Livestock killed as dogs’ owner sought by sheriff’s deputies
San Martin – Eleven goats and a chicken were killed, and four goats and a steer were seriously injured in an attack by two pit bulls before the dogs were shot and killed by Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies.
The investigation has yet to locate the dogs’ owner, said Santa Clara County sheriff’s Sgt. Ed Wise.
About 7:25am March 7, the owner of the steer walked to the rear of his property and discovered a portion of a fence had been knocked down. His steer was on an adjacent property suffering injuries to its ears and neck. The owner also noticed several dead goats and the two pit bulls attacking the other goats. When deputies responded to the 911 call, they shot the dogs as they were still eating the goats, according to Wise.
Several of the goats killed were pregnant, he added.
“There could be civil issues, value-related issues there, when the owner of the dogs is located,” Wise said.
The attack may have begun earlier, he said, as the owner reported hearing dogs barking about 2am, but did not get up to see what was happening.
In the wake of several attacks on domestic animals by pit bulls during the last two years, Morgan Hill City Council members will consider strengthening the city’s dangerous dog ordinance. The city’s Public Safety and Community Services Committee reviewed ordinances from other cities before creating a proposal for a stricter law.
Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming said the proposal is ready to be presented to the city council.
“Hopefully it will be approved this month or in April,” Cumming said.
There are two major changes to the existing dangerous dog law. If the new ordinance is approved, dogs that seriously injure domestic animals could be euthanized. Presently, only dogs that kill other animals are automatically euthanized.
“This is a somewhat minor change, but it’s a very important change,” Cumming said. “We’ve had several instances where the animal that was attacked was not technically killed by the dog, but was so seriously injured that it had to be euthanized.”
The other change would be tighten controls on people who have had prior incidents with their dogs or are convicted felons, Cumming said.
“Under the proposal, we would have more oversight through the permit process,” he said.
The committee initially considered adding a breed-specific clause to the ordinance but decided against it, Cumming said.
“We decided that that was not factually supported,” he said. “Dogs like chows and Jack Russell terriers bite at an alarming rate. The thing about pit bulls is that they are strong and big; their jaws are able to cause serious damage to people. Unfortunately, pit bulls seem to be trained by people who want to be tough and macho; its what people think about pit bulls.”
