Court OKS dog ordinance; drops license fee
The Garland County Quorum Court approved landmark revisions to the county’s animal control ordinance on Monday, identifying certain dog breeds as high- risk and requiring that all dogs in the county have a current rabies tag.
The quorum court voted to remove Section 4 of proposed Ordinance 13- 40, which would require dog owners pay a license fee. The final ordinance passed 9- 2. Justice of the Peace Matt McKee was not present.
JP Mary Bournival, District 4, voted against removing Section 4.
“By removing the licensing fee, you have just killed our funding mechanism,” Bournival said. “You’ve just removed the only incentives this ordinance offers, making it absolutely impossible to take the rest of this ordinance and move forward.”
The ordinance repeals past ordinances regulating animal control and clearly defines the responsibilities of all dog owners in the county, whether they possess a high- risk breed or not.
The owner of a dog declared vicious or nuisance by a court would be required to pay a non- refundable fee of $ 1,000 to the Garland County
treasurer if they choose to keep their dog. In lieu of the fee, they may provide proof of liability insurance specifically covering their dog in a minimum amount of $ 100,000, or a court can order a higher amount.
Violations of the prescribed responsibilities is a misdemeanor.
The owner of any high- risk breed dog that is involved in an incident while unconfined and off their property can be charged with a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $ 1,000 or a year in jail. The penalties can be doubled upon conviction of subsequent violations.
A person found guilty of violating the ordinance will be required to pay all veterinary and shelter expenses necessitated by their dog being picked up for protection of the public. Other expenses may be required if the dog is ordered by the court to be euthanized.
Cities of the first class will be exempt from the ordinance, but all remaining areas of Garland County must comply.
“This has been a two- year process of back and forth and a lot of public comments,” said County Judge Rick Davis. “This finalized ordinance best reflects the needs of the county.”
Division 2 District Judge Ralph Ohm, the county attorney, said after the ordinance passed that it will help to curb the running of vicious, nuisance or high- risk dogs.
“It also protects the owners of the dog to ensure notice of a potential problem,” he said.
“This ordinance will provide the court with more authority to deal with these issues.
“All in all, this ordinance will carry this county in the right direction to deal with these problems,” he said.
Earlier Monday, Dan Bugg, director of Hot Springs Animal Services, offered a suggested markup of the ordinance.
“I went through the ordinance line by line and marked areas that I saw problems with,” Bugg said.
Key points that Bugg said he had issues with were in the licenses by local veterinarians and the lack of a compliance period.
Bugg said the city requires in its license program that all rabies certificates in the city be sent to animal services to keep on record. That language is left out of the county’s ordinance.
“It also opens that line of communication between us and the owners because we can send a reminder letting them know they need to renew their pet’s vaccine,” he said.
Bugg said the ordinance also lacked a compliance period for owners of new dogs or new county residents.
“When someone moves to the city, they have 30 days to get their city license,” Bugg said. “The ordinance as I read it didn’t have a compliance period.”
Bugg said he has read a lot of animal control ordinances over the years and what was proposed was a good one.
“I just made a few suggestions that may tighten it up and smooth it over,” he said.
The markup was sent to Davis, who said earlier Monday the suggestions would not affect the ordinance discussed in Monday’s meeting.
Members of the quorum court said that Bugg was asked by the city not to attend the previous three meetings discussing the animal control ordinance, and agreed to move forward with a decision rather than tabling the issue yet again Monday night.