Prosecuting Attorney John Thomas Shepherd updated Quorum Court Thursday on the issue of the vicious dog ordinance.
Shepherd was asked to revise ordinance 714, which is an ordinance to provide protection from dangerous/vicious dogs and went into effect in 2001.
Shepherd said the quorum asked him to research and determine whether they could pass a new ordinance, “which would allow for criminal responsibility for the owner of a dog which bites someone, regardless if that owner knew or had any idea of the dangerous nature of the dog.”
The issue was brought to the quorum’s attention after Justice Ross Burton proposed a revised ordinance in May. During the May meeting, Burton said Union County Animal Control Officer Charles Hartsell had contacted him about a blue heeler that attacked a 6-year-old and caused $3,700 in hospital bills.
After attempting to take the incident to court, Hartsell said the judge, prosecutor and the defense attorney ruled that the dog wasn’t already declared dangerous and vicious, therefore they couldn’t see any criminal intent and dismissed the case.
Thursday, Shepherd said after researching the ordinance, “I don’t believe we can pass it.”
He added that there are two ways to address the issue with the standing ordinance:
First, Shepherd said he would encourage citizens that see a dog that has characteristics of being dangerous or vicious, to report the dog to the sheriff’s office.
According to Ordinance 714, a dangerous dog is defined as: “Without provocation, attacks or bites a person engaged in a lawful activity: While off the property of its owner and without provocation, kills or seriously injures another animal; Without provocation, chases, confronts or approaches a person on a street, county road, other public property or on the private property of another in a menacing fashion such as would put a reasonable person in fear of attack; Acts in a manner that causes or should cause its owner to know that it is potentially vicious.”
A vicious dog is defined as: “Causes death or serious injury to a person engaged in a lawful activity; Attacks or bites without provocation a person engaged in any lawful activity; While off the property of its owner and without provocation, kills or seriously injures another animal.”
Shepherd said the second way to address a dangerous or vicious dog is to potentially charge people under the state offense.
“If we charge them under the state criminal offense, we can seek full restitution for the injured party,” he said. “If we go after them under the ordinance, we are capped at only $1,000 in fines and restitution.”
Shepherd gave an example using himself, stating that if he bought a dog and never saw any vicious or dangerous behaviors, and that dog bit someone, he would not be held criminally responsible.
“We’ve got to have that evidence to put forward to the judge to show that (the dog’s) owner knew this dog had this dangerous character,” he said. “That’s why I think it’s important for these people to communicate with law enforcement when this situation comes up.”
Chief Deputy Charlie Phillips said the county receives an “unbelievable number” of vicious animal calls to the sheriff’s office. He said that when they receive a call, they report it and if the owner can be identified, they are notified that their dog has been deemed dangerous or vicious.
“I know you guys get a lot,” Shepherd said. “That’s why I think it’s a better use of our resources when we get those calls, we make those reports, get them designated as dangerous and that way, when something does happen, we’ve got the tools to deal with it.
Shepherd added that as the calls come in and more dogs are tagged as dangerous or vicious, “then hopefully there will be less and less reports.”
According to the ordinance, if a dog is declared dangerous, the sheriff’s office is to notify the owner of the dog and that the dog “shall not roam freely off the premises or property of the owner.”
The owner of the dangerous dog must also display a sign, that is required to be a certain size, and be easily read from the public roadway or street. The dog must also wear a specific collar and if the dog changes ownership, they must notify the sheriff’s office within 24 hours.
Shepherd said that if the owner fails to follow these requirements, they can be fined.
Referring to changing the current ordinance, Shepherd reiterated that he didn’t believe there were any changes for them to make now.
“What may be a change down the road is, if the sheriff’s office is just completely inundated with this issue, maybe changing the procedure by which the dog is determined dangerous may be something we want to look at,” Shepherd added.
Kaitlyn Rigdon can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].