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Copyright (c) 2010
Winters Express
312 Railroad Avenue, Winters, CA 95694
(530) 795-4551
news@wintersexpress.com
Web site by
shawnpatrickcollins
@yahoo.com
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Will it take another 65 years for the city
to put some teeth into our leash laws?
Oh, the irony.
In the last week’s “Years Ago” feature, I discovered
this little gem: “65 years ago, May 21, 1948 — Because of
increased complaints about dogs in Winters, the county pound will conduct
a campaign on unlicensed dogs Monday, the Winters City Council was told
at the meeting Tuesday night.”
Fast forward 65 years, and the city still hasn’t done much to deal
with the issue of loose, aggressive dogs. The night before this ran in
the Express, Debbie Hemenway had addressed the city council about loose,
aggressive dogs, and how her little Corgi was viciously attacked by a
pit bull recently while she was walking her on the Putah Creek Nature
Park path. The pit bull’s owner not only didn’t have the dog
on a leash, but was unable to control it. Debbie’s dog is lucky
to be alive. Just ask Karen Benson Neil.
Karen’s little fluffball, Bailey, a Shih Tzu mix, was ripped to
pieces in 2006 as she was walking him in an orchard. His spine was snapped
in one chomp. The dogs also tore into Karen’s old, gentle golden
retriever. Thankfully, that dog survived, but not without expensive veterinary
care. Even more thankfully, the dogs didn’t turn on Karen.
Karen had complained about these habitually loose, aggressive dogs for
years to Yolo County Animal Control, which essentially did nothing until
this incident. They impounded the dog only after it killed Bailey. I wrote
a feature story about Karen’s traumatic experience for the Express.
What did the city or county do in response? Nothing.
On June 6, 2010, 6-year-old Elipse Cruz had her cheek torn off by a loose
pit bull while she rode her bicycle in town. Not long after, a man was
attacked while walking down the sidewalk near City Park in the middle
of the day. A pit bull got loose from its yard and tore into the man’s
leg, and he was taken by ambulance to the hospital.
The attack on Cruz sparked a discussion at the June 15, 2010 city council
meeting. The Express story says pit bulls were discussed and, “in
response to a question of banning pit bulls, City Attorney John Wallace
said regulating ownership of one particular breed of dog is illegal in
California.
‘Regulations can only be made to all dogs,” said Wallace,
‘such as an ordinance that animals must be spayed or neutered.’”
Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, then a council member, “suggested the city
put an informational message in the Winters Express to owners of potentially
dangerous dogs.”
Not only was it a limp response, if it actually even happened, I either
didn’t see it or don’t remember it. Do you?
Karen and several others who’d had run-ins with pit bulls attended
a city council meeting a couple weeks later to make a plea to the council
to do something about pit bulls in particular and unrestrained dogs in
general. The council listened patiently, and finally responded that maybe,
possibly, someday, they might beef up the local dog licensing enforcement.
Did they? Has anyone come to your house to see if your dogs are licensed?
Stopped you when your dog isn’t on a leash? Better yet, fined you
for it?
After Debbie addressed the council last week, she offered suggestions,
and aside from a polite “thank you” from now Mayor Aguiar-Curry,
only Mayor Pro Tem Woody Fridae had anything substantive to say —
that he’d like the item come back for discussion as an agenda item,
and ultimately an action item.
With all due respect to the city council, on the issue of loose dogs,
there’s been a lot more talk than action. I copied/pasted that “Years
Ago” item and emailed it to our current city council and City Manager
John Donlevy, along with the following message: “65 YEARS AGO!!!!!
And here we are, 2013, and the problem is STILL there, and no city council
has tackled it. I hope this current council will finally address this
issue once and for all.
“I also hope that if Animal Services won’t get out here and
impound loose dogs, issue fines to owners who allow their dogs to run
loose, and be more of a presence, that you drop their contract. Why pay
for services we aren’t receiving? I haven’t seen an animal
control vehicle in Winters in months.
“It’s time to issue a city ordinance that all dogs be licensed
(double for unneutered dogs), for the leash law to be enforced, and for
a $500 fine for any dog off leash on public ground. For starters.”
All that, and more.
So, it’s illegal to make breed-specific laws. Fine. Everyone must
suffer equally then, for the irresponsibility of a few. Winters needs
a leash law with stiff penalties, and it must actually be enforced. And
no wah-wah from the police department that they don’t have time
to enforce it. If they have time to pull people over for not using their
blinkers or not dimming their headlights, they have time to issue citations
for loose dogs.
Sixty-five years of this nonsense — people and pets being torn to
pieces right here on our streets and in our parks and neighborhoods. Enough
is enough. A little less talk, a lot more action, city council. Make a
leash law with teeth as crushing as the animals it’s meant to control.
Better yet, not just a leash law — a muzzle law for all dog weighing
more than 20 pounds, regardless of breed. Everyone must suffer together
for the greater good — and safey — of all. In addition, stiff
fines for those whose dogs habitually run loose.
And Animal Control? Cancel their contract and hire a good old-fashioned
dogcatcher. When it comes to controlling loose dogs, Animal Control is
useless, and not worth a penny they’re paid. And they have the gall
to request more money from the city for their so-called services!
Let’s stop the pit bull carnage once and for all, lest Debbie Hemenway’s
plea last week to the city council doesn’t end up in the “65
Years Ago – May 19, 2013” column in 2078.
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