A new Greene County ordinance may go into effect this year.
County Attorney Thomas Laehn recently presented to the Board of Supervisors a draft for a dangerous and vicious animal ordinance. He said people can own dangerous animals under certain circumstances, but no one could own a vicious animal. The proposed ordinance defines a vicious animal as one that has attacked or bitten a person within a certain time frame, without provocation. Greene County Sheriff Jack Williams said every town in the county has a vicious animal ordinance, and the procedure is removing the animal from city limits. He explained the situation he and his deputies are currently in when that happens.
“We have no ordinance that gives us any ability to deal with the dog if it bites again. We have one particular case where the dog has bitten up to a mile away from its property after it was removed from the City of Jefferson for biting a person.”
Williams noted the dog that bit another individual was unprovoked and on that person’s property. Laehn said the ordinance would only cover the unincorporated parts of the county and those communities that don’t have a vicious animal ordinance. Williams believes the ordinance helps them to protect the safety of the general public.
“The sole reason of it is to where it gives us the ability to protect the citizens that these vicious animals are being taken into their neighborhood.”
Following a discussion by the Board, they are also leaning toward making the penalty a civil infraction with a maximum fine of $750 for the first offense. The Board will consider approving the new ordinance at a future meeting. Click below to see the draft of the proposed ordinance.