Little ones need leashes: “Hey Red Phone. I’m calling in response to your question about dogs off leashes. I think even small dog owners need to be responsible and keep their dogs on leashes. I’m on the other side of the coin. I have a large dog who, if dogs are off leashes and come up to her, she gets a little aggressive. And that’s a liability for me. There’s a ton of people around town who keep their small dogs off leashes because they don’t think they can do any damage. … I can control my dog if she’s on a leash, but I can’t control the little dogs coming up to her.”
Good point, caller. If only ALL owners would obey leash laws.
Dogs roaming free: “I just was calling about your opinion for dogs off leash at a park. I was calling to share that I was at Las Animas Park last Monday and witnessed a large dog, like a Labrador mix and a pit bull off their leash together. I don’t know how rough it was or not, but we had to walk by. The pit bull finally left and the other dog continued to roam. After watching this for about 40 minutes, I called the non-emergency number for Gilroy Police Department, to which the woman who answered responded that they don’t have time to chase dogs all over town, so if I could contain the dog, they’d be happy to come and get it. There were a lot of kids there and I don’t know what constitutes rough play with dogs, but I think if they’re off leash, and in light of what’s happened recently, I think it’s a priority to keep dogs on a leash and maybe we need to have more of a priority with animal control issues. The dogs were there for over a half-hour and they weren’t going anywhere, so I don’t think it would have been hard to come by and take care of it. Thanks.”
The Red Phone checked with the police department to see what they had to say about this. Someone from the Gilroy Police Department will always respond if a loose dog is reported as vicious or aggressive, said Community Service Officer Maria Cabatingan. If a CSO is available, he or she will come pick up the vicious dog, but an officer will respond if a CSO is not available.
With a normal dog, a CSO may come pick it up if someone contains it, but may not because they often do not have the time to chase down every stray animal, Cabatingan said. The CSOs used to pick up all strays, she said.
“We were for a while, but we only have so many kennels, so it was getting overwhelming,” she said.
A dog that is captured and taken by the PD is kept for the mandated five-day waiting period in one of the station’s six kennels, then taken to a local shelter – at a cost of $100 to the department.
But keep in mind, owners are in violation of city code if they allow their animal to roam unleashed.
“Dogs have to be on a leash at all times, other than when they’re in the back yard or in their house,” Cabatingan said. “Anything outside their private property.”
Don’t punish the shelter: “Hi, I’ll try and be brief, but this is a hard one to be brief on. First of all, I’d like to thank you for all the work that you do. It’s always good and greatly appreciated and informative. I read the other day in your paper about the animal shelter cutting back to five days a week, four hours a day. All the people who have done such an ‘amazing’ job are being penalized again.
Mr. Van Wassenhove, let’s get innovative. Perhaps a low, no cost spay and neuter program. Perhaps a couple of laws requiring spay, neutering and licensing, and if not complied with, heavy fines. Perhaps pet shops being required to spay, neuter and license, if not, heavy fines. At pet shops, someone to follow up with those who do not comply. For example, a volunteer. People would be willing to do this. Perhaps a committee of volunteers to help the county come up with ideas.
Let’s have responsible breeders and weed out the irresponsible with licensing and permits. Let’s help the animals, not kill them. With low and no-cost spay and neuter programs, the cost to adopt would not have to be so great. Thank you and please keep up the good work.”
Thanks for the compliments and comments, caller. You offer up some creative ideas – it would be interesting to see if Gilroyans would be interested in volunteering for your suggestions.
