Appeal In New Neillsville Dog Ordinance Is Heard
Friday, November 27th, 2015 -- 10:17 AM
The first appeal in regards to Neillsville's new vicious dogs ordinance was heard at a heated City Council meeting on Tuesday evening.The Neillsville Police Chief, Scott Klueckmann, came before the council a few months ago, requesting that the ordinance regarding vicious dogs be changed, as the city's old ordinance was lenient and proved to be exhausting for the department because they spent a lot of time making sure people were following the rules of the ordinance.
The council was presented a couple options, but, in the end, they decided that if a dog is deemed vicious, it will be removed from the city. The Neillsville Police Department will make that decision, more specifically the police chief, and a resident has 5 days to remove the dog after its deemed vicious. If they don't, the Police Department can seize the dog and remove it from the city. However, the owner of the dog can go before the council and have the decision appealed if they don't feel it's correct. After having the new ordinance written up, and reworked a couple times for more clarity, the council approved it.
However, in this time, a resident of Neillsville, living on Bruley Street, came before the council to voice her displeasure with the ordinance. Her dog, which she is watching for her son who is serving overseas, was one of only two dogs deemed vicious here in Neillsville. At the meeting on Tuesday, she was there to appeal the dog being deemed vicious. Even though there are police reports documenting 5 separate bites from this dog, the owner claims the dog was only playing and, in some cases, just accidentally scratched people. She accused the council of not knowing all the facts and wonders why there weren't any pictures. The Police Chief explained that, in some cases, people didn't go to the hospital and they can't force them. In another case, the bite was on the inside thigh of a woman and the Police Chief refused to have his male officers have this woman remove her pants to take a picture of the bite.
The council and Police Chief tried to explain to those in attendance at the meeting Tuesday night that they're not going to remove the dog and kill her; they just need her out of the city. They also said that they're not going to start going door-to-door to try and find dogs they think are vicious and take them away. The dog in question is seeing a trainer and the Police Chief did speak with that trainer. The trainer said that the dog has a trigger that causes her to bite people, but he doesn't know what it is. He also said that she is "too much dog" for the owner to handle.
After explaining everything and then continuing to go in circles for a time after; the mayor brought the "is the dog vicious" question to a vote. The council unanimously voted yes. The owner of the dog then stated she was going to sue the council because of their decision.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.