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Council adopts amendments to dog ordinance, removes ‘voice control’ allowance and schedules public hearing
Summary
Somersworth City Council’s public safety committee revised the proposed dog ordinance to require leashes except in designated areas, remove voice-control as lawful control, and allow increased fines; the council approved the redlined changes and set a public hearing for the next regular meeting.
The Somersworth City Council on March 17 approved committee-recommended changes to a proposed dog-control ordinance that remove “voice control” as a lawful means of restraining a dog, require dogs to be on a leash or otherwise physically restrained when off their owner’s property, and authorize enhanced penalties. Councilors voted to accept the redlined version prepared after review by the city attorney and sent the revised ordinance to a public hearing at the council’s next regular meeting.
Why it matters: The change responds to repeated public testimony that an “at-large” definition that allowed voice control failed to protect people and animals. The amendment replaces the prior language with a requirement that a dog “not be under leash or other physical…
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