Floyd County to consider dangerous dog ordinance

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

Floyd County supervisors are considering a dangerous dog ordinance that would provide guidelines for handling canines that bite or attack people or other animals.

Jeff Sherman, Floyd County environmental health administrator, said he, the county sheriff and assistant county attorney have been working on the ordinance for awhile, adapting it from a similar ordinance in Cerro Gordo County.

The supervisors briefly discussed the ordinance at their planning session Monday morning. The item is on the agenda for the regular board meeting Tuesday morning, where the supervisors are likely to set a time and date for a public hearing on the proposal.

Sherman said he gets reports of about a dog bite a month from Charles City, and one or two every couple of months in the rural areas of the county.

A dangerous dog is defined in the proposed ordinance as a dog that meets any of these guidelines:

• Has been trained to engage in exhibitions of fighting.

• Has attacked a person or domestic animal without justification causing bodily injury or death.

• Has behaved, on two or more occasions, in a manner that a reasonable person would believe posed a threat of injury or death to a person or domestic animal.

• Was determined to be a dangerous dog by an animal control authority, court of another jurisdiction or governing body of another jurisdiction.

The law required that all dogs in Floyd County be identified by ID tags that contain the name and address of the owner and proof of current rabies vaccination, and that all dog bites be immediately reported to the Floyd County Department of Environmental Health.

The proposed seven-page ordinance lists various quarantine periods for dogs found to be dangerous or potentially dangerous, with all quarantine or boarding costs the responsibility of the owner.

The owner of a dog found to be potentially dangerous must notify the U.S. Postal Service and all utility companies of the dog’s presence, must give written notice where the dog will be kept to any person who was a victim of a bite from the dog and who lives or normally travels within 500 feet of that location, and must post a sign on the premises warning of a potentially dangerous dog.

The owner of a dog which has been determined to be potentially dangerous may be prohibited from owning or having custody of any dog for up to three years if that person was in possession previously of a dangerous dog.

Violating the ordinance could be punishable as a simple misdemeanor with a fine of not more than $650 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or as a county infraction with a civil penalty of not more than $750.

A repeat offense conviction could be charged a civil penalty of up to $1,000.

Also on the agenda Tuesday are:

• Discussion and bids for demolition and removal of an abandoned house at 1726 Woodland Drive, formerly known as the Hummel property, and discussion of tax abatement on that property.
• Discussion on a proposal to purchase a small parcel of land in Rockford.
• Discussion regarding purchase of right of way for a 2018 bridge project.
• Review of the county engineer’s annual report.