No Change In Stray Dog Policy In The County
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
The county has an ordinance to address vicious dogs in the county.
COFFEEVILLE – County supervisors affirmed that the current approach of not picking up stray dogs in unincorporated areas of the county will remain unchanged.. The item was on the meeting agenda on March 13 after Board President Cayce Washington cited recent phone calls including a complaint about an abandoned litter of puppies.
Washington initially suggested building a kennel on county-owned property at the landfill to house stray dogs, with a recommendation for impoundment for a short term to try to find the owner before euthanizing the animal.
Discussion in the meeting held at the Coffeeville courthouse included legal input from Board Attorney Shannon Crow, who told supervisors there is no legal requirement for the county to pick up stray dogs. Crow also said there is an old statute that gives the sheriff the authority to impound an uncollared, stray dog, but reiterated that this is not mandated.
“The sheriff can impound the dog for five days to allow time to locate the owner. If the owner doesn’t show up, the sheriff can euthanize the dog,” Crow explained.
There was a brief period when supervisors provided pickup for stray dogs in the county after the county entered into a contract with Second Chance Animal Alliance (SCAA) in 2018. The county paid SCAA $12,000 annually to handle animal problems in the county, duties that included responding reports of stray or abandoned dogs, and injured or neglected dogs as well as answering calls about vicious dogs.
Citing an extremely high call volume, SCAA volunteers requested increasing the annual fee to $30,000 in 2019.
The contract was terminated at the end of 2019 after supervisors balked at the increase.
Also discussed in the meeting was the county’s vicious dog ordinance. The ordinance was adopted in 2012 and is not breed specific. It regulates dogs deemed dangerous or potentially dangerous on a case-by-case basis in the county. The ordinance is designed to keep dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs from running at-large. Once a dog is labeled as such, which typically follows an attack or attempted attack, the dog must be restrained in a suitable pen. The dog must also be registered with the sheriff’s department.
The sheriff’s department is responsible for the ordinance and deputies are charged with making an initial assessment to determine if a dog is vicious following a complaint.
“The only problem we have is under the vicious dog ordinance is the sheriff is required to impound the dog. But he doesn’t have any place to put them, we ran into that,” Crow said.
District 3 Supervisor Kenny Harmon and District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray also cited phone calls requesting help with stray dogs.
“I had a woman call me, she said a stray dog came in my house and got on the kitchen table and ate my ham. I said, ‘Well he is full now, he will probably leave,’” District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray added about one of the more unusual stories about strays. “That is a true story.”
“I try to follow up. I have had people at the animal clinic call me too,” Washington said about recent calls he has received. “I am just going to tell people that unless it is a vicious dog, we are not going to be engaged.” Washington said. “Is that fair?”
“I think that is all we can deal with is vicious dogs and that falls back on the sheriff’s department,” Gray answered.
“The best thing is to leave it alone,” Harmon agreed.
