A committee abandoned creating breed-specific laws because a
bill passed last year forbids declaring a specific breed
”
dangerous
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Morgan Hill – Efforts to muzzle problems with aggressive dogs in the city is moving forward as a group of local residents and Morgan Hill police work to craft an ordinance for council consideration.
Dog expert Daphne Robert-Hamilton said the subcommittee would like to see is something that punishes poor owners instead of mistreated animals.
“We’d like to see the fines increased,” she said. “The current ordinances aren’t strict enough to have a real impact on pet owners. We need something substantial enough to curb habitual offenders.”
Resident Bert Berson – who was attacked along with Amber, his 7-year-old Finnish Spitz in early November, is working with Robert-Hamilton – owner of K9 Partnerships, to stiffen the city’s laws for dealing with dangerous dogs.
“One thing we’ve found is that we are not being breed specific,” said Berson, who was attacked by two pit bulls. “The focus of what we want to do are two major issues, registration of dogs and tying that into strengthening penalties, giving our animal control officer better tools to do his job.”
MHPD has one animal control officer, Daniel Pina, but other multiple service officers help out with animal issues as they are needed, MHPD Chief Bruce Cumming said.
“Every city’s different, depends on the population, the budget, the need,” he said.
In Gilroy, dangerous dogs face a series of restrictions ranging from simply keeping the animal on a leash to confining it in a pen or kennel and using a muzzle on public streets. The most dangerous dogs are required to be euthanized.
Berson and Robert-Hamilton said they believe if more Morgan Hill residents registered their dogs, there would be money in the budget for more animal control officers.
“We want to focus on getting more dogs registered, so animal control can pay for itself,” he said. “We’d like to see that when a vet treats a dog, when a dog trainer trains a dog, they check to see if that dog is registered or not.”
After Berson and his dog were attacked, he and his wife Joyce Peterson, let council members know they would like to see something done to make attacks like the one he and Amber suffered a rarity. They originally looked at a Denver, Colo. ordinance that specifically targets pit bulls and imposes breeding restrictions.
The group abandoned creating breed-specific laws because Robert-Hamilton believes dog owners make their pets dangerous instead of breeds being inherently more aggressive than another. Likewise, a bill passed last year by California legislators, Senate Bill 861, forbids cities and counties from declaring a specific breed “dangerous.”
Cumming said he, too, believes pit bulls have a bad reputation because people encourage them to be aggressive or abuse them, and because of certain physical traits.
“For one thing, they have powerful jaws,” he said. “Obviously, a bite from a pit bull is going to do more damage than a bite from a Chihuahua. But I think it’s really the owners who cause the problem here.”
Cumming said Pina told him that he gets a lot of calls about Jack Russell terriers and chows, not just pit bulls.
“But right now, the owners are the ones that allow this kind of bad conduct from the dogs,” he said. “From allowing their animals to defecate on other people’s property, to allowing their dogs to run loose, to abusing them, encouraging their aggressive behavior, the owner is typically irresponsible. Most of our dog owners in Morgan Hill are very responsible, otherwise we would have far more calls than we already do.”
Prior to the attack on Berson and Amber – during which one of the two pit bulls was shot and the second later euthanized – the dogs attacked a mother and her two daughters while they were walking their dog in July and were labeled “potentially dangerous” with Level 1 restrictions. Also in July, a pit bull being walked by its owner in the same area broke free and attacked a boxer being walked on the other side of the street. In August, a pit bull was shot on Spring Hill Road as an officer attempted to return it to its yard after it charged a neighbor. The breed gained statewide attention last June after a San Francisco boy, 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish, was killed after he was left alone in an apartment with a pit bull.
The committee hopes to present a recommendation to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee soon after March 13.
Is Rover Registered?
– In Morgan Hill, approximately 1,550 dogs are licensed; in Gilroy, only 600 have been registered.
– To obtain a one year license for dog costs $24, for spayed or neutered dog, $12; a three -ear license will cost $67 for unspayed or not neutered; $31 for a spayed or neutered dog.
– Dog licenses may be obtained at the Morgan Hill Police Department, 16200 Vineyard Blvd.
– Impound fee for a dog found running loose or a dog that attacks another dog or a person is $112, plus registration costs if the dog is not registered.
– There are currently 10 dogs in Morgan Hill on restriction, most of them at the most severe level of restriction.
Dangerous dog restrictions:
– According to the city’s municipal code 6.24.085, if a dog has been designated a “Level 1 potentially dangerous dog,” it must be restrained by a physical device or structure when outside the owner’s home that prevents it from getting off of the property. When off the property, the Level 1 dog must be on a leash under the control of someone who is at least 18 years old and is physically able to control the animal.
– A dog determined to be Level 2 has even more restrictions. When off the owner’s property, the dog must be securely muzzled and leashed and must be in harness rather than wearing a collar. The leash cannot be longer than three feet, and the leash cannot be attached at any time to an inanimate object, such as a building, tree or post. The person holding the leash must be 18 years old and physically able to control the dog.
– While on the property, a Level 2 dog must be either inside the owner’s home or in a building or secure enclosure, with secure sides and top. It must be locked with a key or combination lock. The ordinance even specifies the depth that the sides are imbedded in the ground, not less than two feet, and the height of the fence surrounding the enclosure, not less than six feet.
