Concerns raised by citizen’s at a recent Navasota city council meeting regarding aggressive and feral dogs has caught he attention of the city council.
Interim Police Chief Mike Mize presented the possibility of a new ordinance at a special hearing on Monday.He says they have had issues recently with, not just dogs, but animals in general attacking other animals in town. Mize first defined an “aggressive dog,” according to the proposed ordinance.
“A dog bites, assaults, or attacks another person. That way, if they do not cause true bodily injury under the state statue, we can still file that as an aggressive dog. Aggressive dog will also be a dog that attacks another animal, dog or cat. If someone is walking their dog, and the dog comes out and injures or kills another dog, we can claim it as aggressive,” said Mize.
Mize did say there would be specifications for licensed guard dogs somewhere in the language.
The new proposed ordinance would not just be limited to dogs.
“One thing on here is the ‘vicious animal’ definition. That includes an animal, not just a dog, as there are other animals that can be vicious. Cats can be vicious,” said Mize.
City staff mentioned there would be signage recognizing the ordinance.
Included was an increase in the fine for an aggressive dog.
“The penalty goes up from $500, to $2,000,” said Mize.
The ordinance was just open for public discussion, and no official motion was made to approve it.
City staff is going to review, and amend some of the specific language, before it is presented to council for approval.