AUSTIN — For state Rep. Harold Dutton, letting an unsupervised teenager walk around the block with a pit bull is almost like allowing the youngster to carry a gun.

“It may well never go off. It may never hurt anybody,” he said. “But the potential there is so great that we need to look at it and prevent it.”

The Houston Democrat believes teenagers using dogs to intimidate neighbors is a growing public safety issue and has filed legislation that would make it a crime for Texans younger than 16 to “handle or care” for a pit bull without adult supervision.

Dutton's pit bull proposal is one of more than two dozen animal-related bills filed this session.

Among the list is a proposal to create tougher laws for cockfighting; an effort to include pets in protective orders; and a bill that would allow sportsmen to hunt feral hogs from a helicopter.

Under Dutton's proposal, leaving a child alone with any of the three bully breeds commonly referred to as pit bulls or “any mix breed” that exhibits pit bull characteristics would become a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500.

Pit-bull defenders — who say the breed is no more inherently dangerous than any other — already are lined up against Dutton, asking others in online forums to contact his office with calls and e-mails.

Animal groups say the measure is unfair because it targets specifics breeds of dogs. Currently, state law prohibits local government from passing breed-specific measures.

“Teenagers could use any kind of large dog to scare people, so where do you draw the line and start addressing the problem?” asked Laura Dapkus, spokeswoman for the Lone Star State American Pit Bull Terrier Club. “This is up to the parents, and if the parents are being negligent there are already laws addressing juvenile delinquency.”

Two years ago, the Legislature increased penalties for vicious dog attacks, closed loopholes that prevented prosecutions under the animal cruelty law and increased punishment for staging dogfights and watching them.

Lawmakers also passed a statewide initiative to regulate the chaining of dogs. Though lauded as a step in the right direction, the antitether bill from 2007 was ultimately unenforceable because it only outlawed the chaining of dogs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., said Patt Nordyke, executive director of the Texas Federation of Animal Care Services.

This session, lawmakers will consider an amendment to the antitether bill that would prohibit all tethering of dogs, regardless of time of day, unless an owner is present while the dog is chained.

The bill also requires 150 square feet of space for each dog older than 6 months left unattended in a yard; and prohibits canines from being left outside in extreme heat or cold.

Supporters say the measure will ensure animal control agencies can enforce the law, which would reduce the number of dogs chained across the state.

“People just stick them out in the backyard and never go near them,” Nordyke said. “This is a horrible way for an animal to live — on the end of a chain for all its life.”

Opponents say the measure is excessive regulation and call it the most “antipet legislation possible.”

“They want to legislate pet ownership out of existence,” said Mary Beth Duerler, executive director of Responsible Pet Owners Alliance. “We want this bill killed. It's very bad legislation.”