Bad dog, bad laws

The Medford city council on Monday night was dragged into the intersection of property rights versus public safety and county versus city enforcement efforts.

On February 5, Amber Chaffee’s children were playing in the yard of their 3rd St. home in the city of Medford. The children were enjoying themselves until a neighbor’s pit bull mix dog escaped its yard and attacked her son biting him repeatedly resulting in seven puncture wounds including to the child’s thigh and face within an inch of the child’s eye as well as ripped and torn clothing.

The attack was stopped by someone who was passing by the home and saw it taking place. The dog was returned to its yard and later escaped again and chased a neighborhood boy on his scooter but the dog could not catch him.

According to Chaffee it is about that time, that the police arrived. The owners of the dog were ticketed for having a “dog at large,” the penalty the city has See CITY on page 5 on its books for incidents such as this. As required by the state of Wisconsin, the dog was quarantined for 10 days, because the owner had proof of rabies vaccination, this quarantining took place at their home rather than an outside facility. There is a civil action pending for the medical expenses and damages suffered by the Chaffees from the attack.

Chaffee recounted the event to members of the Medford City Council at Monday’s committee of the whole meeting. She said that while her son’s physical wounds have healed in the weeks since the attacks occurred, her children’s emotional health has suffered.

“They are terrified of going outside,” Chaffee said, noting that her son knows that if the dog gets out it will attack him again.

Chaffee said the city and county should have done more to immediately remove the animal and the risk it posed to her children and the community at large.

Chaffee said she spoke with Taylor County Chief Deputy Corey Dassow, who she described as a family friend, and talked with him about concerns over the animal and what could be done. She described the city and the county going back and forth over what could be done at the city, county or even state level and who had jurisdiction in the matter.

While the city does not have a dangerous animal ordinance relating to this type of situation, the county does. There is also a state law that would provide for the animal to be euthanized if it was deemed a threat.

Chaffee called on the city council to create an ordinance addressing situations such as this and to provide clear direction to officers while bringing safety to the community’s children.

Chaffee was joined in addressing the city council by Betty Herrell, a Jackson St. resident. Herrell praised law enforcement officers and their integrity in following the letter of the law. However she expressed dismay as to why the dog was not immediately removed and euthanized.

“I didn’t understand why it wasn’t removed that day or the days following the attack,” she said.

Typically within the city, the Medford police have jurisdiction with the county deputies focusing more of their attention on areas outside the city. However as Chaffee and her mother Betty Herrell noted, city residents are also residents of Taylor County.

Herrell read Chapter 54 of the county code to council members which regulates dogs and cats. Under that county ordinance, any “dangerous or vicious” dog based on a known history of one or more attacks would be removed from Taylor County. She also cited the state statute that addresses dangerous animals.

Herrell told council members that she had started a petition calling on the city to have the dog humanely euthanized for being a danger. She submitted a copy of the petition to the council with 136 signatures on it.

Herrell said she was encouraged by Police Chief Chad Liske to start circulating the petition to show the council members the desire of the community. Herrell said that the dog’s owners, upon learning of the petition and her intent to bring it to the city council have re-homed the dog to somewhere in Minnesota and that the dog no longer lives in this area. However she questioned if the dog went to a shelter or a residence with a family and questioned if whoever has the dog now was made aware of the attack.

“Who will the next victim be?” Herrell asked. She called on the city to create a committee to look at creating a dangerous animal ordinance and requested serving on that committee.

Medford Police Chief Chad Liske said the city’s legal counsel advised enforcing the state law as an option in this circumstance because the state threshold is two incidents of documented attacks. He said it would then trigger a hearing before the judge who would ultimately make the determination if an animal was vicious and needed to be killed. In order to take the animal, the city would need to get a warrant to do so, which would also need to be signed off by the court.

