Washington council amends vicious dog ordinance

WASHINGTON - The Washington City Council and police chief are working to amend the city's pet ordinances.

Due to recent dog bite cases, City Administrator Brent Hinson said the city would like to give the police chief more discretion to settle situations before it is appealed to the city council. The changes add more specific definitions as well as add more decision-making options for the police chief.

One of the new additions to the code is a more specific definition of a vicious animal.

The new addition states a vicious animal means the animal has attacked or bitten someone:

' Without provocation.

' While running at large.

' When the propensity to attack or bite any person or animal exists and such propensity is known to the owner or the peace officer based upon past or present conduct, or should have been reasonably known to the owner.

The last option has four other criteria:

' Has bitten or attacked a person or animal on two separate occasions within a 12-month period.

' Did bite or attack once causing bodily injury that resulted in medical or veterinary care.

' Did bite or attack once causing injuries above the shoulders of a person.

' Could not be controlled or restrained at the time of attack to prevent the occurrence.

When dealing with a vicious animal, two new options have been added for the police chief to order.

Originally, the code stated the owner of the animal should remove the animal from city limits or have it destroyed.

Now, the police chief can:

' Require the owner of the animal to provide evidence that the owner has sufficient liability insurance, the ability to provide reasonable care for the animal and keep it confined in a manner that will prevent future incidents.

' Take precautionary measures, including, but not limited to, muzzling the animal, provide the animal with specialized training within a reasonable time and to require that the animal be restrained when off the premises, all as ordered by the police chief.

The animal neglect or cruelty section was added to, creating more definition to what animal neglect or cruelty. Originally, a section regarding appropriate tethering rules was removed, but at the request of council members it was added back.

The City Council made four amendments to the proposed code. Two of the changes were grammatical. One of the changes was keeping a section regarding tethering and the last change was removing the section, which describes instances where the animal neglect or cruelty code does not apply.

The council approved the amended code and a second reading will take place at the next meeting.

The edited code can be viewed in the Feb. 17 council packet on WashingtonIowa.gov. Changes made during the council meeting are not reflected in the packet.