Neillsville City Council Approves Changes to City's Vicious Dogs Ordinance
Tuesday, September 29th, 2015 -- 9:26 AM
-The Neillsville City Council approved having the city attorney make changes to their vicious dogs ordinance.Under the current ordinance, if the Neillsville Police Department determines a dog is vicious the owner can keep the dog as long as it stays on their property. However, it is allowed off the owner's property, but it must be muzzled, on a leash or chain that doesn't exceed 3 feet, an able-bodied adult 18 or older must be in charge of it and they must have a minimum policy of $100,000 in liability insurance covering the dog.
The problem with that is if a vicious dog is on their owner's property, they don't need any of those requirements and if a dog leaves the property without the owner's knowledge, it could bite someone. There is also a problem with making sure the owner has insurance coverage.
The city council was presented with a couple options on how to combat this. The first was to increase insurance coverage and make sure the City of Neillsville Police Department is listed as a coinsured so the department can be aware of changes made to the owner's policy. They also suggested other items like a vicious dog sign, special vicious dog fees and more.
The second option was to give a dog one chance and, if it bites and is deemed vicious by the department, the dog is removed from the city with the option of an appeals process. The council felt that if a dog bites and is deemed vicious, it shouldn't be given another chance to bite again and should be removed. However, it was noted that there are only a few cases or problems with vicious dogs in the city with the over 300 licensed.
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