Agenda - 10-01-2013 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 Understand, it is clear as a bell, that the existing ordinance recognizes that the Animal Services officers may not declare watchdogs that bite in protection of their property to be vicious dogs. It is also clear in the existing ordinance that dogs who bite trespassers may not be declare vicious animals. The "Unified Ordinance" does away with both of these provisions, though the narrative accompanying this agenda item fails to mention to you either of these very major changes. He urged the County not to adopt this Ordinance tonight but to allow the opportunity for citizens to give public comment and suggestions for changes to make it better. Time expired. More written comments are included in the statement attached to this abstract item. Don O'Leary said he also lives in a rural area and he has a large black lab who is friendly, but a good watchdog. He said that if his dog were to bite someone, it would be in defense. He referenced a Dr. Albright, and the RFID chipping practice. He said this chip causes cancer and he would like the Board to do research on this issue before moving forward. Susan Elmore, Chair of ASAB, said the board did meet on occasion and did review this potential ordinance very carefully before giving input. She said the board did consider inviting Professor Wall, but did not, because it did not seem necessary. She said the board does have an attorney who facilitated a discussion and review of the ordinance and the vicious dog issue among others. The board gave feedback to staff and unanimously approved the ordinance. She said the board did consider potential exemption for livestock that were loose, but the board felt that these animals are a potential human health hazard, especially near the road where there may be contact with a car. She said that the ASAB understood that if it is the case of an act of God, it would be up to the discretion of the Animal Control Officer whether to issue a citation. Patrick Mulkay is a resident of Bingham Township. He referenced the definition of a trespasser and said that in the rural part of the county you can take lethal action against a trespasser if you are in fear of your life. He said that this is not so in the towns, where the trespasser has to be in your house. He wonders how this affects the lay enforcement community. He said he has two watchdogs that help protect his family. He said that he hears people talking about farm animals and he remembers helping his family gather cows when they escaped the fence. He said this is discussion of city folks making a determination of what farm animals are thinking. He feels the Board needs to put this ordinance off and seek more input in to this ordinance. Michelle Walker is the vice chair of the ASAB. She said the board did hold a specific meeting that deals with vicious and dangerous dogs' and there was ample opportunity for public participation. She said that there was no clear definition or standard for what is a watchdog, and the proposed ordinance does maintain an exemption for sentry dogs that have been trained and registered with the county. She said that she is also a licensed attorney in North Carolina and she knows that the word trespass is fraught with legal issues. She said that there are concerns with the kind of civil litigation that the County could be involved in, and the new ordinance seeks to address that. She said that the designation between dangerous and vicious dogs is done to give the Animal Control more ability to impound certain animals in the county than the state allows. Commissioner McKee said it was his understanding that it was a compilation of ordinances only and not an expansion, but he sees an expansion of the scope. He referenced the changes made, against the objections of many citizens, to county tethering laws in the past and asked if tethering still applies to Chapel Hill and Carrboro. He asked how a unified document could not be unified across the County. Annette Moore said there are certain parts of the ordinance that could be controversial in certain jurisdictions, and thus those areas were exempted out of this process. She said the same is true of issues like chicken coops in Carrboro. Bob Marotto said Chapel Hill and Carrboro both have a tethering ordinance that is more prohibitive than Orange County's ordinance. He said there are some significant gaps in the ordinance and these gaps can be filled in by Animal Control with consultation from the advisory board and colleagues. He said there are efforts being made to identify those gaps. Commissioner McKee said that rather than fight a difficult fight on tethering again, it seems that this unified document has picked soft targets like the vicious dog issue. He said he has a real problem with making regulatory changes while creating a unified document. He said he is seeing many things that have been taken out and others that have been added in. He is concerned with the decision not to take advice