Council votes to modify dangerous dog ordinance
TROY, N.Y. >> At its Thursday evening meeting, the Troy City Council voted unanimously, 7- 0, to modify its 2006 dangerous dog ordinance.
By changing the wording from “shall” to “may,” pertaining to when a deemed dangerous dog attacks a human or another dog, the modification to the code, in essence, provides a judge more discretion on a case by case basis.
The change comes following the controversy and public outcry surrounding an Oct. 25 incident when a pit bull mix named “Luna” charged up two flights of an outside stairway, broke through a safety stairway, attacked a neighbor’s dog, bit the dog and then bit the dog’s owner. After agreeing to have “Luna” euthanized in Troy City Court on Nov. 1, the owner changed her mind bringing a notice before Judge Turner in Troy City Court on Nov. 9. When “Luna’s” owner and the Corporation Counsel couldn’t come to an agreement, the case was brought to Rensselaer County Court, wherein “Luna” was granted a stay.
This change, however, will not have any barring on “Luna’s” case as Troy City Corporation Counsel Attorney James Caruso noted at Thursday’s meeting.
“Make no mistake about it, however, this is not “Luna’s Law,” if we amend this dangerous dog ordinance it has nothing to do with her case because it preceded the amendment to the ordinance,” Caruso noted.
Caruso also challenged characterizations surrounding the case.
“This was no accident as people keep saying in the media and
on social media. This was no accident, no little doggie play, not a cute little puppy, this was a dangerous situation. This occurred on a person’s private property, not in a common area, another misstatement made in social media and the owner of that dog was also bit,” Caruso said of what transpired.
“Oddly what’s been not reported is the owner of this dog stood by while this attack took place, he told my deputy corporation counsel, he was too busy taking out his trash,” Caruso added.
Ahead of the full City Council vote, council member Mark McGrath spoke of the need for personal responsibility by dog owners as well, at Tuesday’s Public Safety meeting.
“I’m the proud owner of two large dogs and the one thing about those dogs they’re good dogs but they’re unpredictable. They’re my responsibility, it’s my responsibility that they don’t go out and attack other dogs or attack other people, it’s my responsibility. What we’ve done here is we’re just saying if a dog bites somebody you put the dog down but what about the owners? They’re responsible,” McGrath said.
On the passing of Thursday night’s legislation, council member Anasha Cummings gave his reaction to the vote changing the wording in the ordinance.
“I think as noted by the corporation counsel this is certainly an issue that has sparked broad public outrage and concern. When those kinds of things happen it’s always nice when we can reflect on it and change our process. This is a small way and there are other ways that we are continuing to explore. What we’ve taken the step of tonight it to make sure the code that was changed a few years ago to be very stringent and inflexible, offers more opportunity for a case by case understanding of what is happening with a particular dog. When someone gets bit is it because that dog is truly dangerous or is it because something has gone awry with the treatment or care of that dog,” Cummings said.
“I’m certainly glad to support an amendment to make it so judges and lawyers and everyone else has a little more leniency and flexibility on that front and we’ll be continuing to work with them to make sure that when dangerous dogs are found in our city, they’re able to be treated in a way that is most humane in terms of if possible retraining, if possible kept in a safe place and only in the most extreme cases moving toward isolation and towards destruction,” Cummings noted of the added flexibility in the ordinance.
“Luna” remains housed at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Menands, while she and her owners await a further ruling in the case.