Lexington city council reviewed the vicious dog law Tuesday during a council committee meeting.
Following three separate incidents involving one dog, council member Peggy Henson is proposing changes to the ordinance. Current law requires animal care and control workers to witness any attack firsthand before a dog can be quarantined.
Chad Edwards with the city’s law department says, under the proposed changes, responding animal control workers would have the authority to temporarily take custody of any offending dogs. “They would be able to hold on to the dog for ten days while they and the victims and the county attorney’s office decided whether or not they wanted to bring charges here in the courts to have the dog declared vicious,” explained Edwards.
Animal Control Chief Nathan Bowling said that could mean holding a dog six months or longer while the case is considered in court. “Truly if you have a vicious dog, it has to be handled by people. They have to be cleaned, they have to be fed and cared for,” said Bowling. “This happens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
If deemed vicious, the dog would then be neutered or spayed, penned if outside the residence, muzzled if out in public, and have an ID micro-chip implanted. Henson hopes the matter will come before the full council next month.
