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To: Animal Services Advisory Board (ASAB) <br /> From: Amanda Schwoerke, Chair; Bryan Stuart, Vice-Chair; Casey <br /> Ferrell, Secretary <br /> Re: Joseph Williams' Proposal to Amend the Orange County Unified Animal Control <br /> Ordinance <br /> Date: October 21, 2020 <br /> At our last meeting, on September 16, 2020, the ASAB heard Joseph Williams' proposal to <br /> amend the Orange County Unified Animal Control Ordinance to make it easier to designate <br /> animals as dangerous; to mandate additional safety measures for dangerous animals; and to <br /> increase the discretion of animal control officers to designate animals. After discussing Mr. <br /> Williams' proposal with Animal Services and attorney Anne Marie Tosco, we recommend not <br /> taking any action on Mr. Williams' proposal. <br /> Unfortunately, Mr. Williams has had interactions with dogs in his residence that frightened him. <br /> However,Animal Services' decision not to mandate protective measures like muzzling plainly <br /> depended on the circumstances of the particular case(s), rather than on any limitations of the <br /> Unified Animal Control Ordinance. In fact, the relevant laws already accomplish most of what <br /> Mr. Williams proposes. <br /> Contrary to Mr. Williams' belief, neither state law nor the Unified Animal Control Ordinance <br /> requires direct contact between an animal and a person to designate the animal as dangerous or <br /> potentially dangerous. Chapter 67,Article IA, of the NC General Statutes defines as <br /> "dangerous," in part, any dog whom Animal Services has determined to have"approached a <br /> person when not on the owner's property in a vicious or terrorizing manner in an apparent <br /> attitude of attack."Id. § 67-4.1(a)(1)(a)(2) & (2)(c). The Unified Animal Control Ordinance <br /> additionally defines as"dangerous" any animal, "on or off the premises of its owner or keeper" <br /> who "without provocation has attempted to bite a person or cause physical harm through bite(s) <br /> to a person." Id. 4-42(b)(4). Animal Services has designated numerous dogs as dangerous or <br /> potentially dangerous on the basis of these provisions. The result of such designations is to <br /> prohibit a dog's owner from leaving the dog unattended on the owner's property unless securely <br /> enclosed, or from taking the dog off of the owner's property unless leashed and muzzled. Id. § <br /> 4-42(d);NC Gen. Stat. § 67-4.2(a). <br /> Moreover, the Unified Animal Control Ordinance prohibits permitting an animal to create a <br /> public nuisance, or maintaining a public nuisance created by an animal. The ordinance <br /> essentially defines as a"public nuisance" <br /> [h]abitually or repeatedly,without provocation, chasing, snapping at or attacking <br /> pedestrians, bicycles,persons lawfully entering the property to provide a service, <br /> 1 <br />