At a City Council public hearing in Glen Arden, residents urged elected officials to increase fines and enforcement for unsecured dogs, citing repeated incidents of loose animals in neighborhood streets.

Vanessa Hodge, a Mount Tyler Street resident, told the council the proposed legislation is timely and said, "there are at least 6 dogs that I know of that run loose in the neighborhood." Lalitia Gaither of Ward 1 described a July 8 incident in which a large black dog chased another dog into her yard and stayed near the doorway while Gaither sheltered the visiting owner and pet. Gaither said she recorded the encounter on multiple home cameras and said, "you have to do something to have people know that you're serious about that violation and they're gonna have to pay for it."

Councilman Jones commended Councilman Harris Herring for bringing the leash/fines proposal to the council, saying, "I also would like to commend, Councilman Herring for bringing this forth too." Jones added that she had observed loose-dog problems across multiple wards and supported stronger enforcement. Mayor Curtis said the city intends to produce a flyer focused specifically on the leash issue to make the rules clearer to residents.

No formal vote on the proposed ordinance occurred at the public hearing. The record shows these remarks took place during the public comment portion of the meeting, which the mayor and council distinguished from regular sessions and work sessions. Council members characterized the matter as pending legislation under consideration; they did not adopt new fines or an ordinance during the hearing. The mayor indicated the city will publish an informational flyer about leash rules as a next step and thanked residents for their input.

Less-critical details: the public-hearing rules state each speaker has five minutes to address items on the published agenda. The mayor and council reiterated that topics not on the public-hearing agenda can be raised at the next regular session.