Board reviews dog mandate

By Andy Gates | Argus Observer
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 11:02 AM PST

ONTARIO - A new vicious dog ordinance may prove to be less of a barking matter, since Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee revamped it with input from a committee of concerned citizens organized last month.

The Ontario City Council directed Kee to rework a contentious breed specific version of the ordinance proposed Feb. 5, and this newest edition of the potential canine mandate was introduced Monday night at the regular Ontario City Council meeting.

Monday's ordinance defines a vicious dog by its behavior and allows for concessions so owners have the ability to appeal designations.

“I really like this better than the breed-specific (ordinance),” Kee said Monday night.

Ontario City Councilwoman Susann Mills agreed with Kee.

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Vicious dogs are defined in the proposed ordinance as animals that have bitten or attacked people or attempted to do so, hounds owned to fight or aggressive canines kept on property known for drug trafficking or gang activity.

The definition also stipulates that dogs can be deemed vicious if they display a propensity to attack through threatening mannerisms, even if they are confined by a leash or fence.

There are exceptions, though, to the proposed ordinance, such as: tormented dogs, dogs that attack trespassing animals and people, dogs working for law enforcement or the military or dogs protecting their owners from attack on their own property.

For dogs that are ultimately deemed dangerous or vicious, owners face penalties including license fees and surcharges.

Dogs deemed harmful would be spayed or neutered, undergo obedience training and have a microchip implanted, according to the proposed ordinance.

Tickets for Class A Violations could be issued to owners if a vicious dog runs at large or bites a person or animal, according to the proposed ordinance.

Homes harboring vicious dogs would be required to post warning signs, leash and muzzle dogs in public and confine them to secure, locked pens while in yards, according to the proposed ordinance.

Vicious dogs could be reported by citizens or law enforcement, even before a dog attack, and then Kee or his designee would determine if the dog should be deemed vicious, according to the March 5 City Council Agenda Report.

Dog owners can appeal the vicious dog allegation before a hearings officer appointed by the city, according to the proposed ordinance, within seven days of receiving notice of designation.

However, Kee said Monday night a hearings officer represents a downside to the ordinance, and could cost the city around $1,500 annually.

The Malheur County Court recently passed an ordinance that designates vicious dogs by their breed, and it was similar to the ordinance Kee brought before the council last month.

In that ordinance, vicious dog breeds, such as pit bulls, would have to be muzzled during public walks and remain in five-sided cages while in backyards.

Some residents opposed the verbiage of that breed-specific ordinance because they alleged it sought to punish breeds and not specific dog behavior.

In other city council news:

- The Ontario City Council voted Monday night to renew a contract with Ontario Rural Fire Protection District in Malheur County and provide fire suppression services to the county with a 1 percent hike in service charges.

The contract indicates the county will pay the city $111,572, in quarterly payments between July 1 2007, and June 30, 2008, as part of the pact.

That is an increase of $1,106 from last year, according to the March 5 Ontario City Council Agenda Report.

Ontario City Councilman John Gaskill said a good working relationship between the city fire department and the Ontario Rural Fire Protection District benefits residents in the area.

The city and rural fire district have worked jointly under contract since 1959, according to the agenda report.

- Ontario City Council members voted in favor of a resolution Monday night to expand the Malheur County Enterprise Zone boundary, which would provide five years of property tax waivers to an incoming Nyssa business, Owyhee Produce LLC. Ontario, like all other local governing entities in the Malheur County Enterprise Zone, must pass similar resolutions for the boundary to expand and to activate tax incentives for the incoming company, according to the March 5 agenda report.

“The enterprise zone provides tax incentives to industrial development projects that can show a business investment and a positive impact on employment,” according to the agenda report.

Gaskill said Monday night Ontario could benefit from Nyssa's growth.