County’s Vicious Ordinance Allows Dogs To ‘Get The First Bite’ Explains Supervisor
County’s Vicious Ordinance Allows Dogs To ‘Get The First Bite’ Explains Supervisor
By David Howell
Editor
WATER VALLEY – A brief discussion about the county’s vicious dog ordinance was held during the “first Monday” supervisor meeting in Water Valley on April 4. Although not directly related to a request from the Second Chance Animal Alliance (SCAA) for funding to expand their care for neglected and abused animals in the county, the matter surfaced after District 3 Supervisor Lee McMinn pointed to a problematic dog on County Road 123.
McMinn explained the dog will jump a fence and has bitten two neighbors and chewed up multiple dogs in the neighborhood.
“That dog will take your arm off,” McMinn explained.
“We just got rid of one, same thing, folks walking down the road would get bit” Sheriff Lance Humphreys added.
“I think there ought to be a law, if a person is walking down a road and a dog comes off private property and bites that person in that public road, the owner ought to go to jail,” McMinn said.
“Under law if you fear for your person or any other person, you can use deadly force. But that is a slippery slope,” Board Attorney John Crow explained.
“We do have a vicious dog ordinance, what does it say?” Board President Cayce Washington asked, referring to the county ordinance.
“The dog gets the first bite,” McMinn answered, referring to the difficulty of deeming a dog vicious before a problem arises.
The vicious dog ordinance was adopted in late 2012 and is not breed specific. Instead, the ordinance regulates dogs deemed dangerous or potentially dangerous on a case-by-case basis in unincorporated areas of Yalobusha County.
When drafted, the intent of the ordinance was to place responsibility on the dog owner prior to an actual problem as explained by Crow during a 2012 meeting. If the dog meets specific criteria, the owner is required to pay $50 and keep the dog properly restrained. The sheriff’s department is also required to make an assessment on a potential problem dog following a complaint.
The ordinance identifies penalties for the first three offenses:
• First offense – up to 10 days in jail and a minimum $100 fine, no more than $200;
• Second offense, Mandatory 15 to 30 days jail time and a $200 to $500 fine and removal of the dog;
• Third offense – 30 to 60 days in jail, and a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 and removal of the dog.
Other business discussed during the April 4 meeting includes:
• Approved a petition from Steve Cummings to qualify for re-election as District 1 Election Commissioner. The petition must have 50 signatures from qualified voters in the district and is submitted to the chancery clerk, who then presents it to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
All five of the county’s election commissioner slots, which are elected from each supervisor district, will appear on the November ballot and June 4 is the deadline to qualify for the non-partisan position. Two longtime commissioners, Ora Faye Folk in District 4 and June Byford in District 5, told the Herald last month they do not plan to seek re-election.
• Responded to a request from Communicare to draft a letter in support of a grant application. Chancery Clerk Amy McMinn explained that if awarded, the million-dollar grant would be allocated to Communicare over a four-year period to put additional services in the schools to identify needs for students entering first grade and junior high.
Communicare, a community mental health center, serves six counties including Yalobusha. Amy McMinn provided a brief explanation of the services provided in the county, including outpatient support at their local health facility in Water Valley, full-time counselors employed in the Water Valley and Coffeeville school districts and a day treatment program. McMinn also explained the county provides approximately $25,000 annually to Communicare and no additional money was requested as part of the grant application.
• Approved travel requests to attend conferences or training seminars from Coroner Ronnie Stark, Veteran Service Office Mickell Dunn, Sheriff Lance Humphreys, Constables Ralph Horton and Randy Cummings and County Engineer Karl Grubb.
• Approved industrial tax exemptions applications submitted by Allied Group Inc., ($37,800) and BorgWarner ($21,584,258). Following the April 4 vote, the applications will be submitted to the Department of Revenue for approval, before the board will vote a second time for final approval. State law allows counties and municipalities to grant up to a 10-year tax exemption to eligible industries that locate or expand in Mississippi. The exemption includes all local property taxes except school district property.
• Discussed applying for a Community Development Block Grant to construct a senior citizens building on county-property in Oakland. District 4 Timothy Booker said he had fielded a request for a facility. Booker was instructed to research the feasibility of the project and report back to the board.
