02/12/2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Shelly Ferger, 25 5'h Street, Vero Beach, spoke as a 35 -year resident and a do trainer. Her sister's stepson is the 6 -year old child who was severely bitten about the face by a pit bull. She expressed several concerns regarding dog bites and the Animal Control Department. She described two incidents to enhance one ofher concerns that there is no one to contact, thus no enforcement, after 5 pm and on weekends The excuse has been budget restraints and she believed that traditionally animal control has had a low priority. She felt there needs to be better control of a dog and particularly if a dog shows a potential to do harm it should not be returned to its owner as she understood was done in this dog -bite case In her opinion, the dog should have been put down due to the severity of the injury to Evan. She also thought better records should be kept by the department. She did not want to see a "breed ban" as has happened in other counties. She was willing to work with any group the Board might institute to improve this concern. She urged the Board to look into this issue. In response to Vice Chairman Tippin's inquiry, Administrator Chandler advised that the release of animals is spelled out in the ordinance and the dog in question would have been released to the owner, but he understood the owner had the dog put down. He understood there was no previous record in Animal Control on that particular dog. Commissioner Adams recalled the animal control ordinance was reviewed and discussed at length in 1997 and perhaps it is time to revisit and improve it. She suggested the working hours of the animal control officers could be staggered. She believed agd ogs can be aggressive and no one wanted to see anybody hurt. She has seen where dogs in packs have killed cows, not a pretty sight. She felt the Board should be able to set the criteria high. Vice Chairman Tippin suggested that at budget time the Board should look at improvements in the Animal Control Division. Commissioner Macht suggested perhaps an interlocal agreement with the Sheriffs February 12, 2002 46 iT) ii a L. i -J