A proposed law to control vicious dogs that have actually bitten humans will be back for another round of public testimony at Tuesday's Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting.
Ordinance 2008-01, sponsored by Assembly President Grace Merkes, seeks to add a new chapter to borough code authorizing Borough Mayor John Williams to contract with one or more public or private entities to provide services, including the seizing and disposing of vicious dogs.
Under the bill, contractors would be required to respond promptly to calls from state troopers or physicians reporting an attack by a vicious dog, and to make reasonable attempts to capture and restrain the animal. Dogs deemed vicious would be disposed of in a humane manner.
Merkes said she introduced the ordinance in response to complaints from constituents who had either been bitten or knew people who had.
While many agree control of vicious animals is worthwhile, some who testified at the Feb. 5 hearing expressed concern that the ordinance would be largely unenforceable.
Tim Colebath, of Nikiski, a founder of Alaska's Extended Life Animal Sanctuary, said he doubted the bill's effectiveness.
"The long and short of it is that this isn't going to work," he told the assembly.
After speaking with Borough Attorney Colette Thompson and state troopers, Colebath said he concluded, "There's no way to enforce this."
As written, he said, the ordinance would leave troopers unwilling to trespass on private property to ask to examine their dog.
"They very eloquently have made the point that this is a Band-Aid if it is enforceable at all," Colebath said.
It would likely take a broader animal control law to properly deal with vicious dogs, he suggested, saying the proposed ordinance was too narrow in scope. Beyond that, responding to a call about a dog bite could take time, enough so that the dog might be long gone, he said.
"What the borough has to figure out how to do is to make the owners of the animals responsible," he said. "You have got to step forward and force the requirement for rabies vaccination for every animal walking on this peninsula."
He said he knew of one dog in city of Kenai's animal shelter that had done "horrible damage" to the face of an 18-month-old child, and despite that, the dog owners wanted the animal back.
"When you are fighting that kind of mentality from the people in the borough, there's no way to enforce this," he said.
Colebath said his organization could handle any animals seized, but the law would not give him the authority to enter someone's property and demand they turn over a suspected vicious dog. Neither would the troopers without a court order, he said.
That leaves people with the less-desirable option of "shoot, shovel and shut up," he said.
George Paris, of Soldotna, said the public has turned down animal control ballot measures in the past. But he agreed vicious dogs should be put down.
He called on owners to be attentive to their pets.
"When your dog runs off your property, you're responsible for that animal," he said.
However, he said he opposed a boroughwide ordinance, suggesting that if neighborhoods are concerned about dog bites, they should pass "a local law just for them."
Samuel Deatherage, of Soldotna, a 12-year-old student at Soldotna Elementary School, told the assembly that he'd suffered dog bites from two different animals in the past two years. He backed that up with photos.
"I don't want other people to get hurt," he said. "And I think we should put down dogs that hurt anybody else."
Cecilia Deatherage, Samuel's mother, said she was in support of the vicious dog ordinance. She said the chances of getting a leash law enacted were slim.
The assembly will also hold public hearings on two other ordinances Tuesday night.
Ordinance 2008-03 would require special permit conditions for the design and construction of bridges across anadromous streams and for rights of way accessing waterways.
Ordinance 2008-04 would amend borough code to provide that excess proceeds obtained from tax foreclosure land sales be deposited in the Land Trust Fund.
Hal Spence can be reached at hspence@ptialaska.net.
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