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Jefferson womans tragedy helps push antifreeze bill forward
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Jefferson resident Becky Davis poses with her two German shepherds, Chief and Rebel, who were poisoned with antifreeze in 2008. Chief later died. Davis has been working to enact legislation to add a bitter taste to antifreeze to avoid similar tragedies. The bill passed the state House last week. - photo by For The Times

JEFFERSON — Becky Davis has spent the better part of the last year and a half working to enact legislation to prevent what happened to her dogs from happening to anyone else.

In March 2008, her two dogs were poisoned with antifreeze, one of whom died within a week of the poisoning.

“I took them to the emergency clinic within an hour of the poisoning,” the Jefferson resident explained. “It only took two tablespoons of antifreeze to kill my 90-pound German shepherd.”

Going into further detail into the week when her dogs were poisoned makes her emotional, she said, but it also prompted her to call state Rep. Tommy Benton, R-Jefferson, at the end of 2008 to discuss how to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

“I did research and shared it with him,” she said about her work on House Bill 219, more commonly known as “Chief’s Law” after her dog who died.

The bill, which only made it as far as the Rules Committee last year, would require antifreeze to include denatonium benzoate, a bitter-tasting substance that would help prevent people from ingesting it.

“Ethylene glycol attacks the body within 30 minutes of ingestion. This law makes antifreeze bitter, adding the most bitter substance known to it,” Davis said.

The bill went before the Rules Committee again this year, then to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, a move that prompted Davis to take a day off work to drive to the Capitol for the discussions.

“A lot of people who spoke up (Tuesday) were in favor of it,” she said.

The bill passed the House by a 143-25 vote, Davis said. The bill now goes to the Senate.

“I’m so excited. I just want to go home and hug my dog,” she said afterward.

Davis said she hopes people write to their local senators to get House Bill 219 passed and on to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office to become law.

“Even though it’s common sense legislation, there’s about 6,000 children who die each year from antifreeze,” Davis added. “About 242 people in Georgia die every year, which is almost a person a day.”

Davis said that even if the legislation doesn’t go further than the Senate, she’ll continue to fight for its passage.

“Even if I’m 90, I’ll still be going up to the Capitol to get this legislation passed,” she said.