Proposed law targets beasts before they bite
BY JOE RODRIGUEZ
The Wichita Eagle
The city of Wichita usually deems a loose animal "dangerous" when it bites someone.
But that would change under an animal ordinance the Wichita City Council will consider at its meeting Tuesday.
A loose animal would need only pose a threat -- such as aggressively chasing someone -- to be considered dangerous and be picked up, according to the proposed change.
"Our current ordinance is only reactive, not proactive," said Kay Johnson, the city's director of Environmental Services, which oversees animal control.
"We want to take a proactive approach," she said. "If we know there is a (loose) dog that has attacked somebody, basically has made them fearful... then our animal control officers will assess the situation."
If an animal is determined by animal control officers to be dangerous, the owner would have to do things such as let the city embed an identifying microchip and have the animal sterilized.
The proposed ordinance change represents a compromise between people who wanted tighter restrictions on some animals -- such as pit bulls -- and those who didn't, Johnson and City Council members said.
Earlier this year, the city considered restrictions aimed specifically at pit bulls. Under that proposal, convicted felons couldn't own pit bulls -- or any dog found to be dangerous -- and no one could have more than two pit bulls.
Currently, someone can own up to four dogs of any breed if they obtain a permit.
Johnson said there was good reason for that restriction.
"That's what we know that we are dealing with -- a lot of issues associated with pit bulls, including dangerous pit bulls," she said.
But the city decided not to make the ordinance breed-specific, something that organizations such as the Wichita Kennel Club appreciate.
"I don't think naming a specific breed or breeds solves any problem," said Pat Deshler, vice president of the kennel club, which has about 100 families as members.
Instead, the city will track statistics involving dangerous animals for the next six months and, at that time, consider whether the ordinance needs even tighter restrictions.
Deshler said she hoped animal owners whose dogs run loose would make changes.
"Hopefully, the people who have pit bulls who were allowing them to be a nuisance will take heed and they'll become better citizens," she said.
Wichita Vice Mayor Sharon Fearey, who worked on the proposed ordinance change, said she was pleased with the outcome, which she considered a compromise.
"We didn't go breed-specific," she said, "but we certainly tightened it up and made some things harder for people who want to just... have mean dogs running all over the place."
Reach Joe Rodriguez at 316-268-6644 or jrodriguez@wichitaeagle.com.
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/219093.html
Subject: Wichita, Kansas 
Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:18 pm