Liske explained that he as a city officer cannot write a county ordinance ticket, just as a county officer cannot write a ticket for a specific city violation. He also questioned the intent of treating every dog bite as the threshold for if an animal would be considered vicious and must be euthanized.

He also noted that under the codes, the remedy for a dog that is considered a potential danger is to either keep them chained or secured and fenced in. He noted in this case that corrective action was taken.

“Are you requesting an ordinance that would give better direction?” asked Council member Laura Holmes.

Liske clarified that the request was coming from the residents and not from his department. He went on to explain the current process and that under state rules the dog cannot be euthanized within the 10-day quarantine period. He noted there have been instances where a dog’s owner killed the animal immediately after it attacked someone, and then had to dig up the animal’s carcass and send it off to the state lab for rabies testing at a much higher cost.

As far as requiring a judge to be involved in deciding this, Liske noted they have to take into account the property rights of the dog’s owner.

“You are basically taking rights away if you are taking someone’s dog,” Liske said. He also questioned the potential of setting the threshold at one biting incident to be considered vicious. He suggested there could potentially be significantly more dogs at risk of being euthanized noting there are dog bites that happen all the time in a variety of circumstances. He said law enforcement is often only notified if someone goes to the doctor or emergency room with the bite wound. In those cases, because of the quarantine rules for rabies prevention, police are notified.

Liske said the ordinances regarding dangerous animals often include requirements on the owners to have them restrained and contained. “It is all fine and dandy until a fence gets wrecked,” Liske said.

Herrell said that she understands that a dog might bite someone and that while it happens, it is not good. She said there is a difference between that and a dog that bites a child 5 times. She questioned if it is one bite that requires stitches versus five bites that don’t.

Liske said that according to the city’s attorney, the advice was that there was not enough to qualify for the state enforcement and that the Medford police department issued the ticket they were able to issue.

“I have no say with the county ordinance,” Liske said, There is also some question about a potential county ticket being issued whether it is a one time citation, or similar to some zoning violations where each day is a separate offense. Liske said the attorneys for the city and county were unsure of that.

Council member Christine Weix suggested the family members bring the issue to the county board and ask them why the county’s ordinance was not followed. Herrell said she spoke to the sheriff who suggested they bring it to the city council. Another suggestion was to take it to the district attorney and see if criminal charges would be filed.

Mayor Mike Wellner questioned if cities around the state typically had their own dangerous animal ordinances or if they relied on the county. Liske said that in researching the issue he has seen a mixture of both.

“It would have been my assumption that you were protected as a county resident by the county,” Weix said. It was noted that it is not like city residents live in a different state.

“It looks to me like the county isn’t doing their due diligence,” said council member Clem Johnson. He said Liske should talk with the county and telling them that they should be taking care of their ordinances as required by law.

“It seems the county and the city can’t work together,” Herrell said, adding that if the two groups could work together she feels they would not be at this point.

Council member Ken Coyer said he would like to see a written response about why the sheriff’s department wouldn’t enforce it. He said he felt it was pretty lousy for the city’s citizens that it was not.

City coordinator Joe Harris opposed the idea of the city creating its own ordinance, seeing no sense in having two laws on the books to address it. He said they would work with the Taylor County sheriff to get some common ground and have a path forward.

Holmes said she did not feel comfortable with the county saying that is was a city issue. She asked if Liske would like to see a city ordinance created.

Wellner said he felt it would have made it more complicated, especially if the ordinances were different which would make enforcement a challenge. He said he favored Harris’ approach of working with the county to make changes.

Chaffee said she would love to see something that could be worked out with the city and the county. “I don’t want to see this happen to someone else again,” she said.

Wellner cautioned that they can’t force the county to work with them, but was willing to try rather than starting over with a new ordinance.

Through a generous donation from our local Knights of Columbus and an anonymous donor, the students at Holy Rosary School in Medford were able to explore space through hands–on activities on the ‘Space Bus’. Classes were also able to obtain classroom books and other space-related items. SUBMITTED