared vicious, in cases where the owner allows the dog to run at large, to three to seven years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

The bill also increases penalties for the owner when a dog has been declared dangerous and kills a person. Such an offense would be punishable with two to five years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Local fines also would be increased under the bill, with the cap raised to $1,000 from $50.

The action was a matter of common sense, even though it does not require dogs to be destroyed after a first attack. It should be signed into law immediately by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"It's just going to send a message out there that if you have dogs, handle them responsibly," Boland said. "Hopefully, we'll begin to see an end to these kinds of attacks."

The battle to make state laws tougher for vicious dogs was emotionally charged and not so clear-cut in the Legislature until this week. The dogs involved in attacks are sometimes part of families, and local governments are wondering how the bill would affect their law enforcement resources without increases in fines.

Dogs were involved in 27 fatal attacks nationwide in 2005, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said. But the thought of destroying dogs is a tough decision because most are part of families.

"We're trying to focus on public health and public safety in a way that is mindful of the unique role that dogs and cats play in our families and in our society," said state Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, the Senate sponsor.

The Village of Energy council expects to debate what it can do to prevent dog attacks at its next meeting Tuesday. State law prohibits municipalities from breed profiling and enacting breed specific legislation, but the village could enact tougher leash ordinances, vicious dog ordinances and spay and neuter ordinances.

The legislation on the governor's desk is of some solace to Amanda McCall's father. He was horrified by the attack on his daughter, but he hoped it would spur action.

It did.