Officials: Approve vicious dog law, OH

WARREN — The sponsor of an ordinance to control vicious dogs says she believes she has the votes to pass it as an emergency measure next Wednesday.

Mayor Michael O'Brien and police Chief John Mandopoulos also urge swift passage.

All five council members who attended a Thursday meeting of the police and fire committee are in favor, said Councilwoman Susan E. Hartman, D-7th, committee chairwoman. "We need something in place as quickly as we can, so I think the support will be there for it."

"Over the last few years, we've had a substantial increase in vicious-dog problems throughout the city," and city police have been burdened by this problem, O'Brien said. The ordinance is needed to enhance public safety, he added.

"We have nothing in place right now," said Mandopoulos. "It gives us something to work with," he said of the measure.

The discussion follows three episodes this week in which a pit bull dog attacked three members of the same family, hospitalizing one of them Thursday morning. Four generations of the victims' family attended the committee meeting.

Proposals
The committee members proposed three amendments to the ordinance: one clarifying that $100,000 of liability insurance is required for each vicious dog, one saying that the dog owner must pay the actual cost of replacing the required vicious-dog identification collar if it becomes lost, and another saying violators of the ordinance would be barred from dog ownership in the city for five years.

If the city law department can have the amendments ready by Wednesday, Hartman predicted that the ordinance and amendments would get final passage. If the amendments aren't ready, the ordinance will get second reading Wednesday and final passage by the end of the month, Hartman said.

The ordinance, introduced April 26, would require containment of vicious dogs in a secure enclosure on a secure leash and annual registration of such dogs with the city health department.

A vicious dog is defined as one that has killed or injured a person or killed or maimed another dog without provocation. A pit bull dog is automatically defined as vicious. Violation of the ordinance, which would take effect June 1, would be a first-degree misdemeanor, and a $1,000 fine would be mandatory for second offenders.

Owners of dogs police or animal control officers declare vicious can appeal that declaration to the city health board within 10 days.

Thursday attack

In the most recent episode, a 38-year-old city man remains in satisfactory condition in St. Joseph Health Center after a Thursday morning attack. Mark Penn of Fifth Street Southwest was bitten shortly after 8:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Fourth Street after police responded to a complaint and found the loose dog sitting on a porch.

"Look at what happened yesterday. The guy's leg was almost torn off. The back part of his leg was torn off. We can't allow that to go on," Mandopoulos said, stressing the urgency of passage of the ordinance.

In the presence of police, the dog bit Penn in the leg, and Patrolman Reuben Shaw shot the dog. Shortly thereafter, Sgt. Greg Hoso killed the dog with a shotgun. Police have the authority to shoot and kill any dog that threatens or causes serious injury or death to a person.

Niece also injured

The previous evening, police took a report that Penn's niece, Jayla Barnes, 11, of Third Street was bitten on the leg and knocked to the ground by a medium-sized pit bull dog.

The dog began dragging Jayla through the front yard, but the girl's mother, Veronica Barnes, was able to get the dog to let go, and the dog ran off. Jayla had two bites to her right leg, a bite to her right arm, and a bite to her chest, and was treated at Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital.

Veronica Barnes told police the same dog, which had bitten her son Jonathan on Monday, inflicting a minor injury, continually came to her house.

"Passing this ordinance is not going to change anything that happened to the Penn family. It is going to help to stop it from happening to other people," Hartman said.

milliken@vindy.com

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