Regarding the concern with an aggressive dog in one of the City's neighborhoods, it is critical that a report be made to our program, the City's Animal Care and Control Program. Reporting is the basis for the exercise of authority to control dangerous dogs in our community and thereby ensure the safety of the public and livability of our neighborhoods. Authority given both by statute and ordinance can only be exercised on the basis of reports by citizens which are necessarily public documents.
Not only only does reporting mean that the owner of an aggressive dog can be held accountable but it enables us to be as proactive as possible given present regulations. In particular, a it enables us to impose restrictions on dogs such that they can only be outside when muzzled and on a short leash or in a six-sided enclosure--that is a kennel with a secure top and floor. These restrictions are enforceable, and in fact, our program considers them as "high end violations" and works closely with the Office of the City Attorney to charge these misdemeanor violations through a complaint process requiring a court appearance. What we seek to do through our regulatory processes is to prevent a recurrence that may harm a person or a pet in one of our City's neighborhoods, and if we are unsuccessful in this objective, to impose additional sanctions on the dog owner up to and including the destruction of a dangerous dog. In a somewhat different vein, I would note that our program does not automatically destroy dogs of any particular breed. Doing so on the basis of breed alone would actually be in violation of state law insofar as "breed specific" legislation (and by implication administrative orders) are prohibited. What we do with breeds such as pits, amstaffs, bulldogs, rotties and others is to return them to owners (or custodians) and to place them through approved rescue organizations. In the latter case, they are evaluated initially by our staff relative to temperament and healthy and then again by rescue groups with intimate familiarity and the capacity to carefully place all such animals in households that can assume full responsibility for their care and effective management. It deserves to be said that this approach benefits the animals as well as our neighborhoods and communities. As folks familiar with our field know, animal fighting is far from uncommon, and careful placement procedures with animals from breeds used in fighting ensures that they are neither fought nor trained to fight other animals. It also helps minimize the chances that such dogs will suffer the lone and unsatisfying existence of a so-called guard dog. To return to the issue of dangerous dogs, it is essential that reports are made so that owners may be held accountable and the safety and livability of our neighborhoods protected. Each year we make hundreds of so-called dangerous dog declarations on the basis of such reports. (Presently, we are working on obtaining a report about the situation under discussion in this forum that can be reviewed under dangerous dog regulations.) In this way, we seek to continue to work with heighborhood residents to provide quality animal are and control services and to promote responsible pet ownership and a positive bond between citizens and their animal companions. Bob Marotto, Manager Animal Care And Control Program City of Minneapolis 612-370-4979 REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
