New dog mandate will not affect city
By Jennifer Colton - Argus Observer
Thursday, May 10, 2007 3:29 PM PDT
New Plymouth - At least some dogs may not have their day in New Plymouth after the City Council decided not to include breed-specific legislation into the town's existing canine ordinance.
The City Council addressed the dog ordinance issue Monday night at its regular meeting. Payette County Sheriff Chad Huff, along with Barb Hutchinson, President of the Board of Directors of 2nd Chance Animal Shelter, attended the meeting. Huff said the county will not be able to enforce the new county ordinance inside city limits if the City Council does not adopt the new county mandate.
“I'm not here to advocate one way or the other for the dog ordinance,” Huff said. “I'm just here to say that we can't enforce the county ordinance in New Plymouth. I can tell you it (the dangerous dog ordinance) added a lot of work to my office.”
Following breed-specific ordinances in Fruitland and Payette, the Payette County Commissioners approved a dangerous dog ordinance specifically targeting pit bull breeds March 26, and the ordinance went into effect May 1.
“There's a growing concern about the breed-specific legislation in Payette County,” Hutchinson said. “The main forerunner in this has been (Payette County Coroner) Keith Schuller. He's set himself up as a self-proclaimed expert on pit bulls. He's done his research, but he did it from an emotional standpoint. I'm deeply concerned because never once did anyone from the county commissioners or (Fruitland and Payette city) councils contact the Humane Society of the United States, the American Humane Associations, ASPCA, American Kennel Club or the only animal shelter in this county - 2nd Chance - all of whom oppose breed-specific legislation.”
Hutchinson mentioned a petition with more than 400 signatures opposing the ordinances and the possibility of a court challenge against the county ordinance as incentives for New Plymouth City Council not to change its ordinance.
“We discussed our (dangerous dog) ordinance about a year ago,” New Plymouth Mayor Scott Moscrip said. During the meeting, Huff also discussed his budget for the year.
In other council business, Charlene Wimpy, administrative assistant to the Payette County Soil and Water Conservation District, gave a presentation about the goals and accomplishments of the district; the council approved a conditional use permit to Lynn Koehn for a welding business and agreed to pursue methods to control the rock chuck population on West Boulevard.
