Dog ban to be discussed
Monday, November 20, 2006
Emporia city commissioners on Wednesday will take up a proposal by resident Tricia Segobia to strengthen the city’s “vicious dog” laws. The 10:30 a.m. meeting is a study session and will not take a vote.
Segobia began pushing for a change after a mixed-breed in her neighborhood killed a friend’s dog, was impounded and released, and then killed a neighbor’s dog before being put down.
“A dog who kills should not be given a second chance,” Segobia said in October. Her specific proposal would:
• Define a vicious animal as one that attacks or kills another animal or human. Presently, only animals that attack humans count as vicious.
• Require owners of a “known vicious breed” to register with the city, insure the animal, and prove that it has been licensed, vaccinated and properly contained on the owner’s property.
• Require all dogs and cats that are released from the animal shelter or adopted to have a license and proof of shots. Aggressive breeds would have to be registered as well.
• Increase the costs of fines and citations under the animal control laws. Vicious animal cases would be expedited in order to help overcrowding at the shelter and the shelter manager could make recommendations of animals considered to be at risk for aggressive behavior.
• Require the dog park to be patrolled on weekends, with tickets written for any animal without current city or rabies tags.
• Emphasize that animal control officers, not private citizens, should be the ones to pick up and transport a stray dog.
She also notes in her proposal that several cities in the area have banned pit bulls altogether, including Madison, Burlington, Hartford and Overland Park. The dog that killed twice in Segobia’s neighborhood was part pit bull and part Siberian husky.
Several commissioners said they would be willing to consider broadening the “vicious animal” definition.
“If a dog kills other animals, it’s may be a matter of time before it injures a human,” Commissioner Ray Toso said.
To him, this seemed familiar. Back in the late ’80s, he said, there was a similar push to toughen the dog laws and ban pit bulls. The ban didn’t go anywhere. Even now, Toso said, he didn’t favor singling out a breed to ban or restrict.
Commissioner Bobbie Agler said the city should look at the likely root cause of a vicious dog — a bad owner.
“Probably they’re the ones that ought to be punished with really heavy fines,” Agler said. “It doesn’t seem logical to punish everyone by saying, ‘These dogs can’t exist in town.’”
Recently, commissioners attended a Web-based seminar held by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The ASPCA made a similar case, that the problem lay in the owners rather than the dogs.
Agler said he was impressed by the ASPCA’s statistics, but that he’d like to see some facts and figures from those in favor of banning the dogs. That was echoed by Mayor Jim Kessler and Commissioner Tom Myers, who said the presentation had been good but one-sided.
“There must be some reason why all these places are doing it (banning pit bulls) and I’d like to hear their side of the argument,” Myers said. “I’m still open to being convinced one way or the other on breed-specific legislation.”
He added that a ban could be difficult to enforce, due to the problems of identifying a true “pit bull.”
“In a perfect world, it would be easy to determine, but unfortunately, it’s not,” he said. “Now there’s so much cross-breeding. Where do you draw the line on parts and percentages?”
Commissioner Julie Johnson said she had no comment at this time, preferring to wait until the commission had had a chance to get into the issue.
“I think that’s the whole purpose of the study session — to get a little better handle on it,” she said.
Kessler said it sounded like the animal control laws needed to be tightened. But there’s also a manpower problem there, he said. Right now, the Emporia Police Department’s budget allows for one full-time and one part-time animal control officer.
“Eventually, we’ll need more help,” Kessler said. “But, first things first.”