Agenda - 12-10-2013 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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16 1 to introduce changes or to increase the authority of Animal Services. She said this ordinance 2 does not accurately reflect the public's concerns. She discussed several examples of this. 3 She asked for a unified ordinance without changes and with assurance to the public that 4 there would be a transparent public process to change any ordinance. She said an 5 independent appeal process needs to be a priority. She said once an appeal process is in 6 place, then the other issues can be discussed. 7 Michelle Walker is the Vice Chair of the ASAB and is an attorney. She wanted to 8 address the appeals' process. She said this is a critical due process need that is supported by 9 state statutes for dangerous dogs. She said it is good to have the ASAB as the appeals' board, 10 because it is made up of Orange County residents from different backgrounds. She said the 11 board does not issue citations, so the people reviewing the decisions are not the same people 12 who made the original charge. She said there is an established process that it is working. 13 She said changes are sometimes necessary for operations and due process purposes. 14 She said the background behind the watchdog and trespass involved consideration of a lot of 15 scenarios. She said another way of describing this watchdog issue is to say that it creates an 16 exception that swallows the rule, as it means any dog that bites anyone on its property could be 17 considered a watchdog. She said the goal is to identify dogs that have bitten people without 18 provocation. 19 Don O'Leary said dogs have different personalities. He said micro-chipping of dogs has 20 statistically been shown to cause cancer, and he encouraged people to try to avoid chipping of 21 animals. 22 Chair Jacobs said Don O'Leary brought this up last time and he asked him to send his 23 citations to the county. 24 Kris Bergstrand noted that the health services director oversees quarantine of animals, 25 and not animal services. 26 Chair Jacobs referred to page 3 and noted that unless all of the Board approves this 27 ordinance, it will come back at the next meeting. He said it is not necessary to resolve all of the 28 issues tonight. 29 Commissioner Dorosin asked John Roberts for clarification on the approval process for 30 this ordinance 31 John Roberts said any ordinance that does not require a public hearing, is required to 32 have a unanimous vote to pass on the first meeting. Otherwise, it must come back to the 33 Board. 34 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the ordinance could pass without unanimous vote at a 35 subsequent meeting. 36 John Roberts said yes. 37 Commissioner McKee asked for clarification on Michelle Walker's comment regarding 38 lack of a due process for appeals. 39 Annette Moore said the state statute requires an appeal process for dangerous dogs; 40 she said the current ordinance does not have an appeal process. 41 Commissioner Price asked for clarification regarding the terminology of owner versus 42 keeper. She asked why it is required that someone over 18 be the person responsible for 43 caring for the animal. 44 Bob Marotto said experience shows that there will be some people who are keepers, 45 rather than designated owners. He said the keeper notion has some applications that can be 46 helpful, such as in transfers of ownership. 47 Annette Moore supported Bob Marotto's statement with past examples. 48 John Roberts referred back to Commissioner Dorosin's earlier question. He said if the 49 board votes on this tonight and it does not pass, it is defeated. However, if the Board votes