Agenda - 04-08-2014 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

20 Watch Dogs Page 2 ordinance. In practical terms, it makes it impossible for the county's animal control authority to deem any vicious that bites someone on its owner's property if the owner says the dog isa watchdog. On the other hand, a strong sense emerged from the discussion with S�hool of Government staff that their trespass analysis could provide a way to allow that a watchful dog could justifiably bite someone on the owner's property even when that person had no criminal intent. This is so because the more general analysis of trespass suggested that social customs and apparent consent must betaken into account and that they include the behavior of a dog watching over property and the behavior of the person who enters that property. Whether there is apparent consent to enter on private property depends, among other things, on the presence and behavior of a dog on the property. Barking, growling and other observable behavior are one indication that there is not an implied consent for any visitor to enter onto the property without invitation or prior arrangement. Thus the behavior of a watchful dog must be considered as part of the array of factors that determine whether consent exists for someone to enter onto the property of another. 9milarly,the behavior of the person who entered onto private property without invitation or prior arrangement would need to be factored into the analysis of a given bite case. How a person behaved in the face of a dog exhibiting alerting or protective behavior would be essential to ascertaining whether the visitor had (knowingly or not)contributed to the bite that had occurred. Whether a dog was deemed a vicious animal under the ordinance could well depend upon whether a bite victim disregarded a barking dog when s/he walked up a driveway or exited a vehicle that they had pulled into the same driveway. Fboommendation 1. Exclude watchdogs from the general category of security dogs in the proposed ordinance 2. Develop language to exempt a dog from being deemed vicious if the dog is being protective of person or property in circumstances in which either or both of the following apply: a. There is an absence of consent (expressed or apparent)for the bite victim to have entered the property on which s/he was bitten b. The bite victim could have avoided the bite by responding to signal behaviors from the dog and removing him or herself from the property(or some portion thereof)of the owner of the biting dog.