Osceola dog ban may add bite

OSCEOLA -- The City of Osceola will hold a second reading of a proposed ordinance to ban American pit bull terriers and seven other dog breeds at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Osceola City Hall, 451 N. Main.

During a first reading April 8, 14 individuals opposed the proposed ban and four spoke in favor of it. Osceola Mayor Wendell Lindsley said no action will be taken until the third reading is held June 10.

“The current ordinance is very restrictive,” Lindsley said. “The new ordinance, if it passes, will actually ban possession of those dogs listed as vicious dogs from within the City of Osceola.”

Willie Dotson-Monroe owns Maggie, a 2-year old American pit bull terrier. Maggie is the only dog in Osceola known to be listed in the city’s current vicious dog/dangerous animal ordinance.

Dotson-Monroe and his dog live across the street from Renee and Kent Johansen and their three children. The Johansens are leading the move for the ban.

“This situation is a bit of a dilemma, but I want to make it clear that the council is not trying to go after anyone here,” Lindsley said. “We are trying to be proactive and do what’s right before something happens that forces us to take some reactive action.”

Lindsley said community input led the council to address the issue. He said the unanimous acceptance of the introduction of the new ordinance in April showed a consensus among the council.

“The truth is, there are still two more readings, and you never know how someone is going to vote until the time comes,” Lindsley said.

Osceola’s Animal Control Officer, Diana Kelly said there have been no official complaints filed against Dotson-Monroe’s dog.

“We’ve never received a complaint about dog-at-large, barking or anything else on this dog,” Kelly said. “The only complaint I’m aware of is the original complaint that went to the city clerk that there is a pit bull in the city, which is on the list of vicious dogs. Willie has complied with all the requirements of the current ordinance.”

Kelly would not comment specifically on the city’s proposed ordinance.

Dotson-Monroe brought Maggie to Osceola in July 2007.

“I got Maggie when she was 3 months old,” he said. “As soon as I knew I needed to license her, I took care of it. The only training Maggie had before I got her was that she was house-broken.”

Dotson-Monroe said that in December a Polk County Deputy told him his dog was illegal in Osceola and he was given a verbal notice to get rid of her within 24 hours. He said, because the encounter occurred on a weekend, he and his mother, Karen Dotson, waited until Monday to obtain copies of the ordinance.

“There is no where in the ordinance that says I can’t have Maggie in town,” Dotson-Monroe said. “As soon as we knew what we had to do, we did the things in the ordinance.

“We got the $100,000 liability insurance, the stake that could not be pulled out of the ground. We shortened her chain, got her a muzzle and the signs we needed. We didn’t get a kennel, and we couldn’t find a picture sign that warns about dogs for kids who can’t read.

“We talked with the city attorney about those things, and he told us we didn’t need a kennel at that time since we had the chain and that he had gotten the ordinance from another town and he couldn’t find that picture sign anywhere either.”

Dotson-Monroe said he later obtained a kennel for the dog. In April he requested, and has since obtained, a permit for a fence that will enclose the kennel further so the dog will never be outside of a fence when being led from the back door of his home to the kennel.

“I’ve already spent about $1,000 doing everything I was supposed to do, and now they (the council) tell me they’re going to make a law to ban my dog,” Dotson-Monroe said. “This new law is against my 14th amendment rights that says they can’t take my property. They say they’re not going to ‘grandfather’ my dog into the new law. If it passes I’ll fight it all the way and if I have to; I’ll move out of town to keep my dog.”

David J. Hibler incorporated the American Pit Bull Rescue Association in 2004 for the purposes of combating dog-fighting operations, providing information about the breed and to rescue dogs in distress.

Karen Dotson called upon Hibler in April to present information in opposition to the proposed ban.

“The proposed Osceola breed ban is flawed legislation for several reasons,” Hibler wrote in an e-mail response to The Telegram’s questions. “First, it is based on inaccurate science. The considered opinion of all veterinary organizations, dog associations, the American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club, and training groups is that proper dog behavior has virtually nothing to do with breed and everything to do with the animal’s physical conditions.”

Hibler said those contributing conditions include food, water, housing, exercise, socialization to humans and other animals and training and restraint or lack thereof.

Hibler said Osceola’s proposed ban is, in his opinion, arbitrary and capricious in its selection of dangerous breeds.

“Seven of 11 breeds found in the Center for Disease Control bite statistics do not appear on Osceola’s proposed list of banned dogs,” Hibler said.

“The whole concept of attempting to limit injury from dog bites by banning certain breeds is based upon a twisted perception of relative risk in daily life,” Hibler said. Using such logic should cause us to ban everything from bicycles, playground equipment, slippers, balloons and the family car.”

The Johansens, however, are concerned about the safety of their three young children living in such close proximity to the pit bull.

“I know that specific dog has not done anything yet,” Renee Johansen said in a phone interview. “At the March meeting, those in favor of the ban outnumbered those who were opposed to it, and I know I’m speaking for many concerned citizens of our community.”

Following the brief phone interview the Johansen’s issued a statement to the Telegram by e-mail.

“In the past we have had a neighbor’s vicious dog come onto our property and terrorize our three children and two of their friends while playing in our front yard,” the Johansens wrote. “We had to call the sheriff’s department on several occasions when it accidentally got loose. We, as a community, should not have to fear for our lives or fear being mauled by a vicious dog when outside doing yard work, playing outside or walking or biking down the street.”

When asked to clarify their statement, Kent Johansen acknowledged that the dog referred to in their e-mail was not the one owned by Dotson-Monroe.

The Johansen’s said they thought the city council was being proactive in its attempt to keep the community safe and that many Osceola residents had shown support for the proposed ordinance by signing a statement of support in a letter to the editor submitted to their local newspaper.