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DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell
Frustration is mounting for families who live on County Road 224 after an issue with vicious dogs owned by a neighbor seemingly remains unresolved. Neighbors of Sam and Phyllis Goodwin report that more than a dozen dogs owned by the couple have attacked and even killed their dogs. Pictures have been posted on social media of the maimed dogs that had to be put down after they were attacked by the vicious dogs. The neighbors are scared and not just for their pets, they worry about the possibility of a small child or even an adult being attacked by the dogs.
I have talked to the neighbors, the sheriff and the board of supervisors president to help try to sort this thing out.
First, Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch is frustrated. He told me that his department has taken measures to pick up the dogs that are vicious. Gooch accompanied several deputies on Nov. 8 when they went to impound the dogs. They were able to catch five of them and impound them in accordance with the county’s vicious dog ordinance. The dogs were later released back to the owners after a fence was constructed on their property to contain the dogs, also in accordance with the county’s ordinance. The sheriff feels like measures were taken in accordance with the ordinance to pick up the dogs that were vicious. He also shared that it is difficult to apprehend the remaining dogs. His department is impeded in that effort due to not having a trained dog catcher or the tools to catch elusive dogs.
Case in point, deputies have responded multiple times to a residence on County Road 232 for a complaint about a vicious dog. This is the same dog that would not let EMTs responding to a medical call at the house exit their ambulance. A deputy initially responded on Nov. 9 to assist. Since then deputies have been back out to the residence multiple times and ultimately had to put the dog down. There was no easy solution and this final measure came after the dog tried to attack deputies and a family member provided consent for the dog to be killed.
Back to County Road 224, the latest problem is that the neighbors report that some of the vicious dogs owned by the Goodwins are still lose in the area and additional enforcement measures are needed. They believe that the sheriff’s department is not enforcing the ordinance due to the recurring incidents of the vicious dogs still roaming the area after the response by the sheriff’s department on November 8. There is also frustration because reports were not available that would allow the ordinance violation to be adjudicated in justice court.
The sheriff has repeatedly noted that the current vicious dog ordinance does not have enough teeth to help his department with enforcement of vicious dog problems in this county. He is not alone in this assessment, the ordinance is scheduled to be on the agenda at the next Board of Supervisors meeting where work could get underway to update it to assist with enforcement.
The enforcement provisions of the current ordinance for a dog that has been deemed vicious states that the dog must be placed in a proper enclosure. If the dog escapes, the owner must notify the sheriff. The owner must also register a dog deemed vicious with the sheriff’s department annually, as well as vaccinate the animal for rabies annually.
The penalties for violating the ordinance is a fine ranging from $100 to $200 and not more than 10 days in jail for the first offense. Both the potential jail time and the fine amount increase with subsequent offenses.
Stay tuned as updates will be shared in coming weeks as this problem is hopefully resolved.
